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Session from Hell by Arnold Hamilton These Are the Raw Numbers: the Lawmakers Consider Sacrosanct: Cor- Legislature’S 101 House Members Porate Welfare
$2.50 25,000 Blue Chip Readers VOL. 42, NO. 2 An Independent Journal of Commentary JANUARY 25, 2010 Wingnuts And Corporatists Session From Hell By Arnold Hamilton These are the raw numbers: The lawmakers consider sacrosanct: cor- Legislature’s 101 House members porate welfare. and 48 senators filed 2,235 bills and The state has created a cornucopia 59 resolutions in advance of the 2010 of tax exemptions – including sales session that opens Feb. 1. taxes on newspapers – that benefit Toss in the 1,051 bills and 86 res- the supposedly free-market Chamber olutions left over from last year and crowd. When GOP Sen. Mike Mazzei lawmakers could take up as many as of Tulsa tried to repeal them and start 3,431 measures this year – or one for over, he discovered neither Republi- just about every little Oklahoma town cans nor Democrats were much inter- the size of Medford or Fairland, Wister ested in disappointing wealthy busi- or Hydro. ness interests and deep-pocketed As impressive – or depressing – as campaign donors. the sheer magnitude of legislative Don’t be surprised if the GOP lead- creativity may be, there’s really only ership targets education, despite lip one number that is important to know service to the contrary. The corporat- heading into this session: 1.3 billion. ists in charge are not beyond using That’s the size of the projected hole the crisis to attempt to bring their – in dollars – in the 2010-11 budget, arch-enemies, the state’s teachers down from a $7.1 billion spending unions, to their knees. -
A Growing Diversity
A Growing Diversity 1993–2017 In late April 1975, eight-year-old Anh (Joseph) Cao’s long and improbable odyssey to the halls of Congress began as North Vietnamese communists seized the southern capital city of Saigon.1 The trajectory of the soft-spoken, bookish Cao toward Capitol Hill stands out as one of the most remarkable in the modern era, even as it neatly encapsulated post-1965 Asian immigration patterns to the United States. Still, the origins of Cao’s story were commonplace. For three decades, conflict and civil war enveloped his country. After the Vietnamese threw off the yoke of French colonialism following World War II, a doomed peace accord in 1954 removed the French military and partitioned Vietnam. The new government in South Vietnam aligned with Western world powers, while North Vietnam allied with communist states. Amid the Cold War, the U.S. backed successive Saigon regimes against communist insurgents before directly intervening in 1965. A massive ground and air war dragged on inconclusively for nearly a decade. More than 58,000 American troops were killed, and more than three million South and North Vietnamese perished.2 Public opposition in the United States eventually forced an end to the intervention. America’s decision to withdraw from Vietnam shattered Joseph Cao’s family just as it did many thousands of others as communist forces soon swamped the ineffectual government and military in the South. In 2011 Japanese-American veterans received the Congressional Gold Medal for their valor during World War II. The medal included the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, “Go for Broke.” Nisei Soldiers of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Obverse © 2011 United States Mint 42940_08-APA-CE3.indd 436 2/13/2018 12:04:16 PM 42940_08-APA-CE3.indd 437 2/13/2018 12:04:17 PM Just days before Saigon fell, Cao’s mother, Khang Thi Tran, spirited one of her daughters and two sons, including Anh, to a U.S. -
The Suburbanization of the Democratic Party, 1992–2018
The Suburbanization of the Democratic Party, 1992–2018 David A. Hopkins Boston College [email protected] Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC, August 29, 2019. 1 Abstract Over the past three decades, the Democratic Party has become mostly suburban in both the residence of party supporters in the mass public and the composition of its congressional caucus. This transformation reflects migration patterns among American citizens, partisan shifts among some suburban voters, and a serious relative decline over time in the party’s rural strength. The trend of suburbanization has made the party’s elected officials more ideologically unified, especially on cultural issues, but it also works to preclude the partywide adoption of an ambitious left-wing economic agenda. Suburbanization has occurred alongside a growth in the racial heterogeneity of the Democratic mass membership and elite leadership alike, encouraged by the demographic diversification of American suburbs. Democratic suburban growth has been especially concentrated in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, reflecting the combined presence of both relatively liberal whites (across education levels) and substantial minority populations, but suburbs elsewhere remain decidedly, even increasingly, Republican in their collective partisan alignment. Rather than stimulating a broad national pro-Democratic backlash across suburban communities in general, as is sometimes suggested by political observers, the election of Donald Trump has instead further magnified this existing divergence—leaving American suburbia, like the nation itself, closely and deeply divided between the two major parties. Introduction Political analysts, including academics, are fond of describing the current era of American politics as primarily distinguished by deep and stable partisan loyalties. -
