House of Representatives
Ballot Box Bullies Strike Again In Illinois
To run for Congress in Illinois, independents must collect almost 13,000 signatures–in three weeks!
January 8, 2009 | Read More
Change We Can’t Believe In: Career Politicians And Partisan Hacks Won Big This November
A detailed study of election returns from every House race in the country shows this supposedly transformative election was anything but.
December 3, 2008 | Read More
The House Becomes A Home: Lifetime Politicians In The House Of Representatives
An independent study by the Captive American staff.
November 21, 2008 | Read More
How Does Your Representative Vote?
Our breakdown of the party-line voting habits for incumbent members of the House of Representatives is now available for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure).
November 21, 2008 | Read More
Why I Didn’t Vote
By Lee Brandenburg, founder and publisher of Captive American.com
November 21, 2008 | Read More
Party Loyalty Is Rule Number One In Congress
The average member of the House of Representatives votes with his or her party 94 percent of the time.
November 21, 2008 | Read More
Election Bright Spot$
An important addendum to our earlier post on the biggest-spending candidates winning more than 9 out of 10 congressional races this year: opensecrets.org also points out a few notable, and inspiring, exceptions to the cash=victory equation.
November 13, 2008 | Read More
The Spoils Of Power
Our country’s new ruling party is about to tap committee chairs in Congress and it looks like a few Dem-on-Dem power plays are brewing. If you want to know how our politicians cling to their offices for decade after decade, these fights are critical.
November 6, 2008 | Read More
Out-Of-District Cash Floods Congress
Four out of every five bucks taken in for House campaigns come from people and corporations that do not live in, or have any connection to, members’ constituents - you know those unimportant people who send them to Washington in the first place? The ones they supposedly represent?
November 4, 2008 | Read More
The War of Independents - Responding to Feedback
There’s been some interesting, and thoughtful, feedback to my op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News a few weeks back on sending independents to Congress.
One commenter, calling himself majick275, praised the idea but said it won’t work because the American people are hooked on receiving wasteful pork from their congressional representatives. Without caucusing with one Dead Old Party or the other, majick275 reasoned, independents won’t be able to make deals with their colleagues so that they can bring home the bacon for their constituents, which will keep voters from selecting them.
This is a legitimate concern. But I simply do not believe most voters…
October 1, 2008 | Read More
