In some quarters of Washington DC, people have grown fond of saying that all Americans care about is the economy. But take a look at the five congressional bills looked up most often by Americans during the week of January 22, 2012: H.R. 3261 Stop Online Piracy Act: Popularly known as SOPA, this bill would [...]

According to Article I Section 8 of United States Constitution, the Congress and only the Congress is given the authority to declare war. No other person or body in government — not the Supreme Court, not the President — is the authority to do so anywhere in the Constitution. The first war in Iraq, the [...]

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1867, a military authorization bill with a special provision granting the U.S. military the power to put people into detention without charges and without any time limit. All classes of people are subject to detention without charge: Americans citizens and noncitizens, people living inside the borders of the [...]

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 [...]

As of June 21 2011, the following twenty-four members of the House of Representatives still have failed to introduce a single bill or amendment for consideration by the 112th Congress. Most members of Congress in their first year have introduced legislation, but a few are still laggards. Members in their first term who have not [...]

The Tea Party movement and the national organizations claiming to represent it have repeatedly asserted the importance of limited government. A number of politicians were elected to Congress in 2010 by surfing atop the wave of Tea Party cries to protect the Constitution. Today, the commitment of those politicians to limited constitutional government was put [...]

Section 1034 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 gives the President of the United States perpetual authority to use military force anywhere in the world that the President believes holds terrorists. Section 1034 abrogates Congress’ constitutional authority and duty under Article I Section 8 of the United States Constitution to declare war. In [...]

The four cosponsors of H.R. 423, a bill to keep the addresses of members of Congress private: Joe Baca (Democrat-CA District 43)Ted Deutch (Democrat-FL District 19)Jeff Fortenberry (Republican-NE District 1)Jared Polis (Democrat-CO District 2) Of these four, those which voted YES on H.R. 514, a bill to reauthorize the Patriot Act and revoke the privacy [...]

1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days from today, New York’s 26th congressional district will hold a special election to fill the seat vacated by family-values adulterer Christopher Lee. Green Party candidate Ian Murphy knows that he doesn’t hold the institutional advantages of his rivals. Unlike Kathy Hochul, he won’t be able to rely on [...]

Tomorrow, in front of the U.S. Capitol Building, a group of patriotic Americans will gather in protest against the Patriot Act. They are demanding full repeal of the Patriot Act because, as long as the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is not allowed to do its work, no one in America can be confident that their constitutional rights are safe from Patriot Act powers.