As one of those domestic racist gun totin’ astroturfed Nazi terrorists who was in DC on September 12th, I find the grandeur of our Capitol complex spine tingling. Every American should experience it very few years. The last time I had visited the Capitol prior to September 12th was when Gerald Ford laid in state under the Capitol dome. My daughter, Lucy Gordon, and I went on a rainy Labor Day weekend.  As I age, I realize my chances to participate in such an event wanes; and despite Ford’s unelected status, he was still President.  Lucy Gordon and I were both awed by the solemn pomp and ceremony of the occasion which was only amplified by the magnificence of our Capitol.

     Since the events of the 12th were held outdoors, my attention this time was turned to the buildings surrounding the Capitol. In my treks back and forth to the Metro station, I saw numerous legislative office buildings lining the edges of the Capitol complex whose existence for me had been previously unknown. Being of curious mind, when I got home, I looked up what these buildings were and what I discovered floored me.

     Our legislature is comprised of 435 representatives and 100 senators. So how much office space do you the American taxpayer think each of these employees deserves? Well, each of our representatives has over 8,000 square feet allocated to his use. I arrived at this number by taking the square footage of each of the 3 House office buildings and dividing it by our 435 representatives. Of course, in this number is underground parking, but it is still a huge number. Personally, I am delighted with my 10′ x 12′ private office; and frankly, I could get by with one of the 6′ x 8′ cubicles also available at my office. And don’t forget these officials also have local office space in their districts, while our senators have numerous local offices scattered across their states.

     Yet this wasn’t the number that enraged me. Want to take a guess how much office space each senator has? Com’ on, take a guess. After all, our senators are just men of the people, even though some of them have spent millions of their own (or wife’s) money to land one of these $175,000 jobs. Oh, these servants of the people require only 23,000 plus square feet to accomplish your work. With all this square footage available, you would think each could have just one reading room where they could actually read the legislation they mandate upon us.