MyDD

PA-12: After Murtha

Charles Lemos — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:52:31 -0500

With the sudden death of Rep. John Murtha following complications from gall bladder surgery, the race is to succeed him is beginning to take shape. According to Pennsylvania state law, Governor Ed Rendall must set a date for a special election within the next ten days. A likely date is May 18, when the state’s primary elections will take place. Special elections costs the state huge sums of money so it is probable that Governor Rendall will go with an already established election day in an effort to save cash in a time of tight state budgetary constraints.

While Murtha had held the seat in PA-12 since 1974, the early read is that the race will be competitive. In the 2008, the McCain-Palin ticker narrowly won the district with a 1,000 vote margin over Obama-Biden. It was the only district in the nation that voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential race that was carried by McCain four years later.

On the GOP side, there are two candidates in the race: a local business Tim Burns and the 2008 candidate William Russell who Murtha defeated comfortably 58% to 42%.

On the Democratic side, we are blessed with a true progressive with deep ties to the hard-scrabble district and with impeccable credentials who had already entered the race in a primary challenge to Murtha back in May 2009. His name is Ryan Bucchianeri.

Ryan is a seventh-generation Pennsylvanian who was born and raised in the district. He attended the US Naval Academy graduating in 1997 and later earned a degree in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has served his country in tours of duty in the Middle East, has worked in the private sector and can speak to issues from national security to job creation to drug trade policy to military affairs.

Here's Ryan in his own words on why he's running for Congress:

In Washington, I'll focus on issues that matter most to Western Pennsylvanians:

Job creation and economic development for the entire district. I will work to diversify our economy and bring opportunity to a region that has suffered too long from economic decline. With new opportunities, young people will stay and thrive in the region - energizing it for generations to come - instead of leaving for opportunities elsewhere.

A commitment to quality education. The quality of our education remains critical to America's prosperity at home and performance in a global economy. I will ensure we redirect the necessary focus to early childhood education, reform and invest in primary and secondary education, and enable higher education opportunities for all. I'll fight to ensure equality of opportunity in our schools, fair pay for teachers, and reduce the crippling financial burden of college tuition.

Affordable and accessible health care. While debate in Washington rages on with no clear end in sight, 60,000 of our friends and neighbors in the district remain uninsured - with nearly 1,000 having to declare bankruptcy because of medical bills last year alone. I support a strong public option and believe it is the best vehicle that will allow us to adequately address the quality, cost, and coverage challenges of our healthcare system. I'll work towards legislation that truly addresses the long-term costs of health care and fully-protects Medicare. I'll fight for coverage that is affordable, universal, portable, and covers pre-existing conditions - coverage you can't lose if you're laid off or get sick, and coverage that includes prevention, mental health, and dental care on an equal basis.

I'm running for Congress to serve the people of Western Pennsylvania - not the special interests of high-powered lobbyists who continue to maintain their power at our expense. Until we have new leadership in Washington we will continue to suffer the financial and ethical consequences of irresponsible earmarks and a power structure designed to keep incumbents in office.

I count Ryan as a personal friend. When I think of Ryan the word that comes to mind is integrity. His progressive credentials are solid: he supports a public option, he's for marriage equality and for the repeal of DADT, he strongly supports a woman's right to choose. Ryan comes from a family of public educators so he understands the importance of making America's public schools second to none. But really what sets Ryan apart is that he is a humble, hard-working guy committed to making sure all Americans have the same of freedom of opportunity that we have traditionally enjoyed in this country but that is now under assault by three decades of GOP policies that have favored the powerful over the interests of our once broad middle classes.

We have a rare opportunity to replace a mainstream Democrat with a progressive Democrat that boasts an incredible life story. He's a man who has served his country and who could go anywhere and do anything in life but who feels that he has a higher calling by returning to his Western Pennsylvania roots and serving to protect their interests.

You can learn more about Ryan by visiting his campaign website. Please join me in supporting Ryan Bucchianeri by contributing to his campaign. Getting Ryan elected to Congress is my highest priority right now. Any help you can offer is deeply appreciated. Thank you!

Good news for marriage equality in Iowa and New Hampshire

desmoinesdem — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:41:43 -0500

Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate failed this morning to force floor votes on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. In the Iowa Senate, only one of the 32 Democrats joined the 18 Republicans in signing a petition that would have brought a marriage amendment to a vote on the floor. Shortly thereafter, only one of the 56 Iowa House Democrats voted with the 44 House Republicans on a procedural motion that would have brought a similar measure to the floor. I covered today's events in more detail at Bleeding Heartland. The upshot is that the marriage issue is likely dead for this year's legislative session.

Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal strongly supported the Iowa Supreme Court's Varnum v Brien ruling last April, and they deserve a lot of credit for holding their caucuses together today.

Republicans hope to pick up some statehouse seats by slamming Democrats for blocking a marriage amendment. However, recent polling data suggests gay marriage is not a high priority for most Iowans.

Meanwhile, the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee voted down two bills today that were aimed at repealing same-sex marriage rights in that state. Good for them.

In other encouraging news, "Gay military rights advocate Lt. Dan Choi has been called back into drill duty," The Advocate reported.

Obama Threatens Recess Appointments

Josh Orton — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:47:20 -0500

Obama today:

President Barack Obama is calling on lawmakers to stop blocking the confirmation of government appointees in the Senate by raising objections not related to their qualifications.

In a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Tuesday, Obama said he will consider making recess appointments if the Senate doesn't act on the confirmation hearings.

Good. Harry Reid already floated the idea last week, but it's Obama's call to make.

Shelby's blanket hold was ridiculous, but it probably wasn't just about money for Alabama - the Republican caucus is playing a little chicken with the White House. Nice to see the White House pushing back.

Might Ben Nelson Switch Parties for 2012?

Nathan Empsall — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:58:38 -0500

You've got to wonder about my Senator, Ben Nelson (D-NE).

