When we worry about money in politics, we tend to worry about a system that’s akin to bribery. That happens, but it’s rarer then you might think. Typically, politicians raise money from interests they’re already relatively aligned with. Money brings the legislator and his benefactor closer into alignment, and it certainly helps concentrate a politician’s attention on issues they might otherwise have ignored, but it’s uncommon for a sack of cash to flip a vote outright. What we don’t worry about enough is the way the hunt for money saps another precious resource: time. A few months back, I sat down with former Connecticut senator Chris Dodd, who marveled at the sums that were spent in his state’s 2010 Senate race. “I don’t know how you do it,” he said. “I would have no idea how to raise that kind of money in a campaign. And that’s new to me. I don’t know what that’s meant in terms of people’s ability then to concentrate on their jobs.”— The most depressing graphic for members of Congress
Shirtless Christopher Lee Shows More Class Than Other Scandal Pols
But given what we know, it looks more like Lee is doing exactly what he said: sparing his district and the Congress from an unnecessary distraction, and his wife, from further embarrassment.
GOP’s Boehner Gets House Speaker’s Gavel
Ohio Republican John Boehner has finally received his life-long wish: He is speaker of the House of Representatives. In a symbolic move, outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi handed over the gavel to Boehner, who gave a brief speech in which he pledged to move forward with the conservative agenda voters approved in giving the GOP control of the House.
A Successful Lame Duck for Obama and Democrats: Obama and Democrats pushed through several major pieces of legislation
Congress passed a tax cut package which extended the Bush-era tax cuts, while also extending unemployment insurance and slashing the payroll tax through 2011. Democrats found the Republican votes they needed to repeal the military’s ban on openly gay service members, and to ratify the New START treaty, an arms control agreement with Russia. Despite some significant legal and procedural hurdles, Congress managed to pass a bill which updates the Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory powers, and it also approved a bill providing healthcare to the first responders at the World Trade Center on 9/11. The Senate failed, however, to pass the DREAM Act, an immigration bill which has languished in Congress for nearly a decade.
