Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) has published A Mindful Nation which the Washington Times says is “a book touting the benefits of a meditative practice known as mindfulness.”

It’s target audience: “anyone and everyone suffering from chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, information overload.”

Said Ryan: “I don’t want to give away names, but I’ve had members of Congress approach me and say, ‘I want to learn more about this.’ Between the fundraising, being away from family, the environment of hyperpartisanship, Washington is really stressing people out. They’re getting sick.”

NBC News reports that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), whose mysterious absence from Congress has prompted calls for more disclosure, is
being treated for alcoholism and addiction at an Arizona facility.

However, the AP reports a statement from Jackson’s office responding to the report says the lawmaker is receiving “intensive medical treatment” for a “mood
disorder.”

The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the “Fast and Furious” investigation. The vote was 255-67, with 17 Democrats voting in support of a criminal contempt resolution.

Roll Call: “The stage is now set for a protracted court battle over whether the
Justice Department can shield internal documents under executive
privilege.”

New York Times: “Democrats dismissed the effort as an election-year witch hunt. They said
previously disclosed documents and testimony had established that Fast
and Furious was the work of Arizona-based law enforcement officials who
were frustrated by the difficulty of bringing low-level gun cases, and
they contended that Republicans were seeking to embarrass Mr. Holder for
political reasons.”

The Fix: “And yet, for all of that amped-up oratory from top leaders in their
respective parties, the likely effect of today’s vote… is to convince people that all the bad things they think
about Congress are, well, true.”

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-IL) office announced in a news release that the congressman has been on a medical leave of absence since June 10 and is being treated for exhaustion, the AP reports.

Asked why Jackson’s office waited two weeks to tell his constituents about his absence, a spokesman told the Chicago Tribune that the lack of disclosure was a “family request.”

The House is scheduled to vote on recommendations that Attorney General Eric Holder be held in contempt of Congress on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

“Republican leaders plan to bring the issue to the floor on Thursday, meaning lawmakers likely will vote on contempt charges on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to announce its ruling on the constitutionality of the 2010 health-care reform law. The timing likely deprives advocates for contempt charges of the big headlines they might have received if the vote were held another day this week.”

At least 34 members of Congress “took steps to recast their financial portfolios during the financial crisis” after phone calls or meetings with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; his successor, Timothy Geithner; or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the Washington Post reports.

“The lawmakers, many of whom held leadership positions and committee chairmanships in the House and Senate, changed portions of their portfolios a total of 166 times within two business days of speaking or meeting with the administration officials. The party affiliation of the lawmakers was about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, 19 to 15.”

“One-hundred-thirty members of Congress or their families have traded stocks collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars in companies lobbying on bills that came before their committees, a practice that is permitted under current ethics rules,” a Washington Post analysis has found.

“Almost one in every eight trades — 5,531 — intersected with legislation. The 130 lawmakers traded stocks or bonds in companies as bills passed through their committees or while Congress was still considering the legislation. The party affiliation of the lawmakers was almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, 68 to 62.”

Bloomberg Businessweek invited four retiring members of Congress, including Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), to speak candidly about what being a member of a highly partisan Congress is really like.

Said Ackerman: “Society has changed. The public is to blame as well. I think the people have gotten dumber. I don’t know that I would’ve said that out loud pre-my announcement that I was going to be leaving. [Laughter] But I think that’s true.”

A new Sunlight Foundation analysis finds the U.S. Congress speaks at nearly a full grade level lower than it did seven years ago.

“Today’s Congress speaks at about a 10.6 grade level, down from a high of 11.5 in 2005. By comparison, the U.S. Constitution is written at a 17.8 grade level, the Federalist Papers at a 17.1 grade level and the Declaration of Independence at a 15.1 grade level. The Flesch-Kincaid test was used to conduct the analysis, which equates higher-grade levels with longer words and longer sentences.”

Also interesting: “Prior to 2005, Republicans on average spoke at a slightly higher grade
level than Democrats. Since then, Democrats have spoken on average at a
slightly higher grade level than Republicans.”

“The president is getting…some bad advice. Somebody needed to help him out, so I thought I would.

— House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), in an interview on CNN, explaining his “amped-up rhetoric” toward President Obama in recent days.

Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein: “We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.”

“The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”

“When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.”

At a debate last weekend, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) equated federal student loan programs with stage three cancer.

Said Aikin: “America has got the equivalent of the stage three cancer of socialism because the federal government is tampering in all kinds of stuff it has no business tampering in. So first, to answer your question precisely, what the Democrats did to the private student loans and take it all over by the government was wrong, it was a lousy bill, and that’s why I voted no. The government needs to get its nose out of the education business.”

[Read more…]

Another tidbit from Do Not Ask What Good We Do by Robert Draper, courtesy of the Huffington Post:

“As President Barack Obama was celebrating his inauguration at various balls, top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency at a private dinner in Washington, D.C… For several hours in the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. establishment), the book says they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama’s legislative platform.”

“The dinner lasted nearly four hours. They parted company almost giddily.”

Jon Karl reviews Do Not Ask What Good We Do by Robert Draper.

“Mr. Draper embedded himself in the House in 2011, getting to know the key players — newcomers and old-timers alike. In his group portrait, he doesn’t make any sweeping judgments about who is to blame for the failure of this Congress to address the country’s long-term problems. But his refreshingly balanced account captures the drama of one of Congress’s most combative and maddeningly frustrating years in memory.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was asked about whether there is anti-Semitism in the House GOP caucus — the “darker side,” Cantor called it — and his silence when pressed is deafening.

[Read more…]

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) said that he’s settled his child-support dispute with his ex-wife and cleared up “mistakes in private,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.

“The issue was embarrassing for Walsh, who’s campaigned on fiscal responsibility and blasted President Barack Obama on his financial stewardship of the nation.”

Gallup: “Americans still hold Congress in low regard, but its 17% job approval rating is the highest since last July. Congress’ approval had dipped to a record-low 10% in February.”

Two months after stepping down from Congress, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) “appears to be holding on to much of the nearly $1 million left in her campaign account, in order to leave the door open for a potential run for the House or the Senate in the next campaign cycle,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Giffords is still going through intensive rehabilitation in Houston, and her supporters say they are careful not to set expectations too high. Still, they openly speak of the possibility of her running for the Senate seat now held by John McCain or perhaps running for the House again.”