The House & Senate opened up for business yesterday, and after the swearing in ceremonies and photo opportunities, members of both parties went on a bill spree and submitted 400 bills for consideration!:

Some of the more ludicrous submissions included:

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), an obvious Obama fan, is proposing (H.J.Res. 5) “an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President.

Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) is proposing a bill (HR 14), “To provide for ocean acidification research and monitoring, and for other purposes.” I love the opaqueness of the often used tag line: “for other purposes.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) is proposing a bill (HR 73), “To provide for the collection of data on traffic stops.”

And it wasn’t just Democrats, no my friend, our very own failed presidential nominee or ran on the Government is to big, my friends, submitted a bill to EXPAND Government and interfere in another industry:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is proposing (S. 38) “A bill to establish a United States Boxing Commission to administer the Act, and for other purposes.” This chestnut is an long time favorite for McCain. The sport of boxing apparently is so out of control that it needs to be reigned in by the federal government.

Thankfully, some sense prevailed and a few good bills were submitted:

Rep. John Linder (R-GA) has re-introduced his favorite bill (HR 25) – to abolish the IRS and implement the Fair Tax. And Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) offered up a couple of gems. He wants to abolish the Appropriations Committee (H.Res. 17) and he wants to allow people who want higher taxes to be able to voluntarily send the federal government some of their extra money on their tax returns (HR 87).

It really makes you wonder how some of these people constantly get reelected, and what the true responsibilities of the Federal Government are, especially under the direction of the Legislative Branch.