Citizen Cartwright

Congress oversees current laws and makes new ones. If you don't like the way things are or the way things are headed, write to your two senators and your representative (they pay attention to the mail — no joke — they want to be re-elected, after all). To find out who they are and to track legislation of interest to you, click on opencongress.org.

After bills passed by Congress are signed by the president and become law, the executive branch writes regulations to implement them. The public is given time to comment before the regulations are finalized. For an easy way to track regulations and comment on them, click on regulations.gov.

But do you get discouraged, thinking there's no way to compete with big-money lobbyists? Here's what veteran Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says: "Money is important, but votes will beat money any day."

 

As Floridians go to vote, most polls suggesting big Romney win

A Nielsen statewide poll shows Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich 40-30 percent, and The Miami Herald says that's consistent with its own poll.

Romney is leading by 15 points, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. In a Quinnipiac poll, 14 points. And on and on.

But Gingrich’s campaign is pointing to the results of a poll from the Dixie Strategies/The News-Press/First Coast News released over the weekend showing Gingrich leading Romney 35.46 to 35.08 percent. And a Tea Party Patriots straw poll showing him as the choice of 35 percent of the 600 participants.

How long can the GOP presidential race go on?

The contest could go into the spring because of the rise of the super PACs, which can spend unlimited amounts of money to help the candidates of their choice; new Republican rules allowing even losers to claim percentages of delegates in more than half of the contests this year; and the never-say-die ethos of the Gingrich campaign, The New York Times says.

As far as the new Republican rules, the Times explains that after long operating under a winner-take-all system, the party is this year allowing states to award delegates in proportion to the share of votes won by the candidates in the primaries and caucuses that occur before April 1. "Under that system, finishing second can be nearly as fruitful as winning," the Times says.

Senate moving to ban insider trading

A 93-2 procedural vote Monday clears the way for Senate passage as soon as this week of a bill (S 2038) to require disclosure of stock transactions within 30 days and explicitly prohibit members of Congress from initiating trades based on non-public information they acquire in their official capacity.

The bill is "at least partly symbolic," The Associated Press says. U.S. lawmakers already are subject to the same penalties as other investors who engage in insider trading.

The laws Congress doesn't apply to itself

When I came to Washington to work for a congressman long ago, I was surprised to discover that Congress passed many laws that it didn't apply to itself. (Do as I say, not as I do?)

Then, when Republicans took the majority in 1995, they applied many civil rights, labor and workplace safety laws to Congress.

But here is a list of the laws from which Congress still is exempt.

Also in the news

Russia faces pressure at U.N. to back ouster of Syria's Assad

Obama is 'unusually candid' in public discussion of CIA's drone use

25 of 27 EU nations back rules to prevent future debt crises

Treasury to probe Freddie Mac conflict of interest

Sen. Whitehouse trying to get a vote on 'Buffett Rule'

Senators routinely return office funds to U.S. Treasury

In their second year, Republican governors moderating tone

Claremont McKenna College inflated SAT scores used in rankings

Occupy D.C. protesters vow to carry on despite camping rules

Drugmakers joining Gates Foundation to fight tropical diseases

FDA approves first drug for most common skin cancer

Study: Caffeine changes younger women's estrogen levels

Super PACs getting involved in congressional races

At least two dozen key House districts around the nation, along with high-profile Senate races in states such as Massachusetts, Ohio, Utah and Indiana, are targets of super PAC money, The Washington Post reports.

Occupy showdowns in Oakland, Washington

In one of the biggest mass arrests since nationwide protests began last fall, about 400 people were arrested Saturday after breaking into Oakland's City Hall.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service has warned protesters that it will begin enforcing at noon Monday a long-standing ban on camping overnight in Washington's McPherson Square.

Apple: 'We care about every worker'

CEO Tim Cook has e-mailed company employees following The New York Times' article on harsh conditions facing workers in the company's Chinese factories.

"What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain," says Cook. "On this you have my word."

How anti-terrorism money is being spent

A counter-terrorism lab at the Arkansas Department of Health — one of 62 federally funded labs across the country — has been testing for synthetic marijuana.

It's the latest sign of the way a multibillion-dollar national infrastructure built to detect or respond to chemical or biological attacks over the last decade has adapted to the lack of any actual attacks, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Also in the news

Afghans criticize France's plan to withdraw its troops a year early

As countries line up against Syrian government, Russia sides firmly with Assad

Activists crack China’s wall of denial over air pollution

Keystone oil pipeline to be linked to highway bill, Boehner says

Report: 7 former lawmakers lobbied for groups that got earmarks

FDA workers sue agency over monitoring of personal e-mails on medical devices

Does Gingrich's endorsement by Cain and backing by Palin make a difference?