Word: congressed
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...down an aisle. "They have no right to tell me what to do." Raymer is at CPAC representing the Poker Players Alliance, which is lobbying to have a 2005 ban on Internet poker lifted - literally one of the last bills passed by the GOP before they lost control of Congress. "In the privacy of our own homes, consenting adults should be able to do whatever they want," Raymer said. "Gambling is legal in America. They shouldn't be mandating how we live. If they consider it a sin, they shouldn't do it. But don't tell...
...blocks away, former Republican Senate leader Trent Lott has set up a lobbying shop with former Senator John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat. Florida Democrat Bob Graham left Congress in 2005 and joined with retired Republican Senator Jim Talent of Missouri to work on a national commission on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. On Thursday, Feb. 18, President Obama announced that former Republican Senator Alan Simpson would join with former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, to lead a commission on tackling the deficit...
...former members of Congress find it so much easier to get along across the aisle after they retire? Interviews with a number of them suggested answers that are sometimes surprising and trends that are daunting. It's not just the obvious political pressures of messaging for re-election, they said, but also the pressures of fundraising and time...
Former Democratic Representative Dan Glickman, who left Congress in 1995 and went on to lead the Motion Picture Association of America, pointed to the growing pressure of fundraising as a prime factor. Not only must politicians spend more time raising money, but also the need to raise money often distorts the incentives for bipartisanship. "There are not a lot of incentives in the system to solve problems," says Glickman, who noted that segmentation of the media plays a role. "Solving problems is seen as being a kind of weakness, because it means that you have compromised...
Another pressure that is eliminated in retirement is the scant amount of time members of Congress now have to get to know one another in the rival party. "There appears to be kind of an ever growing diminishing of relationships across the aisle - of fellowship and friendship," explains Domenici. "As soon as the votes are over, people are gone. You can't find them...