Commentary

Disastrous Congress Careening Toward Inglorious Ending

Disastrous Congress Careening Toward Inglorious Ending

Jonathan Alexandre

In Washington D.C., there are just a few weeks remaining in the 117th United States Congress — and what a Congress it has been! Right from the start this Democrat-run term has seen a parade of disasters. A mere three days into the session, Speaker Nancy Pelosi used the January 6, 2021 protests as a pretext to erect a concertina-wire-and-chain-link fence adorned with guard posts around the perimeter of the U.S. Capitol and down the National Mall. Locals nicknamed it Fort Pelosi.

The Pelosi Penitentiary might have been a better description, as the Capitol's COVID closures were stretched out for months. Capitol Hill police teamed up with the federal Department of Homeland Security to monitor the private social media posts of visitors, families, and lobbyists before granting them permission to visit their elected officials. All these steps further detached Congress from the people and treated both like prisoners of the Democrat leadership. 

You Can File Bills In the Massachusetts Legislature — Here’s How
News

You Can File Bills In the Massachusetts Legislature — Here’s How

Tom Joyce

The word lawmaker refers to a legislator — whether that's in the U.S. Congress or a state legislature. However, there is also someone else who can make laws in Massachusetts:  you.

Massachusetts is the only state in the country where its citizens have an explicit constitutional right to file bills directly in the state legislature, as the State Library of Massachusetts points out. The idea came from English common law, and first appeared in the Massachusetts Body of Liberties in 1641, and once again in the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.

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