Tag Archives: Steny Hoyer

The End of Another Era

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON | JAN 10, 2026

The year was 1981. Several of us were with our dear friends Ralph and Mary Vinovich at a dinner in Cheverly, MD, a small hamlet in Prince George’s County where we lived. The dinner sponsor had invited candidates campaigning for their party’s primary nomination to replace Congresswoman Gladys Noon Spellman, the victim of a tragic car accident, to mingle with the audience for a brief period.

One of the candidates approached our table and bluntly but politely asked if there were any Democrats at the table.

“No,” came our reply.

“Do you mind if I move on then?” the candidate asked. We all said, no, not at all. We understood the politics of party primaries and the time wasted in seeking the support of those who couldn’t vote for you.

We didn’t recognize the candidate, at least I didn’t, and it was pretty clear he didn’t know us.

That candidate was Steny Hoyer and he went on to win that solidly Democratic seat in Congress.

Hoyer, who announced his retirement last week, would claim that seat for 45 years. In all he can boast a 60-year career in politics. Continue reading →

Pelosi-Bachmann Axis, Party of No

BY JOHN FEEHERY

Reprinted from thefeeherytheory.com

Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, must be very happy with her colleague Michele Bachmann.

Bachmann (R-Minn.) has stated repeatedly that she will never vote to increase the debt limit. And her position is winning converts among some House Republicans, especially those who are worried about a primary challenge from the right.

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We Don’t Need No Stinking Budget

BY JOHN FEEHERY

Reprinted from the Feehery Theory

The president’s top budget guy announced today that he’s leaving.

That should come as no surprise. After all, congressional Democrats announced that they weren’t going to do a budget this year anyway.

Who needs a budget?

Our country is doing fine financially.

Sure, we’ve got historically high debt to deal with. Sure, we have tax policy that is about to get a lot more interesting at the end of the year, when a bunch of tax provisions expire. Sure, we have Social Security starting to go broke quicker than anybody anticipated. Sure, we have a huge problem with chronic unemployment in the private sector and bursting employment in the public sector. Sure, almost every state seems like it is ready to belly-up financially.

Sure, we have all of those problems, problems that are all budget-related. But that doesn’t mean we should do a budget.

We don’t need no stinking budget.
Budgets require tough choices. Budgets require (at least notionally) that the numbers all add up. Budgets require leadership.

Continue reading →