I’d never own a handgun to protect myself from the government. Protesting myself my armed fellow Americans who are terrified of the government, on the other hand….
Tag Archives: Congress
Two reasons why the new CREDO Action petition to limit CEO salaries wouldn’t work
There’s a new petition going around – maybe you’ve seen it on Facebook. It points up our growing rich-poor gap and asks Congress to cap CEO pay, which is obscene in many cases. The ratio of CEO pay in the United States has ballooned to 380 times that of the average worker. Pass legislation to […]
Redistricting: by deceitfully moving a line, I can rule forever
In America, most — but probably not all — citizens who seek public office do so with initial good intent. They wish to perform a public service. That quaint, altruistic notion lasts, on the national level, perhaps 10 minutes after the swearing-in ceremony. Lobbyists descend. Party leaders demand fund-raising success now. The novice lawmaker is […]
Mitch McConnell and the GOP: Filibusted
Mitch McConnell is having quite a week. Earlier this week, Senate Majority leader and sad turtle McConnell led Senate Republicans in boldly not voting for a UN treaty to protect disabled people. And then yesterday, he had to filibuster his own bill when Senate Democrats called his bluff. The bill in question would turn the […]
Our hardworking folks in Congress: more interested in keeping their jobs than doing their jobs
When voters elect members of Congress, they are hiring them to do a job. Voters, through their taxes, compensate those politicians well — $174,000 a year, and more if they have committee or leadership roles. Many, if not most, voters — unless they are among the 12.5 million without jobs — work about 35 hours […]
How my congressman, Tom Reed, lost my vote: He sent me a franked letter he shouldn't have
Imagine you are a freshman member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Unless you’re an idiot, you want to be re-elected. It’s a cushy gig — it pays $174,000 a year. It’s likely you already have a net worth in the high six figures — nine times that of the your constituents — so you’re […]
Surprise! Corporations secretly investing in U.S. politics, increasing need for DISCLOSE Act
In his book “Private Empire,” author Steve Coll relates a telling remark that reflects how Lee Raymond, then ExxonMobil CEO, viewed his company’s relationship with America. He was asked whether ExxonMobil would build more refineries inside the United States to help insulate the nation against gasoline shortages. Raymond: “Why would I do that?” An oil […]
July 5, 2012: Nothing's changed. The American dream continues to erode
Hope you enjoyed your hot dogs, Mom, apple pie, fireworks, and the inevitable flourishes of patriotism, both faux and real, on the Fourth of July. But nothing has changed in America from the July 3 that kissed you good night to the July 5 that nudged you awake you this morning. Political warfare by any […]
Lindsay Lohan to run for Congress? Why we should vote for her
The strikingly beautiful young woman — she will turn 26 years old on July 2 — approaches the podium with its waiting forest of microphones. Her hair, reddish blonde and flowing well below her shoulders, is caught briefly in a gust of wind as she walks to the front of the press corps on the […]
Congress attempts to legislate away containment of Iran and replace it with war
Iran could be forgiven for interpreting our coercive diplomacy as a reason, were it so inclined, to arms itself with nuclear weapons.
A Senate re-election announcement you'll never hear
A make-up woman brushes a small lock of my hair so it drapes slightly over my forehead. That errant wisp tested well with focus groups of women. I glance at the TelePrompter, reciting silently the first few lines. My administrative aide, a former K Street lobbyist doing a two-year turn of “public service” before returning […]
Filibuster reform and the zombie apocalypse
Once I was a believer in the time-honored Senate filibuster tradition, although by “believer” I don’t necessarily mean that I loved it or revered it, exactly. I was more like a guy worried about a zombie apocalypse stocking up on 12-gauge shells. In case things go to hell, at least the good guys have the […]
How to get ahead on Capitol Hill: Use a leadership PAC to buy power
I’m in my second term in the U.S. House of Representatives. I’m a Republocrat. I like the job. It pays $174,000, has great medical benefits, provides a really nice private gym to use, and lots of people have to be nice to me. And there are those $110,000 in taxpayer-funded fringe benefits I get (including […]
S&R Honors
Click here to learn more about past honorees...- The time a source has to respond to request for comment? Virtually none.
- Profiling the Tea Party: In defense of the IRS. Sorta. Or not.
- Saturday Video Roundup: “Imagine the Band,” by John Lennon and Wings
- The Rest is Noise (6)—Descent into the Maelstrom
- I hate handguns, but I have still considered owning one
- Mystery Unraveled: How a white, moderate, married, churchgoing, middle-class, middle-aged woman could vote for Obama
- An open letter to Burt Rutan, regarding his WSJ commentary on human-caused climate disruption
- Meet the men of Match.com: Really, guys, are you serious?
- Climate scientists still besieged
- Pelosi on Bush: “He’s not worth impeaching”
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Samuel Smith: I try not to draw too many conclusions about peopl…
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Frank Dilatush: Sam, allow me a moment of off point please. In a s…
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Cat White: "To him, obviously, the Tea Party is a viable poli…
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Russ Wellen: Eloquent post. The Tea Party right would do wise t…
