U.S. Congress

Latest Posts in U.S. Congress

The Parties want the Constitution to Balance our Budget

Both parties provoked Federal debt crises for decades, yet they willfully deny the possibility of the US defaulting on future loan payments.


An Insider's Look at Congress with Former Rep. Jim McDermott

For more than 40 years, Jim McDermott has worked tirelessly on behalf of the people of Washington State. As a state legislator, he helped pass laws that offered healthcare to unemployed and low-income Washingtonians, the first such program in the nation. In the United States Congress, he continued to be a much-needed voice for his most vulnerable constituents. Across America, you'll find families that are better off because Jim McDermott was fighting for them.

 – President Obama in 2016 on Congressman Jim McDermott’s impending retirement.


Creating Chaos is not an accident but a strategy

The Republicans' chaotic process for choosing the House Speaker was the first open skirmish in the war to take down the establishment. Kevin McCarthy won the battle, but the fight for power to control the future of the Republican Party, as well as our current form of government, is far from over.


Looking Ahead

We can expect two full years of such obstruction and chaos, at a time when the Supreme Court appears bent on undoing years of settled opinion around issues we consider to be at the heart of our democracy.


The Wall as a Metaphor

From the last presidential campaign, three slogans come to mind that embody the Trumpian call to fearmongering, isolationism and reductionism: “Make America Great Again” and “Lock Her Up” and “Build the Wall.”  While the latter two slogans are action-oriented, “Make America Great Again” is packed with cringe-worthy beliefs that encompass notions of free-loaders (both countries and persons of color), of resentment (of political correctness, multiculturalism, elites, government itself, globalism), and of rightness(finally, someone who will say out loud what I’ve believed all these years and act on it).