Last Time The Lights Went Out – Government Shutdown’s Greatest Hits – Dec. 1995 – Past Daily Reference Room

. . .and the definition of insanity is . . . .?

Click on the link here for Audio Player – News reports on Government Shutdown – December 16-21, 1995 – CBS Radio News – Gordon Skene Sound Collection

With word today of the impasse on Capitol Hill and the resulting shutdown of Government, the flurry of finger pointing starts. And 17 years ago it was pretty much the same thing. The faces, for the most part, have changed. The tactics have remained pretty much the same. The lunatic fringe is more vocal now and the polarization is more pronounced than it was 17 years ago.

But in December 1995 it was the culmination of events that began with the first (four day) shutdown in February of that year. The tantrums continued. The people suffered. Life went on. The Shutdown dragged on for 21 days, the second time around.

Indications are this shutdown will have bigger consequences. In 1995 no one knew what those consequences would be. And in 2013 no one really does either. There are predictions of backlash, revenge at the polls during the 2014 mid-term elections and widespread panic. Since October is historically Padded Cell Season on Wall Street, anything can happen.

But most likely as before, life goes on  – and there are bigger concerns to deal with – bigger consequences. Sometimes, the name of the game is distraction. And sometimes, people in high places just throw tantrums because they can.

Either way . . .

So here, as a reminder of the last time Capitol Hill shut the Government down, are a series of reports from December 16-21, 1995 via The CBS World News Roundup. Something to compare notes to.

And the band will surely play on.

Related articles

• Every government shutdown ever, in one chart (washingtonpost.com)
• Government Shutdown – What Does it Mean? (guardianlv.com)
• Government shutdown 1995: Were you there? (pennlive.com)
• Technology makes this government shutdown more dangerous than 1995 (techi.com)

Voting Rights – LBJ Address To Congress – 1965 – Past Daily Reference Room

Will separate drinking fountains be far behind?

Click on the link here for Audio Player – Pres. Johnson Address To Congress on Voting Rights Legislation – March 1965.

In a stunning (although not completely surprising, considering the SCOTUS track record of late), decision regarding the question of Voting Rights, the Supreme Court reversed some key provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – the one that people died over. And recommended  a re-write of the Act, saying the issue of Voting Rights had become out-dated in recent years.

As has been the case for much landmark legislation in recent  years, the idea of chipping away at it, rather than being so overt as to outright overturn a previously rendered decision, appears to be the Modus Operandi of SCOTUS. And as has been demonstrated, taking the teeth out of a law renders it less and less effective.

And as a reminder of how important this legislation was, and still is, here is President Johnson’s Address to Congress from March 15, 1965, calling for the Voting Rights Act to be passed.

Kindly remember the struggles that took place – the bloodshed and the loss of life that happened on the road to making this the Law of the Land.

The Voting Rights Act happened for a reason and not because someone woke up one morning and had a “good idea”.

I would like to think we are better than that.

Please don’t forget your history – a lot of people are hoping you do.,

Related articles

• BREAKING | Key Part of Voting Rights Act Invalidated (readersupportednews.org)
• Supreme Court Strikes Down A Key Part Of 1965 Voting Rights Act (khq.com)
• Supreme Court limits federal oversight of Voting Rights Act (cltv.com)
• SCOTUS strikes down key voting rights provision (politico.com)
• Supreme Court limits federal oversight of Voting Rights Act (wgntv.com)

Voting Rights – March 15, 1965

And in Selma on this day, the struggle continued.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: LBJ -1965 Voting Right Bill – March 15, 1965

On this day forty-eight years ago, President Johnson addressed Congress over the issue of Voting Rights in connection with Civil Rights legislation he had introduced earlier.

In the midst of heightened protests throughout the South, and in particular the situation in Selma Alabama, the introduction of this bill was one more element in what would be a tumultuous period of time for Civil Rights in this country.

LBJ: “In our time we have come to live with the moments of great crisis. Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues; issues of war and peace, issues of prosperity and depression. But rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself. Rarely are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance, or our welfare or our security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved nation.”

The wheels of progress were moving slowly, but moving. The wheels of resistance however, were moving quickly. And the violence would continue long after the bills were passed. 1965 was another pivotal year in a whirlwind decade only half over.

. . . Or half begun, depending on how you looked at it.

Here is LBJ’s complete Address to Congress for March 15, 1965.

