Congress has been a place of little activity of any note for about the last month. I have told you that I expected this to be an unproductive year given the looming and very unpredictable election. But we are underperforming even my low expectations. It has been unexpectedly difficult to find agreement on the expiring Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Farm Bill and No Child left Behind Reauthorization, not to mention take on the housing crisis, energy, budget, etc. The continuing Clinton/Obama battle is, I think, making consensus on things even among Democrats difficult, not to mention Republicans and the President.
So, since there’s no real news, here are some tidbits of thoughts and occurrences from the past month:
- A few weeks ago, the House went into "secret session" to discuss the implications of passing or not passing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (referenced above). When in "secret session" the House is swept for "bugs" and there obviously are no spectators and C- Span is turned off. Interestingly, the session is recorded and held as a classified document for 50 years or until Congress declassifies it, whichever comes first. The information presented can be at the "secret" level but not at "top secret" level or higher because we are not all cleared above secret. For example, I do not have a "top secret" clearance because neither of the committees on which I sit have a need for such clearance. Other than that, it is like a regular hearing with speeches and yielding to the gentleman from wherever and all that kind of stuff. Prior to 1800, secret sessions were quite common, apparently so the British couldn’t hear. But this was only the 6th "secret session" in the last 196 years. The last secret session was held in 1983 to discuss support for the Contras in Nicaragua. The others had to do with Cuba (1980), the Panama Canal (1979), Trade with Britain (1830) and Indian Tribes (1825). Obviously, I can’t tell you what went on. But my opinion of what we should do about FISA was reinforced.
- Soon, you will be probably seeing ads on the TV in California that will probably be paid for by the California Teacher’s Association, which will tell you how awful the state will be if school funding is not increased because, they will tell you, they are so woefully under-funded now. Before you fall for this, you should know that California now has the highest teacher salaries of any state in the nation. Numero uno. Total per student spending is also higher now, adjusted for inflation, than it was in the "heyday" of California education in the mid-70s. So, if you have problems with public education in California, don’t blame the money. Maybe it’s because of the idea of some teacher’s unions that they will care about the kids when the kids pay union dues.
- The House Democrats passed a budget on a virtually straight party line vote. It is really awful. It doubles last year’s deficit, increases the Alternative Minimum tax, includes the largest tax increase in American history and does nothing to deal with the coming bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare. It is so bad that even the Democrats in the Senate are, at this time, unable to accept it. So, there may be no budget this year at all. That would be much better than the one they passed.
- A constituent sent me a note complaining that a relatively new California law was keeping the American Cancer Society from having their "casino night" fundraisers. I couldn’t believe it, but I found out he was right. AB 839 was passed in 2006 in order to keep the Indian casinos from having "competition" from charities. It prohibits a charity (or any non-profit) from having a casino night unless, amongst other things, it registers with the Division of Gambling Control, has only one such event per year statewide, the event lasts no more than 5 hours and awards no cash prizes. Give me a break. The Indian Gambling tribes aren’t satisfied with the monopoly they have so they pushed through a bill make sure that the Alzheimer’s’ foundation doesn’t have a casino night to raise some money? Next thing, they will want to reach into your home to make sure you and your best friend don’t have a wager on rock, paper, scissors. It’s disgusting.
Although the House is not very active right now, I am. Over the next few weeks, I will be introducing 5 new bills about which I will tell you in blogs ahead.