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Sometimes identified as liberal-leaning, Common Cause has also been identified as nonpartisan and advocates government reform. It is identified with the reformist "good government" movement and is often described as a watchdog group.
Political reform group delivers report card on Maryland congressional delegation
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Political reform group delivers report card on Maryland congressional delegation - Maryland Matters
Rep. C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger will introduce (on Tuesday) new legislation that would make it illegal to protest at military funerals within the state of Maryland.“We need to thank God for the service and sacrifice of our American military fighting for our freedom,” Ruppersberger said in a statement. “The right to free speech is a valuable liberty that we all cherish as Americans. While I respect the recent Supreme Court decision, I wanted to find a way to stop groups like Westboro from using military funerals as occasions to promote their own political agenda and inflict incalculable harm on the grieving families of our troops.”
Ruppersberger stated that the bill would enable groups such Westboro to exercise their right to free speech without disrupting the funerals themselves or forcing funeral participants to encounter the protesters.
According to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center the Westboro Baptist Church protestors has been identified as a hate group. Westboro Baptist Church has protested nearly 600 military funeral in over 20 years.
Who: Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
Maryland Veterans
What: Ruppersberger to Announce Legislation to Prevent Protests at Military Funerals
When: Tuesday, March 8, 2011
12:30 p.m.
Where: Linthicum Veterans Memorial
Camp Meade & Maple Road
Linthicum, Maryland
Scott Rigell will become the new second district congressman tomorrow. Rigell will be officially sworn in during ceremonies at Capitol Hill.
Richmond, Va. Balance the budget. Rein in spending. Stick a hungry government bureaucracy on a diet.Those were mantras of Virginia's Republican congressional candidates who won big in Tuesday's elections. But within weeks, the critics will move to the corridors of power and it will be their unbalanced budget and their national debt.
Within their immediate control are their $174,000 annual salary and an office budget of roughly $1.5 million. We asked Virginia's three Republican congressmen-elect what they personally are willing to cut.
Scott Rigell, who defeated Rep. Glenn Nye, D-2nd, promptly issued a series of reforms he says he will follow whether they are enacted into law or not.
The car dealer from Virginia Beach says he will roll back his congressional office budget to 2008 levels and allow government trips only on official business -- "real official business."
He has pledged a 12-year term limit and he wants to "reduce the incentive to stay in Congress" by replacing the current retirement system with a 403(b) match program.
He has even sketched out rules on mail -- "Only two direct-mail pieces will be sent each year, no closer than three months prior to an election, standardized in form and content, one page only, using recycled paper and black and white ink."
That kind of up-front commitment is smart politics on Rigell's part, said Steve Farnsworth, a political analyst at George Mason University.
"I think the one thing that voters cannot stand about politicians is hypocrisy," he said. "A congressman-elect who promises to cut his own office expenditures, that's absolutely a smart move for congressmen looking ahead to 2012. That's what people want to see."
A challenge for Republicans over the next two years will be to demonstrate that they can make change happen while they control the House but not the Senate or White House, he said. That split in power makes it virtually impossible to repeal the health-care legislation, for example.
"That's why it's such smart politics for Republicans to look at things that are more directly under their control, like their own office expenditures," he said.
. . .
Rigell's plan is pretty specific, and while the other congressmen-elect did not offer the same level of detail, they gave some insight during the campaigns.
State Sen. Robert Hurt, who defeated Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, has said he would vote to reduce the salary of members of Congress. His campaign also says he will use the franked mail system "only for legitimate constituent services."
The lawyer from Chatham said last week in a news conference about his transition plans that he doesn't anticipate greatly altering the number of district offices. There are four in addition to the Washington office.
"Right now I have no reason to believe that we'll change anything [that's] in place, but we will take a fresh look at that because obviously we want to make sure we're as accessible as possible," he said.
Congressman-elect H. Morgan Griffith of the 9th District has advocated for a 10 percent pay cut for Congress, and he wants to end the practice that allows members of Congress to lease a vehicle through the House of Representatives.
"There's got to be a lot of other things like that," he said.
If his pay-cut idea doesn't go over well with his colleagues, Griffith said he will donate the equivalent of a 10 percent cut into the 9th District to not-for-profit charitable organizations.
He said of his early ideas: "They're not going to solve the budget problem, but you've got to start somewhere."
The office budgets for the new Congress have not been decided, but Perriello's for 2010 was $1.46 million, Nye's was $1.48 million and Rep. Rick Boucher's was $1.5 million.
That allowance will not likely vary dramatically for the new members. It is supposed to cover the expenses congressmen incur as part of their official role, and it is based on three major components: staff salaries, office expenses and official mail.
Funding for salaries made up the largest component in 2010, at $944,671. House members can decide how many employees they hire and how much they pay them, but there are caps on how many and how much.
Office expenses include a travel stipend that varies based on the distance of the representative's district from Washington, as well as district office rental expenses. That also varies by member -- space in downtown Los Angeles will cost more than on Main Street in Chatham.
In general, however, members can spend the money as they see fit, as long it complies with federal and House rules. Spending on campaign or political purposes is a no-no, for example.
Voters serious about the spending-cut message this year likely will keep tabs on how their new congressmen operate on Capitol Hill.
"In the new Congress, the tea party's influence will be far larger than their numbers," Farnsworth said, "because so many Republicans are going to be looking over their shoulders wondering if the tea-party activists are going to run a Republican nomination opponent against them the next time they face the voters."
Congressman-elect Scott Rigell has released his plan for reforming Congress. In the plan, Rigell states he attempt to reshape the mindset in Washington, forcing elected officials to be more transparent and frugal with taxpayer dollars.
Approximately 120 people came to Congressional hopeful Scott Rigell's town hall meeting at the marina in Captains Cove on Monday, September 20. At the event, citizens of the Eastern Shore lined up to ask the candidate questions about issues facing the Eastern Shore, the Commonwealth of the Virginia and the nation.
Throughout the course of questions Rigell stated he would like to reverse the stimulus, support 12 year term limits for Senators and Representatives, downsize the Department of Education and give more rights to state and local governments.
