One of the more curious aspects of the lame duck session was the minority party's regular insistence that nothing big or complicated be brought up for a vote. Shouldn't do DADT repeal in a lame duck session. Shouldn't do START. Better to do it "later." In the House that seems to mean after the next election, forever.
The fact is, Congress is in session most of the year, though they work relatively little. It was air conditioning that spoiled them. Used to be they worked a while in the spring- in the old days they didn't convene till March, then they went home for the summer and came back, if needed, in the fall. Now they are there all the time, mostly appearing on television. Lots of state legislatures have time limits for their sessions. They work till they get everything done, or the governor calls them back into special session- with another time limit.
But where in the Constitution is there a definition of "the right time" to pass a bill?
N.b.: happy Christmas to the Teabaggists who'll be joining the Honorables next month and discover governing means making choices. Calling Senator Manchin...
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