Congress"The imperial presidency would not exist were it not for the Congress, which has willingly ceded authority to the executive branch, especially on matters touching, however remotely on national security. As the chief executive achieved supremacy, the legislative branch no only lost clout but gradually made itself the object of ridicule. David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, pungently described the philosophy of the Bush administration this way: "We're going to push and push and push until some larger force makes us stop." Even under Democratic control, the Congress has not remotely threatened to be that large force." The Limits of Power, the End of American Exceptionalism: Andrew J. Bacevich
Congress FAILs on Jobs Again (5/14/2010) How to Get Our Democracy Back: Lawrence Lessig 2/22/2010 Congress may not be broken but oversight is US Congress Sells Out to Wall Street Health Care: Not All Republicans Are on the Crazy Train -- Just the Ones in Congress (10/7/2009) Alleged U.S. Contractor Rape Victim Fights for Day in Court --Senate Passes Amendment to Stop Contractors From Forcing Employees into Arbitration 07 Oct 2009 Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old young woman working her fourth day on the job in Baghdad for contractor Halliburton/KBR in 2005, when she says she was drugged and gang-raped by seven U.S contractors and held captive by two KBR guards in a shipping container. But Jones is still waiting for her day in court because when she signed her employment contract, she lost her rights to a jury trial and, instead, was forced into having her claims decided through secret, binding arbitration. Today, the Senate approved an amendment by a vote of 68-30 that would prohibit "the Defense Department from contracting with companies that require employees to resolve sexual assault allegations and other claims through arbitration." [The thirty scumbags who voted no: Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Gregg (R-NH) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Wicker (R-MS).] (From CLG News) VIDEO | Keith Olberman:
Legislators for Sale (8/3/2009) Lawrence Lessig's message at ChangeCongress.org explains a lot. Congress is driven by money, and that's why, more often than not, they get it wrong. LinksA petition to cloture the filibuster forever BibliographySo Damn Much Money: Robert Kaiser The Broken Branch: Thomas E. MannNorman J. Ornstein |