Although he gets a reprieve for 2010, his 2012 re-election bid will be Nebraska's next Senate race, and as his and his party's approval ratings dip and his race grows closer, he's started to tack even harder hard to the right than usual. He supported his party's top priority, health care reform, but only after he won major conservative and parochial concessions on abortion and Medicaid. He watered down the stimulus. He's not likely to support one of the next major initiatives, clean energy reform (although thankfully he is still open to negotiation and consideration). And now he will oppose one of the President's appointees to the National Labor Relations Board because the man is pro-labor, never mind that a pro-labor Democrat won the White House with 53% of the popular vote. Politico's Manu Raju:

The move is likely to infuriate labor groups who have fought hard for Craig Becker's nomination to serve on the five-member NLRB - and will likely give Republicans enough support to sustain a filibuster Tuesday.

Nelson, a conservative Democrat up for reelection in 2012, has seen his approval ratings drop sharply since he lent his support for Obama's health care bill in December and secured deals for Nebraska's Medicaid payments.

His latest decision could help him tout his independent credentials back home, but will likely generate anger from the left, which says Becker is a well-qualified nominee who has been denigrated by his opponents.

One has to wonder. If Nelson is willing to abandon his positions when the politics get perilous, might he be willing to abandon his party if the politics get even worse? If the economy doesn't improve by November 2010 and Republicans make big gains, will Nelson switch parties for his re-election run?

I admire that the man is willing to act on his own and fight hard for his state, and his concession-based votes for health care and the stimulus were better than letting the bill die and did help bring other conservative Democrats on board, so I'm more frustrated with the man than I am angry. Nevertheless, it will take a lot of national DNC/DRSC investment to keep his seat, and you'd think he'd try to curry a little more favor with those groups and their investors than he has done. It will be interesting to see how he votes and behaves in 2011.

I believe that Ben Nelson will stay a Democrat, and for that I am thankful. There are no rumors to the contrary - this is just me wondering aloud. Still, it strikes me as possible cause for concern, however slight. I'm sure if we asked his office they would vigorously deny that the thought has ever crossed his mind, but that's what Arlen Specter was saying hours before his 2009 switch, too.

A Government by Clique, A Cabinet Missing in Action

Charles Lemos — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:21:09 -0500

When was the last time you heard from Ken Salazar? or Kathleen Sebelius? When was the last time you saw Stephen Chu, the other Nobel laureate in the Administration? How often do you see Gary Locke quoted in the press? How about Arne Duncan? If you are a Thomas Vilsack watcher, you might as well be watching the corn grow. Did Ray LaHood retire or did he take a job as Secretary of Transportation? Is there a difference?

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who prior to joining the Administration was a household name on a first-name basis has faded from the limelight. Janet Napolitano broke through the media blackout in late December after the failed bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the Detroit-bound airliner only to recede back into the obscurity of a desk job. Does the name Shaun Donovan even ring a bell? Should we send out a search party for Hilda Solis? Has her name even surfaced once? And what is Eric Shinseki up to? The only the Cabinet officials who garner significant media attention on a sustained consistent basis are Secretary of Defense Gates, Attorney General Holder and Secretary of the Treasury Geithner. And in Geithner's case, the attention is usually negative.

What was supposed to be a "team of rivals" has become a "team of bench warmers." The reality is more than this stellar team sits on the sidelines of the Obama Administration because the Administration is effectively the President and his four closest advisors: Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senior Advisor David Alexrod, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and White House Senior Communications Officer David Gibbs. It is government by a clique.

If you haven't read Edward Luce's piece from last week in the Financial Times, well then, you really should. Though Luce titled his piece America: A Fearsome Foursome, he might have more aptly named it The Four Horsemen of Obama's Apocalypse. It is that damning.

Just over a year into his tenure, America’s 44th president governs a bitterly divided nation, a world increasingly hard to manage and an America that seems more disillusioned than ever with Washington’s ways. What went wrong?

Pundits, Democratic lawmakers and opinion pollsters offer a smorgasbord of reasons – from Mr Obama’s decision to devote his first year in office to healthcare reform, to the president’s inability to convince voters he can “feel their [economic] pain”, to the apparent ungovernability of today’s Washington. All may indeed have contributed to the quandary in which Mr Obama finds himself. But those around him have a more specific diagnosis – and one that is striking in its uniformity. The Obama White House is geared for campaigning rather than governing, they say.

In dozens of interviews with his closest allies and friends in Washington – most of them given unattributably in order to protect their access to the Oval Office – each observes that the president draws on the advice of a very tight circle. The inner core consists of just four people – Rahm Emanuel, the pugnacious chief of staff; David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, his senior advisers; and Robert Gibbs, his communications chief.

On the Polish Analogy

Charles Lemos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:04:58 -0500

Last week after Senator Shelby, Republican of Alabama, shocked the sensibilities of the nation by placing a hold on some 70 executive nominations, Paul Krugman penned a short note comparing our dysfunctional Senate to Polish Sejm of yore.

Here's Krugman's brief historical overview:

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle: any member could nullify legislation by shouting “I do not allow!” This made the nation largely ungovernable, and neighboring regimes began hacking off pieces of its territory. By 1795 Poland had disappeared, not to re-emerge for more than a century.

This drew a response from Matt Yglesias of Think Progress who suggested that Poland's (technically, it was the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth) problem in the late 18th century was more a factor that the country was nestled between Russia and Prussia.

Yglesias is wrong; Krugman is right but incomplete. While Poland's location did play a part in its demise, it was the country's lack of strong institutions that played the more significant role in Poland's failure to prevent its partition. While Poland's neighbors were able to build centralized fiscal-military states, Poland was not.

Poland was the largest country in Europe from about 1300 until the onset of the Swedish wars in the 1655. It was these wars, collectively called the Deluge and which lasted until 1721, that debilitated the Polish state (Warsaw's population in 1725 was just 20% of what it had been in 1650) and set the stage for the series of three partitions that erased Poland from the map between 1772 and 1794.

