Democratic Representative John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee lost his license temporarily after the check he wrote to pay the renewal fee bounced. Whoops:

Rep. John Conyers, the powerful chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, had his driver's license suspended for a month this summer when a check he used to pay the renewal fee bounced, according to state driving records obtained by the Associated Press.

The 81-year-old Detroit Democrat tried to renew his license at a secretary of state branch office on Feb. 2, the records show. Months later, state officials determined the bank account tied to the check had insufficient funds, and his license was suspended on June 30.

Conyers eventually paid the fee, and his suspension was lifted July 26.

Asked for an explanation, Conyers' Detroit district office responded with a written statement that said "a check was inadvertently written to renew the chairman's driver's license from an account that had been recently closed.

"As a result his driver's license was suspended," the statement said. "Immediately upon learning of this, a replacement cashier's check was provided, and his driver's license was immediately reinstated."

Like everyone else, I got a good laugh out of Conyers' bounced check and suspended license. Who doesn't enjoy a good helping of schadenfreude when a member of the ruling class experiences a moment of you're-no-better-than-the-rest-of-us.

But did anyone else notice that it took the state several months to realize Conyers' checking account didn't have enough funds to cover his renewal fee? When I registered a new vehicle on September 24th, my check cleared in four days. What was the hold up with Conyers' check? Unless I'm missing something here, this doesn't make any sense.