Lamar Alexander
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Former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander gets my vote next year in the Republican presidential primary. Terrific idea “that Congress should be part-time” (Washington Insight, Jan. 19).
House Speaker Newt Gingrich could teach history and cash his royalty checks. Sen. Bob Dole could help his wife run the American Red Cross. And so on. With the millions of dollars we’d save on staff, perks, trips back home on weekends, lights, heat, maintenance, gymnasiums, medical care, dining rooms, libraries and subways, we probably could rescue thousands of tots from the clutches of modern-day Fagins.
On second thought, I’ve always thought that Congress is part-time. What does one call a workweek that usually starts Tuesday morning when our senators and representatives fly in from home, and ends on Thursday afternoon when they rush to Dulles Airport and fly home? (Except when they manage to get a flight free on a government plane.)
JERRY COWLE
Pacific Palisades
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