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Opinion Headlines

  1. Congress’s Budget Office Needs Better Numbers. By Avik Roy. [Among the CBO’s weaknesses is its inability to gauge the effect of private competition in reducing public costs.] 12-2-14
  2. Republicans. “How to Score in Congress.” [The GOP needs reformers to run CBO and the Joint Tax Committee.] 12-2-14
  3. Congress. “A Supreme Railroad Job.” [Can Congress let a private company regulate its competition?] 12-8-14
  4. Congress. “The Power of the Purse.” [The ‘omnibus’ bill is no way to govern, but it offers hope for 2015.] 12-11-14
  5. Congress. “Why Does Uncle Sam Hate American Expats?” by Neil Gandal. [Foreign banks close U.S. citizens’ accounts rather than deal with the mess that Congress created. 12-16-14
  6. Congress. “How Congress Bribes States to Give Up Power.” By James L. Buckley. [It’s time to end the more than 1,100 grant-in-aid programs that spend one-sixth of the federal budget.] 12-26-14
  7. Congress. “Congress’s Scoring Upgrade.” [The GOP moves to measure the growth effects of policy.] 12-29-14
  8. Congress. “Investing in the ObamaFund.” [Treasury rolls out a new savings plan without a Congressional vote.” 12-30-14
  9. Congress. “How Coburn Made a Difference.” By Kimberley A. Strassel. [Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn…retiring from the Senate.] 1-2-15
  10. Congress. “Curbing Congress’s Crime Addiction.” [A rule change to review additions to the federal code.] 1-3-15
  11. Congress. “A Better Congress.” [An especially useful early statement would be to oppose corporate welfare.] 1-6-15
  12. Congress. “Disabling a Budget Con.” […The subjective eligibility criteria for disability haven’t been updated in 35 years despite advances in medicine and rehabilitation…] 1-16-15
  13. Congress. “Time to Arrest the Federal Criminalization Spree.” By Brian W. Walsh Et.al. [Congress finally moves to exercise more oversight as it churns out laws adding to the thousands of existing offenses.] 1-29-15
  14. Congress. “How to Call Washington’s Budget Bluff.” By Dennis Teti. [Make the president’s proposal the default budget if Congress fails. The threat would focus congressional minds.] 2-2-15
  15. Congress. “Regulatory Brushback.” [Congress has a useful tool to disapprove Obama’s rule by fiat.] 2-23-15
  16. Congress. “The Appalling Talk of Boycotting Netanyahu.” By Alan M. Dershowitz. [Congress has every right, and even an obligation, to hear the Israeli leader speak about the Iranian threat.] 2-24-15
  17. Congress. “One Less Fraud in Washington.” [Better accounting for federal loan defaults, but Chuck Schumer objects.] 3-30-15
  18. Congress. “The Republican Budget is a Deficit Bust.” By Mick Mulvaney. [Defense hawks say ‘freedom isn’t free.’ They’re right. So let’s pay for it with spending cuts, not borrowing.] 3-30-15
  19. Congress. LTE. “The Senate Filibuster as Part of the Balance of Power.” 4-1-15
  20. Congress. “Congress Is Finally Back on Track.” By Karl Rove. [The new Republican leadership has ended the Reid-Pelosi dysfunction.] 4-23-15
  21. Congress. “Judges vs. Surveillance.” [An appellate court does a political belly flop into the antiterror debate.] 5-8-15
  22. Congress. “The Snowden Blindfold Act.”   [Congress moves to weaken antiterror surveillance while France expands it.} 5-6-2015
  23. Congress. “Amtrak Truth and Politics.” [A few facts to enliven the Beltway blame game over the Philadelphia crash.] 5-15-15
  24. Congress. “Taxing for Highways, Paying for Bike Lanes.” By Mac Zimmerman. [Before Congress raises the gas tax, it should make the Highway Trust Fund more about fixing highways.] 5-26-15
  25. Congress. “Rand Paul Liberates the iPhone.” By Daniel Henninger. [If a weakened NSA fails to stop terror, the laws that come afterward will crush individual liberty.] 5-28-15
  26. Congress. “A Venture Capitalist’s Second Thoughts on Patent Reform.” By Scott Sandell. [Initially I was for the plan to go after ‘trolls’ to end abuse of the system. Then I Read the bills before Congress.] 6-1-15
  27. Congress. “Obama’s U.N. First Gambit.” [He uses the Security Council to box in Congress on Iran.] 7-21-15
  28. Congress. “Max Tax Fury Road.” [In which we try to make sense of the highway bill’s bizarre politics.]  7-28-15
  29. Congress. LTE. “Congress must Exercise Its Authority on the Iran Deal.” 8-8-15
  30. Congress. “An Informed Vote on the Iran Deal.” By Jerome M. Marcus. [Congress has the right to see the full negotiating record, not just the final product or strategically leaked details.] 8-27-15
  31. Congress. “Government Shutdown Redux.” [Obama and Clinton want a showdown over Planned Parenthood.] 9-9-15
  32. Congress. LTE. “GOP: Look Before Leaping to a Government Shutdown.” 9-12-15
  33. Congress. “Republican Filibluster.” [Blowing up the Senate’s 60-vote rule would gain no policy victory.] 9-21-15
  34. Congress. LTE. “End the Filibuster: Sure Defeat or Wise Move?” 9-25-15
  35. Congress. “Blocking the Budget-Busters.” By Stephen Moore. [Sequestration is working – federal spending is being reined in – so of course Congress isn’t happy.] 10-2-15
  36. Congress. “Congress Can Respond to Putin With More Sanctions.” By Paula J. Dobriansky and David B. Rivkin Fr. [Obama complains about Putin but does nothing. Here’s another way to squeeze him back home.] 10-5-15
  37. Congress. Obama. “Obama Manufactures a Crisis.” By Karl Rove. [The president pledges to veto a defense bill unless Congress lifts spending caps.] 10-8-15
