dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog

As anyone who watches C-SPAN closely can attest, the Senate floor fills for votes and empties for speeches. But the rule requiring senators to be in attendance is still on the books and can be invoked by any senator at any time.

If you believe that money is power, Oregon has not had this much power on Capitol Hill since the Packwood-Hatfield era ended two decades ago.

Here’s how we can do Merkley’s concept one better, and fund our children’s higher education in a more self-reliant way.

Only a newcomer in Washington could believe that legislators are called “lawmakers” for a reason. Not surprisingly, recent news accounts have characterized Merkley and other reformers as “a cohort of short-sighted Senate sophomores.”