Category Archives: legislation and legislatures

“Constitutional Interpretation and Congressional Overrides: Changing Trends in Court-Congress Relations”

April 25, 2013, 8:48 amlegislation and legislatures, statutory interpretation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Ryan Emenaker has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: National policy is shaped through frequent interaction between the Court and Congress. The Court devotes the largest portion of its work to applying and interpreting congressional statutes. Congress… Continue reading

House Republicans Reject “Helping Sick Americans Now”

April 24, 2013, 9:09 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

A self-inflicted wound.

“The Filibuster and Reconciliation: The Future of Majoritarian Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate”

April 24, 2013, 6:20 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Tonja Jacobi and Jeff Van Dam have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The filibuster has effectively become a supermajority requirement for all lawmaking in the Senate, an effect worsened by ill-conceived attempts at its reform. Once… Continue reading

“On Filibuster, It’s Past Time to End ‘False Equivalence’”

April 23, 2013, 5:46 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Andrew Cohen blogs.

“How the ban on earmarks killed the gun bill”

April 19, 2013, 7:54 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

The Fix: Washington used to be a place where lawmakers openly traded votes for both concrete and symbolic concessions from the executive branch, whether it was a project in a member’s district or simply the president’s presence at a… Continue reading

“US Senate Succumbs to NRA Protection Racket: Filibuster Assures Easy Access to Guns for Criminals, Mentally Ill People and Terrorists”

April 18, 2013, 5:38 pmcampaign finance, legislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Richard Painter, President Bush’s ethics czar, has this post at the Legal Ethics Forum.

Quote of the Day

April 18, 2013, 5:21 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

“Bribery isn’t what it once was,” said an official with one of the major gun-control groups. “The government has no money. Once upon a time you would throw somebody a post office or a research facility in times like this.… Continue reading

OFA, Which Won’t Take Lobbyist Money, Registers as Lobbyist

April 16, 2013, 7:11 amcampaign finance, legislation and legislatures, lobbyingRick Hasen

Free Beacon reports (via Eric Brown).

“Mitch McConnell is in No Mood for Bipartisanship”

April 14, 2013, 9:16 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Politico: “The Senate minority leader has signaled privately that he has no interest in sitting in the same room as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to discuss a possible “grand bargain” on budget and tax issues, Senate insiders tell… Continue reading

‘Washington confronts still-divided America”

April 14, 2013, 9:08 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Dan Balz: “Bipartisanship and cross-party alliances are suddenly in vogue in the Senate this spring. The question is whether the Senate is a leading indicator of a change in politics or largely an aberration in a nation divided along… Continue reading

“America’s Problem is Not Political Gridlock”

April 14, 2013, 9:04 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Interesting perspective from Larry Summers.

“The Republican Advantage: The decline of swing districts and the rise of partisanship spells trouble for House Democrats.”

April 14, 2013, 9:02 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarization, redistrictingRick Hasen

Charlie Cook: By now, the trend lines are clear. In 1998, we found 164 swing seats—districts within 5 points of the national partisan average, with scores between R+5 and D+5 (a score of R+5 means the district’s vote for… Continue reading

“Does Boehner benefit from breaking the Hastert rule?”

April 14, 2013, 1:59 pmlegislation and legislatures, political polarizationRick Hasen

Sarah Binder blogs.

“Statutory Interpretation from the Inside — An Empirical Study of Congressional Drafting, Delegation and the Canons: Part I”

April 13, 2013, 1:34 pmlegislation and legislatures, statutory interpretationRick Hasen

Abbe Gluck and Lisa Schultz Bressman have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Stanford Law Review). This looks to be a top-of-the-pile must read. Here is the abstract: What role should the realities of the legislative drafting process play in… Continue reading