Category Archives: legislation and legislatures
“Supermajority elected to statehouses”
AP:
There’s a new superpower growing in the Great Plains and the South, where bulging Republican majorities in state capitols could dramatically cut taxes and change public education with barely a whimper of resistance from Democrats.
Contrast that with California,… Continue reading
“Down with SuperCommittees”
Peter Diamond has written this NYT oped.
“The Freshman Filibuster Reformers”
Brennan Center: “Of the twelve new Senators elected, eight endorsed filibuster reform during the campaign. Senators-elect Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Mazie Hirono (HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Murphy (D-CT) Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Angus King… Continue reading
“Republicans Can’t Claim Mandate as Democrats Top House Vote”
“Friends in Congress Have Helped Drug Compounders Avoid Tighter Rules”
NYT: “Despite two decades of dire health warnings and threats of federal intervention, the specialty drugmakers at the center of the nation’s deadly meningitis outbreak have repeatedly staved off tougher federal oversight with the help of powerful allies in Congress.”
“A Decision Theory of Statutory Interpretation: Legislative History by the Rules”
Victoria Nourse has posted this article on SSRN (Yale Law Journal). Here is the abstract:
We have a law of civil procedure, criminal procedure, and administrative procedure, but we have no law of legislative procedure. This failure has serious consequences… Continue reading
“Brewing Senate fight over curbing filibusters could threaten postelection co-operation”
WaPo: “A brewing and potentially bitter fight over Democratic efforts to curb filibusters is threatening to inflame partisan tensions in the Senate, even as President Barack Obama and Republicans explore whether they can compromise on top tier issues such… Continue reading
“Election dominoes could impact timing for supermajority in CA”
“Romney Would Limit Lobbyist Roles”
WSJ: “Advisers to Mitt Romney would limit the role of lobbyists in transition teams and the White House if the Republican presidential candidate wins next week’s election. The Romney camp is considering a one-year ban to prevent registered lobbyists… Continue reading
“An Electoral Tie Could Bind the Senate”
“A status quo election? A counterpoint”
The Fix: “Richard L. Hasen over at the Election Law Blog offers a worthwhile counterpoint to our argument in Morning Fix that the government may stay largely as-is after the 2012 election….We generally agree with Hasen’s point that… Continue reading
A “Status Quo Election?” Not Really: The Loss of Senate Moderates
Aaron Blake explores the (I believe strong) possibility that we’ll continue to have President Obama, a Democratic Senate, and a Republican House after election day. He calls that a “status quo election.”
I don’t think that’s right. The Senate is… Continue reading
“A Congress Too Polarized to Protect Itself”
Bloomberg View offers this editorial, which discusses, among other things, my forthcoming law review article, End the Dialogue? Political Polarization, the Supreme Court and Congress.