I. Maximizing Documentation of the Legislative Process
I. MAXIMIZING DOCUMENTATION OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS I. A. Committee Records The responsibility to document the activities of Congress and pre- serve records that are of use to Senate and House committees pre- sents a serious challenge in the modern “information age.” Congressional staff, scholars, and archivists all recognize that the fragmentation and dispersal of congressional records inhibit the coordinated records management and archiving of records that are necessary for the present and future study of Congress. Although committees maintain and preserve their official records in greater quantity today than in the past, the quality and completeness of this documentation has yet to be established. Unpublished records cre- ated within the last two or three decades (depending on Senate or House access rules) have not been described systematically by the Center for Legislative Archives staff because they are still closed to research. The mounting volume of records and the demise of cen- tralized filing systems within committee offices, coupled with the increasing use of modern information technologies, have raised the concern that the records may not sufficiently document the legisla- tive process and the history of today’s Congress. This issue concerns committees as users of their own records as well as future researchers. To address these concerns, the Advisory Committee asks the Center for Legislative Archives to undertake a systematic archival description of modern committee records series in order to assess the informational value of the records preserved. The Center should report its findings to the Advisory Committee at the 1996 fall meet- ing in preparation for a full discussion of modern record-keeping practices in Congress and an exploration of the appropriate mea- sures to ensure that the legislative process is fully documented in the official records of Congress. -
Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Perspectives and Contemporary Analysis
Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress: Perspectives and Contemporary Analysis Updated October 6, 2020 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R40504 Contingent Election of the President and Vice President by Congress Summary The 12th Amendment to the Constitution requires that presidential and vice presidential candidates gain “a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed” in order to win election. With a total of 538 electors representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 270 electoral votes is the “magic number,” the arithmetic majority necessary to win the presidency. What would happen if no candidate won a majority of electoral votes? In these circumstances, the 12th Amendment also provides that the House of Representatives would elect the President, and the Senate would elect the Vice President, in a procedure known as “contingent election.” Contingent election has been implemented twice in the nation’s history under the 12th Amendment: first, to elect the President in 1825, and second, the Vice President in 1837. In a contingent election, the House would choose among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state, regardless of population, casts a single vote for President in a contingent election. Representatives of states with two or more Representatives would therefore need to conduct an internal poll within their state delegation to decide which candidate would receive the state’s single vote. A majority of state votes, 26 or more, is required to elect, and the House must vote “immediately” and “by ballot.” Additional precedents exist from 1825, but they would not be binding on the House in a contemporary election. -
UNCLASSIFIED US Department of State Case No. F-2016-07895 Doc
Obtained via FOIA by Judicial Watch, Inc. UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2016-07895 Doc No. C06162980 Date: 09/26/2018 Re: Office of Civil Rights To: Cheryl Mills RELEASE IN PART 86 86 Subject: Re: Office of Civil Rights He could but I doubt he would. UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2016-07895 Doc No. C06162980 Date: 09/26/2018 Obtained via FOIA by Judicial Watch, Inc. UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2016-07895 Doc No. C06162981 Date: 09/26/2018 Can I call Harold Koh and Eric Goosby? To: Cheryl Mills ...______ ____, RELEASE IN PART 86 B6 Subject: Can I call Harold Koh and Eric Goosby? I'll be home in ten minutes if you want to talk. UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2016-07895 Doc No. C06162981 Date: 09/26/2018 Obtained via FOIA by Judicial Watch, Inc. UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2016-07895 Doc No. C06162982 Date: 09/26/2018 Office of Civil Rights From: Cheryl Mills RELEASE IN PART 86 86 To: Hillary Clinton [email protected] Subject: Office of Civil Rights Before I mention to D as something perhaps worth exploring- do you think this is a role he can fulfill? Office of Civil Rights At the Department of State, diversity is not just aworthy cause: it is abusiness necessity. Diversity of experience and background helps Department employees in the work of diplomacy. The Secretary believes that diversity is extremely important in making the State Department an employer of choice. -
X RIMYLAN ENTERPRISES, LLC, PROJECT Index No
