Grayson: The Legend of Florida's 8th District

|

The last time I caught Rep Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) trying to meddle in the affairs of private business, it was during this interview with Neil Cavuto, when he explained that his eponymous "pay for performance" bill would outlaw "unreasonable and excessive compensation" for any employee of a company that accepted government bailout money. Who decides what is unreasonable? The Secretary of the Treasury, of course!

Now Grayson is back (likely having read about generous European vacation policies in The New York Times) with the Paid Vacation Act. According to Politico, it is "legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law." Naturally, Grayson represents Florida's 8th district, home to Disney World and the creepy, Stepford town of Celebration:

The bill would require companies with more than 100 employees to offer a week of paid vacation for both full-time and part-time employees after they've put in a year on the job. Three years after the effective date of the law, those same companies would be required to provide two weeks of paid vacation, and companies with 50 or more employees would have to provide one week.

The idea: More vacation will stimulate the economy through fewer sick days, better productivity and happier employees.

"There's a reason why Disney World is the happiest place on Earth: The people who go there are on vacation," said Grayson, a freshman who counts Orlando as part of his home district. "Honestly, as much as I appreciate this job and as much as I enjoy it, the best days of my life are and always have been the days I'm on vacation."