Related articles

• 2013 Selma March Re-enactment: Bloody Sunday Edmund Pettus Bridge Showdown For the 1965 Voting Rights Act (3chicspolitico.com)
• Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965: The peak of the American civil rights movement. (photos.mercurynews.com)
• Biden marches with civil rights leaders in Alabama to commemorate ‘Bloody Sunday’ (rawstory.com)

Prepping For An Inaugural, Avoiding A Confrontation – January 14, 1957

The Soviet crackdown in Hungary was still going on.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: News for January 14, 1957

News for this day was largely relegated to speculation on the new Eisenhower term, since the Inaugural was a little over a week away, this January 14th in 1957. But it was also concerned with developments in the Middle-East and the ongoing crackdown, trials and executions over the Hungarian Revolt just several weeks earlier. The latest batch of fears came with rumors of Communist infiltrators landing in the U.S. in droves, pretending to be Hungarian refugees.

From this collection of newscasts, all from this day, there was a protest movement afoot (promoted primarily by Fulton Lewis Jr. and his Mutual Radio Program) over the invitation by the White House of members of the newly-installed Puppet regime in Budapest, to the inaugural Ball. Lewis read answers to the protests and urged listeners to keep writing – supplying pertinent names and addresses to which the protests were directed.

Also bubbling close to the surface were tensions in the Middle-East. Israeli occupation of Gaza and Egyptian sabre rattling and threats to drag the U.S. into the conflict were not sitting all that well with The State Department.

And the happenings aroundCapitol Hill were subjects of reporting, most notably with threatened shakeups in  Congress and the power-plays ensuing.

That and a lot more for this January 14th in 1957 as reported by Fulton Lewis Jr. and Cedric Foster via Mutual Radio.

Opening Day Of Congress – 1937 – Past Daily Reference Room

Congress had a full plate that year, too.

Click on the link here for Audio Player – Part 1: Opening Day of Congress – 1937 – Part 1

Click on the link here for Audio Player – Part 2: Opening Day of Congress -1937 – Part 2

As a reminder of how much things change, and how much they remain the same, here is the complete opening day of the first session of the 75th Congress for January 5, 1937.

Long before the days of C-Span, many networks in the U.S. carried these events complete, no matter how long they took. This particular broadcast lasted over 2 hours and was typical of the lengths mainstream media went to keep the public informed during those days of what was “new media“.

A lot of roll calls and it gets a little contentious mid-way through. But for the sake of history, it’s all there. This was also the Congress that wrestled with President Roosevelt’s call to increase the members of The Supreme Court, as well as much New Deal legislation. A rather jam-packed Congressional plate for that year.

There are no doubt a lot of names that will be unfamiliar. But many will resurface periodically in history throughout the later half of the 20th Century.

Have at it.

Related articles

• The lessons of 1937 (dailykos.com)
• Is The U.S. Congress On Its Way Out? (economicpolicyjournal.com)

October 11, 1979 – Castro Comes – Wall Street Goes, And Capitol Hill Haggles Over Abortion Forever.

The good old days, when a 48 point drop was cause for widespread freakouts.

Click on the link here for Audio Player:News for October 11, 1979

October, it would seem, is not historically without its surprises. On this day in 1979 New York City was turned upside down over a United Nations visit from Cuba‘s Fidel Castro, his first since 1959. Air Traffic was disrupted, street traffic was disrupted, and all told the biggest security nightmare the city had seen in a very long time.

But Cuba was in the news a lot over the previous months. A new cause-for-alarm was being considered by the U.S. over the renewed presence of Soviet troops on Cuban soil. So concerned was Washington that a detachment of some 1,800 Marines and other Military personnel were heading to Guantanamo for “exercises”.

But if New York didn’t have enough headaches with Fidel, it more than made up for them with headaches from Wall Street. News of a 48 point drop in the Dow triggered panic and a run on Valium. As of this day, everyone was holding their breath to see what was going to happen next.

Not exactly holding their breath, but actively engaged in tossing brickbats was Congress over a Funding Fight that included that perrennial, Abortion Funding and that incidental, Pay Raises. Seems the dilemma had to do with some members of Congress in favor of Abortion Funding and not in favor of a Pay Raise, while other members of Congress in favor of Pay Raises but not in favor of Abortion Funding. Seems both caveats were jammed into the same emptor.

But there was the World Series to think about. And while the rest of the world was quickly going to hell, Game 2 was getting ready to go that evening.

All that, and a bunch more, via Dallas Townsend and The CBS World News Roundup for October 11, 1979.

September 20, 1979 – Surprises on Capitol Hill

Carter with Brzezinski and Vance – Cuba tosses the Monkey Wrench in SALT II.

Click on the link here for Audio player: News for Sept. 20, 1979

In a move that took everyone by surprise, the House voted to reject the Fiscal 1980 Budget, thus sending it back for changes before October 1st rolled around. The House also voted to reject a Pay increase for Congress, which didn’t surprise that many.

SALT II was looking to be in jeopardy again, since the latest flare-up over Cuba and the presence of Soviet forces on the island, threatened to derail passage of the measure.

So that’s part of what this September 20th sounded like, via The CBS World News Roundup for September 20, 1979.