The First Day of High School at the US Capitol

Today is the day that the new freshmen Congressmen got the keys to their new offices.

Early this morning when we arrived at the Cannon office building there were new staffers sitting outside locked offices amongst the scattered furniture jammed in the hallways. Young and fresh staffers asked more seasoned staffers for directions, and others shopped in the Congressional office supply shop in order to stock the new offices. It reminded my a lot of the first day of high school!

It has been nice to get away from California for a few days and to talk to people from somewhere else to get some perspective aside from our local perspective.

Among the local DC population and the halls of Congress, the mood in Washington DC is very good. From the waiter at Ruby Tuesday to my roommate from Russia to staffers in Congress, the mood is one of cautious optimism. Our freedom loving country is truly at a crossroads - do we continue to live beyond our means or do we start to cure the burden that we are placing on our descendants?

The general consensus is that our current fiscal path is unsustainable.

Our local liberal contingent which is always trying to seek the "middle of the road" in conservatives need to open their eyes. Fiscal responsibility, decreasing the national debt, and balancing the budget are about as "middle of the road" as you can get. In 2010, conservatives ran on these principles and won overwhelmingly decisive victories with conservative and independent support. Liberals need to reach across the aisle and work with conservatives to cure the ills of American fiscal policy, or risk being further marginalized from the American public and become the high school nerd that could not get a date.

Aside from politics, Kim and I took a Capitol dome tour. The tour consisted of walking stairs to the top of the Capitol dome. We stood at the top of the dome a mere feet from the fresco painted at the top. Afterwards, we went above the fresco and stood outside of the Capitol at the very top of the building. Needless to say, it was really cool.

I could go on and on about the air and space museum, but that will have to wait for another day.