It is true that Poland's geography, not just its location but the fact that the country is a flat hard to defend plain, made it ripe for invasion. Nonetheless, Poland had historically been able to fend off successive foreign invaders including the Mongols (three times), the Teutonic Knights, and the Russians without much difficulty before 1650. The country, however, had a harder time throwing off the Swedes. This was due to the introduction of the Liberum Veto in 1652 just three years before the start of the seven decade on and off war with Sweden.

The Liberum Veto was a manifestation of the great freedoms enjoyed by the Polish nobility. One vote could block the enactment of any bill in the Polish Parliament known as the Sejm. It was the legal right of each member of the Sejm to defeat by his vote alone any measure under consideration or to dissolve the Sejm and nullify all acts passed during its session.

Based on the assumption that all members of the Polish nobility were absolutely equal politically, the Liberum Veto meant, in practice, that every bill introduced into the Sejm had to be passed unanimously. The political system found itself in a prolonged crisis that prevented Poland from developing a fiscal-military state, the model that allowed other European countries to wage war and defend themselves. The paralysis that enveloped the Polish state made it easy prey for rising powers who had developed centralized fiscal-militarty states to take advantage of Poland's weakness.

Shelby releases some holds, but still blocking military nominees

desmoinesdem — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:33:31 -0500

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama released holds on most of the Obama administration nominees he has been blocking, the Washington Post reports, citing a statement from Shelby's office:

"The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security - the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center (TEDAC). With that accomplished, Sen. Shelby has decided to release his holds on all but a few nominees directly related to the Air Force tanker acquisition until the new Request for Proposal is issued. The Air Force tanker acquisition is not an 'earmark' as has been reported; it is a competition to replace the Air Force's aging aerial refueling tanker fleet. Sen. Shelby is not seeking to determine the outcome of the competition; he is seeking to ensure an open, fair and transparent competition that delivers the best equipment to our men and women in uniform."

I wonder whether any of Shelby's GOP colleagues leaned on him to take this step. They may have been worried about mainstream media coverage of Shelby's grotesque hostage-taking exercise, or they may not want to push things too far in case Senate Democrats change the rules on putting "holds" on nominees.

Shelby's power play is not over yet, because he is still vowing to block nominees "directly related to the Air Force tanker acquisition." Emptywheel found out which nominees Shelby still has holds on:

* Terry Yonkers, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment, and Logistics (Nominated August 4, 2009) * Frank Kendall, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (PDUSD) for Acquisition and Technology (Nominated August 6, 2009) * Erin Conaton, Under Secretary of the Air Force (Nominated November 10, 2009)

Democrats should blast Republicans for indulging Shelby while key Air Force positions remain vacant.

MyDD5 update & back

Jerome Armstrong — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:21:48 -0500

beta testing live? Yea, its still somewhat in progress of working out all of the features, at the same time that we get bugs squashed. But, its been 5 weeks from the date of the launch, and things have moved in the right direction. We are working on some of the comment features right now, so those may go through some hiccups in the process.

I am waiting for the spell-check in the editor....

You'll be seeing more changes here, as I am hoping that we get the beta thingy 'finished' by the end of March-- and I think we will... let us know in the comments of any compliments (yea right) or disparaging remarks in the comments.

Oh, I don't know why I didn't just tell them when they called me in Cocles beach just south of Puerto Viego in Costa Rica on Thursday, that my flight was canceled... 'OK, we'll just spend another week on the Caribbean beach' instead of going through the travel detours (which were still fun) of three days waiting to get into DC.

Breaking News: Jack Murtha Dead At 77

Nathan Empsall — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:48:53 -0500

The Huffington Post has the story.

As a top ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and a member of Congress since 1974, Murtha was a powerful player. His past was often marked by scandal but he certainly knoew how to get things done for his Pennsylvania district. His seat, PA-12, will be tough to hold in the Midterms. Condolences to his family.

Murtha, the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress, died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA at 1:18 PM, according to a press release from his office. More as we hear it.

UPDATE from desmoinesdem: Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post says a special election to replace Murtha is likely to be held on May 18, which is already scheduled to be a federal primary day in Pennsylvania.

SECOND UPDATE from desmoinesdem: The Cook Report is calling the special election in PA-12 a tossup. Taniel of Campaign Diaries thinks the May 18 special election may favor the Democrat because Pennsylvania Democrats have contested primaries for senator and governor that day, while Republicans do not. Taniel also pointed out, "The now vacant PA-12 is only district in the country to have switched from Kerry to McCain. (Went for Gore by 11, Kerry by 2, McCain by 1.)"

New Iowa poll: Gay marriage not worth legislature's time

desmoinesdem — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:43:51 -0500

More than 60 percent of Iowans think gay marriage "does not deserve the Legislature's limited time" this session, according to the latest poll conducted by Selzer and Associates for the Des Moines Register.

The poll surveyed 805 Iowa adults from January 31 to Feburary 3, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. The question named six issues on which legislation has been introduced during the 2010 session, which has been shortened by 20 days due to budget constraints:

The state Legislature can address large and small issues during the course of the session. For the following issues, please tell me if you think the issue does or does not deserve the Legislature's limited time. Puppy mills. Gay marriage. Driving and texting. Gun control. Gambling. Payday loans.

62 percent of respondents said gay marriage does not deserve the legislature's time, while only 36 percent said it does.

Here's hoping this poll will bolster the spine of any wavering statehouse Democrats. Iowa House Republicans are expected to use procedural maneuvers this week to try to force a vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. When they tried that last April, two of the 56 House Democrats joined Republicans on a procedural vote. House Minority leader Kraig Paulsen wasn't deterred by the latest poll, telling the Des Moines Register,

"The majority party has successfully convinced people that that's something that takes a lengthy period of time," Paulsen said. "There's no reason it should have to take more than 30 minutes."

Poll respondents presumably know little about how much committee and floor time a marriage vote would consume, but I think Paulsen is missing the point here. Selzer in effect asked Iowans what's important for the legislature to handle. More than three-fifths of respondents said gay marriage doesn't rise to that level this session.

