Anyone else feel we would make a lot more money if we traded our status as "salaried worker" to "Hourly worker"? Even at minimum wage, it would be a $5,000 raise easy this year...(Saying this while watching the "Count Von Count" (Simply known as the "Count" from Sesame Street) speak about this Amendment to Foreign Opps at 11pm....Oh "The Count" would be Lantos...

Joelle Cannon? Short dark hair?

10:41 PM. Eastern Daylight Time.... someone bring me a burger

Blunt's makin' me laugh, as was the guy who spoke before him

NAY!  She was mid-to-late 20s, republican... though I did just notice Nita's outfit...  the other girl's was much more fashionable

Nita Lowey?

anybody know the darkhaired republican girl  with the blue blouse under the dark jacket sitting behind the R speakers on the House floor right now?  I'd like to.

they're called "Skinterns" for a reason.  embrace it.

and can I just add that someone needs to tell the interns (and some new staff) that plunging necklines, see through blouses, shorts, and visible bra straps are not cute. This is not the Vogue office in NYC. This is congress. They need to tone it down a little, it makes them look like slutty and not very intelligent. I would bet see through blouses and visible bra straps aren't even desireable at "Vogue" I say this as a particuarly unfashionable 18 year old male though

come on steny!!

and can I just add that someone needs to tell the interns (and some new staff) that plunging necklines, see through blouses, shorts, and visible bra straps are not cute. This is not the Vogue office in NYC. This is congress. They need to tone it down a little, it makes them look like slutty and not very intelligent.

no. during the work day, work shoes should be worn. Its their own damn fault for wearing 3inch heels to work.  Buy some smaller heels and they won't have a problem.  And i say this as a woman who loves shoes.

verboten. SO unprofessional...and unnecessary this season given how stylish flats are, which solves the heels issue.

our office is having a debate...is it okay for female interns (or any staffer) to wear flip-flops when running earrands or giving capitol tours as opposed to their 3 inch painful heels?

Seersucker = hilarious.  Did people not catch on with other fashion hilarities such as acid washed jeans and leisure suits?  Someone should clue them in to how utterly ridiculous they look.  But on second thought, the pictures will be so much fun in the future...

i only wear white bowties w/ seersucker

bow ties should only be legal if you rock it outkast style:

"croodiles on my feet
fox fur on my back
bow tie 'round my neck
that's why they call me the gangsta mack
in the cadillac!"

ahh i figured it out

come when i press the spacebar it posts

how

thought he already was

i

At least on the House side you can have HIR remove you from the Dear Colleague list.  Problem solved.  They are still all accessible in the public folders in the unlikely event you ever need to get to them.

some people think that its cute to misspell "colleague" thereby avoiding my filter.  There isa severe karmic asskicking coming to those individuals.    

someone submitted 8 dear colleagues on the same subject over three days earlier this week. i wish someone would create a dear-colleague program that would automatically send time-delayed dear colleague responses exponentially in response to spamming the list. send 1 dear colleague in a week, recieve a single automated thank you. send 2 and get 4 back. send 3, get 9, send 8 and you get 64 back - with one coming in every 5-10 minutes.

that'd teach the dc spammers.

there should be a facebook directory of all hill staff members. take our ID photos and put them online. it would make stalking so much easier.

I wonder if the term "seersucker thursday" gives Lindsay Graham the wrong idea.

i would go, if only to slap members of both offending parties.

"i am very inadequate in that regard" -- Lindsay Graham on the floor. Indeed.

Graham just pronounced Worcester as Warchester.  Amateur hour.

The confluence of seersucker Thursday and Dem staffers walking around in monochromatic maroon on maroon shirts with ratty sport coats may be reason enough to forgo happy hour at any hill establishments this evening.  

excellent question!

So when is Lindsey Graham coming out of the closet?

what a pain in the ass. i wish people would take today's HOH on dear colleagues to heart.

Check out the D-bag who sent his farewell email to every LD, dem AA, and gop staffer on the hill.  Thanks Roger, i'll do my best to "feel good about it."  gfys.

BOW TIE

question about seersucker...i'm all for comfort in the oppressive heat, but if you're going to wear it, why wear anything but the classic blue and white? green...purple...red...YELLOW? it's an eyesore, if nothing else...

okay.

now presenting:  short winded angry guy!

let's try and keep the one-word posts to a minimum.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

donkey

the

for

here

im

which of course explains your posting on it?

i second that motion.

