OK, so my wife is normally very politically aware and VERY intelligent when it comes to politics. But the issue of a "quorum" came up and she said, "WHAT? You don't need everyone in Congress present to pass major legislation?" Nope. You just need a majority of the members duly elected and sworn.
Which spun off another conversation on voting by phone or online.
1. Why can't Americans vote by phone? We can bank by phone, but we can't enter our social security number and a 10-digit pin and just vote? "PUSH ONE FOR GORE, PUSH 2 FOR BUSH. YOU SELECTED GORE, IS THAT CORRECT? PUSH ONE FOR YES." The same goes for voting online. I don't even have to show photo ID at the voting booth now...why should they ask anything more on an encrypted, password protected site?
2. Why can't Congressmen vote on legislation from the road? Too often Congresspeople hide from big votes. If the world is under attack, I need the President to be able to move quickly, which means the Congress should have to move quickly. You should be able to establish a quorum by skype and vote from anywhere in the United States.