Category Archives: legislation and legislatures
“Reid not ready to move on changing filibuster rule on nominations”
NBC:
Continuing an uneasy standoff with Republicans on filibusters of President Barack Obama’s nominees to the federal courts and to executive branch positions, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated Tuesday he isn’t quite ready to pull the trigger on… Continue reading
“Conservative Group Helping Industry Fight Federal Cuts”
NYT: “As one of the country’s largest and oldest conservative advocacy groups, the American Conservative Union has long fought to rein in federal spending and limit the size of government. But behind the scenes, the group has formed a… Continue reading
“Institutions Worthy of Our Parties: Should the U.S. Switch to a Parliamentary System?”
Seth Masket:
Rick Hasen has a really interesting paper up discussing partisan polarization and the possibility of changing the Constitution to deal with it. (And you should really read Jonathan Bernstein’s response, too.) Hasen starts off by asking… Continue reading
“Reid Threatens Filibuster Reform With Nuclear Option”
TPM: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) threatened in his most explicit terms yet to use the so-called nuclear option to weaken the filibuster if Republicans keep blocking judicial and other nominees from coming to a vote.”
Obama’s Catch-22
NYT: “Members of both parties say Mr. Obama faces a conundrum with his legislative approach to a deeply polarized Congress. In the past, when he has stayed aloof from legislative action, Republicans and others have accused him of a… Continue reading
“Senate has become more partisan, less collegial — more like the House”
“Tax Lobby Builds Ties to Chairman of Finance Panel”
Must-read NYT:
To make their case as Congress prepares to debate a rewrite of the nation’s tax code, this diverse set of businesses has at least one strategy in common: they have retained firms that employ lobbyists who are… Continue reading
“The Republican Party is officially broken: Washington’s problem isn’t partisanship or a fatally flawed system. It’s that one party is massively dysfunctional”
Jonathan Bernstein has written this piece for Salon responding to my new draft article (which I presented Saturday at the excellent Drake Law School symposium), Political Dysfunction and Constitutional Change.
Jonathan begins:
The American political system is not… Continue reading
“Preliminary Comments on the Role of Courts as Regulatory Watchdogs”
Introduction to new issue of Legisprudence.
“You Stuck What Where Now?” The Daily Show on How a Bill Becomes a Law
For those who love “I’m just a Bill,” this is not for the squeamish. Watch.
“Recommendations for Improving the Regulation of Federal Lobbyists”
New position paper from the American League of Lobbyists which punts on the issue of campaign finance regulation.
“Political Dysfunction and Constitutional Change”
I have just posted this draft on SSRN, a paper for the Drake Law School symposium I’ll be speaking at on Saturday. Here is the abstract:
This Essay was prepared for a symposium at Drake Law School on “The U.S.… Continue reading
“Menendez donor reveals lobbying effort — four years late”
Politico:
A company controlled by the Democratic donor in the middle of the Robert Menendez controversy this week revealed that it spent as much as $60,000 on previously undisclosed lobbying.
Salomon Melgen, a wealthy South Florida ophthalmologist and investor,… Continue reading