This site is such a huge donkey sausage fest it sickens me.  The banter is pathetic as well.    

the best article on that: "There's no disputing that the minimum wage's 54-year low against the
average wage is an embarrassment. But the average pay of congressmen
and women -- $165,200 a year -- is, in fact, also a problem. It may
indeed be true that Congress shouldn't get a raise till America does,
but both are overdue for a pretty sharp salary hike...The Medicare prescription drug bill, the energy bill, the Iraq war
-- these are hardly the sort of achievements that merit a raise. But
sometimes you have to survey your workforce and realize that you need a
better caliber of applicant and fewer incentives to stray. The question
here isn't one of performance or rewards, but how to extract the best
legislative outcomes from an underperforming institution. And a pay
hike -- if used as the carrot for a set of severe ethical and campaign
finance reforms -- wouldn't be a bad first step.

The question here is why congress folk become so corrupt.
Intrinsic proclivity towards screwing over the republic? Maybe. But I'd
guess the mechanism is a bit less dramatic than that. Washington, D.C.,
is the fifth most expensive American city in which to live. Newly
elected members of Congress arrive and find that the costs of living
here plus retaining a residence -- and often, family -- in their home
district are a bit imposing. Two mortgages, two furnished homes, and
all the rest.

Even worse is the human instinct to match your peers. As the
Brookings Institution's congressional expert Thomas Mann told me,
“one of the problems we've seen is that as their former colleagues
move into lucrative jobs and their former staffers do the same, they
come to believe they ought to have the same lifestyle and look for ways
to achieve it outside of their own salaries.”

Congressmen and women, in other words, enter a world populated
by the rich and the wealthy -- their friends are lobbyists, lawyers,
and former congressmen and staffers who've left the public dime for
massively lucrative jobs on K Street. It's fine to say this sphere shouldn't
influence their tastes, but it inevitably does, leaving them accustomed
to a standard of living their salaries can't come anywhere near
supporting. But the lobbyists -- excuse me, their friends --
can take them out for fine dinners, or subsidize a “fact-finding
mission” to a posh destination, or offer large loans at heavily
subsidized rates, or otherwise augment their lifestyles through any
number of shady, unstated quid pro quos.

None of this excuses corruption, but it does explain why it's
essentially inevitable. And the question for all of us must be: Do we
continue to hope geneticists will breed a crop of ascetic
congresscritters, or do we start reworking the incentives and
restructuring conditions in order to better prevent corruption on the
public dime? Serious campaign finance reform, for instance, would cut
down on quite a bit of corporate influence. And a new raft of ethics
reforms may well eliminate certain avenues for untoward vote-buying.
But it's nevertheless true that the full man eats less, and elected
representatives with luxurious salaries and fewer monetary concerns
would, assumedly, be tougher to buy -- they'd lack the personal
incentives for corruption....

I would like to correct my previous post about long winded guy, it should read 'you're' istead of 'your'. I'm a dumbass.

Back to this idea of unionizing Capitol Hill, the best thing Congress could do would be to raise congressional salaries, both for MOCs and for staff. If Congress were to significantly raise salaries, it would eliminate the revolving door issue, you'd be able to attract higher-caliber candidates to run for office, and it would help eliminate corruption. You'd probably get better qualified candidates for staff positions. Right now, the public thinks MOCs are over-paid, but compared to what they could make in the private market, they're grossly under-paid. The same is true for staff. Any increase in salaries would pay for itself through a higher functioning, more efficient congress. 

I'd

o

like t

I'd

Long winded angry guy is upset because being that much of an elitist means your always alone :( yup.

vote or die

I think he borrowed it from P Diddy

pimp suit tim!  What is he thinking.  I thought we were trying to get away from a mob styled Congress. 

pimp suit tim!

what egos?
 

long winded angry guy is probably still reading.  sucka!

i like long-winded angry guy. we should welcome him into the fold. he'd help keep our egos in check.

