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May 22, 2013

The U.S. House voted last week to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Not for the first time, mind you, but for the 37th time.

Speaker John Boehner, never one to let a ridiculous moment go by without a ridiculous excuse, said that he scheduled the vote because he wanted newly elected Republicans who had not been able to participate in the three dozen previous votes to have a chance to engage in a meaningless gesture.

May 22, 2013

When aspiring Americans take the citizenship test, they are asked, “What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens?” The correct answer? The right to vote. That is because the right to vote is not just important, it is fundamental — it represents nothing less than the right that preserves all the other liberties Americans hold dear.

May 15, 2013

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia made a point of emphasizing during the Bush v. Gore arguments in December 2000 that there is no federal constitutional guarantee of a right to vote for president. He was right about that. Indeed, as the reform group FairVote reminds us: “Because there is no right to vote in the U.S. Constitution, individual states set their own electoral policies and procedures. This leads to confusing and sometimes contradictory policies regarding ballot design, polling hours, voting equipment, voter registration requirements, and ex-felon voting rights.

May 13, 2013

U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) announced Monday legislation to amend the U.S. Constitution to guarantee the right to vote.

"The right to vote is too important to be left unprotected," Pocan said in a statement. "At a time when there are far too many efforts to disenfranchise Americans, a voting rights amendment would positively affirm our founding principle that our country is at its strongest when everyone participates."

May 9, 2013

For apparently the first time ever in the history of the U.S. House, a gay member of Congress has obtained a congressional ID card identifying his same-sex partner as a spouse.

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) told the Washington Blade on Thursday the House Sergeant at Arms informed him late last month that Philip Frank, whom Pocan legally married in Canada in 2006, would be able to obtain an ID labeling him as congressional spouse. Previously, Frank was given an ID identifying him as a “designee,” but picked up his new ID on April 26.

May 9, 2013

Openly gay U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan’s husband has received an ID issued only to the spouses of federal lawmakers. It is the first time the House has recognized the same-sex husband of a member with the House Spouse ID.

“We’re very happy that my husband Phil (Frank) was able to get a House Spouse ID,” said Pocan, a Democrat from Madison.

May 4, 2013

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama signed into law a bill canceling furloughs of air traffic controllers, triggered by automatic “sequester” budget cuts. Congress had hurriedly passed the legislation the previous week, no doubt after a bunch of corporate fat cats stuck on the tarmac in their private jets got fed up with the delays.

May 3, 2013

U.S. Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Madison, stopped by the Rock and Walworth County Head Start Program in Beloit Thursday morning to talk about the cuts the program is facing due to the federal sequester.

Head Start is a federally funded preschool and family program that serves low-income families.

The program is facing a 5.27 percent funding cut. In 2012, about $4.3 million from its $6 million budget came from federal funding.

May 3, 2013

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and U.S. Representative Mark Pocan, D-Wis., spoke at a panel on campus Thursday about the increasing federal debt and the need for citizens, specifically students, to take notice and begin acting to remedy the issue through bipartisanship.

May 2, 2013

Forty-one members of the House opposed the Reducing Flight Delays Act that was cobbled together by Congress as a rapid response to the griping of business travelers about air travel delay caused by sequester cuts to the FAA.

Twelve were sincere conservatives — such as Michigan Republican Justin Amash — who really do want to reduce not just spending but the role of government.