  38. Congress. “The Decline and Fall of Congress.” By Christopher DeMuth. [The GOP Freedom Caucus is part of the atomized politics that has eroded most U.S. institutions.] 10-19-15
  39. Congress. “Reclaiming the Spending Power.” [The House suit against Obama continues to advance in court.] 10-23-15
  40. Congress. “The Freedom Caucus Isn’t Congress’s Problem.” 10-23-15
  41. Congress. LTE. “Congress, Not the Fed, Must act for Growth.” 10-29-15
  42. Congress. “The Best Worst Budget Deal.” [Obama gets more spending, the GOP gets some disability reform.] 10-28-15
  43. Congress. “Ryan’s House Revival Project.” [To restrain government, conservatives need to restore Congress.] 10-29-15
  44. Congress. Climate change. “Congress Can Cool Off Obama’s Climate Plans.” By John Barrasso. [At the Paris talks next week, the U.S. may make harmful commitments on spending and carbon.] 11-25-15
  45. Congress. LTE. “Venal Congress Wants to Grab ‘Stolen’ Cash.” 12-3-15
  46. Congress. Unions. “Unions See Indian Casinos and Think: Jackpot.” By Robert Odawi Porter. [Congress can act to let tribes determine their own labor policies.] 12-7-15
  47. Congress. Internet. “A Permanent Internet Tax Ban.” [Who says this Congress is doing nothing for economic growth.] 12-10-15
  48. Congress. “The Last Obama Budget.” [Ending the oil-export ban is a major, if rare, pro-growth victory.] 12-17-15
  49. Congress. “Free Speech and the Freedom Caucus.” [Congress blocks IRS meddling but misses another opportunity.] 12-18-15
  50. Congress. “How Congress Left Behind Public-School Choice.” By Chad Aldeman. [Obama calls the new law a ‘miracle.” Tell that to students no longer able to transfer from bad schools.] 12-30-15
  51. Congress. “A Glimpse of What Bipartisan Compromise Looks Like.” By Alan S. Blinder. [There was something for everyone, from blown spending caps to holes punched into ObamaCare.] 12-31-15
  52. Congress. “Ending the Filibuster Would Hand Progressives a Huge Victory.” By Ben Sasse. [Senate rules to extend debate serve a distinctly conservative, and constitutional purpose.] 1-15-16
  53. Congress. LTE. “The Filibuster and Deliberative Democracy.” 1-23-16
  54. Congress. “Ending the Stealth Filibuster.” By Trent Franks. [It’s a recipe for gridlock if a Senate minority controls which bills can be taken up.] 1-26-16
  55. Congress. LTE “Checks, Balances, Filibusters and Democracy.”  2-4-16
  56. Congress. “Congress’s Cynical Crony-Capital Gift to Putin.” By John McCain. [Two of my fellow senators used a disgraceful ploy that expands U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines.] 2-8-16
  57. Congress. LTE. “Candidates May Propose But Congress Will Dispose.” 3-5-16
  58. Congress. “Vindicating Congress’s Power of the Purse.” [Obama said ‘so sue me.’ The House did, and Obama just lost.] 5-13-16
  59. Congress. “How the Senate Is Supposed to Work.”  By Mitch McConnell.  [On issues of great national significance, on party should never simply force its will on everybody else.]  5-31-16
  60. Congress. LTE.  “Congress Must Act on Fannie, Freddie Reform.”  Foreign Relations.  6-2-16
  61. Congress. “Fiduciary Rule Duty in Congress.”  [The GOP votes to repeal the fourth Obama regulation in two years.]  6-3-16
  62. Congress. “White House Rules.”  [Obama vetoes the bipartisan repeal of his costly fiduciary rule.]  6-9-16
  63. Congress. “US. Air-Traffic Liberation.”  [Congress tries to give the ancient system an upgrade.]  6-10-16
  64. Congress. “When Red and Blue in Congress Makes Green.”  By Fred Krupp.  [Bipartisan agreement this week produced vital legislation to fix a broken chemical-safety system.]  6-10-16
  65. Congress. Air-Traffic.  LTE.  “Should Private Air-Traffic Control Take Off.” 6-18-16
  66. Congress. “What Has Congress Ever Done for Us?  [The Monty Python lesson about the House and Senate GOP.]  7-20-16
  67. Congress. “The Impeachment Distraction.”  [Koskinen and the IRS deserve rebuke, but not if it costs the Senate.]   9-15-16
  68. Congress. “Congress Overrides Obama.”  [Too bad it’s on a bill that will hurt U.S. Interests.]  9-29-16
  69. Congress. “Instant Senate Remorse.”  [A plea to fix a lawsuit boondoggle only hours after voting for it.]  9-30-16
  70. Congress. LTE.  “No Remorse for Passing the Needed Jasta Act.”  10-10-16
  71. Congress. “Congress Can Fight Opioid Addition on Its Way Out.”  By Newt Gingrich and Patrick Kennedy.  [More than 2,500 people will die from an overdose before the new Congress convenes in January.]  12-2-16
  72. Congress. “The Senate’s Shutdown Follies.”  [No one knows more about ‘fake news’ than Harry Reid.]  12-10-16
  73. Congress. “Midnight Rules Need Morning Repeal.”  [Obama’s final regulatory binge gets a rapid Congressional response.]  1-5-17
  74. Congress. “Preserve the Filibuster – then Overcome It.  By Phil Gramm and Michael Solon.  [The Senate’s 60-vote threshold is a bulwark of freedom.  Instead of nuking it, the GOP should defund Obama’s agenda.]  1-7-17
  75. Congress. “How Congress Can Boost Haley at the U.N.” by Ron Prosor. [Withhold U.S. funds until the international body lives up to its ideals — and ours.] 2-24-17
  76. Congress. “Chuck Schumer Breaks the Senate.” By Kimberley A. Strassel. [Why desperate red-state Democrats are floating a ‘deal’ to let Gorsuch through.] 3-24-17
  77. Congress. “Lack of House Intelligence.” [If Devin Nunes has to resign, then so should Adam Schiff.] 3-29-17
  78. Congress. “Senate Republican Suicide.” [A filibuster deal with Democrats over Gorsuch would be a judicial and political disaster.] 3-31-17
