AWOL Senators

Perhaps Washington is too busy.  Perhaps they have too many meetings.
But one thing is certain: They do a lousy job of representing us.
A case in point is a Senate Finance Committee hearing held today (October 18, 2011)
Keep in mind that this committee consists of 24 members, about half from each party.

The topic was tax deductions for charitable giving.

Now, some photos of the proceedings:

This screen shot shows Max Baucus as Chairman.  He will open the meeting and stay for 20 minutes of the two hour hearing.

Grassley makes an appearance and makes a statement, then leaves.  He shows no interest in what the presenters have to say.

Cardin, Carper and Thune also attended parts of the hearing.  And they had questions for the panel of five.
At one point, about 75 minutes in, Hatch excuses himself, leaving the meeting without a chairman.
At the end, he was alone to swing the gavel.

How in the world do our leaders expect to lead when they don't even attend the meetings?

Here's a nugget of truth from one of the presenters at the hearing:

“Some economists and other scholars contend that this is, in effect, a tax expenditure because tax revenues are reduced by the benefit granted. In other words, because the government could have denied the charitable deduction there is a government expenditure in its granting the deduction and forgoing the revenue. By that reasoning the personal income we think is ours is really the government’s because of its choice not to take it away by taxation. That is surely an attitude not shared by most Americans.”

Elder Dallin H Oaks, Senate Hearing on Charitable Giving, October 18, 2011

For the record, here is a list of all the Senate Finance Committee members.

Chairman: Max Baucus, Democrat MT

Ranking member: Orrin Hatch, Republican UT

Democrats

John D. Rockefeller IV WV

Kent Conrad ND

Jeff Bingaman NM

John F. Kerry MA

Ron Wyden OR

Charles E. Schumer NY

Debbie Stabenow MI

Maria Cantwell WA

Bill Nelson FL

Robert Menendez NJ

Thomas R. Carper DE

Benjamin L. Cardin MD

Republicans

Chuck Grassley IA

Olympia J. Snowe ME

Jon  Kyl  AZ

Mike Crapo ID

Pat Roberts KS

Michael B. Enzi WY

John Cornyn TX

Tom Coburn OK

John Thune SD

Richard Burr NC