Legislation

How have recent developments affected the views of Senators on filibuster reform? Where do they stand now? We asked them directly, but it's really hard to get them to put their cards on the table.

But despite their new legislative power, the tone set by Democrats in Sacramento has been decidedly cautious.

Lots of anecdotes to show that the City Council Speaker is down to earth, but little of substance. When you leave out the fact that Quinn runs the Council undemocratically, thwarts the will of voters, and serves the interests of the one percent, you don't have much of a profile.

The abandonment of the element of the Affordable Care Act that was designed to provide insurance against the staggering costs of long-term care, announced by the Obama administration last Friday, raises important questions about the wisdom of having a strategy of always going for a legislative "half a loaf," especially when doing so obliges you both to understate the real costs of dealing with problems and to oversell the promise and potential of your solutions.

Compromise is constantly lauded, and hold-outs derided. But what if the particular package offered does reflect lawmakers’ vision for the country’s future?

GOP refusal to permit final vote on merits thwarts attempt to update laws barring sex-based wage discrimination.

It's been clear that civil rights progress would become harder in the new Congress, but most civil rights advocacy groups haven't prepared to fight on the state and local level.