ROLL CALL 08/30/13 By Michael Shank and John Fair Something happened on the Hill recently that was pretty unusual for a congressional fair. Fifteen congressional interns presented policy recommendations to a packed room in the Capitol Visitor Center. Even Sens. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Rep. […]
ROLL CALL 07/15/13 By Michael Shank and Matt Southworth The House Foreign Affairs Committee heard a compelling case recently for better oversight and accountability of war funding. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen delivered the agency’s final oversight report to the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North […]
ROLL CALL 06/17/13 By Warren Rojas We’d be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts that most lawmakers remain blissfully ignorant of the nightmarish haggling that goes into composing a nonbinding congressional budget blueprint. Here’s hoping local schoolchildren can stomach the same with a little help from a guy in a […]
ROLL CALL 06/07/13 By Michael Shank and Kathy Zager The news that Russia is proceeding apace with arms shipments to the Syrian government, or that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the European Union are keen to arm the Syrian rebels, does not automatically kill the Syrian peace talks in […]
CQ 05/13/13 After working for Democratic Rep. Michael M. Honda of California for four years, Michael Shank is now director of foreign policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the lobbying arm for U.S. Quakers. Honda, a Democrat, is a leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus and opposes many […]
ROLL CALL 04/19/13 BY Michael Shank and Jose Aguto The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last week to delay greenhouse gas emissions regulations for new power plants — one of President Barack Obama’s main levers to limit global warming — is a serious setback to our country’s commitment to environmental and […]
ROLL CALL 03/15/13 By Emily Cahn For busy staffers on Capitol Hill, whose hectic days are often scheduled down to the minute, grabbing lunch often means a trip to the cafeterias scattered around the Capitol complex. Although there are multiple dining spots on the campus’s House and Senate sides, offering […]
ROLL CALL 10/01/12 By Emily Cahn Michael Shank is driven by his commitment to progressive values. The returning communications director and senior policy adviser in Rep. Mike Honda’s (D-Calif.) office was raised in an Amish-Mennonite community in Kidron, Ohio, where the ideas of helping the downtrodden, sustainable development and nonviolence […]
ROLL CALL 05/23/12 By Michael Shank Recent Istanbul negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 and this week’s Baghdad negotiations have tempered, albeit temporarily, the cry for war. It was close under President George W. Bush, who rallied regime-changers to invade, but it is worse now. The Pentagon publicly prepares plans, […]
ROLL CALL 04/02/12 By Michael Shank and Former Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) Three months in and 2012 is setting trans-Atlantic records for harsher-than-normal austerity measures and disillusioned voters. East of the Atlantic, Greece struggles to regain footing while Portugal, Italy and Spain teeter on the brink. West of it, […]