Notably, a recent poll commissioned by Republicans also suggests that gay marriage is a low priority for most Iowans. Voter Consumer Research conducted that poll in late January for The Iowa Republican blog and the Concordia Group (a political consulting firm run by Nick Ryan, with ties to the American Future Fund). Respondents were asked which three issues are most important to them: "Forty-one percent said jobs and unemployment, thirty-three said the economy, and twenty-eight percent said education." Way down the priority list was "moral values" with just 14 percent, Craig Robinson indicated in this comment thread.

Last September, a Selzer poll for the Des Moines Register asked several questions about same-sex marriage. About 41 percent of respondents said they would vote for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, while 40 percent would vote against such an amendment. In addition, 92 percent of respondents said marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples had led to "no real change" in their own lives.

The conservative GOP base expects Republican legislators to try every trick in the book to bring a marriage vote to the floor. Iowa Democrats should make sure the public knows that while they were focusing on more important issues, Republicans kept trying to waste time on a marriage vote. Based on this polling as well as the results from last year's special election in Iowa House district 90, I doubt gay marriage will be a winning issue for Republican candidates this November.

Iowa has a lengthy process for amending the constitution. Assuming the state legislature does not pass a marriage amendment this year, the soonest a same-sex marriage ban could appear on a statewide ballot would be 2014 (only if the legislature elected in 2010 passed an amendment in either 2011 or 2012, and the legislature elected in 2012 passed an amendment in 2013 or 2014).

The President Proposes a Bipartisan Summit on Health Care

Charles Lemos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:28:48 -0500

President Obama has proposed holding a bipartisan summit on February 25th at the White House in the hopes of restarting the now seemingly sidetracked health care reform packages. The event would be televised presumably on C-Span but perhaps as well by the cable news networks.

The story in the New York Times:

Mr. Obama made the announcement in an interview on CBS during the Super Bowl pre-game show, capitalizing on a vast television audience. He set out a plan that would put Republicans on the spot to offer their own ideas on health care and show whether both sides are willing to work together.

“I want to come back and have a large meeting, Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Mr. Obama said in the interview from the White House Library.

Mr. Obama challenged Republicans to attend the meeting with their plans for lowering the cost of health insurance and expanding coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Republican leaders said they welcomed the opportunity and called on Democrats to start the debate from scratch, which the president said he would not do.

The move by Mr. Obama comes after weeks in which the administration has appeared uncertain about how to proceed on his top domestic priority since Republicans captured the Senate seat previously held by Senator Edward M. Kennedy. House and Senate Democrats had been increasingly at odds over what the bill should say, how to move ahead tactically and, in some cases, whether to continue at all.

The idea for the bipartisan meeting, set for Feb. 25, was reached in recent weeks, aides said, as part of the White House strategy to intensify its push to engage Congressional Republicans in policy negotiations, share the burden of governing and put more scrutiny on Republican initiatives.

I personally prefer the combative Obama as opposed to the accommodating one so I am not sure what to make of this proposal. It seems that it runs the risk of endlessly extending an already tortuous process.

Laura Chinchilla Elected President of Costa Rica

Charles Lemos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:49:12 -0500

Laura Chinchilla of the ruling Partido de Liberación Nacional, traditionally a social-democratic party but one that has adopted a neo-liberal economic programme, won a decisive first round victory winning 46.8 percent of the vote in a four-way race. Her margin of victory was wider than expected. A former Vice President, she becomes the first woman to win the Presidency in this small Central American country. She assumes office on May 8th.

Ms. Chinchilla beat out Ottón Solís of the center-left Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) who finished second with 24.4 percent and Otto Guevara of the Movimiento Libertario (ML) who finished a disappointing third with 21.4 percent of the vote. Guevara had been expected to perhaps force a second round. In Costa Rica, the winner must receive 40 percent of the vote to be elected in the first round. Guevara heads a right of center libertarian party - a rarity in Latin America. He had proposed a radical free market system, privatizing Costa Rica's public health insurance sector and abandoning the Colón in favor of the US dollar as the national currency. For Solís, who narrowly lost four years ago, this election marks a disappoint as well. He finished 15 points below his 2006 showing. Solís had opposed the neo-liberal economic program and ran against the Central American Free Trade Agreement, a trade agreement between the US and various Central American nations.

A fourth candidate Luis Fishman, the first person of Jewish descent to run for President in a Latin American country, of the center-right Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) finished fourth in single digits.

For Costa Rica, these elections marked the 15th consecutive since 1948 when civilians ousted the military and restored democratic rule. The turnout was approximately 70 percent in this country of 4.4 million people. Also at stake was the National Assembly and two Vice Presidential posts. Costa Rica elects two Vice Presidents, one of whom must be a woman.

With Chinchilla winning, little is expected to change in the way of policy.

MyDD Civic Literacy Test - Answers

Charles Lemos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:09:25 -0500

1) Name the 14th state admitted to the Union. Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791 becoming the 14th state.

2) How many men have served as President? While President Obama is the 44th President, he is only the 43rd man to hold the office since Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States.

3) George Washington did not let his Vice President, John Adams, sit in the Cabinet setting a precedent that would last for over a century. Name the President who first welcomed his VP into the Cabinet and name the Vice President. Vice-President Coolidge attended President Harding's first Cabinet meeting held on March 8, 1921 at the President's invitation and would continue to regularly sit in on Cabinet meetings. Even so, Vice Presidents remained largely outcasts with successive Administrations until Jimmy Carter began to hold regular scheduled meetings with Walter Mondale. The modern Vice Presidency continues to evolve with various Presidents using their Vice President in different ways. Constitutionally speaking the role is limited to presiding over the Senate, breaking a tie and being the spare.

Most VPs seem to have hated the office. Daniel Webster turned down Zachary Taylor's offer to be his running mate saying with a noted quip: "I do not propose to be buried until I am really dead and in my coffin." Ironically had he accepted the job he would have succeeded Taylor who died just 16 months into his term.