  79. Congress. “Chuck Schumer’s Filibuster Lineup.” [The Democratic leader sets a new precedent for the Supreme Court.] 4-4-17
  80. Congress. “The Nunes Takedown.” [His real offense was trying to do both sides of the Russia probe.] 4-7-17
  81. Congress. “Mitch McConnell’s finest Hour.” [He holds the GOP together against a Gorsuch filibuster.] 4-7-17
  82. Congress. “How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Nuclear Option.” By John Yoo and Sai Prakash. [For decades the Senate filibuster has served as a means of avoiding debate, not extending it.] 4-7-17
  83. Congress. “When the Senate Met Sally.”  [Yates and Clapper cop to viewing ‘unmasked’ info on political opponents.]  5-9-17
  84. Democrats. “Giving Nominees the Blue Slip.”  [Democrats prepare to abuse a bipartisan Senate tradition.]  5-10-17
  85. Congress. “The Senate’s Challenge in Trump’s Washington.” by Joseph Rago.  [The FBI-Russia affair helped reflate health reform by distracting the president’s critics.]  5-24-17
  86. Congress. “The Filibuster Is Not a Suicide Pact.”  By Peter J. Wallison.  [Democrats will abolish the 60-vote rule when they find it expedient.  The GOP should consider it now.].  6-2-17
  87. Congress. “Congress Steps Up on Russia.”  [Trump will have to earn more discretion on foreign policy.”  6-16-17
  88. Congress. “Congressional Maneuvers in the Dark.”  Y Alan S. Blinder.  [Republican senators craft their health-care bill in secret so as to avoid disinfectant sunlight.]  6-22-17
  89. Congress. “Running the Schumer Blockade.”  [The GOP Senate needs to stop Democratic abuse of the rules.]  7-11-17
  90. Congress. “Our Self-Interested Senators.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.   [An open health-care debate finally would bring some actual accountability.]  7-21-17
  91. Congress. “Mueller Is Trumping Congress.”  By Wm. McGurn.  [Special prosecutors corrupt;  Independent counsels corrupt absolutely.]  7-25-17
  92. Congress. “Can Republicans Govern?”  [Some Senators want to talk forever about health care.  Time for a vote.]  7-25-17
  93. Congress. “A GOP Gallows Reprieve.”  [Senate Republicans avoid a political self-hanging – for now.] 7-26-17
  94. Congress. “How to Make the Senate Work Again.”  By James Lankford (U.S. senator from Oklahoma.)  [Keep the filibuster but change other rules that promote delay.]  8-2-17
  95. Congress. “Kill the Filibuster Before It’s Too Late.”  By Andy Biggs. [Bills pass the House, only to die of neglect in the Senate.] 8-7-17
  96. Congress. “Congress Has a List, but That Isn’t in the Constitution.”  By Theodore B. Olson.  [The 2-16 law creating an oversight board for Puerto Rico blatantly violates the Appointments Clause.]  8-10-17
  97. Congress. “The Trump-McConnell Spat.”  [If the GOP Congress fails, so does the Trump Presidency.]  8-11-2017
  98. Congress. “Congress’s Chance to Do Its Job and Solve the Dreamers’ Dilemma.” By Jason L. Riley.  [A bipartisan majority supported Obama’s DACA goal, but not necessarily his unilateral action.]  9-6-17
  99. Congress. “The Pelosi-Schumer-Trump Congress.”  “The Republican gang that can’t even shoot at each other straight.”  9-7-17
  100. Congress. “Al Franken Standard.”  [The GOP can overrule Democratic abuse of the Senate judicial ‘blue slip.’]  9-13-17
  101. Congress. “The Return to Regular Order.”  [The House is ready to pass specific spending bills for a change.] 9-15-17
  102. Congress. “All Mr. Comey’s  Wiretaps.”  [Congress needs to learn how the FBI meddled in the 2016 campaign.]  9-20-17
  103. Congress. “Lock One Up, Mr. Grassley.”  By Wm.  McGurn. [Congress has let lapse a unique power to compel reluctant witnesses to testify.] 9-26-17
  104. Congress. Senate.  “Senate Blue-Slip Bluster.”  [McConnell is right to override Democratic judicial vetoes.]  10-12-17
  105. Congress. “Pass the Senate Budget.”  10-21-17
  106. Congress. “Toomey’s ‘Guidance’ Repeal Guide.”  [New openings for Congress to scrub Obama-era regulation.]  10-30-17
  107. Congress. “Anything but Weekends With Mitch.”  [The Senate confirms four more Trump appellate judges.]  11-4-17
  108. Congress. “A blue slip – Not a Franken Veto.”  [Restoring an important Senate courtesy to its rightful purpose.]  11-18-17
  109. Congress. “The Conyers Standard.”  12-2-17
  110. Congress. “Obstruction of Congress.”  By Kimberley a. Strassel.  [Mueller, the Justice Department and the FBI aren’t helping the lawmakers’ probe.]  12-8-17
  111. Congress. “The Senate’s ‘Byrd Rule’ Undermines Democracy.”  By Andy Biggs.  [The upper chamber’s unelected parliamentarian forced the House to vote twice on tax reform.]  12-26-17
  112. Congress. “Justice Drops the Menendez Hunt.” [Prosecutors finally admit they had a weak corruption case.] 2-3-18
  113. Congress. “Breaking the Schumer Stall.” [If Democrats insist on 30 hours of debate, then make them stay in D.C.] 3-28-18
  114. Congress.   “Judges Can Check the Administrative State.” By Peter J. Wallison. [Courts are too deferential when unelected officials supplant Congress’s role and write the law.] 4-6-18
  115. Congress. “Paul Ryan’s Departure Is a Pity.” By Karl Rove. [The GOP loses an effective happy warrier; the country loses a good leader.] 4-12-18
  116. Congress. “The Paul Ryan Difference.” [The Speaker’s career shows the power of ideas in politics.] 4-12-18
  117. Congress. “Congress and the Special Counsel.” [Trump shouldn’t fire Mueller, but a Senate bill to shield him is unconstitutional.] 4-19-18
  118. Congress. “Senators on the Verge of a Political Breakdown” by Peter J. Wallison. [Confirmation may soon become so difficult that the government will be unable to function at all.] 4-27-18