Long winded angry guy is upset because being that much of an elitist means your always alone :(

secret ballots when unionizing>? Good thing!

secret ballots when unionizing>?

the hill staff should unionize.

thanks. that guy/girl has juice

its not seersucker until you are wearing white shoes and a bow tie.  go big or go home.

ice cream-

4- 6:30 Upper Senate Park across from Russell

no one seems to know where and when this social is. you folks have no juice

yesterday someone was talking about wishing they had a fatty.

today the talk is about ice cream.

coincidence???

do not blow up my spot, marisa who works in barney frank's office

andrew....come on...anonymity

heyyy marisa!!!

energy tax package probably won't be brought up for a vote again.

where and when is the ice cream social?

Sure. I'm a coward. That's neither here nor there. More importantly, what time is the ice cream social?

for obama girl vid go to barelypolitical.com

she makes me go giggity

You vent on this message board because you can already know will hit
your glass ceiling at 30 and never rise any higher in the political
world...I wish. I'm only 27, and I hit my glass ceiling when I was 24

LOL!

To the long winded poster below:  of the various fashion related posts, where was the anger?

You vent on this message board because you can already know will hit
your glass ceiling at 30 and never rise any higher in the political
world...I wish. I'm only 27, and I hit my glass ceiling when I was 24. 

The star of the obamagirl vid was "Miss Howard TV" for the Sten show.  His website has pics of her up.  The video does not do justice......

Want

Want t

the

As a casual observer of this site, I must say that long winded post was pretty damn cynical......Get reamed out by your boss today?

obama girl vid?

You know what would be cool? A picture of a flaming toolbox

did someone have a bad day today? must be a front desk person who keeps getting slammed with phone calls and hates life.  

who is going to the senate ice cream social? 

Hey look at me! I'm the really cool staffer/intern who keeps my mouth shut for most of the day but for the few minutes I spend writting semi-witty responses on The Capitolist, I am the bravest guy in the world!  Watch me talk about how well-dressed I am, how sloppy Democrats are, how close-minded Republicans are, and much, much more!  I can guarantee you that not one person who takes the time to write seemingly witty responses on this thing defending their right to wear seersucker will ever make it in politics.  Seriously, I am taking bets.  I would love to see any of you actually try to say any of this to someone's face.  I'm sure I will get responses from the "The Capitolist" thugz who run this board and are angry at me for tearing down their facade of strength and gumption that we all know does not exist in the real world.  And you know what, I am almost becoming one of you by ranting for this long.  But regardless of how you respond to this, we all know the truth: You vent on this message board because you can already know will hit your glass ceiling at 30 and never rise any higher in the political world, so you anonymously take out your anger. Now I will sit back and wait for the barrage of long-winded responses that will no doubt be unleashed in the next 15 minutes by you flaming toolboxes. 

i disagree.

thumbs up. she's fabulous.

the hillary video: thumbs up or thumbs down?

hallelujah holla front

I miss all the hallelujah holla back

i know everyone has seen the obama girl video.  that girl is hott and has a seriously nice ass

just sayin

*cough* larry craig *cough*

are there more gay democrats or more gay republicans on the hill? i'm guessing it's pretty evenly split. more open democrats, more closeted republicans. 

If so, where the hell are they

are there more gay democrats or more gay republicans on the hill? i'm guessing it's pretty evenly split. more open democrats, more closeted republicans. 

As a D, I recognize the sad sloppiness of many of my cohorts.  That said, I'm wearing a bespoke suit right now, a solidly knotted tie with an inventive but not overstated pattern, and I try to put a little effort into my appearance. Also from the OP: i also neglected to note the gay caveat. gays aren't factored into  my assessment of lack of  D fashion sense. that would unduly skew the sample.

We're sloppy, but with character.  You're clean, but generic.  Both suck. From the OP: First, as i mentioned in my post, i'm a D. Second: i agree w/u re the unimaginative brooks bros look prevalent amongst Rs. i'm not a fan, either; but given a choice between those who pay attention to presenting a put-together (albeit bland) appearance, and those who look like their mothers still buy them clothes - at the gap - and/or appear to have come to the hill from an earth first retreat at the top of redwood, i'll go w/the preppy uniform any day.

i've had enough for the week, though the House doesn't seem to agree with me

amen, brother, amen

It's the Dairy Association's policy that interns be shot on sight if they attempt to get ice cream. I'll pretend to be a dairy rep myself. I'm Jim Donaldson, young dairy farmhand from California. Great cheese come from happy cows, happy cows come from California

