The U.S. Congress has done it again. On Friday the House of Representatives voted to reject a long overdue end to the two-year old federal pay freeze. In effect, Congress is punishing federal civil servants for serving the public. It should be evident by now that federal employees have been castigated too much, for tooRead… Read more »
Having barely avoided falling off the fiscal cliff on January 1, we soon found ourselves sliding down a slippery slope toward a dark and gloomy abyss. The sequester was postponed for only two months, the debt ceiling was raised, but only until May, and we continue to hurtle toward the March 27 expiration of theRead… Read more »
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,” but what happens thereafter is subject to circumstance. When it comes to the concept of the “One Percent,” which emerged in the collective consciousness out of the Occupy Movement, perhaps for the words “all men” and “equal” are nuanced terms. In theRead… Read more »
Later today the House will vote on a plan to effectively lift the debt limit for four months, removing, or at least postponing, the threat of default. The bill, HR 325, temporarily extends the debt limit without seeking any concessions on spending, and allows Republicans a way to avoid having to actually cast a voteRead… Read more »
Among the great experiences of the year just past for me was the opportunity to learn about the US Congress through the Harvard Extension School from Professor Matthew B. Platt in the class Gov 1310. … Yes that class. Nearly one year since the first session of Gov 1310 and headlines about the class continueRead… Read more »
With the gun control debate still raging nationwide, we should carefully consider the original intent of the Founding Fathers in applying the U.S. Constitution – including the Bill of Rights — to federal, state and local governance. While many arguments and interpretations have been directed at parsing the language of the Second Amendment there’s aRead… Read more »
Just What is a “Congress” Anyway? Every two years, Congress reboots. Like a bright New Year’s Day, it’s fresh, and clean, and brief. The 113th Congress assembled on Thursday, January 3 – a day for family and tradition, smiles and handshakes. They’ll return to the backstabbing soon enough. For some reason, many Americans think thatRead… Read more »
Under the fiscal cliff agreement, the sequester has been postponed for two months, to March 2. The agreement also reduces the size of the sequester, from $109 billion to $85 billion, which will be squeezed into seven months, rather than nine. Provided there are no changes prior to March 2, discretionary spending will still needRead… Read more »
So, what does all this mean for feds? First, the fiscal cliff agreement doesn’t address the pay freeze for federal workers in any way. The bill that would extend the pay freeze for feds is a separate piece of legislation, which passed in the House with a sizeable majority, 287-129, but has not been broughtRead… Read more »
“The Government Man” has been quiet lately but an obscure news release over the weekend pushed my buttons again about one of my favorite topics, our ineffective and morally lacking Congress. Buried in the news on a Saturday before New Year’s weekend, the slowest media day of the week, if not the year, was aRead… Read more »