  119. Congress. “Rod Rosenstein Protests.” [The deputy attorney general’s intemperate attack on Congress.] 5-3-15
  120. Congress.  “Start Cutting Spending – and Don’t Stop.”  By Mark Walker.  [Mitch McConnell should drop his threat to block rescissions affecting the omnibus.]  5-9-18
  121. Congress.  “Congress’s Chance to Do Right by Veterans.”  By Anthony Tersigni.  [Send the VA Mission Act to the president’s desk by Memorial Day.]  5-10-18
  122. Congress. “Senate Obstruction in Profile.” [A respected Trump Justice nominee is held up for more than a year.] 6-25-18
  123. Congress.  “A Senate Judicial Miss.”  [Scott and Rubio defeat a good nominee and Democrats crow.]  7-20-18
  124. Congress.  “Hurricane Scalise.”  [The GOP leader wants to scuttle even minor flood insurance reform.]  7-21-18
  125. Congress.  “The Senate Stakes on Appointees.”  [Could any Trump nominee get past a Democratic majority?]  7-27-18
  126. Congress.  “Get to Work, Senators.”  By Dave Brat.  [The House farm bill would discourage food stamp dependency.]  7-30-18
  127. Congress.  “The Senate’s Unprecedented Obstruction.”  [Obama’s nominees faced only 17 cloture votes in this first term.  Trumps have faced 108 in 18 months.]  8-3-18
  128. Congress. Defense. “Congress, Take Your War Powers Back.” By Ken Buck. [The president should not have carte blanche under a resolution from 17 years ago.] 9-25-18
  129. Congress.  “What’s the Matter With North Dakota.”  By Jason Willick.  [Think the Senate is too Republican?  You can always move.]  10-9-18 (regarding the left targeting the senate as a branch of congress)
  130. Congress.  “Ending the Nominations Blockade.”  [Keep Democrats in D.C. until every pending nominee is confirmed.]  10-10-18
  131. Congress.  “Judges on the Ballot.”  [McConnell locks in a deal to confirm 15 more federal judges.]  10-12-18
  132. Congress.  “The Avenatti Referral.”  [“… “I don’t take lightly making a referral of this nature” Senator Grassley said, “but ignoring this behavior will just invite more of it in the future.”…]  10-26-18
  133. Congress.  “A Consequential Congress.”  [The 115th has the best record of center-right reform since 1994-1996]  11-2-18
  134. Congress.  “The Nancy Pelosi Method.”  [She’ll try to lure Trump into bad deals.  Hope for two years of gridlock.]  11-8-18
  135. Congress.  “O come All Ye Judges.”  [The GOP Senate should confirm more nominees in December.]  11-26-18
  136. Congress.  “Jeff  Flake’s Sad Exit.”  [He blocks judicial nominees in a futile anti-Trump gesture.]  11-30-18
  137. Congress.  “The Senate and the Saudis.”  [Lee-Sanders goes too far but Trump is losing control of his policy.] 12-4-18
  138. Congress.  “Sexual Harassment on the Hill.”  [Congress passes legislation to hold lawmakers accountable.]  12-29-18
  139. Congress.  “Time for Congress To Do Its Job.”  (Bookshelf by Yuval Levin.) “Judicial Fortitude.” By Peter J. Wallison.  [Imagine a world where the legislative branch actually legislates, courts interpret laws, and executive agencies faithfully execute them.]  1-3-19
  140. Congress.  “Enter the House of Pelosi.”  [The main Democratic goal will be destroying Donald Trump.]  1-3-19
  141. Congress.  “Return of the Nominations Blockade.”  [Democrats lost Senate seats, but they’re still blocking appointees.]  1-10-19
  142. Congress.  “Mitch McConnell Rules.”  By Wm. McGurn.  [The Senate majority leader’s low-key shutdown strategy is working.]  1-15-19
  143. Congress.  “Why We Have So Many Shutdowns.”  By John Steele Gordon.  [Congress keeps asserting its power over spending, but it has no means to hold itself accountable.]  1-17-19
  144. Congress.  “Busting the Nominations Dam.”  [The GOP is poised to change Senate rules to speed up confirmations.]  1-28-19
  145. Congress. “A Bad Judges Deal.”  [The White House may make concessions to Feinstein and Harris.]  1-30-19
  146. Congress.  “All You Need Is a Congress And a Dream.”  By Barton Swaim.  [Green New Dealer Edward Markey vows: ‘We will save all of creation by engaging in massive job creation.’]  2-11-19
  147. Congress.  “388 Days in Senate Limbo.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [That was the wait for a unanimous ‘yes’ vote.  It’s time to change the rules.]  3-1-19
  148. Congress.  “The Senate’s War Powers.” 3-18-19
  149. Congress.  “Congress Considers Taking Back Its Power.”  By Elizabeth Goitein.  [Lawmakers are split over Trump’s emergency decree, but  broader reform has strong bipartisan support.]  3-18-19
  150. Congress.  “A Rule to Speed Up Confirmations.”  [The GOP is moving to break the Democratic stall on nominees.]  4-3-19
  151. Congress.  “Roads and Bridges Can Bridge the Parties.”  By John R. Kasich.  [Lawmakers, unite to let states manage infrastructure.]  5-8-2019
  152. Congress.  “Washington’s Disaster Cynicism.”  [Puerto Rico is already getting $40 billion in relief.]  5-16-19
  153. Congress.  “McConnell on Judges and the ‘Graveyard.”  By Fred Barnes.  [The Senate leader loves 2017’s tax reform, but it’s reversible.  Confirming federal judges isn’t.] 5-17-19
  154. Congress. “Close the Book on Shutdowns.” By Ron Johnson. [Congress’s budget process is broken. Our bill creates incentives for members of both parties to shape up.] 9-23-19
  155. Congress. “The Impeachment Congress.” [House Democrats need to vote to authorize an official inquiry.] 9-25-19
  156. Congress. “The Bipartisan Spending Party.” [Congress ends its term with a blowout for everyone but taxpayers.] 12-23-19
