I think this post from Kate O’Beirne at the Corner, entitled “Time is Running Out,” is the sort of information that might surprise most members of the public if it were more widely disseminated:

Make that HAS RUN OUT – for judicial confirmations, immigration reform, or much of anything before the elections. When Congress gets back from it’s August recess after Labor Day there will only 14 legislative days, what with no voting on Mondays and Fridays, before leaving town on September 29th for the elections. Someone should calculate congressmen’s hourly wage.

Of course, some people might think 14 legislative days are 14 days too many, given the kinds of things that Members want to accomplish before election day (speaking of which, see here for an interesting example). But one can’t help wondering, what are these Members up to?

And, for what it’s worth, assuming those 14 days will be marathon legislative sessions (let’s say 12 hours each day), the hourly wage for a typical member of Congress from the August recess (which, for the House, actually started July 29) to election day (Nov. 7) works out to roughly $245 an hour. That’s a heck of a lot more than the minimum wage, even with the $2.10 an hour increase that may or may not be one of the items that Congress gets around two in its two remaining weeks of work before the election.