The website Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) lists 21 current members of Congress who are likely under investigation by one or more departments responsible for monitoring misconduct. 14 of these investigations involve either directing earmarks to companies in exchange for contributions or using influence to benefit contributors.
Read MoreRepublicans continued to indicate the polls, which they indicate show the American people do not want this bill passed, and it should be shelved and the process started over. Democrats continued to indicate the Republicans aren’t interested in covering all Americans.
Read MoreIt is clear the Republicans want to completely scrap the proposed bills and start over, apparently wanting to pass each piece as a separate bill, as opposed to covering all the issues in one bill. It is equally as apparent the Democrats have no interest in doing that, citing the delays that would cause.
Read MoreApproximately 3,000 people died in the attacks on 9/11, and our entire national security policy changed, almost overnight. 45,000 people or more die every year due to lack of effective health care coverage, and we just keep feeding the monster that is the root of the problem.What kind of catastrophe will it take for us to wake up and realize wealth is useless without health?
Read MoreIn the sixties, no Senate term included more than seven uses of the filibuster. By stark comparison, the last decade saw no Senate term with less than 49 uses. The 110th session of Congress, which ended at the end of 2008, called for cloture votes 112 times, a new record in the Senate. It is important to note that cloture votes are also used now for things other than ending a filibuster.
Read MoreLet’s try to understand what will happen if the trickle down party takes control of Congress in November. Nothing whatsoever. We will spend the next two years doing nothing, passing nothing, accomplishing nothing. We cannot afford that right now. If the Democrats do not get the ship righted by 2012, I am all for changing leaders, and will vote exactly that way.
Read MoreThe Tea Party movement has been born from conservatives who feel there are too many current Republicans who are not conservative enough. But to hear this group of predominantly white, overwhelmingly wealthy people stand behind a party named after a movement to rebuke taxation without representation is strange, as they have more representation and pay proportionately less taxes.
Read MoreFebruary 17th marked the one year anniversary of the signing of one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in a generation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. People from both sides of the political aisle took advantage of this milestone to chime in with their opinions, but what are the facts?
Read MoreThe logjam of legislation sitting in the Senate is not reflective of a party who has enjoyed a super majority until the recent Massachusetts special election. The Senate has become the chamber where legislation goes to die. Republicans have made it pretty clear that if the Democrats want any of their legislation to pass, they will need to have the 60 votes necessary to avoid a filibuster.
Read MoreWhat is also incredible is the continued practice of breaking our promises to the Native Americans. Every time our young nation was ready to expand, we forced the tribes to relocate further and further west, often offering treaties that indicated these new lands would be theirs forever. Or at least until the next time we wanted more land and saw them as being in the way.
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