On the sartorial sense of Ds and Rs:  I think a claim to superiority of either side is probably false.  As a D, I recognize the sad sloppiness of many of my cohorts.  That said, I'm wearing a bespoke suit right now, a solidly knotted tie with an inventive but not overstated pattern, and I try to put a little effort into my appearance.  As, I think, do many on my side of the aisle.  The Rs, on the other hand, are decidedly cleaner-cut.  That does not, however, imply any sartorial flair.  A diagonally striped Brooks Brothers tie and a blue blazer over a lightly pigmented shirt of blue, white, or pink is an admittedly more put-together look than that casual sleaze of many Ds.  But put together doesn't mean fashionable.  Look closely.  The blue blazer probably doesn't quite fit right, and the gold buttons are surely ostentatious.  The tie is probably a lazily thrown together and overly skinny four-in-hand knot.  The hair is groomed, often with clippers, to a precise and by the numbers standard lacking any flair.  The shoes tend towards the tragic.  The point is that neither side of the aisle, by and large, can dress.  We're sloppy, but with character.  You're clean, but generic.  Both suck.

It's the Dairy Association's policy that interns be shot on sight if they attempt to get ice cream.

infact, it is OFF limits to interns...it is a staff only event That's not what I heard

upper senate park by the Russell building. What time?

cloture on the energy tax package fails. ouch.

infact, it is OFF limits to interns...it is a staff only event

upper senate park by the Russell building

Intern ice cream social today. Anyone know where it's going to be?

i want to see barney frank take the chair again.  there are few things in life as entertaining as watching him lay down the law on the republicans.  

Byrd rambles in a creepy child molester fashion

When was the last time Byrd gave a floor speech that was actually on topic?

I hate it when lobbyists use text abbreviations to email me.  It's totally pathetic.

Anyone from Michigan around here?

I'm eating Five Girls and you're all jealous.

d

Byrd just voted for the 18,000th time. And Reid is launching into another eulogy.

I'm eating Five Guys and you're all jealous.... Only of your splendid oral skills.

i have to admit that my side of the aisle is sadly lacking in sartorial sense...i begrudgingly have to agree with that.

I'm eating Five Guys and you're all jealous.

Two things told to me by my father that have proven true: don't trust a man wearing a bow tie or a man who goes into the stall to urinate standing up.

Anyone for the Senate vending machines? Email me at georgemichaelbluth@gmail.com

I know short story guy and he's a wimp

you all seem pretty vehement in your seersucker antipathy; and in your view that seersucker=R. im a D and wearing seersucker right now. further, i have to admit that my side of the aisle is sadly lacking in sartorial sense, so id advise my fellow Ds to trash their heinous birkenstocks, crumpled, stained, aged shirts and such before ragging on our undeniably better dressed rivals.

tie

bow

white

the

rock

you

until

seersucker

true

not

its

really, it's overwhelming today.

seersucker caucus

Why is Reid giving Lautenberg a eulogy?

flash mob in dirksen cafe?

Would anyone like to have lunch on the Senate side? Email me: tobiasfunke1@hotmail.com

Damn, staffer fight.ITS ON!...It is, is it?

Non-designates have all the fun.

Gumption versus ex-military? I feel the odds shifting away from gumption. . . .

Hey seersucker obsessed: jeans and a t-shirt. Why?

Hey, short or quick story guy, why the double post? It really wasn't all that interesting...You're wearing seersucker right now aren't you.

it was funny.

Hey, short or quick story guy, why the double post? It really wasn't all that interesting.

Hey long story guy, what about craigslist-type heteroerotic encounterism?

my money's on short story guy, he's got gumption.

Hey quick story guy, I'm not into craigslist-type homoerotic encounterism.

Damn, staffer fight.

ITS ON!

Hey story guys, this is audience girl. I'm running the line on tonite's fight. Make it a good one.

seersucker thursday is the best day of the week.

Hey long story guy, this is quick story guy...meet me at the main entrance of Hart at 1pm and we'll step outside to discuss whose story is better.

Eliminate oil company subsidies! Vote against the Kyl amendment.

PAYGO should be abandoned. Deficits don't matter.