  157. Congress. “Let Congress Debate Spending Again.” By Bill Cassidy. [Threatening a shutdown, leaders coerced lawmakers to approve a $1.4 trillion appropriations bill.] 12-27-19
  158. Congress. “The Insider Trading Law is Bad. Will Congress Make It Worse?” by Lyle Roberts. [A bipartisan bill would give prosecutors too much discretion and confuse investors and courts alike.] 1-10-20
  159. Congress. “Thanks to Congress, America Is Prepared for the Coronavirus.” By Tom Cole. [Lawmakers created a reserve fund, now $100 million, for public-health emergencies like this one.] 2-1-20
  160. Congress. “War Powers Irresolution.” 2-13-20
  161. Congress. “The Spending Virus.” [Congress shows political opportunism with another health program.] 2-26-20
  162. Congress. “The Senate and the Judiciary.” [A Democratic majority threatens judicial independence.] 3-10-20
  163. Congress. “A Bailout for Illinois? Not Without Strict Conditions.” Bu Andrew Biggs. [Other states will line up for money if Washington rewards Springfield for mismanaging its pensions.] 4-25-20
  164. Congress. “The Incredible Shrinking Quorum.” By Devin Watkins. [The Constitution requires a majority, but under new House rules as few as 20 members could be present.] 5-22-20
  165. Congress.  “Sheldon Whitehouse’s Favors.”  [The Senator intervened for a company after campaign cash flowed.]   7-2-20
  166. Congress.  “Make the Senate Great Again.”  By Ben Saase.  [To restore the world’s greatest deliberative body, we need to think big.]   9-9-20
  167. Congress.  “Ginsburg Succession Battle Shows Hypocrisy Is an Enduring Norm.”  by Gerard Baker.  [One exception is Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose position in 2020 is consistent with 2016’s.]   9-22-20
  168. Congress.  “Notable & Quotable: Saving the Senate.”  By Lamar Alexander.    12-3-20
  169. Congress.  “Mrs. Smith’s Tips for New Lawmakers.”  By Peggy Noonan.  [As Washington readies for the 117th Congress, its member can learn from a 20th-century great.]   12-12-20
  170. Congress. “The House Fight Heats Up.” [“…Pelosi’s caucus considers an election challenge from Iowa’s 2nd Congressional district…”]   12-23-20
  171. Congress.  “Pelosi’s Revealing House Rules.”  [A new limit on floor votes, plus a climate exception to ‘paygo.’]   1-6-21
  172. Congress.  “A Coup of Her Own.”  [Nancy Pelosi’s nuclear option to protect the world from Trump.]  1-9-21
  173. Congress.  “What Legislative Powers Are Left for Impeachment to Defend?”  by Joseph C. Sternberg.  [Trump committed the sort of offense the Founders had in mind, but this isn’t the Congress they wanted.]   1-15-21
  174. Congress.  “No, You Can’t Try an Impeached Former President.”  By Alan M Dershowitz.  [The Senate erroneously asserted jurisdiction once, but dissenting members forced an acquittal.]   1-21-21
  175. Congress.  “Senate Filibuster Showdown.”  1-22-21
  176. Congress.  “Yes, the Senate Can Try Trump.”  By Keith R. Whittington.  [Impeachment for former officials was the norm at the time of the founding.]   1-23-21
  177. Congress.  “The Senate’s Byrd Call.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [Manchin and Sinema have to do more if they’re serious about saving the filibuster.]  1-29-21
  178. Congress.  “Return of the Swamp Creatures.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [Democrats prepare to bring back earmarks.  Republicans should resist the temptation.]   2-19-21
  179. Congress.  “An Open Congress Would Make Better Laws. “  By Bill Cassidy.  [Leaders and the White House write bills in private for rank-and-file members to rubber-stamp.] 3-5-21
  180. Congress.  “Some Bipartisan Ideas for Congress.”  By Wm.  A. Galston.  [Why not pause the brawls and focus on areas in which both sides can agree?]   3-17-21
  181. Congress.  “The Scorched-Earth Senate.”  By Mitch McConnell.  [If Democrats kill the filibuster by 50-50 vote, they will release furies they can barely imagine.]   3-18-21
  182. Democrats.  “Pelosi Might Steal an Iowa House Seat.”  By Karl Rove.  [With her narrow majority, the Speaker could pull a trick from the Gilded Age.]   3-18-21
  183. Congress.  “A Day in a Scorched-Earth Senate.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [Democrats want to ‘fix’ the chamber by ending the filibuster.  That would break it.]   3-19-21
  184. Congress.  “Earmarks Are a GOP Bridge to Nowhere.”  3-19-21
  185. Congress.  “Biden’s Filibuster Ultimatum.”  [Democrats want the GOP to surrender on policy – or else.]  3-27-21
  186. Congress.  “Targeting the U.S. Senate.”  [The progressive goal is a House-like body run by big-state majorities.]   4-12-21
  187. Congress.  “The Filibuster Made the Civil Rights At Possible.”  By David Hoppe.  [It prevented Southern senators from blocking debate and created the conditions for consensus.]   4-12-21
  188. Congress.  “The Latest Earmark Excuse.”  4-29-21
  189. Congress.  “I Tip My Cap to You, Joe Manchin.”  By John R. Kasich.  [Defying your party’s wishes is courageous and can be costly.]  6-8-21
  190. Congress.  “Joe Manchin Plays Political Chess.”  [As progressives rage against him, he’s helping the Democratic Party.]   6-8-21
  191. Congress.  “Earmarks Are Back, Baby.”  [Congress is at it again, and the members are loving it.]   6-11-21
  192. Congress.  “The Filibuster Helps Nobody, and That Means You.”  By Mike Solon and bill Greene.  [With simple majority rule in the Senate, politics would consume the lives of ordinary Americans.]   6-21-21
  193. Congress.  “Don’t You Just Love Congress?”  by Daniel Henninger.  [Behold the Democrats and GOP locked in a scorpion dance over Biden’s $4 trillion.]  7-15-21
