DC Week (3 of 8): The Onion's Take on Congress

The images here are of: 1) Cong. Howard Coble (R-NC), who at 82 is one of the oldest members of the House though he is a few years younger than Cong. John Dingell (D-Mich.; born in 1926); 2) A poster for "D.C. Cab" which starred cult acting sensation Mister T, who is now 61! and 3) Den. Mark Warner (D-Va), who at age 58 is three years younger than Mister T.

Warner, along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is in a group of party centrists trying to resolve the government shut down. which is actually causing economic problems for DC-Metro area cabbies.

Here are the tweets, concerning not only the federal shut down, but also other things going on in Washington, DC:

1) Howard Coble: "14 Democrats agree U.S. has a spending and debt program."

2) Washington Diplomat: "Embassy warns Americans in Egypt that weekend protest could turn violent."

3) Jonathan Chait (a liberal journalist with "New York" magazine): "Once Republicans realized shutting down the government wouldn't stop Obamacare, they already printed up the t-shrts."

4) Roll Call: "Susan Collins Stands Behind Plan as Leaders Attempt Larger Deals."

5) Arizona Democratic Party: "It's time we let the tea party know the future of our country is not a game! #EndtheShutdown."

6) "The Onion" (a satirical news publication): "Psychiatrists Deeply Concerned for 5% of Americans Who Approve of Congress."



http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://www.theonion.com

 http://www.rollcall.com/

http://nymag.com/

http://azdem.org/

http://coble.house.gov/welcome/

http://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/

DC Week (2 of 8): Tweets About the Nation's Capital and the Government Shutdown

With images of 1) Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah); 2) Mabry Mill, near Roanoke, Va., which has been closed due to the federal government shutdown; and 3) Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), we begin our first of two entries in this eight-entry series geared towards Washington, D.C.

"The Roanoke Times" reported that Mabry Mill, which is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway, could be reopen. Today, President Barack Obama said that states could re-open national parks with state funds. As a result, The Statue of Liberty, The Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore are likely to re-open.

Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) is considered to be the most conservative Democrat in the House, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is considered to be the most progressive Republican in the Senate. Both are reportedly working diligently to find the proverbial common ground to restart the federal government, which is now in Day 10 of a shutdown.

Here are the tweets:

1) Cong. Jim Matheson: "Glad Utah National Parks are open. Too bad we can't vote on a clean CR (Continuing Resolution) to operate rest of the government."

2) National Review (a conservative magazine): "Barack Obama can close our parks, but he's never block American enterprise."

3) The Hill: "Chris Christie (New Jersey's Republican governor): If I was in the Senate right now, I'd kill myself."

4) Embassy of Greece: "The Embassy and Consulate will be closed on Monday. Happy #ColumbusDay weekend."

5) Politico: "New York is donating $369,300 to have park service employees reopen the Statue of Liberty."

6) Bruce Bartlett (a Republican political aide): "David Frum: Will the Republican Moderates Please Stand Up."

http://matheson.house.gov/

http://www.roanoke.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/

http://www.nationalreview.com/

Know Your Congressional Reps and Senators (Entry 21 of 21)- Susan Collins (R-Maine)

Initially, I was hoping to conclude this series by the end of 2009, but somehow things just kept popping up. But, even with the earthquake crisis in Haiti, we thought this would be a good time to wrap up this marathon session which has hopefully been as informal to you the reader as it has been for us.

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) might well be ultra right-wing talk show host Glenn Beck's least favorite Republican senator. At one point her voting record was to the left of then-Sen. Joe Biden, who is of course now veep, and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Ct.).

Collins began her career in Washington, DC, back in 1975 when she was an assitant to then-Sen. William Cohen (R) from 1975-1987.

When returning to Maine, Collins lost to Angus King, an independent candidate, in the state's 1994 governor's race.

Collins would then defeat former Democratic governor Joe Brennan who was the third candidate in the '94 governor's race for a U.S. senate seat in 1996. Collins maintained her seat in 2008 election cycle by defeating Cong. Tom Allen (D-Maine).

Collins has a very interesting voting record. She was only one of a handful of Republican senators to oppose the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act and she also voted against travel restrictions to Cuba. Collins even voted against the CAFTA trade act which many centrist Democrats actually supported.

But, conversely, she supported then-president George W. Bush's controversial tax cuts and she voted for Judges Samuel Alito and John G. Roberts for the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, Collins continues to maintain her independent streak in areas like global warming.

Even though right-wing talk radio idealogues lambasted Judge Sonia Sotomayor (Rush Limbaugh essentially said she was David Duke in reverse), Collins voted for her.

Collins also appeared in the acclaimed 2000 film "Traffic."

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is also known for her centrist votes in the Senate.

There is a sister series on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" which profiles American mayors. Today, we are posting about Salt Lake City, Utah's mayor Ralph Becker. By sheer coincidence, I found out that both Becker and Collins were born in 1952.

Know Your Congress Reps and Senators (Entry 20 of 21)

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is the second U.S. Senator we're profiling who is also a published novelist. Our very first entry featured Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) who also like Boxer has a journalism background. Boxer's two novels include "A Time to Run" (2005) and her most current work "Blind Trust" (2009).

Boxer, 69, is one of several senators from both parties that I'm following on Twitter along with the likes of Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Along with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Boxer is one of two female Jewish senators.

In one of her recent tweets, Boxer said she is determined to prove Karl Rove wrong as the former George W. Bush aid wrote in the conservative-leaning "Wall Street Journal" that Boxer's seat is one of six that Republicans could pickup in the 2010 mid-term elections. Rove predicted that the seat could be grabbed by former Hewitt-Packard chair Carly Fiorina, even though she has no political experience.

On her personal blog, Boxer said that each time GOP insiders predict her demise she pulls through because California residents support her stands on job creation, health care and the environment.

Comedian/actor/talk show host Dennis Miller, who became a Republican after Sept. 11th, told politico.com that he was actually recruited by then Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who was unseated by Webb, to run against Boxer. Another former stand-up comedian/actor/talk show Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), whom we've also written about in this series, later wound up getting a senate seat himself.

Boxer's official senate web site advocates her work helping small businesses and working to prevent violence against women in conflict zones. Boxer, who was previously a member of Congress, replaced Sen. Alan Cranston (R) (who retired from the senate) in 1993. Boxer beat conservative commentator Bruce Herschensohn by five points in part because of her opponent's revelation that he had gone to a strip club. Recently, Boxer became the first female chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee replacing Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD). She also chairs the Select Committe on Ethics, and Boxer is the only senator chairing two committees.

Boxer became known as a member of congress when she insisted that Anita Hill's sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas (now the most conservative justice on the court) be taken seriously.

According to wikipedia.org, her current approval ratings are hovering in the mid-forties. And, she is a target of right-wing activists for her stances on a woman's right to choose abortion, carbon emissions caps, stem cell research and gun control. Boxer also supports a moratorium on the death penalty.

Boxer is also known as an advocate for health care and education, and she has worked aggressively in addressing the rise in autism rates among children.

Besides being a novelist, Boxer has made cameo appearances in tv shows ("Curb your Enthusiasm" and "Gilmore Girls) and films ("Traffic"). She was also featured in a 2007 documentary about female senators from both parties called "14 Women." The film may actually seem a bit dated now since two of the featured senators, Hillary Clinton (D) and Elizabeth Dole (R) are no longer in the Senate. Dole was defeated by Kay Hagan (D) in the 2008 elections, and Clinton stepped down to become Secretary of State.

UPDATE- The California Republican Party is now following me on Twitter. I wonder if that was the result of this entry!