I was on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1990 when the late president of Czechoslovakia gave one of the best speeches I ever heard from a head of state. His recent passing prompted me to look back in the journal I kept when I was Historian of the House, where I recorded [...]
Incivility and Dysfunction in Congress: A National Crisis
Thu, Oct 13 2011 By
In a radio broadcast in 1935, the great humorist Will Rogers explained how civility works in the U. S. Senate. “They always call each other gentlemen there. By the tone they put in the word it would be more appropriate if they come right out and said ‘does the coyote from Maine yield?’ Then the [...]
Democracy at Risk: Lecture by Bob Edgar
Thu, Sep 22 2011 By
The 7th Annual Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the U.S. Constitution, by Bob Edgar, delivered at the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University. Sept. 14, 2011, in honor of Constitution Day. Click on the Audio Arrow below, left, to play. [View the full post to list to the audio file...]
I Believe in Government
Wed, Aug 10 2011 By
Note from author Ray Smock: This short essay was written at the request of Judi McIntyre who directs the Shepherd University Common Reading Program. Judi asked me if I would participate and I gladly agreed to do so. Each year students and faculty of the University read a book and a number of programs are [...]
The Balanced Budget Amendment: No Substitute for Responsible Leadership
Sun, Jul 31 2011 By
Senator Byrd once called the balanced budget amendment a “pneumatic excrescence.” Whatever that means it sure doesn’t sound good. He explained the meaning as a wart full of wind. Only an orator like Robert C. Byrd, who meticulously studied his Webster’s Dictionary as well as his Bible and the U.S. Constitution, could come up with [...]
The Tucson Tragedy and Representative Democracy
Thu, Jan 13 2011 By
The tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, has focused national attention on the reasons for such a sad and senseless event. Rampant speculation has emerged from news stories, blogs, radio and TV pundits, editorial writers, and those who Twitter or communicate by social networks like Facebook. Much of this is a natural human reaction. We all [...]
Reading the Constitution
Fri, Jan 07 2011 By
For the first time in the history of Congress the House of Representatives opened its first day of regular business with a 2-hour reading of the United States Constitution. This generated a good deal of press coverage both pro and con about the value of such an exercise. Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote in the [...]
Lame Duck Reform is Lame Thinking
Mon, Jan 03 2011 By
The so-called Lame Duck session of the 111th Congress, which just ended, has been characterized in public discourse as a rush to fulfill a Democratic agenda before the Republicans gain the majority in the House of Representatives on January 5, 2011. Others, more favorably inclined to the legislation that passed during the lame duck session, [...]
Amending the Constitution in the Era of Bad Feelings
Fri, Dec 03 2010 By
After the recent elections which increased the power of the Republican Party in Congress and a lot of newcomers to the House of Representatives in particular, I predict that the number of proposed Constitutional Amendments will increase and that many of them will be attempts to limit the federal government. There are usually about 100 [...]