  194. Congress.  “Congress Goes AWOL on Global Taxation.”  [The Yellen ploy at the OECD threatens a core constitutional power.]   7-16-21
  195. Congress.  “Pelosi Blows Up Her Jan. 6 Committee.”  [The Speaker admits her veto of GOP members is ‘unprecedented.’]  7-22-21
  196. Congress.  “Congress Can’t Enact a Chicken.”  By Andy Kessler.  [Washington today ignores that saving and investing must precede consumption.]   7-26-21
  197. Congress.  “No-Show Lawmakers Use Covid as an Excuse.”  By Tim Burchett.  [Proxy voting was meant to protect us from infection.  It’s become a way of ducking responsibility.]  7-27-21
  198. Congress.  “A Socialist Chairs the Budget Committee.”  By Chris Jacobs.  [Sanders’s ‘pragmatic’ proposal would spend $1 trillion more on healthcare without any cost cuts.]   7-27-21
  199. Congress.  “A Democrat Against Deficits.”  By Thomas S. Kahn.  [Congress should pay for its infrastructure spending, not look for creative ways of avoiding responsibility.]   7-29-21
  200. Congress. “An Infrastructure Bill That Works.”  By Rob Portman.  [This agreement makes necessary investments without destructive tax increases.]  7-30-21
  201. Congress.  “A Not So Grand Infrastructure Deal.”  [The GOP gets roads and bridges.  Democrats a given bonanza and more.]   7-30-21
  202. Congress.  “Democrats Default on the Debt Limit.”  [Pelosi fears she lacks the votes in the House, so she’s jamming the GOP.]   8-11-21
  203. Congress.  “Blitzing the Senate Parliamentarian.”  [Democrats are trying to sneak huge policy shifts through reconciliation.]  9-15-21
  204. Congress.  “Congress, Raise the Debt Limit.”  By Janet Yellen.  [We are finally emerging from the pandemic crisis.  Let’s not plunge ourselves into a financial one.]  9-20-21
  205. Congress.  “The Constitution Requires Congress to Set a Debt Limit.”  By David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey.  [Lawmakers can’t delegate the power to borrow money any more than they let the Treasury change tax rates.]   10-5-21
  206. Congress.  “Dodging the Constitution for a Global Tax.”  [Treasury plans to adopt a new treaty without a proper Senate vote.]   10-23-21
  207. Congress.  “Bannon’s Contempt for Congress.”  [The Trump whisperer has no legal basis to defy a subpoena.]   10-27-21
  208. Congress.  “The Decline of Congress.”  [A brawl over a cartoon tweet sums up the current House.]  11-18-21
  209. Congress.  “Congress Needs to Get Back to Regular Order.”  By Fay Vincent. [Reconciliation wasn’t meant to be the vehicle for social change.]   11-19-21
  210. Congress.  “Congress Ducks Blame For Last Year’s Siege.”  By Ernest Garcia.  [Lawmakers ignored their own responsibility for overseeing the police and sergeants-at-arms.]   1-6-22
  211. Congress.  “What the Jan. 6 Panel won’t Probe.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [Members look in vain for a coup plot but ignore congress’s own security failures.]   1-7-22
  212. Congress.  “Answering Schumer on the Filibuster.”  [Democrats should have taken our advice on nominees in 2013.]  1-10-22
  213. Congress.  “Congress Treats Bitcoin Like Bricks of Cash.”  By Abraham Sutherland.  [A new federal law mandates reporting transactions of more than $10,000.  Why?]   1-18-22
  214. Congress.  “What the Senate Filibuster Assault Means.”  [Wednesday’s narrow vote changed Senate races, starting in 2022.  1-22-22
  215. Congress.  “If Only Sanders Were More Blunt.”  by Karl Rove.  [The state of the GOP and Democrats was encapsulated by two senators’ speeches.]   1-27-22
  216. Congress.  “A Fraudulent Ethics Debate.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [Elaine Luria is right.  Existing rules on congressional stock trades are enough.]   2-11-22
  217. Congress.  “The Jan. 6 Committee Won’t Be Intimidated.”  By Liz Cheney.  [We are focused on facts, not rhetoric, and will present them no matter what our critics say.]  2-11-22
  218. Congress.  “The Rush to Ban Congress’s Stock Trades.”  [The effort is populist grandstanding that will deter good candidates.]  2-12-22
  219. Congress.  “Congress Says the Check Is in the Mail.”  [Taxpayers, beware of a bipartisan bill on the U.S. Postal Service.]   2-18-22
  220. Congress.  “Government Gives Itself a Big Raise.”  [Everything you dislike about Congress and more – in 2,727 pages.]   3-11-22
  221. Congress.  “The Earmarks Return, Do They Ever.”  [The gateway drug for more spending is back in business.]  3-12-22
  222. Congress.  “Make Congress Show Up to Vote Again.”  3-21-22
  223. Congress.  “Why We Won’t Talk to the Jan. 6 Committee.”  By Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan.  [If Republican leaders were to participate in this political stunt, it would change the House forever.]  5-27-22
  224. Congress.  “The Senate’s Semiconductor Con.”  [How a $70 billion bill became $250 billion.  Hide the children.]   7-21-22
  225. Congress.  “Manchin and the GOP Dupes.” By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [Eager for home-state subsidies, they left the door open for his deal with Schumer.]  7-29-22
  226. Congress.  “The Schumer-Manchin Pact.”  [New taxes and price controls to pay for green corporate welfare.]  7-29-22
  227. Congress. “The Schumer-Manchin Bill Will Ease Inflation and Climate Change.”  By Jason Furman.  [It’s a worthy compromise that also protects the vulnerable and reduces the federal budget deficit.]   7-29-22  (Mr. Furman…was chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, 2013-17.)