The office has had its share of characters but perhaps none greater than William Rufus DeVane King who served under Franklin Pierce. King was VP for only 45 days before dying of tuberculosis. He was actually sworn into office in Cuba on March 24, 1853 twenty days after Pierce had been inaugurated. He died on April 18, 1853 while on route to his home in Alabama.

While King's tenure as Vice President was insignificant, his personal life was unconventional. He shared a Washington home with James Buchanan, the only bachelor President, for 15 years. King enjoyed wearing jewelry and powdered wigs as well as dressing in flamboyant clothing earning him the sobriquets of Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy. Still others referred to the pair as Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan or The Siamese Twins because they were inseparable. There is little evidence to support the idea that Buchanan and King had a homosexual relationship. Both men had their most of their private letters destroyed at their deaths, a common practice at the time. Still an 1844 letter from Buchanan to King certainly indicates that Buchanan at the very least did not care for women.

"I am now solitary and alone, having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection."

4) The first comprehensive immigration reform legislation was passed and signed by which President? A few suggested the Alien and Sedition Act of 1796 passed under John Adams. While the Naturalization Act extended the duration of residence required for aliens to become citizens to 14 years and the Alien Enemies Act allowed the President to deport any resident alien considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States," none of the four Acts addressed the issue of immigration.

No one mentioned it but another candidate is the Naturalization Law of 1790 which set the rules for aliens becoming citizens. This law also extended citizenship to Catholics and Jews as long as that person was a "frew white person."

But many historians consider the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 as the first comprehensive Federal immigration law passed by Congress and signed by a reluctant Chester Alan Arthur. The measure also excluded paupers, criminals, and lunatics. Arthur vetoed the first version of the bill which banned Chinese immigration for 20 years. In the final version, Congress suspended Chinese immigration for ten years, later making the restriction permanent in the Geary Act. But an earlier act, the Page Act of 1875, was the first restrictive federal immigration law and prohibited the entry of classes of immigrants considered undesirable. It targeted Orientals (the term used then) particularly Chinese and Japanese by restricting the number of women but it did not target specific ethnic groups.

5) Name the first President to be born an American citizen. Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York on December 5, 1782.

6) Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution but the Constitution wasn't considered binding until the ninth state had ratified. Which was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution? New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution on June 21, 1788 by a vote of 57 to 47.

7) The Seven Years' War fought between 1757 and 1763 is considered the first global war. The North American portion of that war is also known by which another name? The French and Indian War.

8) Which historic event took place on March 5, 1770? The Boston Massacre.

9) What are the Federalist Papers? Who wrote them? A series of 85 essays advocating the ratification of the United States Constitution. Alexander Hamilton wrote 51 of the essays, James Madison wrote 29 while John Jay wrote 5. The authors used the pseudonym "Publius," in honor of Roman consul Publius Valerius Publicola. The Federalist Papers ranks as one the great products of the political thought written in The Enlightenment.

10) Who was the only President to also later become a Supreme Court Justice? William Howard Taft was nominated as Chief Justice by Warren Harding in 1921.

11) What is meant by the term "Accidental President"? Who was the first? Bonus if you can name them all. A Vice President who unexpectedly becomes upon the death or resignation of a President. The first was John Tyler, who was dubbed His Accidency, in 1841. The others are in order Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford. But John Quincy Adams was called the "Accidental President" by his political opponents for the way in which he was elected in 1824 when that election was thrown to the House.

12) Name the state that has been the birthplace of more Presidents than any other. Bonus if you can name them all. In terms of birthplace it's Virginia with eight: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson. However, Harrison was elected from Ohio, Taylor from Louisiana and Wilson from New Jersey. After Virginia comes Ohio with seven Presidents.

13) Name the first President not born in Virginia or Massachusetts. Hint: he was born in North Carolina. Andrew Jackson.

14) Which state did not send any representatives to the Constitutional Convention? Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations.

15) Barack Obama is the first sitting Senator to be elected President since John F. Kennedy. Name the previous Senator to be elected directly to the Presidency. Warren Harding. Actually, Harding, Kennedy and Obama are the only sitting Senators to be elected President. Others have held the office but were not directly elected from the Senate. Perhaps coincidental but all three came after the direct election of Senators.

16) The case of Marbury vs Madison established which important principle? Judicial Review which is the doctrine in democratic theory under which legislative and executive action is subject to approval or invalidation by an independent judiciary.

17) Though Washington has the capital of the United States since 1800, eight other cities have served as capitals of the United States. Name them. Bonus if you can identify the one that served as the US capital for only one day. Hints: Three are in Pennsylvania, two others are state capitals today. Philadelphia, New York, Trenton, Princeton, Lancaster, York, Baltimore and Annapolis. Lancaster was the capital for just one day: September 27, 1777.

18) Which battle proved to be the decisive battle in the War for Independence? The Battle of Yorktown in October 1781 proved to be the last major battle of the War for Independence. The surrender of Lord Cornwallis prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.

19) From 1781 to 1788, the United States was governed by another constitution. That constitution went by what name? The Articles of Confederation.

20) Who coined the phrase "We The People"? Joseph Wilson.

21) What is meant by the Connecticut Compromise? Who offered it? Hint: It was the topic of a previous post. The Connecticut Compromise was an agreement made during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to establish a bicameral legislature with a Senate having two members from each state and a House of Representatives apportioned by population. It was proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut.

22) Elbridge Gerry is unique among the Founding Fathers. Why? Elbridge Gerry was one of a select group who attended both the Second Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Thus he signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation but he refused to sign the Constitution. Gerry and two others who attended the Constitution Convention declined to sign it because it did not include a Bill of Rights. George Mason and Edmund Randolph of Virginia were the other two who refused to sign the Constitution but they were not signatories to the Declaration.

23) George Washington is considered to the "Father of his Country" but which founder is considered to be the "Father of the Federal Government"? Who is considered the "Father of the Constitution"? Alexander Hamilton is considered to be the Father of the Federal Government for his role is setting up the Treasury Department and for establishing a sound fiscal position for the United States. James Madison is considered the Father of the Constitution.

