This post is from our interns, Tristan Schulhof and Jamie McConkey:

On Thursday, August 14th, Common Cause International director Lauren Coletta hosted a delegation of Iraqi students in order to discuss everything from politics to cowboys. She invited interns Jana Kwaji, Jamie McConkey and Tristan Schulhof to join in on the dialogue.

... their account of everyday life in Iraq since 2003 was truly striking and, frankly, a little humbling.

One student told us how her life had become defined by the security imperatives which come with sectarian violence. "I wake up, I go to school, I come home and do not stay out" she said regretfully. Another spoke of the decline in violence over the past two years. "In 2006 I would hear several explosions a day. There are far fewer now".

We found it surprising that there was a general support for the presence of American and coalition troops in the country.

the full post is here:

I learned something new yesterday: the District of Columbia has the lowest suicide rate in the country.  Why?  Until the Supreme Court decided otherwise, DC had a tough handgun law - few handguns in homes=fewer suicides.

Common Cause has no position on gun laws, but we do strongly support democratic rights for DC (as well as everywhere else).  But some in Congress are prepared to tromp all over DC home rule and impose an ill-considered gun law on DC -- even though the DC City Council already passed a temporary law in response to the Supreme Court decision and is working on a permanent law.

Global warming, high gas prices, economic distress, health care?  Forget it - Congress has better things to do: Dump on the rights of DC to pass its own laws, something they would never do to their own hometowns.

Read on for the text of a coalition letter:

Common Cause has launched a campaign, Recapture the Flag, to demand a President and Congress that believe in the Constitution, the rule of law and justice for all.  Seems obvious that any elected official should fervently support the rule of law.  But, as Bruce Springsteen said on 60 Minutes, that's not the way it's been:
What do we do about that?
Agree with Bruce?  Then join our campaign at recapturetheflag.com

Friday, the House Judiciary Committee held a faux impeachment hearing.

Last year, Common Cause called for the (genuine) impeachment of then-Attorney General Gonzales.  We cited the politicized hirings and firings of attorneys in the DOJ.

Sometimes, it's painful to have your views of the world confirmed.  Today, the DOJ's Inspector General issued a report citing possible criminal violations by DOJ political appointees in the hiring "process" for DOJ attorneys. 

Fifty years ago today, Congress passed the Alaska Statehood Act, giving Alaska, among other things, two Senators and a US Representative.

208 years ago, Congress, apparently without noticing what it was doing, allowed Americans living in the then-new District of Columbia to lose their right to representation in Congress.

Today, Alaska has a population of 670,053; DC's population is 581,530 -- both roughly the size of one congressional district.

Alaska has three Members of Congress - pictured here, all under ethical clouds.  DC has one non-voting Member of Congress - no ethical clouds for Delegate Norton, just no vote.

I've got nothing against Alaska and they deserve better representation in Congress, but DC deserves voting representation now.  The Senate needs to vote again to end the filibuster by Senator McConnell and give DC the vote!

Virginia will be getting a lot of attention in the presidential election - it's one of the new battleground states. There are many good things about Virginia (the Big Eared long-eared bat, for one).

But there are many things that need reform: one of the nation's weakest campaign finance laws, many still voting on the mysterious electronic voting machines and behind the times on granting felons voting rights once they've served their sentence. The WaPo said today:

What do people who don't live in our nation's capital know about the city?  Not much - a lot of myths and misinformation.  Some don't even realize it is a city with nearly 600,000 residents; or that it wasn't until 1974 that it had a local elected government - 185 years after the Constitution.  According to one survey, few Americans know that DC doesn't have voting representation in Congress - more than 80% - but when told about it, they support the vote overwhelmingly.

Here's a quick anecdote from a DC resident visiting Georgia, illustrating the poll's analysis.  Here's what one person said when told about the lack of a vote: "Well, that's just wrong. Shouldn't be like that."

read more...

My former colleague, Meredith McGehee, has a scathing, incisive piece on the pathetic Federal Election Commission in Roll Call today ($$ - but an excerpt here from Josh Z).  In it she says:

Who was a key player in the design of the FEC 30+ years ago?  A US Rep long forgotten to history, but a fearsome power in the House at the time.  Wayne Hays chaired the House Administration Committee and the DCCC, wielding power over everything from campaign laws to campaign money and office furniture -- and abusing his power to a degree that would make Tom Delay envious.

When Hays did not succeed in blocking reform legislation entirely, he made sure that the FEC would not be able to enforce the law.

He was brought down in a scandal - hiring a "secretary", Elizabeth Ray, who later said, "I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone."  But part of his legacy, the FEC, lives on.