  228. Congress.  “Senate Republicans Got Played.”  7-29-22
  229. Congress.  “Big Labor Takes the House.”  [Members of Congress cheer as their staff seek to unionize.]  7-30-22
  230. Congress.  “Stop Me Before I Spend Again.”  By Jay Starkman.  [Congress has tried for a century to impose fiscal responsibility on itself.  Every effort has failed.]   9-29-22
  231. Congress. “No Sympathy for Steve Bannon.”  [Congressional oversight is vindicated, but it should go both ways.]   10-22-22
  232. Congress.  “A GOP Game Plan:  Get Spending Under Control.”  By Dave Hoppe.  [New Republican majorities should reclaim Congress’s power of the purse by legislating appropriations.]   11-8-22
  233. Congress.  “Playing by Nancy Pelosi’s Rules.”  [She knocked Republicans off committees. Now comes GOP payback.]   11-26-22
  234. Congress.  “The Republican House Can Restrain Spending.”  By Phil Gramm ad Mike Solon.  [The slender majority is the only sentry at the gate.  Lawmakers have a duty to protect America’s fisc.]  12-8-22
  235. Congress.  “Much Ado About Kyrsten Sinema.”  12-10-22
  236. Congress.  “Get Rady for Republican Oversight.”  By James Comer.  [The House committee I’m slated to lead will conduct serious investigations and propose real reforms.]   12-12-22
  237. Congress.  “Bring Gender Back to the House.”  By Eileen J. O’Connor.  [The new majority can undo the Democrats’ linguistic vandalism.]  12-15-22
  238. Congress.  “Child Tax Credit Extortion.  [Democrats are holding business breaks hostage tofr a $1 trillion program.]   12-15-22
  239. Congress.   “A Free-Market Champ Exits the Senate.”   (The Weekend Interview with Pat Toomey by Allysia Finley.)  [Elected as in insurgent in 2010, the Pennsylvania Republican later found himself in the midst of a populist tide that often favored bigger government.]  12-17-22
  240. Congress.  “What the Jan. 6 committee Misses.”  [The truth they don’t stress enough is that U.S. institutions held.]  12-24-22
  241. Congress. “How Senate Republicans Can Prevent a future Omnibus.”  By Chris Jacobs.  [To keep pork and pet projects from holding national security hostage, use budget reconciliation.]   12-24-22
  242. Congress.  “A Question for Congress:  Why Didn’t the SEC Stop FTX?”  by Hal Scott and John Guliver.  [Securities regulators seem to be more interested in protecting their turf than protecting investors.]   1-19-23
  243. Congress.  “Congress Once Constrained Government Debt.”  By John F. Cogan.  [In 1920, lawmakers curbed spending by putting a single committee in charge of the overall budget.]   1-24-23
  244. Congress. “McCarthy Puts the House Back in Order.”  By Karl Rove.  [Behind the scenes, he has done a lot to get the focus back on productive legislating.]  3-2-23
  245. Congress.  “Kevin McCarthys Debt-Ceiling Marker.”  [The speaker can only win a showdown if he House GOP stays united.”  4-18-23
  246. Congress.  “Congress Can Get America Back to Work.”  By Jodey Arrangton.  [Employment requirements for welfare benefits are popular.  Even Joe Biden supported them in 1996.]   4-20-23
  247. Congress.  “Reviving Congress would Revive Democracy.”  By Christopher DeMuth.  [Legislatures have declined while agencies and judges expand their power.  Yet they are the best place to settle our differences.]   6-10-23
  248. Congress.  “Congress Can Halt Biden’s Rule by Regulation.”  By Phil Gramm and Mike Solon.  [Republican members of the House must restore the power of the purse to restrain executive action. ]   7-14-23
  249. Congress.  “Flying the congressional Skies.”  [The FAA authorization bill perfectly illustrates Congressional priorities.]   7-19-23
  250. Congress.  “Everybody Hates Mitch McConnell.”  By Andy Laperriere.  [His unpopularity – for his effectiveness and being willing to compromise – is a grim sign of the times.]   8-8-23
  251. Congress.  “The Congressional Budget Wars Are Coming Back.”  By Alan S. Blinder.  [This time it’s Republican vs. Republican.  McCarthy will struggle to avoid a government shutdown.]   8-15-23
  252. Congress.  “Impeachment Is the New Censure.”  [An inquiry is fine, but the bar for removal from office should be high.]   9-13-23
  253. Congress.  “The Best and Worst Dressed Senators.”  By Joseph Epstein.  [Slovenly John Fetterman could use some style tips from dapper Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.]   9-28-23
  254. Congress.  “Jamaal Bowman and Matt Gaetz Are Alarmingly Similar.”  By Gerard Baker.  [They’re on opposite sides, but they both play he same game of extremism and self-promotion.]   10-3-23
  255. Congress.  “If Trump Wants to Be Speaker, He’ll Need a House Seat.”  By Michael Ellis and Greg Dubinsky.  [It’s a constitutional urban legend that anyone other than a current member can lead the chamber.]   10-6-23
  256. Congress.  “Can Speaker Mike Johnson Govern?”  [GOP agitators will have to give him leeway they denied Kevin McCarthy.]   10-26-23
  257. Congress.  “George Santos’s Day in Court.”  [It would break precedent to oust him without a conviction.]  11-18-23
  258. Congress.  “So You Think You Want a Political fighter?”  by Peggy Noonan.  [Congress’s comportment crisis is getting worse, with brawls breaking out all over Capitol Hill.]   11-18-23
  259. Congress. “Congress’s Bipartisan Alfred E. Neuman Caucus.”  By Alan S. Blinder.  [On issues that matter to economists the attitude on Capitol Hill seems to be, ‘What, me worry?”]   11-28-23     (Blinder was an adviser to Al Gore and John Kerry during their respective presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004.)
