Congress

The following are the stances taken by Tri-State-area members of Congress on the immigration bill that stalled June 7. Maryland U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. - Supported U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md. - Supported U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-6th - Opposed Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. - Supported U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa. - Supported U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th - Opposed West Virginia U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.

By GREG SIMMONS / Staff Writer photo: YVETTE MAY / staff photographer Poor management of government funds and lies by members of Congress are at fault for problems in Social Security, Medicare, education and defense, U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md., said Thursday. The national debt continues to increase even though Congress said the federal budget was balanced last year, said Bartlett. "Debt was going up when the budget was balanced because Congress was lying to you," he said.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MONT ALTO, Pa. - First he was there, then he wasn't and now he's there again. It's been a life of come-around, go-around at Penn State Mont Alto for George Siehl. Siehl, 69, who lives in Penn National in Fayetteville, Pa., first came to the Penn State campus as a freshman in 1954. A Johnstown, Pa., native, Siehl spent a year in the school's forestry program before transferring to Indiana (Pa.) State Teachers College, now Indiana University.

Ah, we've finally found something Congress is good for: Regulating sports. Hey, they might as well, no one else pays any attention to them. Anytime a group such as Big Oil or Big Tobacco or Big Agriculture is called before a congressional panel, eight or 10 jowly executives sit up at the table looking bored and saying "Yeah, yeah, OK. Now which way to the ham and cheese platter?" But if you can't win over Big Oil, take on Big Sydney. You have to believe that Congress' success in moving Major League Baseball on the steroids issue stunned even Congress.

A chance to clean up Congress To the editor: This is an open letter to the Democratic Party hierarchy. You now have the unique opportunity to restore to the Congress a level of integrity, honor and respect, so that the majority of the people and the world will once again like and respect our Congress. All you have to do is represent a majority of the American people. When I say the "the American people," I don't mean the millions of illegal aliens, nor the special interest groups and the congressmen and lobbyists who represent them.

It takes a highly motivated writer with a dedication to detail to chronicle the drama and historical significance of what has come to be called the Roosevelt “Court packing” plan. Jeff Shesol has done a masterful job of re-creating the events and personalities behind the clash between a determined president and a recalcitrant Supreme Court. “Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court” is a superb account of the turmoil during the early New Deal years. In one sense, all parties in this historical collision were victims of events not of their own making.

Commentary When a dude's main claim to fame, other than sports, is as a high-profile pitchman for drugs, what's the big surprise when it turns out that he is ? news flash ? taking drugs? Would we be surprised if it turned out that Lee Iacocca actually drove a Chrysler? Rafael Palmeiro has been chatting up the wonders of modern chemistry for years now, as a spokesman for performance-enhancing Viagra. Now he's suspended for 10 days after testing positive for performance-enhancing steroids.

You wonder how Ken Starr and the House managers felt this week. Seeing the man they so desperately tried to drive from office swagger onstage at the Democratic National Convention sporting a 70 percent approval rating, grinning like the cat that ate the canary and giving a speech that some feared “set the bar too high” for President Obama the following night. The Republican convention had no such superstar it could trot out on stage as the country swooned - although it would have had Reagan still been around.