24) What is meant by the "separation of powers"? The separation of powers, also known as trias politica, is a model for the governance of democratic polities. In the US, the separation of powers delineates powers between the three estates or branches of the Federal government.

25) The United States has what type of electoral system? Ron Thompson gave the most complete answer: There is more than one type of electoral system in the United States. The most common is what the British call "first past the post" meaning that the highest vote-getter wins, whether or not he or she has a majority. But in some places there is a runoff system, or an instant runoff.

On Palin's Hand

Charles Lemos — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:12:34 -0500

By now I suspect many of you have seen the picture of Sarah Palin's left hand with her scribbled crib notes. I'd embed the picture but MyDD5 doesn't seem to allow that functionality but you can view the image over at Andrew Sullivan'sThe Daily Dish.

On her hand she scribbled four points: "Energy," "Budget [crossed out] Cuts," "Tax" and "Lift American spirits."

The fact that she wrote these points suggests that Q&A session with Judson Phillips was staged but that's not really the story here. The takeaway is that those notes were in response to the question on her three top legislative priorities.

Now think about that. It's not exactly a hard question and it's not like she was being asked policy specifics or hard facts. She was asked generalities.

How hard is that? Well for Sarah Palin anything beyond reciting talking points is an near impossibility. It's obvious that she can't think on her feet. Who among us couldn't name three, five or even ten legislative priorities without batting an eyelash? And note that the last one - "Lift American spirits" - isn't exactly something that can be achieved by an act of Congress.

Nor is this the first time that we have the moose in headlights Palin. She was stumped by Glenn Beck's question on who was her favorite Founding Father. It's not that she couldn't name one but can she differentiate between them? Her answer implied that she could not. Now consider that former Colorado Congressman Tommy Tancredo bemoaned the lack of civic literacy among Americans in his speech. Is there any public figure who is as historically challenged as Sarah Palin?

Nor is it the distant past that befuddles Sarah Palin. Even the more recent leaves her gasping for answers. Think back to Charlie Gibson's interview when she was asked about the Bush Doctrine. Her response was "Which one Charlie?" That suggests a complete detachment from the foreign policy debate that stemmed from the Bush Administration's decision to pursue a policy of preemptive war. In last night's speech, the Palin Doctrine of national security was "we win, you lose" with you being America's enemies. Gee whiz, now why didn't we think of that before?

I hate to be so blunt and publicly disparage an individual but she is little more than a talking chimpanzee incapable of critical thinking who wouldn't make it out of the Republican primary which is frankly a pity because if she were to win the Republican nomination it would doom the GOP to the worst electoral landslide in history.

Hey, let's give her credit. At least this time she got the Vice President's name right. During the Vice Presidential debate in 2008, she kept on calling him Senator O'Biden.

Now that's progress!

A Nation Incarcerated: The American Gaol Crisis

Charles Lemos — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:49:46 -0500

The British game show Quite Interesting hosted by the comedic actor Stephen Fry tackles the subject of the American gaol (the Oxford Dictionary spelling of jail) population. As always, the erudite QI uncovers some statistical gems demonstrating how insane our criminal justice policy is.

The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world with nearly one percent of the US population behind bars. One in ninety-nine adults are behind bars. No society in history has imprisoned more of its citizens than the United States.

There are more black 17 year olds in prison than in college.

As a percentage of the population, we imprison more than twice as much as South Africa. Our rate of incarceration is more than three times higher than Iran's and more than six times higher than China's.

As Stephen Fry notes, prisons are a big business going as far as suggesting that we have re-invented the slave trade. Perhaps, that's a bit much but it's also hard to ignore that prisons are a big business in the United States. While it is illegal to import manufactured goods made by forced prison labor, it's not illegal to produce them domestically. Take the Federal Prison Industries (FPI), a self-sustaining, self-funded corporation established in 1934 by executive order, who employs more than 30,000 inmates in over 100 FPI factories in prisons across the US. UNICOR's "employees" have grown by a third in the last decade. FPI, who manufactures under the trade name UNICOR, manufactures products such as office furniture, clothing, beds and linens, electronics equipment, and eyewear. It also offers services including data entry, bulk mailing, laundry services, recycling, and refurbishing of vehicle components. Twenty-one percent of US manufactured office furniture is produced by prison labor.

Minimum estimate of annual value of prison and jail industrial output exceeded $2 billion dollars in 2006 with FPI accounting for over a quarter of that amount. In 2009, FPI reported sales of $885 million. The minimum wage paid at a UNICOR plants is $0.23 an hour. By way of comparison, the minimum wage paid in Haiti is $0.30 an hour while the average hourly earnings of a non-prisoner U.S. worker making office furniture: $13.04.

Nevada pays its prison work force $0.13 an hour. Georgia and Texas do not pay a wage at all.

Here are some other disturbing facts:

The United States has just over four percent of the world's population, but over twenty-five percent of the world's prison population.

The People's Republic of China ranks second with 1.5 million inmates, while having four times the population, thus having only about 18% of the US incarceration rate.

On a per capita basis, the United States has the highest prison population rate in the world with 756 per 100,000 of the national population behind bars We are followed by Russia (629), Rwanda (604), St Kitts & Nevis (588), Cuba (c.531), U.S. Virgin Is. (512), British Virgin Is. (488), Palau (478), Belarus (468), Belize (455), Bahamas (422), Georgia (415), American Samoa (410), Grenada (408) and Anguilla (401).

According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): "In 2008, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at yearend — 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults.

The country's prison population topped 2 million inmates for the first time in history on June 30, 2002 meaning that the US prison population has grown by nearly 50% in just eight years. At year end 2008, the total incarcerated population equaled 2,424,279 inmates.

The majority (62.6%) of these inmates were held in state or federal correctional facilities. Another 32.4% of these inmates were held in local jails.