Long story...I'm on the Capitol Subway yesterday, and these two clean looking Nordic guys hop on.  Burly, wingtips, clean shaven, short hair, whole nine.  Also, both have Coke bottles filled with aquavit. They sit directly beside of me and proceed to debate.  One asks the other for "the wireless telephonic device," referring to the one cell phone they share between the two of them.  The one with the phone says not until he calls the "bullpen" to "get a relief pitcher up."  He then picks up the phone and, without dialing, asks if there are any messages.  Amazingly, there are none though his voice command works perfectly.  He then hands the phone over to the other gentleman.  This foppish dandy actually dials and is connected to voicemail.  He then proceeds to say the following:  "Sheila, it's me.  I'm getting pizza tonight.  You may want chinese food, but I'm getting pizza.  I swear to YHWH, Sheila, you better not decant all my port.  There better be at least a cordial's worth when  I get back.  You know I need my Single Quinta Vintage Port, and it better be there when I get back."  He then discourses intelligently about his "Single Quinta Vintage Port" while
myself and the other ten people on the Capitol Subway stare at him, anamzed by the breadth and depth of his knowledge.  After about two minutes, he ends the conversation by yodeling: "SHEILA, I NEED MY SINGLE QUINTA VINTAGE PORT.  I'M A SENATOR, SHEILA, I'M A SENATOR.  YOU KNOW THIS."  He then meditates for about five seconds, and disconnects his wireless telephonic device.

we are nihilists lebowski.  We believe in nothing.

yeah, thisisworking.

The next time some bureaucrat retard wearing sneakers with their suit doesn't use the crosswalk by the Fed Center metro, Im just going to run them down. Fuckin' idiots can build a space shuttle but can't look both ways before crossing the street.

anti-CAFErs and anti-immigration reform... examples of people who lack any vision past next week's Meet the Press.

you are a cop my son

Dude, WTF?

Who are you?
I'm the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy.

people hate the school of the americas...who knew

I’m so sick of these loons
calling about conspiracy theories….The New World Order, The North American
Union, etc…

Get a life you paranoid fucks!

patriot act...PATRIOT ACT!!

shiela is the only name that would be apropro for that story

Quick story...I'm on the bus yesterday, and these two scraggly looking
white guys hop on.  Skinny, construction boots, shaggy beards, long
hair, whole nine.  Also, both have water bottles filled with beer.
 They sit directly in front of me and proceed to argue.  One asks the
other for "the phone," referring to the one cell phone they share
between the two of them.  The one with the phone says not until he
calls the "office" to "check the messages."  He then picks up the phone
and, without dialing, asks if there are any messages.  Amazingly, there
are none.  He then hands the phone over to the other guy.  This guy
actually dails, but gets a voicemail.  He then proceeds to say the
following:  "Shiela, it's me.  I'm getting pizza tonight.  You may want
chinese food, but I'm getting pizza.  I swear to God, Shiela, you
better not smoke all my pot.  There better be at least a bong hit when
I get back.  You know I need my medicine, and it better be there when I
get back."  He then rambles incoherently about his "medicine," while
myself and the other ten people on the bus stare at him, trying not to
laugh.  After about two minutes, he ends the conversation by yelling:
"SHIELA, I NEED MY MEDICINE.  I'M A ROCK STAR, SHIELA, I'M A ROCK STAR.
 YOU KNOW THIS."  He then stares blankly for about five seconds, and
hangs up the phone.    

Are people too lazy to put paper in printers by themself?  The sense of entitlement on the Hill pisses me off. 

yo

Yes, the Metro in July.  Honestly, is there some kind of charter that says that you must be 50 lbs overweight, dress in clothes that don't fit, and reek to high hell  from all the sweat generated by walking five feet before you are allowed to tour this city.  Also, don't flock like lemmings to the one escalator that is working, walk up the stairs, to the left at all times, and don't crowed around the doors, the rest of us would kike to get on as well.

Instead of "The amendment co-authored by my friend" on the house floor I want someone, just once, to say something like "The amendment co-authored by that douche from *insert state*"

And lest I for get WALK LEFT, STAND RIGHT. Metro should post signs up at the entrances to the escalators explaining this.

Is there a worse smell than the Cannon tunnel tour line in July? 

