The Constitution Caucus of the House of Representatives proclaims itself dedicated to keeping congressional action within the bounds of the United States Constitution: “The Constitution is the guide I will never abandon.” — George Washington Recognizing that the Constitution can only be preserved if it lives in the hearts and minds of the American people, [...]

Last year, the Department of the Interior published regulations to keep the carcinogenic and otherwise poisonous rubble created by mountaintop removal mining out of the streams that sustain wildlife and (if you want to be anthropocentric) feed into the drinking water supplies for millions of Americans. Last month, Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio introduced H.Amdt [...]

In March of 2009, we reviewed the congressional activity of the-members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is a coalition of liberals in the House of Representatives, one that has been characterized by the right wing as relentless in their pursuit of Red Army extremism. We found that, despite conservatives’ characterization of [...]

The following are the Top 10 Absentee members of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives during the course of 2009. These are the members of Congress who were most often missing from roll call votes: 1. RepublicanJ. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina – absent for 346 of the 991 roll-call votes in the House [...]

Is it boon or bane that Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was absent for 110 roll call votes in the House of Representatives during the year of 2009?

The following are the Top 10 Absentee Senators in the U.S. Senate during 2009: 1. Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia – absent for 159 of the 397 roll-call votes in the Senate during the year 2009 2. Democrat John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia – absent for 58 Senate roll-call votes 3. Republican [...]

Whenever a Democratic member of Congress is running for election, the most common line of attack by Republicans is to label that Representative or Senator as a “hardcore liberal,” or “one of the most liberal members of Congress.” In 2004, Senator John Kerry was unsurprisingly labeled as the “most liberal Senator” by the RNC, and [...]

Let’s put the news that Alabama Representative Parker Griffith has switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in its proper context: that of his policy behavior in the House of Representatives. In his consequential voting and cosponsorship behavior, it’s clear that Parker Griffith switched over to the Republican Party long ago. To his [...]

If volume were an indicator of success, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2) would be a knockout. Jackson has introduced no fewer than nine amendments to the Constitution of the United States this year. Let’s take a peek at these, the Jackson Nine: Jackson Amendment 1: H.J. Res. 28, providing a universal right to vote for [...]

It is not within the power of Congress to establish governmental discrimination against non-English speakers. The Fourteenth Amendment protects the right of all American citizens, regardless of linguistic group, to be treated equally by federal election law.