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Rick Perry proposes radical idea: make Congress meet less

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Governor Rick Perry speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC. (Photo by Flickr user Gage Skidmore, cc-by-sa.)

Trying to make his campaign more relevant again, Rick Perry on the campaign trail recently suggested that Congress have their meeting time, office budgets and pay cut in half, to get them out of Washington.


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As Rick Perry tries regain traction with his presidential campaign, he's come up with a new idea he hopes might resonate with voters.

Make Congress part-time.

"It is time to create a part-time Congress, where their pay is cut in half, the office budgets are cut in half and their time in Washington is cut in half," Perry said on the campaign trail recently.

But according to Todd Zwillich, Congress already is in session what probably amounts to part-time. Last year, they were in session 123 days. That said, they do get full-time pay.

However, the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits changing the pay for Congress until the next Congress meets. So, even if Perry were elected and got a bill like this through Congress, an uphill battle, no changes could take place until the second half of his first term.

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Found in:   elections   government   politics   congress   Rick Perry
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