“Oh the weather outside is…actually, quite delightful.”

This past week has been more of a routine week at the office. I haven’t attended any hearings, and everyone left Friday with baited breath, wondering how the Reconciliation Act of 2010 and it’s enclosed health care and student loan reform would fare in Sunday’s House vote.
     
In a different sense, my fellow interns and I are a bit distracted by Washington’s pleasantly balmy weather. As a Mainer, I am shocked that a scant few weeks after snow drifts were still piled high around the area, there is not a single trace of it left, and the temperature has flirted with the low-70’s range all week long. The major downside to this during the work week is, of course, that instead of enjoying the loveliness of nature, you’re inside an office under the blinding heat of fluorescent lights.
     
This past Monday, The Washington Center’s Political Leadership Program took us on a tour of the U.S. Capitol, which included a special perk: a chance to walk on to the floor of the House of Representatives. I had been to the Capitol a few times before, and the closest members of the public are usually allowed are the Senate and House galleries, which ring the upper level of each chamber. This time, with the help of a Washington Center alum, we were able to walk onto the floor.

A few notes on that excursion: first and foremost, pictures were strictly prohibited, and so I apologize for not having cool photos to share. Second: the chamber is far, far smaller than television makes it look. I had noticed this effect in the White House, and found it true on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue as well. The chamber felt small enough that for a brief, confused moment, I thought we were in the Senate and not the House.
       
On another note: the chairs that are in place  (should Representatives ever quit the constant campaigning back home and come to Washington to actually use their chairs outside of events like the State of the Union) are quite comfortable. Little details such as that fascinate me, because it’s something you can never really find out unless you’ve been there, there is no information out there that I’m aware of on chair comfort in high-up places.
       
Of course, by the time you read this, a historic vote will already have taken place in that chamber, a vote that will extend health care to millions of uninsured Americans, prohibit the “pre existing conditions” excuse popular among insurers, switch student lending back to a more efficient system (away from the banks), and reduce the deficit by about $138 billion over the next ten years.
     
It’s interesting to me that these stand as the basic facts, reported through various established print (online and paper) media sources, and yet when I talk to people outside of Washington, all I hear is a wash of partisan, misinformed rants which seem lifted directly from cable news. If my time at KSCW and in this city has confirmed anything for me, it’s that cable news has gotten so deeply into entertaining people that it should never be trusted for nuanced, in-depth coverage.
       
A final, unrelated note: in a previous entry, I related my adventure over in DC’s SE district, near the Anacostia River and the now defunct DC General Hospital, which for years was the city's only public health facility. Well, it turns out that portions of DC General are actually used for a gigantic homeless shelter, the integrity of which has been questioned recently.
       
Now, it seems to me that the DC General problem would be an easy fix. The city could invest in making necessary renovations and upgrades at the facility for a relatively minimal cost, in order to continue providing a place for the homeless to go. I don’t know if this is the case at DC General, but I would also think it would be worthwhile to establish vocational/training resources at the facility for people to make use of, in the hope of moving them on.
       
But, I am a stranger here myself, and sadly my tenure in the city is already past the halfway mark.