Nick Ruiz

I asked one of the sharpest minds I know on Capitol Hill if there's a single issue facing Congress right now-- just one-- that separates conservatives from progressives. He didn't miss a beat: the Social Security Enhancement and Protection Act and the Strengthening Social Security. Act. Yesterday we had a guest post from the progressive candidate for the Maine Senate seat, Shenna Bellows, on the topic.

House Republicans may not have "the time" to vote on important measures with wide popular support like comprehensive immigration reform, ending workplace discrimination against the LGBT community (ENDA) or raising the minimum wage-- none of which Boehner will allow onto the 2013 schedule-- but they do have time to further attempt to steal the food out of the mouths of children by

In The Atlantic on Monday, Mischa Fisher, a GOP operative, tried making the case that Republicans aren't really the anti-science party. Really? Tell it to the victims of Global Warmiong in the Philippines-- or to the 5.6 million residents of Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties in South Florida who may have to decide between moving inland or drowning.

John Mica (R-FL), no friend of veteransToday, every candidate and every congressmember who ever managed to get their grubby paws on my e-mail address-- both parties-- sent out Veterans Day greetings. They were all pretty much the same pious ass-kissing, many from conservatives who expect the most from the military and who had actually voted against veterans over and over again.

Becerra, Grayson, Ellison-- actual leaders, not money-grubbersI'm never really comfortable with a corrupt out-of-touch Beltway committee parachuting into an American congressional district and telling the Democrats there who their candidate for Congress should be. In the old days, even the worst DCCC chairmen-- think Rahm Emanuel-- used to tip-toe, at least publicy, around interfering in primaries.

Yesterday we looked at the lead-up to last night's historic Senate vote for ENDA. The anti-gay filibuster was shut down 61-30, every Democrat plus 7 Republicans voting for equality.

Fred Upton's Monkey CourtOn Wednesday, the House voted 292-122 to gut a significant portion of the Dodd-Frank Consumer Protection law. Irresponsible banksters addicted to risky gambling will once again be able to take those risks knowing that if they get into trouble, the taxpayers will be forced to pick up the tab.

Time to say good-byeCNN's latest polling was all bad news for the Republican Party, but in a general kind of way.

Mica & Lankford: 2 ugly right-wing faces of GOP nihilism & cowardiceWhile unreconstructed Confederate nihilists like Louisiana's John Fleming were boasting this morning that they're ready to force another government shutdown in January and another default crisis in February, many Republicans from normal parts of America were breathing a sigh of relief

Bernie Sanders (I-VT)-- like Ken and I, a graduate of James Madison High School-- has been trying to explain that “Yesterday, the Republicans were using the Affordable Care Act as the reason why they had to shut down the government and not pay our bills. Today, it’s ‘reforming’ Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.