(Image source: Office of Tx. Gov. Rick Perry)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

With a record low approval rating -- Congress is a tempting target for attack ads.

So it might not be surprising that’s where Texas Governor Rick Perry aims his fire in a new TV spot.

ANNOUNCER: “If Washington’s the problem, why trust a Congressman to fix it? … Congressmen get $174,000 a year and you get the bill. We need a solution.”
RICK PERRY: “That’s the reason I’ve called for a part-time Congress. Cut their pay in half, cut their time in Washington in half, cut their staff in half, send them home. Let them get a job like everybody else back home has.”

And with just a week until the Iowa caucus -- it’s no small coincidence four of Perry’s opponents in the race for the Republican presidential nomination are or were members of Congress: Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul currently serve, and Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are former members.

But the idea of a part-time Congress is nothing new coming from Perry.
Here he is at a campaign stop in Iowa earlier this month, courtesy of IowaPolitics.com.

PERRY: “That’s what we do in the 13th-largest economy in the world. Texas legislators get paid $600 a month. They are in town for 140 days every other year.”

According to the Library of Congress, the House was in session a little more than 170 days this year -- and the Senate -- about 160 days. That’s less than half the year, which has a blogger for Hot Air poo-pooing the part-time idea.

“...does anyone really think the trouble with Congress is that they spend too much time in session? … my hunch is that they’d spend much of their new free time fundraising and forming PACs and preparing for the next election.”

And Tim Jones, writing for the progressive blog Mother Jones, also thinks it’s a bad idea -- but not for the same reason.

“It also offers a solution to a problem that doesn't exist—namely that members of Congress (and their staffs) are overpaid and lazy. Generally speaking, they work insanely long hours ... handling a set of responsibilities that have significantly expanded...”

But that last part, about Congress’ responsibilities expanding, is exactly why supporters of the Perry part-time plan say it has merit. Fox News’ Elizabeth MacDonald weighs in.

ELIZABETH MACDONALD: “The issue is Congress meets too often and government has grown out of control and if you go down the DC hallways, you can shoot an arrow down a federal building hallway and not hit anybody… The point is, they are doing too much and getting involved too much in our personal lives and business.”

Finally -- Talking Points Memo’s Benjy Sarlin doesn’t think Perry has the right idea -- namely because it hardly works in Texas.

“...deliberately reducing the state legislature’s role in running the government means that someone has to step in and fill the void. In Texas, it’s the various state boards and commissioners who end up with outsized power. … [Also,] legislators who work part-time tend to have lower levels of information about the relevant issues when the legislature is in session. The result is that they’re even more reliant on help from outside groups...”

Perry’s part-time Congress ad will run on broadcast and cable stations in Iowa. The Des Moines Register notes, it’s his 11th TV ad to hit the Hawkeye State. Iowans caucus January 3rd.