Washington DC (Congress): First US Congressperson to only telecommute to work. The...

...congressperson permanently closes his or her Washington DC office (giving back all of the keys to it) and, if he has a DC residence, either terminates his apartment lease or sells his house in Washington, DC.  All of the congressperson’s staff work in his state/district and none work in Washington, DC.  Whichever chamber of Congress he works in (US House of Representatives or US Senate), that body makes it possible for him to participate in committee and subcommittee meetings by way of videoconferencing.  The congressperson uses encrypted telephone lines to converse with other members of Congress (of both chambers), the White House, and federal agencies.  [Expect all Congresspersons who like portraying themselves as outsiders in Washington, DC and/or not part of the Washington Establishment, to be the first ones to do this.  Also, expect Congresspersons facing tough re-elections to opt to do this to try to ingratiate themselves with their constituents.  Eventually one of the two major political parties will likely jump on this option as a way to show that it, unlike the other major political party, is for the People and not for the lobbyists and bureaucrats in Washington, DC.

      And if you have any lingering doubts about why this challenge should be done, read This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral in America's Gilded Capital by Mark Liebovich.]

1) First US Congressperson of the other major political party to telecommute to work.

2) First US House Representative to telecommute to work.

3) First US House Representative of the other major political party to telecommute to work.

4) First US Senator to telecommute to work.

5) First US Senator of the other major political party to telecommute to work.

6) First US Congressperson who chairs a congressional subcommittee to telecommute.

7) First US Congressperson who chairs a congressional committee to telecommute.

8) First US state legislature to pass a resolution (signed by that state’s governor) calling on all of its US Senators and US House Representatives to telecommute to work.

9) First state legislature of a major US state (population of 9 million or more) to pass a resolution (signed by that state’s governor) calling on all of its US Senators and US House Representatives to telecommute to work.

10) First state to pass a state-wide citizen-initiated referendum calling upon all its US Senators and US House Representatives to telecommute to work.

11) First major state (population of 9 million or more) to pass a state-wide citizen-initiated referendum calling upon all its US Senators and US House Representatives to telecommute to work.

12) First leader of one of the chambers of Congress (Speaker of US House or US Senate Majority Leader) to telecommute to work.

13) First leader of one of the chambers of Congress to officially, permanently close his or her half of the Capitol Building and turn it over to the Smithsonian Institution.  [Since each chamber is currently controlled by a different political party, the first leader to do this makes his party look like it dislikes politics as usual, lobbyists, government bureaucrats, and the Washington Establishment more than the other party.  Expect this to feature prominently in his party’s political attack ads.]

14) The entire Capitol Building officially and permanently closed and turned over to the Smithsonian Institution.  [This finally eliminates a juicy target for terrorists and enemy nations.]

15) After all US Congresspersons telecommute to work (this challenge), the White House is closed (SOCIETY: Washington DC [White House]), and the US Supreme Court is moved to London (STATEHOOD: England), the District of Columbia's federal status is revoked and it is returned to the State of Maryland.

16) First TV documentary to chronicle a group of US Congresspersons making the shift to telecommuting to work.  [From making the decision ... to getting approval from party leaders ... to breaking the leases on DC apartments and/or selling their DC homes ... to setting up the videoconferencing equipment in their district offices ... to conducting their committee and subcommittee meeting work via videoconferencing ... to lobbying fellow congressional members over the phone and/or video conferences to get them to vote for bills they're pushing ... to living their lives outside of the Washington Bubble.]  The documentary must chronicle both Democrats and Republicans as well as both US House Representatives and US Senators.

First radio talk show hosts to champion this challenge and:

17) Gets a sitting member of either the US House or US Senate from the host's state to officially announce on the host's show that they are officially permanently closing their Washington DC office; selling their Washington DC home or breaking their DC apartment lease; and only telecommuting to DC from their state from then forward.

18) Same as Future Challenge #17 but being the first to get a member of the other chamber of the US Congress to officially announce on the host's show that they are officially permanently closing their Washington DC office; selling their Washington DC home or breaking their DC apartment lease; and only telecommuting to DC from their state from then forward.

19) Same as FC #17 but getting ALL of the host's state's congresspersons from both chambers of the US Congress to officially announce on the host's show that they are officially permanently closing their Washington DC office; selling their Washington DC home or breaking their DC apartment lease; and only telecommuting to DC from their state from then forward.  [This one will be a hard one for a radio talk show host to pull off since it only takes one other radio talk show host in their state to do FC #17 and they won't be able to win this one OR it takes only one congressperson from their state to hold a press conference, speak to a TV newscast, or some other public venue where they officially announce they're doing the above.  In other words, this will be a clear demonstration of how much political pull a radio talk show host has in her/his state if they can win this future challenge.]

20) Same as FC #17 but gets a sitting member of either the US House or US Senate who is NOT from her/his home state to officially announce on the host's show that they are officially permanently closing their Washington DC office; selling their Washington DC home or breaking their DC apartment lease; and only telecommuting to DC from their state from then forward.  [This one will be a hard future challenge for a radio talk show host to pull off since if a congressperson did this, s/he would piss off every radio talk show host in their state and that's not a good thing for anyone who wants to get re-elected to do.  In reality, the only radio talk show hosts who MIGHT be able to win this future challenge are nationally syndicated with a HUGE listenership.  Make no doubt.  Any congressperson who lets a nationally-syndicated radio talk show host to win this future challenge has national ambitions (a.k.a. s/he wants to be US President) and will be calling in this IOU with that radio talk show host when s/he runs for the White House.  Also, any radio talk show host that is able to win this future challenge is also clearly demonstrating just how big of a player s/he is on the national scene.]

21) Same as FC #20 but is able to get 10 sitting members of the US Congress to do so on her/his show.

22) Same as FC #20 but is able to get the most sitting Democratic members of the US Congress to do so on her/his show.  This future challenge can only be won when it is mathematically impossible for any other radio talk show host to win this future challenge.  [In other words, there are too few sitting Democratic members of the US Congress who haven't yet permanently closed their DC office; put their DC home up for sale or broken their apartment lease; and are telecommuting from their home state for another radio talk show host to get to win this future challenge.  The radio talk show host who wins this future challenge will demonstrate that, as far as the US Congress and Democratic Party are concerned, s/he is the most powerful Liberal political talk show host in the nation.]

23) Same as FC #20 but is able to get the most sitting Republican members of the US Congress to do so on her/his show.  This future challenge can only be won when it is mathematically impossible for any other radio talk show host to win this future challenge.  [In other words, there are too few sitting Republican members of the US Congress who haven't yet permanently closed their DC office; put their DC home up for sale or broken their apartment lease; and are telecommuting from their home state for another radio talk show host to get to win this future challenge.  The radio talk show host who wins this future challenge will demonstrate that, as far as the US Congress and Republican Party are concerned, s/he is the most powerful political Conservative talk show host in the nation.]