Ray Smock I am a C-SPAN junkie and proud of the label even though there is nothing junky about C-SPAN. If “junkie” implies an addiction, C-SPAN is a most positive kind of dependency. My first appearance on the network was close to thirty years ago, when I was Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives. The [...]
Sequestration and the Role of Congress
Fri, Mar 01 2013 by
By Ray Smock In the political posturing and finger-pointing taking place regarding the “Sequester,” the first victim is the United States Constitution. Congress has ignored its responsibility as a co-equal branch of the government. It is the House and Senate that have the power of the purse, not the President. It is the job of [...]
Dear Abby Flirts with Senator Byrd
Fri, Jan 18 2013 by
By Ray Smock The death of the iconic advice columnist Dear Abby this week at the age of 94 reminded me that Senator Byrd’s archive contains a copy of a letter she wrote to Senator Byrd in 1978, when he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine as the Majority Leader of the Senate. Abby [...]
Looking Back Twenty Years at the Opening of Congress
Wed, Jan 02 2013 by
By Ray Smock When I was historian of the House of Representatives I kept a journal that described some of my observations of the House and my impressions of the people and events I witnessed. What follows is from my journal entry of January 6, 1993. The 103rd Congress opened on January 5, the day [...]
A New Report on Congress Tells It Like It Is
Wed, Nov 28 2012 by
By Ray Smock Those of us who follow the work of Congress have known for some time that this vital constitutional institution is not functioning very well, if at all. Many books, articles, reports, blogs, and a chorus of talking heads, from both sides of the political spectrum have offered analysis, explaining what is wrong [...]
Hawks and Doves: Thoughts on the Passing of Senator George McGovern
Tue, Oct 23 2012 by
Ray Smock George McGovern died on October 21 at the age of 90. Those of us who remember the presidential election of 1972, forty years ago, recall that McGovern lost that election in the worst defeat in presidential history. He lost the popular vote by 18 million votes and lost to Richard Nixon in the [...]
The Failure of Congress to Live Up to Its Constitutional Responsibility on the Nation’s Budget
Mon, Aug 13 2012 by
Jim Thurber, who is founder and director of American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, is a member of the board of directors of the Congressional Education Foundation which oversees the work of the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies. Jim is an outstanding scholar of the American political system and serves as Distinguished Professor [...]
Abusing History, the Constitution, and the Founders
Thu, Jul 19 2012 by
By Ray Smock My friend Michael Austin, who was on the faculty here at Shepherd University before assuming the duties of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Newman University in Kansas, has written a most timely book on the egregious abuse of the history of the founding of the United States by current-day [...]
Our National Fulcrum is Out of Balance: Reflections on the Unpopularity of Congress
Mon, Jun 11 2012 by
Our National Fulcrum is Out of Balance: Reflections on the Unpopularity of Congress Raymond W. Smock [PDF Version] [With national polls showing the popularity of Congress at an all-time low, here are my reflections on a branch of government that deserves our respect, even if it hasn’t earned it recently. This is a modified, [...]
The Constitution, ObamaCare, and the Individual Mandate
Thu, May 10 2012 by
Currently the Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress in 2010, and universally known by friend and foe alike as ObamaCare. Much has been written about the individual mandate provision. The best short discussion of the topic from the standpoint of the U. [...]