Congress is back at work. If they don’t get any more accomplished in 2013 than in 2012, it seems like they ought to give their salaries to charity. And I can’t think of a charity more deserving than the American taxpayers. Of course it wouldn’t amount to more than a nickel a piece for the poor taxpayer, but the gesture might be enough to raise the stature of Congress. According to the latest poll, compared to suffering through two more years of this Washington mud wrestling, Americans would rather have a colonoscopy, gall stones surgically removed, and sprayed by a skunk.

The so-called Debt Limit is the next thing to get all riled up about. Republicans say they just raised it 17 months ago, and already the President has exceeded it. Instead of fighting over another Trillion dollar extension, I suggest the President should sit down with his Treasurer, calculate how much they will have to borrow to get through the next four years, and have the House Democrats propose it and vote for it. At the rate they’re spending, it would probably be for about $8 Trillion on top of the $16 Trillion we’re already in the hole. The President already requested an unlimited amount, so anything less than that should be a victory for Republicans.

Racking up all this debt has quite a few people concerned. But President Obama says the debt is nothing to worry over because we’re better off than Spain or Italy or Portugal or Greece.  But as Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles said, “Our predicament is like being the healthiest horse in the glue factory.”

Several top people in the Obama administration have resigned, including Sheila Jackson. She’s the head of the EPA, where she put in 6000 new regulations in the last few months. No wonder she is resigning; she’s exhausted.

There’s nothing unusual about Cabinet-level folks quitting after four years. And the president is busy rounding up the best men he can find to replace ‘em.

On the other hand, the Senate put in a new Chairman of the Budget Committee because the old one never did anything. Since they never passed a budget in three years, why not disband the committee. Send those Senators and the staff home and look at all the money we would save.

A friend of mine posted this lovely thought on Facebook: “Your worth consists of what you are, not in what you have.” My first reaction was, “What a wonderful philosophy.” Then the humorist in me kicked in, “Let’s hope so, because in four years we may not have much.”

Maybe we should just hunker down till Washington decides how bad off we’ll be.

Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“Never blame a legislative body for not doing something. When they do nothing, they don’t hurt anybody. When they do something is when they become dangerous.” DT #1038, Nov. 22, 1929