Lawmaker News

Wiser words were rarely spoken than in the call by former Sen. Judd Gregg, in a recent column in The Hill, for a return to governance and authentic bipartisanship along the lines proposed by former President Bill Clinton in his recent speech at the Democratic Convention. I hope everyone, on both sides of the aisle, will closely read and carefully consider the wise counsel of Sen. Gregg, who so ably represented New Hampshire in the upper chamber.

Gregg is a deep-rooted Republican and widely admired fiscal conservative who was respected by Democrats and Republicans when he served in the Senate. Gregg was "born at the creation" of both the Reagan and Clinton presidencies, and when he writes that both presidents overcame partisan and ideological divides to reach major agreements involving both parties, he is completely correct historically. I know; I was there, from the Democratic side, involved in reaching some of those agreements.

Rep. Edolphus Towns of New York is retiring when his congressional term expires in January 2013. Many of us crossed the political aisles on Friday night at the Monocle Restaurant to pay tribute to a man whose service has extended for more than 30 years.

It is a sad commentary on our republic when people are surprised that Republicans and Democrats can get along and pay homage to great achievement. What should be shocking is the opposite: the bitter spirit of competitiveness.

As I suggested in my column this week, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) is now Exhibit A for the fact that the Republican Party has been taken over by radicals, extremists, ignoramuses and nuts. Not every Republican is as tactless as Akin, who publicly says what many Republicans privately believe and who publicly votes almost exactly the way Paul Ryan votes and the way a large majority of House Republicans vote. I dare any Republican to list the issues where Paul Ryan and Todd Akin disagree. All of Romney's money, Rove's machinations, the Koches’ cash and Adelson's dough cannot hide the fact that on matters of major policy, Paul Ryan and Todd Akin are in nearly 100 percent agreement. Along with a majority of House and Senate Republicans.

Senatorial candidate Todd Akin yesterday made one of the most egregious remarks in the history of politics in America, stating that when a woman is raped, her body goes into a defensive mode that prevents pregnancy.

All of which is complete nonsense. To his credit, he quickly recognized that this was a terrible faux pas and apologized, stating that he had misspoken.

The response from many Republicans around the country to Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) appalling and now-infamous comments on "legitimate rape" not producing pregnancies has been swift, unequivocal and appropriate. When was the last time the National Review asked someone to step down from a ticket just 24 hours after an offending remark? But the sting of Akin's comments, even if he does step down, promises to follow Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) around in the days and weeks to come — even if he doesn't agree with them.

Mr. Frank, your display on the House floor this week speaks volumes on the financial debacle that the world suffered four years ago. You were emphatic that the Federal Reserve Board was above, beyond, and exempt from oversight. In your arrogant display, you attempted to belittle Rep. Ron Paul's (R-Texas) legislation that called for auditing the Federal Reserve.

And now Michele Bachmann and several other House Republicans join the freak show that I harshly criticize in my new column. The attack against Huma Abedin, a good woman and powerfully loyal American, was a disgrace against the Congress. Thank goodness that John McCain put other Republicans to shame by standing for truth and honor and defending Abedin. It is good that the Republican Speaker, after no comment at first, spoke against this bigoted diatribe. Will the Speaker now condemn the Republican member who said the Democratic Progressive Caucus is full of communists?

Now here comes John Sununu. I won't dignify his insults of the president by even repeating them. Looks like the surrogates for the Republican candidate are getting desperate. They should be. Their champion Mitt Romney is not the champion of American workers. He cannot even make his mind up about whether American Olympic athletes should be wearing uniforms made in China. Mitt Romney vows to continue his tax return cover-up. He fears that whatever will be revealed could destroy his campaign. Perhaps it will. There is now a sick feeling in the pit of many Republican stomachs. This is not spin. It is truth.

Yesterday’s Chicago Tribune story about the queasiness of public officials revealing hospitalizations sent an alarm off in my head. Katherine Skiba and Todd Lighty, in a story prompted by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-Ill.) weird disappearance and the silence in its aftermath, focused also on Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who, they write, experiencing dizziness and numbness, checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital last Jan. 21 under the assumed name Hillel Underwood.

Skiba and Lighty quote doctors and others saying that using a fake name is done, although not often.

Time for an independent audit of the amount of taxpayer money being wasted by House Republicans in their power-abusing attacks against the attorney general of the United States. How many Republican lawyers, investigators and public-relations staff are being subsidized by hard-pressed American taxpayers in these Nixonian abuses of power? What is the cost to the Treasury?