Seventy percent of prisoners in the United States are non-whites even though non-whites make up only about a third of the US populations. One out of every 20 black males over the age of 18 is in prison. That compares to one in 180 white males over the age of 18. In five states, between one in 13 and one in 14 black men is in prison. One in nine African-American males will spend at least one year in jail over the course of their lifetimes.

Most drug offenders are white - five times as many whites use drugs as blacks -yet blacks comprise the great majority of drug offenders sent to prison. Of the 253,300 state prison inmates serving time for drug offenses at yearend 2005, 113,500 (44.8%) were black, 51,100 (20.2%) were Hispanic, and 72,300 (28.5%) were white.

The non-violent prison population, alone, is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska.

According to the American Corrections Association, the average daily cost per state prison inmate per day in the US is $67.55. State prisons held 253,300 inmates for drug offenses in 2005. That means states spent approximately $17,110,415 per day to imprison drug offenders, or $6,245,301,475 per year.

States spent $42.89 billion on prison and corrections in 2005 alone. To compare, states only spent $24.69 billion on public assistance. From 1984 to 1996, California built 21 new prisons, and only one new university.

Between 1979 and 2000, the number of additional prisons ranged from 19 prisons in Missouri to 120 prisons in Texas. The growth in Texas equates to an extraordinary average annual increase of 5.7 additional prisons per year over the 21-year period. Over this time frame, Texas has increased its prisons by a stunning 706 percent.

You can learn more at the Prison Policy Initiative and at Drug War Facts.

NOLA Open Thread

Nathan Empsall — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:24:04 -0500

Yeah, I tried to sit through Palin's speech... I couldn't make it... Ah, but even Palin can't dampen today. This is the one holiday that truly brings all Americans today. There's the faux War on Christmas, there's legitimate concerns about the history of Thanksgiving, but today is a day for all: Super Bowl Sunday!

As some of you may remember, I got my start blogging in 2006 as "Transplanted Texan" from New Orleans, where I spent three months and a few shorter side trips working with the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana's then-named Office of Disaster Response. It is in that spirit that I say... GEAUX SAINTS!!!

Video of U2 and Green Day at the Superdome's re-opening in 2006. The happiness found even in the Lower Ninth Ward the next morning is without a doubt my favorite memory of my time in NOLA:

Ah, if only I could find me some Abita here in Nebraska on a Sunday. So, two open thread questions: Why are YOU rooting for the Saints? Or, if you're not watching, what are you doing instead? Football, Palin, Louisiana politics (new NOLA Mayor, Vitter's re-election)... what else is on your mind?

Palin: "The Tea Party Movement is the Future of Our Country"

Charles Lemos — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:19:37 -0500

In a rambling, often incoherent 40 minute speech, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin addressed the faithful at the Tea Party National Convention in Nashville. She covered topics from national security to health care to budget deficits often deriding and mocking the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party though she took a moment to praise Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak for his anti-abortion stance.

In her speech she praised Ronald Reagan effusively on the day that would have been his 99th birthday. Oddly enough, she didn't mention his role his tripling the national debt nor did she acknowledge the erosion of the middle class that began under the 40th President. Somewhat surprisingly, she said her now trademarked "commonsense conservatism" stock phrase a mere seven times.

Still other empty stock phrases peppered her speech. “This is about the people, and it’s bigger than any one king or queen of a tea party, and it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter,” she said.

As the New York Times noted, Sarah Palin gave the lily-white Tea Party Nation exactly what they wanted to hear, declaring the primacy of the Tenth Amendment in limiting government powers, complaining about the bailouts and the “generational theft” of rising deficits, and urging the audience to back conservative challengers in contested primaries. “America is ready for another revolution!” she belted.

Apparently, America is also ready for a martyr. "I will live, I will die for the people of America," she cried as if she were some American Jeanne d'Arc ready to be burned at the stake.

More interesting to watch was the 20 minute question and answer session with Judson Phillips, the founder of a group called Tea Party Nation. There she informed us that the Tea Party Movement was the future of the country. She encouraged people to run for office but I'm sure the irony was lost on her when the "I quit halfway into my term" former Governor noted that Americans have to do more than just "talk the talk but walk the walk." Again clichés aplenty but complete sentences seemed as endangered as polar bears in Alaska.

Asked her three top legislative priorities when the conservatives regain the House and Senate - that's the modest plan in 2010 - she offered reining in spending and then looked at her left hand to read the cheat notes (at the 46:30 minute mark) to offer up the other two ideas: jumpstarting energy projects and "allowing America's spirit to rise again" by which she means that it "would be wise to start seeking divine intervention again in this country so that we can again be safe, secure and prosperous." I must say that's going to be one hell of a bill.

The "renowned Marxist" Dave Weigel of the "socialist" Washington Independent has several more reports. His Twitter feed provides additional hilarities. Dave, I have to say, what ever they pay you, it's not enough.

IA-Sen: Conlin organizing against Shelby's "political extortion"

desmoinesdem — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:27:04 -0500

Whether you call it hostage-taking or shark-jumping, we can all agree that Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama is abusing Senate conventions by putting a blanket hold on all Obama administration nominees. Roxanne Conlin, one of three Democrats running against five-term incumbent Chuck Grassley of Iowa, may be the first Democratic candidate to organize against Shelby's power play. From an e-mail blast the Conlin campaign sent out today:

We will no longer tolerate business as usual in Washington. One Republican senator from Alabama is holding 70 important presidential nominations for ransom, because he wants sweetheart deals for a foreign airplane manufacturer that's given him more than $100,000 in political donations.
This seems like blackmail. Please click here to help me stop them.

Incumbent senators like Richard Shelby and Charles Grassley should look no further than their own actions if they are wondering why Americans are so angry. When they put holds on dozens of nominations, it means the Senate can't vote to confirm any nominees without 60 votes. But we can fight this -- by convincing just ONE Republican to break ranks.

