Louisiana Rep. Vance McAllister, R-Swartz, is leaving Congress after losing his bid for a new two-year term with regrets about his indiscretion. However, he offers some good insight into the shortcomings of the way business is conducted in the nation’s capital.

The 5th Congressional District representative was caught on video kissing a married staffer. McAllister told The Times-Picayune he has no excuses for his behavior and can never offer up an adequate apology to his wife, their five children or his constituents.

Congress is definitely broken, he told the newspaper, but he’s not sure his colleagues are even aware of how dysfunctional legislating has become. Members spent a lot of time drafting bills, he said, but most didn’t get any consideration.

“The biggest frustration is that you see a problem and try to correct it with a bill, well only a handful of people control every bill that’s going to get a vote,” he said. “I don’t need to tell you not much is getting done.

“In Washington, it’s more of a game, a chess match, not legislating.”

McAllister repeated his belief that Gov. Bobby Jindal should have accepted expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. He said the federal-state health care program would help many uninsured low-income people in the 5th District.

One of McAllister’s last votes was against the $1.1 trillion national budget bill that passed before Congress went home for the holidays. He and U.S. Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, were the only Louisiana congressmen against the legislation.

McAllister said he was surprised Republicans voted for the bill when it didn’t put any restraints on President Obama’s executive order on immigration or on changes to Obamacare.

“All those suckers were campaigning about Obama ruining the country and how they’ll repeal Obamacare and how bad his immigration order was, and what do we do when we return to Washington — nothing on the health law and put off immigration until February,” he said.

“I’m not saying it was a terrible bill, but it’s not what the voters expected us to do.”

The House Republican leadership said it would try to block the president’s immigration order early next year when the party takes control of both houses of Congress.

McAllister has confirmed what he said he suspected before he ever went to Washington. The federal government has lost its ability to function. He said his early “it sucks” assessment of Congress turned out to be “entirely accurate.”

Republicans will have a chance to change the way business is done in Washington, but there isn’t a lot of optimism among the electorate that they can pull off such a daunting task.(MGNonline)