In the past two weeks, two Senators have joined a team of legislators looking to quash free speech. Just any old bill to ban the burning of the American flag would be promptly struck down as unconstitutional if passed because the First Amendment to the United States Constitution declares that freedom of speech shall not [...]

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan is spending a fair amount of time alone these days. When he declared the beginning of his run for President of the United States in July of 2011, some wondered whether the announcement was a fake. Debate moderators forgot to invite him onstage. When he declared the end of his [...]

Last week, U.S. Representative Michael Michaud sent a letter to President Barack Obama and sponsored legislation to end the U.S. military’s use of sweatshop shoes. As Michaud explained in his letter, the Department of Defense has recently begun sneaking around the rule that its sneakers must be made in the USA by shuffling money to [...]

Republican Representative Spencer Bachus, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has come out in strong opposition to the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, giving the new law a grade of F in July of 2011. Why? What’s objectionable about a law that creates an independent consumer protection watchdog agency with the job of making sure [...]

In the 111th Congress, Senator Russ Feingold introduced S. 482, a bill to require senators to file campaign finance reports electronically, and to be received promptly by the Federal Election Commission. That sounds technical and small, but it’s actually a pretty big deal because of the way things run now. A large number of Senators [...]

That’s what you would think if you’d read the letter sent out by Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine this week: Ohio is not Vermont. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at Sherrod Brown’s pals. Sherrod Brown was recently rated as one of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate. In fact, Brown received [...]

In November 2010 That’s My Congress reported on a breakfast fundraiser for Senator Scott Brown held at the offices of the Van Scoyoc lobbying agency, 101 Constitution Ave, NW, Suite 60W. 101 Constitution Avenue is the building in the upper-left hand corner of the image you can see to the right. In the lower-left hand [...]

The light may be on, but nobody’s home. As the Sunlight Foundation documented with its copy of an intercepted invitation, a fundraising dinner party was scheduled for January 18 2011 in the infamous 446 New Jersey Avenue townhome of anti-immigration and pay-day lender Tim Rupli. The beneficiary: a “3rd & Long” PAC run by Blue [...]

Have you ever wondered why congressional procedure confuses you so much? Don’t let it get you down: it isn’t you, it’s the Congress. The Library of Congress posted a copy of this 1974 Legislative Status Steps poster by Frank B. Ryan online in the summer of 2011, and even though their version measured over two [...]

With the Share Your Spare Act, Rep. Larry Kissell of North Carolina has injected an ethical question into the proceedings 112th Congress. What is a tax credit for? Is it to reward selfless behavior? If selfless behavior is institutionally rewarded, is it no longer selfless? And should we worry about such questions, or simply be [...]