Byron Dorgan: “If you have a problem, just change the calendar. That would raise of course the question of what to name this new month.…”

“If you have a problem, just change the calendar. That would raise of course the question of what to name this new month. I suppose if they were really serious they could do what all the sports stadiums do, and just sell the name. How much money could you raise with a Microsoft month or a US Airways month? I suppose there are all kinds of possibilities along this line. But I think most people would look at this and say that it is not very serious governance--when you have a problem you cannot fix you create another month and then pretend you fixed it. Some State legislative bodies have a rule that they must adjourn by a particular time. So what they do occasionally, is to take a black cloth and cover the clock. Now we have budgeteers who think the way to solve a fiscal problem is to add another month to the calendar. I don't know. We hear a lot of Byzantine and bizarre suggestions in this Chamber from time to time. But this one has to rank right up there.”