And lest I for get WALK LEFT, STAND RIGHT. It took me five minutes to figure that one out when I came here last month

Peut-etre, mon general.

1.) The real problem is our foreign policy fucking shit up for farmers in central Mexico; Do the anti-immigrant folks really all think immigrants want to leave their hometowns? their whole family? all of their culture and their history and make a dangerous, expensive trip up here just for the dubious luxury of scrubbing your toilet and picking your vegetables? costing you money, my ass.  The ugly little secret is that by and large Americans want things convenient and cheap and they don't want to work too hard for them.  You don't want people to come to the US for jobs? fine. Put in place some decent trade agreements that don't fuck people over.

2.) Why do all the fattest tourists pick the hottest month of the year to come to DC? Put the cheeseburger down! YES, you will have to walk everywhere.  YES, you should have started training for this before you left Ohio, or Missouri, or whatever small midwestern town you came from.  And lest I for get WALK LEFT, STAND RIGHT.

wow, i feel better.

I'm hungry, someone bring me a sandwhich, I want a footlong turkey sub on wheat bread with chedder cheese, toasted then add lettuce, and mayo

"The U.S. military announced the deaths of 14 American troops, including
five killed Thursday in a single roadside bombing that also killed four
Iraqis in Baghdad."

Umm, yeah, good luck with that plan.

Non, mon general

No it isn't, what we do is rolloing deportation. NOthing seeping or immediate, but hard enforcement against employers and actually deport the criminals, allow police to ask for status and deport anyone arrested, even without charged for another crime..

Or, vote against and wait until something decent comes along. Which will be another 5 years, by which point there will be 20-30 million illegal immigrants. Amnesty, at that point, will be the only choice. For the hardline, anti-immigrant crowd, it's either accept what's on the table right now, or be forced to accept something they really dislike a few years down the road. 

Senate staffers: Please tell your members to vote in favor

of the immigration bill….so these ignorant fuckers will stop calling us!!!! Or, vote against and wait until something decent comes along.

Quick story...I'm on the bus yesterday, and these two scraggly looking white guys hop on.  Skinny, construction boots, shaggy beards, long hair, whole nine.  Also, both have water bottles filled with beer.  They sit directly in front of me and proceed to argue.  One asks the other for "the phone," referring to the one cell phone they share between the two of them.  The one with the phone says not until he calls the "office" to "check the messages."  He then picks up the phone and, without dialing, asks if there are any messages.  Amazingly, there are none.  He then hands the phone over to the other guy.  This guy actually dails, but gets a voicemail.  He then proceeds to say the following:  "Shiela, it's me.  I'm getting pizza tonight.  You may want chinese food, but I'm getting pizza.  I swear to God, Shiela, you better not smoke all my pot.  There better be at least a bong hit when I get back.  You know I need my medicine, and it better be there when I get back."  He then rambles incoherently about his "medicine," while myself and the other ten people on the bus stare at him, trying not to laugh.  After about two minutes, he ends the conversation by yelling: "SHIELA, I NEED MY MEDICINE.  I'M A ROCK STAR, SHIELA, I'M A ROCK STAR.  YOU KNOW THIS."  He then stares blankly for about five seconds, and hangs up the phone.    

Not overhead...

Senate staffers: Please tell your members to vote in favor
of the immigration bill….so these ignorant fuckers will stop calling us!!!!

my gues is that but 2020 self imposed standards would bring them up to somewhere near 50

Is anyone else alarmed by the amount of email comming in on the CAFE standard???  There seems to be a large number of fucktards who actually want the standard kept where it is.   What the cock is this shit.  How quickly we forget 9/11, Afghanistan, and oh... IRAQ!  

35 mpg by 2020!!!!  TWENTY FUCKING TWENTY.  Half of those jackasses sending emails won't even be alive.  And really, how much oil is going to be left by then?  Someone plow down Senator Bond with Hummer.

Gays and lesbians.

Overheard....

Interns once more.

The Republic Party.

The Democrat Party.

The anti-war left is making the perfect the enemy of the good. And that's just stupid.

What is your policy?

Oui, mon General.

sure, they "work" all the time.

Interns work all the time.

Or 8:53!

As early as 8:34...

Wow.... people used to work later than 7:34 up here.