  260. Congress.  “The Senate’s Subpoena Games.”  [Democrats bulldoze the rules in pursuit of Supreme Court Justices.]   12-1-23
  261. Congress.  “Congress Expels Santos.  Who’s Next?”   12-2-23
  262. Congress.  “Rep. Patrick McHenry Bows Out.”  [The House loses another Republican who’s serious about policy.)   12-6-23
  263. Congress.  “Congress’s Holiday From History.”  [The Members go home without a deal on Ukraine and the border.]  12-22-23
  264. Congress.  “John Fetterman Plays Against Type.”  By Salena Zito.  [His emergence as a pro-Israel moderate hasn’t surprised Pennsylvania political observers.]   1-2-24
  265. Congress.  “Speaker Johnson’s Spending Deal.”  [House Republicans have a chance to show they can actually govern.]   1-9-24
  266. Congress.  “Bernie Sanders Wants a Show Trial.”    1-23-24
  267. Congress:  “Congress’s Social-Media Spectacle.”  [When your answer is unleash the trial bar, you’re not serious.]  2-2-24
  268. Congress.  “The Cost of a Dysfunctional Congress.”  [Rep. Gallagher will retire, another sign of the decline of the House.]   2-12-24
  269. Congress.  “Does Sinema’s Exit Doom the Filibuster?”  3-8-24
  270. Congress.  “The Secret of Kevin McCarthy’s Bipartisan Success.”  By Matthew Sparks and John Leganski.  [Select committees can circumvent the turf battles that derail good ideas.]   3-16-24
  271. Congress.  “Who Lost the Budget Deal?”  [“…congress looks poised to avoid a futile government shutdown…”]   3-22-24
  272. Congress.  “Democrats, Support Speaker Johnson.’  By Tom Suozzi.  [We need to put partisan interests aside to defend Ukraine and defeat Putin.]   4-15-24
  273. Congress.  “The Mayorkas Impeachment Precedent.”    4-18-24
  274. Congress.  “The Tail-Wagger Troupe.”  By Kimberley A. Strassel.  [They say they want to make Congress work. They insist on rules that ensure it can’t.]   4-19-24
  275. Congress.  “Mike Johnson Makes His Case on Ukraine.”  [The Speaker put his job on the line in a welcome show of leadership.]   4-19-24
  276. Congress.  “Four Historic Votes for Action.”  By Walter Russell Mead.  [Congress sends a signal that America needs to be stronger and do better.]   4-23-2
  277. Congress.  “Sanity Prevails, and So Does Mike Johnson.”  By Karl Rove.  [Democrats decline to join the GOP chaos caucus, allowing the speaker to survive.]   4-25-24
  278. Congress.  “Congress Leads on Irn Sanctions.”  By Andrew Ghalili.  [The foreign-aid package includes a series of new sanctions, countering Biden’s accommodation.]   4-29-24
  279. Congress.  “A Chance for Congress to Stave Off Tyranny.”  By Wm. A. Galston.  [The Insurrection Act is an invitation to presidential abuse.  It needs reform now.]   5-1-24
  280. Congress.  “Congress’s Free Netflix Plan.”  [Members want to extend a monthly pandemic subsidy for broadband.]   5-3-24





                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Issue Headlines

Congress. Drudgereport.com 5-2-17
Congress protesting wasteful spending wants $77 million more for itself…

Campaign Consideration

Talking Points

Mike Lee email of 12-15-14

postmaster@mikelee.2dialog.com

Most Americans would be shocked and appalled by what is going on in Washington right now.

With a new Republican majority set to take control of the Senate, Harry Reid and his Democrat allies are doing all they can to cram through secret provisions before the end of the year that will reward their special-interest friends. All at taxpayer expense.

The so-called “omnibus” was cobbled together in back rooms out of sight of the American people. Members of the House and Senate have had very little time to read, decipher and decode its 1600 pages of spending increases, bad policy, and cronyist giveaways. The House has had just hours to review it before being forced to vote on this $1.1 trillion legislation.

This is not the way Congress is supposed to represent the American people. The country deserves better than to pass another monument to Washington dysfunction.

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