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK -----------------------------------------------------------------X RIMYLAN ENTERPRISES, LLC, PROJECT Index No. APPLECART, LLC, TORMIMA, LLC, and MININO PRODUCTIONS, LLC, COMPLAINT Plaintiffs, -against- NO LABELS, INC., FORWARD NOT BACK, INC., UNITED FOR PROGRESS, INC., UNITED TOGETHER, INC., CITIZENS FOR A STRONG AMERICA, INC., GOVERN OR GO HOME, INC., AMERICANS COMMITTED FOR PROGRESS, INC., CITIZENS FOR AMERICA, INC., PROGRESS TOGETHER, INC., PATRIOTIC AMERICANS PAC, INC., NO LABELS ACTION, INC., PROGRESS TOMORROW, INC., and NANCY JACOBSON, Defendants. -----------------------------------------------------------------X Rimylan Enterprises, LLC (“Rimylan”), Project Applecart, LLC (“PAL”), Tormima, LLC (“Tormima”), and Minino Productions, LLC (“Minino”) by their undersigned counsel, as and for their Complaint against Defendants No Labels, Inc. (“No Labels”), Forward Not Back, Inc. (“Forward Not Back”), United For Progress, Inc. (“United For Progress”), United Together, Inc. (“United Together”), Citizens For A Strong America, Inc. (“Citizens For A Strong America”), Govern or Go Home, Inc. (“Govern or Go Home”), Americans Committed For Progress, Inc. (“Americans Committed For Progress”), Citizens for America, Inc. (“Citizens for America”), Progress Together, Inc. (“Progress Together”), Patriotic Americans PAC, Inc. (“Patriotic Americans”), No Labels Action, Inc. (“No Labels Action”), Progress Tomorrow, Inc. (“Progress Tomorrow”), and Nancy Jacobson (“Jacobson”), allege as follows: 1 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT No Labels owes Rimylan $3,708,214.26. Under a Binding Term Sheet, effective as of December 3, 2016, Rimylan agreed to provide political data and analytic services exclusively to No Labels in connection with the 2018 congressional primary elections. In exchange No Labels agreed to order and pay for $5 million in services from Rimylan during the 2018 election cycle – that is, before November 6, 2018. -
Legislative Procedure of the United States Congress
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS I. OVERVIEW This document explains the legislative procedures of the United States Congress. The information may be useful to NGOs seeking to inform Members of Congress about issues and understand the legislative process. The material is drawn from the House web site1 as well as the observations of a former Legislative Director for the House. √ The best way to become involved in the legislative process is at the committee or subcommitee level, particularly during the markup (amendment process). The committee members with the most influence are the chairmen (majority party) or ranking members (the most senior member of the minority party).2 They are in the best position to move and influence legislation. With respect to the appropriations process, the same is true: each subject area is the responsibility of a appropriations subcommittee chairman, who has vast influence over the process.3 √ It is important to have an appreciation of the political dynamics of each house, including which party is in the majority and which is in the minority.4 The majority can tightly control the agenda of the floor and the committees, particularly in the House. √ It is also helpful to appreciate the importance of issue politics, ethnic voting blocks, and district constituencies in the United States. A member of Congress may be more willing to listen on an issue if approached by a trade association, civic group, or interest group from his district. Many international issues have their best appeal as “local issues,” for example, a member of Congress with a strong Hispanic voting population may be more interested in issues that affect Latin America. -
Informal Legislative Membership Groups in Cross-National Perspective: Congressional Membership Organizations and European Parliament Intergroups Compared
Informal Legislative Membership Groups in Cross-National Perspective: Congressional Membership Organizations and European Parliament Intergroups Compared John David Rausch, Jr., Ph.D. Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science West Texas A&M University Canyon, Texas, USA [email protected] Mary Scanlon Rausch Head Catalog Librarian West Texas A&M University Canyon, Texas, USA [email protected] Prepared for delivery at the 11th Congress of the Association Française de Science Politique (French Political Science Association) at Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Strasbourg, August 31 – September 2, 2011. Informal Legislative Membership Groups in Cross-National Perspective: Congressional Membership Organizations and European Parliament Intergroups Compared Abstract This paper compares congressional membership groups in the United States Congress with Intergroups in the European Parliament. This research seeks to better understand why members of legislative bodies choose to create regularized informal groups to consider policy options that cannot or will not be considered by formal party groups. In the United States Congress, representatives and senators create membership organizations (CMOs), usually referred to as “caucuses” around issues like race and ethnicity (the Congressional Black Caucus) or industry (the Congressional Steel Caucus) or issue area (the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus). Members of the European Parliament organize Intergroups to consider similar issues. These groups include the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights, the Health Intergroup, and the Youth Intergroup. CMOs are well-studied by academics and journalists. The methods used to study CMOs may be applied to European Parliament Intergroups to determine if there are common explanations for the creation of these informal groups in two different legislative bodies. -
