House of Representatives Blog Posts | Comedy Central Indecision

7 Weird Bills Introduced in the New Congress

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Jan 10, 2013 03:00 PM by Ilya Gerner | Comments:

Enthusiasts of renaming post offices, rejoice! Congress has returned to session, but honoring local heroes is not the only thing they can do. They're also good at filing "message" legislation intended to show their constituents they care about various pet causes.

Whether you're a conspiracy theorist hounded by the UN's black helicopters or just a survivalist goldbug awaiting an economic cataclysm, take comfort in knowing that some member of Congress hears your concerns:

U.S. Congress Less Popular Than Nickelback

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Jan 8, 2013 12:35 PM by Ilya Gerner | Comments:

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A recent survey from Public Policy Polling takes a new tact in evaluating the unpopularity of Congress. Rather than simply asking whether people have a favorable or unfavorable view of our national legislature (only 9% view Congress favorably), PPP decided to benchmark the institution against some of the world's most loathed people and things. Our elected legislator did not fare well.

The Violence Against Women Act: Who Needs It!

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Jan 3, 2013 05:49 PM by Lisa Beth Johnson | Comments:

After compromising on fiscal cliff legislation, House Republicans must have been exhausted from that one thing they did sort of right. Their poor little hearts just couldn't take doing one more thing that would have a positive-ish impact on the country. That must be why they let the Violence Against Women Act expire… but maybe there are other reasons:

1. Republicans would love to provide those additional protections for the LGBT community, undocumented immigrants and Native Americans, but what about all the violence against white men? When are we going to address that?

2. Two of the 25 female House Republicans voted no on VAWA the last time it was up for reauthorization. They said it was because the law didn't go far enough, but still. The GOP has to be sensitive to women's opinions, and that means all of them.

3. Eric Cantor is afraid that if we let Native American tribunals rule on cases of violence against Native women by non-Native people, every treaty we have with them will become null and void. Heck, we might even have to give all the land back. Slippery slope, look it up.

4. But the real reason Republicans didn't pass VAWA might be the fact that even a Republican from Oklahoma is on board with it. You know what happened the last time they listened to one of those guys.

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Tags: House of Representatives, Men and Women, Republicans, Women's Rights