Phyllis Schlafly Claims Women Paid The Same As Men Won't Find Husbands

For those on the Judiciary Committee in simulation, one of the Republican witnesses for the sexual assault bill is chiming in on equal pay legislation. Ladies and gentlemen, Phyllis Schlafly.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/15/phyllis-schlafly-equal-pay_n_5154150.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Congress and National Security

Politics

• Surveys on national priorities
• Gallup trend

Legalities

• The often-overlooked legal consequences of a declaration of war...
• A list

The War Powers Resolution

Oversight 2

Iran-Contra on TV

 

How to prepare for a hearing.  Bookmark this page.  You may need it someday.

Obama and Congress

Committee Vetoes

Recess Appointments and the Canning Case

Gitmo:



Contempt of Congress

• Background
• The Lerner Case
• Fast and Furious and Eric Holder

Oversight 1

GAO


 

CBO



Inspectors General


House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Senator Dan Coats at the Wrong Hearing

A funny thing happened to Sen. Dan Coats (R., Ind.) at a subcommittee hearing: He pressed an official for information about possible job losses in his home state -- before realizing he was in the wrong hearing, and asking the wrong official. 

Simulation and Life

Stuff that real lawmakers do with social media: http://swampland.time.com/2014/01/29/state-of-the-union-14-things-members-of-congress-did-on-social-media

A site for tweets that lawmakers deleted: http://politwoops.sunlightfoundation.com

And Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) has a "well, that was awkward" moment:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/sen-coats-im-at-the-wrong-hearing/2014/04/03/00174c06-bb64-11e3-80de-2ff8801f27af_video.html 

Tax Lobbying

The New York Times reports (h/t Julian B):

Just two days after he proposed a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s tax code, Representative Dave Camp, Republican of Michigan, traveled to Park City, Utah, for a glittering fund-raiser attended by lobbyists from some of the nation’s largest corporations, all with enormous stakes in the tax battle to come.

The event was intended to honor Mr. Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, whose 979-page tax plan would cut the overall corporate tax rate by creating a new bank tax and a surtax on the very wealthy, among many other changes.

But this gathering ended up serving a decidedly different purpose: the unofficial kickoff of a push to make sure that Mr. Camp’s tax plan dies, a campaign that is highly likely to succeed, particularly now that Mr. Camp himself essentially conceded defeat, announcing this week he will not seek re-election this year.

The twist reflects how lobbying in Washington — and the millions of dollars in fees that lobbyists collect — are often about stopping action and preserving the status quo. Whenever Congress considers major changes to the tax code, lobbyists buy insurance on both sides of the fight. It also reflects a pivot by lobbyists who had spent months cheering Mr. Camp’s three-year effort to draft this giant package, given that its stated purpose was to lower corporate tax rates and simplify the tax code, and who are now working to make sure that the package never becomes law.

“There is no doubt that what they have done is put a big target out there on the backs of some industries,” said Jeffrey A. Forbes, a former staff director at the Senate Finance Committee turned tax lobbyist, who was not at the Park City fund-raising event but represents clients who were.

The undisputed winners of the legislative battle so far are the lobbying shops themselves. Senior congressional tax staff members have already named Mr. Camp’s push the “Build a Vacation Home for a Tax Lobbyist Act.”

Lobbyists say they have to be zealous because the tax code hits almost every corporate interest.

“If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” said Heather Podesta, a lobbyist whose firm, Heather Podesta & Partners, has at least 10 tax-related corporate clients.