Politics
If, as Tip O’Neill once observed “all politics is local” then do you know what’s going on in your own backyard? Do you know who your local congress representative is? How about your city council rep? School board? This isn’t a rallying cry to take to the streets and become politically active (although there’s nothing wrong with that!) but we should all become politically aware. Being informed about what our government is up to and how their polices are going to impact our lives is important. Remember, those folks back in Washington D.C. are working for us. That only way to make sure they do a good job is to hold them accountable. And you can only do that with the facts.

The Pipeline That Wouldn’t Die

From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox:

There are some things that are hard to let go of. Personally for me this means a favorite Batman logo T-shirt, a pair worn out slippers and an autographed “Dirty Jobs” baseball cap. Of course, if I accessibly cling to those items no buys really good to be hurt by that. Over in Washington it would seem that many members of Congress are developing a very strong attachment to the Keystone pipeline. This is a pipeline that is supposed to run oil from Canada all the way down through the United States ending up in Louisiana. At first congressional Republicans try to tie a speedy approval of the Keystone project to the payroll tax cut. The president acquiesced and made that speedy approval. Unfortunately the answer was no. Now it appears the Republicans are going to try again attaching the Keystone project to an upcoming jobs bill. Sometimes it’s just hard to quit a pipeline.

BOEHNER: HOUSE WILL LIKELY ATTACH KEYSTONE APPROVAL TO NEW JOBS BILL

By Jake Tapper, ABC News

Speaker John Boehner says that the House will try again to tie approval for the Keystone pipeline project to a new jobs bill being introduced next week. Read More...

Live Blogging (Sorta) The State of the Union: Back to Congress Again

Has it been a year already? Yes, the annual Presidential State of the Union is upon us once again. The U.S. Constitution actually says that from “time to time” the President will give a report to the Congress to say “How’s it going?” and “What’s up?” In this age of 24 punditry the State of the Union has become as partisan as anything out of Congress. The barometer that everyone measures by is how many times either side of the Congressional aisle stands up to applaud. Last year there was an effort to break down those barriers and mix up the seating arrangements to that Dems and Repubs would sit together in a visual sign of unity. Wanna bet that’s not going to happen tonight? Read More...