Recently on CNN, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) appeared and discussed the ongoing stall in the fiscal-cliff talks, and delivered his take. Congress, he said, was a much different place when he first arrived, because everyone in both parties socialized more, and they all had permanent residences in Washington. Before cellphones, the Internet, fax machines and other devices, people needed each other’s presence more to fill time, and members in both parties played golf together, went to happy hours and had family dinners and barbecues.

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