Caucus and Conference: Party Organization in the U.S. House of Representatives
Caucus and Conference: Party Organization in the U.S. House of Representatives by Ronald M. Peters, Jr. Department of Political Science and Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center University of Oklahoma Prepared for delivery at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois April 25-28, 2002 Abstract The House Democratic Caucus and the House Republican Conference have witnessed both similarities and differences over the course of their respective histories. This paper traces the evolution of the two party organizations and examines their current operation. It is concluded that today they differ from each other in fundamental respects. The Democratic Caucus is a discussion forum. It is coalitional and internal in its focus. The Republican Conference is a public relations firm. It is ideological and external in its focus. Both party caucuses are affected by contextual variables. These include majority/minority status and party control of the White House. The most important factor shaping the two party organizations is party culture, which is shaped by each legislative party's previous history and by the two parties' respective constituency base. This examination of the two party caucuses has implications for theory. On the one hand, similarities in the pattern of meetings, participation by members, and occasional sponsorship of retreats and task forces lend credence to positive theories that seek nomothetic explanations of congressional behavior. On the other hand, the evident differences in the day-to-day operation of the two party organizations, the functions that these organizations perform, and the relationship in which they stand to the party leadership, suggest that any explanation will have to take into account inter-party variation. -
Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 108 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 108 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 150 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004 No. 53 House of Representatives The House met at 9 a.m. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the we look forward to this opportunity The Reverend Ronald J. Nuzzi, Direc- United States of America, and to the Repub- every year when we have this chance to tor, ACE Leadership Program, Univer- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, visit with you and catch up on each sity of Notre Dame, offered the fol- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. other’s lives. lowing prayer: f Every one of you has spent precious In every age, O Lord, You have been WARM WELCOME FOR THE years of your life, some of the best our refuge. So we seek Your wisdom REVEREND RONALD J. NUZZI years of your life, working to represent that justice may flow from our deeds. (Mr. RYAN of Ohio asked and was the needs and concerns of the Amer- Bless the work of our hands this day. ican people right here in this Chamber. By the power of Your outstretched given permission to address the House arm, open our eyes to see the needs of for 1 minute and to revise and extend Your commitment to your Nation did all who suffer, our ears to hear the cry his remarks.) not end when you left the halls of Con- of the poor, our hearts to feel the an- Mr. -
The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus: an Advocacy Tool for the 21St Century
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Theses (Historic Preservation) Graduate Program in Historic Preservation January 2008 The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus: An Advocacy Tool for the 21st Century Catherine Wood Keller University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses Keller, Catherine Wood, "The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus: An Advocacy Tool for the 21st Century" (2008). Theses (Historic Preservation). 108. https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/108 A thesis in Historic Preservation Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Science in Historic Preservation 2008. Advisor: David Hollenberg This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/108 For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus: An Advocacy Tool for the 21st Century Abstract Historic Preservation depends a great deal on national, state, and local legislative action from both a regulatory and funding perspective. To advocate successfully on behalf of a national historic preservation policy agenda, a comprehensive understanding of the nuances of the federal legislative process along with a strong insight into the internal and external dynamics feeding into that process are vital. At the federal level, many legislators choose to organize into partisan, bipartisan or bicameral groups, commonly called Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs) or caucuses, with the intent to pursue common legislative objectives, coordinate actions and affect policy within their legislative body. The Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus (CHPC) is such a group. The mission of this particular bipartisan caucus, formed at the beginning of the 108th Congress (2003-2004) within the U.S.