So much to do, so little time … so Congress skips town

SO MUCH TO DO, SO LITTLE TIME... SO CONGRESS SKIPS TOWN
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commntary] As Congress settles into its month-long August break, it's hard to shake the feeling that the House and Senate haven't earned their time off. Instead of tending to basics and working out differences on divisive but vital issues such as immigration, members have spent much of the past several months in political posturing and time-wasting debates over non-essential issues. One thing Congress must do each year is pass the annual spending bills that fund everything from the space program to border security. So far, the Senate has produced just one of the 11 appropriations bills. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has found it more important to fritter away scarce time on an obsessive quest to repeal the estate tax and on blatant pandering to social conservatives with proposed constitutional amendments on flag-burning and gay marriage. Even those who think those issues are crucial would have an easier time defending debate time for them if the Senate had done its mandatory work first.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060807/edtwo07.art.htm