Join me in my fight to fix Washington. I've created an easy tool at FightTheHold.com for you to join the fight because we must break this logjam. Sign up at FightTheHold.com and I'll send you an email with the contact info of a different Republican senator every single day until one of them has the courage to fight the hold and stop the gridlock. This way, we'll focus the attention of thousands of activists -- and the press -- completely on one senator instead of spreading ourselves too thin.

I'm running against Senator Grassley because he refuses to fix this mess. We can't repair our broken financial system because Assistant Secretaries of Commerce and the Treasury are being held up so the Senate can't vote to confirm them -- and their critical work goes undone. We are fighting two wars and the threat of Al Qaeda while crucial positions at the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are being blocked.

I'm going to make our fight a national one. It will take just one Republican senator to step up and put people over party. And we're starting by sending messages to Chuck Grassley. Then we will choose another senator standing in the way and send him or her emails every day until we prevail.

Sign up at FightTheHold.com, because together we can get the politicians in Washington to start working for the American people again.

Please forward this message to everyone you know because the more people we get to join FightTheHold.com, the more likely we can end this political extortion.

A cynic might say this is just a list-building tactic for Conlin, but it's smart for Democrats to tie Shelby's blackmail to every Senate Republican. The public doesn't like hostage-takers, and it's a safe bet they don't respect people who enable hostage-takers. Focusing the media's attention on Shelby's abuse of power may prompt one or more Republicans to break ranks. Challengers like Conlin won't be able to do this alone. As Paul Waldman wrote here, Senate Democrats should force Republicans to pay a political price for Shelby's actions:

[T]hey'd have to have everyone go out and say, over and over so it would take over the news, that Richard Shelby and his Republican friends are despicable extortionists who will sabotage the operation of the United States government for the sake of some pork-barrel earmarks. They could also fit it into a larger narrative about nihilistic Republicans who care so little about the country's fate that they will do virtually anything to subvert the administration, no matter what the cost, if they think it will gain them some advantage or some pork. If Democrats made enough noise about it, Shelby would back down, and it might even convince Republicans to think twice the next time one of them considers undertaking this kind of extortion.

Republicans howled about Ben Nelson's "kickback" to Nebraska, which secured his vote for the health insurance reform bill. Make them explain why they are going along with Shelby now.

Saturday Diary Rescue

Jason Williams — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:35:18 -0500

Enjoy.

Hold on... If you do youth outreach in an election you have higher youth turnout? Who knew?! Sarahkatheryn did, and she explains in Oregon Special Kills Mass in Youth Turnout.

BlueIndiana: (IN-Sen) Dan Coats: "Don't tell the people of Indiana..."

What's Missing from the New Clean Energy Agenda? asks The Media Consortium.

Show trials and executions as Iranian leaders use violence and manipulate legal system to quell opposition. (Neil Hicks)

Inoljt had Conversations with a Disinterested Obama Supporter.

PAbrams with The Simple Way to Pass the Jobs Bill with "Bipartisan" Support.

Living the Past in the Present: Voter Intimidation Tactics Still Thrive in America. (Project Vote)

Terrorist Prosecutions By the Numbers. (Daphne Eviatar - Human Rights 1st)

Combating irresponsible rhetoric, one wingnut at a time with Main Street in David Horowitz, renowned Islamophobe, goes over the cuckoo's nest.

MyDD Civic Literacy Test

Charles Lemos — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:35:23 -0500

At the National Tea Party Convention, former GOP Colorado Congressman Tommy Tancredo bemoaned the civic literacy of Americans in particular taking a swipe at immigrants which is ironic since immigrants have to pass an American history and civics test in order to become citizens.

TANCREDO: And then, something really odd happened, mostly because I think that we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country. People who could not even spell the word "vote," or say it in English, put a committed socialist idealogue in the White House, name is Barack Hussein Obama.

Here are some sample questions from the test that immigrants take to become citizens courtesy of MSNBC.

The correct answers are below the fold but I'll add my own tougher questions. I think civic and historical literacy important but the notion of that it be a requirement to vote is absurd.

1) Name the 14th state admitted to the Union.

2) How many men have served as President?

3) George Washington did not let his Vice President, John Adams, sit in the Cabinet setting a precedent that would last for over a century. Name the President who first welcomed his VP into the Cabinet and name the Vice President.

4) The first comprehensive immigration reform legislation was passed and signed by which President?

5) Name the first President to be born an American citizen.

6) Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution but the Constitution wasn't considered binding until the ninth state had ratified. Which was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution?

7) The Seven Years' War fought between 1757 and 1763 is considered the first global war. The North American portion of that war is also known by which another name?

8) Which historic event took place on March 5, 1770?

9) What are the Federalist Papers? Who wrote them?

10) Who was the only President to also later become a Supreme Court Justice?

11) What is meant by the term "Accidental President"? Who was the first? Bonus if you can name them all.

12) Name the state that has been the birthplace of more Presidents than any other. Bonus if you can name them all.

13) Name the first President not born in Virginia or Massachusetts. Hint: he was born in North Carolina.

14) Which state did not send any representatives to the Constitutional Convention?

15) Barack Obama is the first sitting Senator to be elected President since John F. Kennedy. Name the previous Senator to be elected directly to the Presidency.

16) The case of Marbury vs Madison established which important principle?

17) Though Washington has the capital of the United States since 1800, eight other cities have served as capitals of the United States. Name them. Bonus if you can identify the one that served as the US capital for only one day. Hints: Three are in Pennsylvania, two others are state capitals today.

18) Which battle proved to be the decisive battle in the War for Independence?

19) From 1781 to 1788, the United States was governed by another constitution. That constitution went by what name?

20) Who coined the phrase "We The People"?

21) What is meant by the Connecticut Compromise? Who offered it? Hint: It was the topic of a previous post.

22) Elbrigde Gerry is unique among the Founding Fathers. Why?

23) George Washington is considered to the "Father of his Country" but which founder is considered to be the "Father of the Federal Government"? Who is considered the "Father of the Constitution"?

24) What is meant by the "separation of powers"?

25) The United States has what type of electoral system?

I'll post the answers to my quiz on Monday to give people time to submit their answers.