D.C. Commuters To Get Screwed By Obama Speech

Not surprisingly, scheduling a Presidential address before Congress for 7pm on a work day in September is likely to create some serious problems for people who just want to get the heck home tonight:

The Capitol Police has an unusual obstacle to contend with Thursday as the department secures the grounds for President Barack Obama’s jobs speech: traffic.

A joint session of Congress will be held at 7 p.m. for the speech. That’s about two hours earlier than normal for such presidential addresses, according to a Capitol Police spokeswoman, which means closures will start earlier — just as commuters hit the roads.

“That’s smack in the middle of rush hour,” Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said. “We need to make sure we start earlier.”

Before Obama’s State of the Union address in January, Capitol Square was closed to unauthorized pedestrians at 6 p.m. and streets were blocked an hour later. On Thursday, the square will close at 4 p.m. and the streets an hour later.

Just in time for all the people who will be trying to get home. This would be why they normally schedule these things to start at 9pm.

Enjoy the commute, folks! Tell the family not to wait for you to get home to start dinner.

 

FILED UNDER: Congress, US Politics, , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. KansasMom says:

    Blame Boehner.

  2. @KansasMom:

    Blame the people who think that the needless pageantry of a Joint Session address actually means anything

  3. WR says:

    Is there anything conservatives don’t whine about?

  4. @WR:

    Perhaps you enjoy having your life inconvenienced by self-important people zipping around town in motorcades. Most people around here don’t

  5. KansasMom says:

    Then why do people choose to live and work in a city that is home to a lot of “self-important” people who have to drive around in motorcades? The fact that motorcades and security are necessary give lie to the “self” half of the phrase “self-important.”

  6. John Burgess says:

    @Kansas Mom: Perhaps because that’s where their jobs are? Most of the federal government–indeed, most of Washington, DC–votes Democratic anyway, so at least they shouldn’t be complaining.

  7. Sam says:

    Hell, President Downgrade ObamAA+ is screwing the entire population of America.

    Well, on second thought, not the union bosses and their dues paying workers. They have been well taken care of and tonight they will be offered even more for their blind support of this failed president.

  8. Sam says:

    Many will still be at work or stuck in traffic when he talks, but no one will miss anything since all we will hear is lies as usual anyway.

  9. Sam says:

    @John Burgess:
    I work in the DC Baltimore corridor and the only thing keeping our company in the black is the Federal workers and their contractors and the state workers.

    They are the only ones with the money to purchase our goods.

  10. An Interested Party says:

    A rather amusing complaint from someone who writes for a blog called “Outside The Beltway”…

    Most of the federal government–indeed, most of Washington, DC–votes Democratic anyway…

    Considering the message sent by hypocritical Republicans that government is evil and largely unnecessary despite the fact that many of those same Republicans continue to get reelected over and over again to that government they claim to loathe, what alternative do all of those voters have?

    …but no one will miss anything since all we will hear is lies as usual anyway.

    Stick your fingers in your ears to make yourself feel better…

  11. WR says:

    @Doug Mataconis: You live in/around Washington, DC, the seat of the nation’s government. Because it’s the seat of government, it’s the one area in the country that is booming economically. But there are some trade-offs — and one of them is the inconveniences caused by having the government right there. I live in the LA area, and sometimes I’m inconvenienced by filming. I also live a block from the Rose Bowl, so I know I’m going to be trapped in or out of my house a few times a year by football traffic. I accept it, because the industry and the stadium were here before me. And I’m not a libertarian, so I don’t expect the entire world to bow down to my vastly superior individuality.