Congress

Way back in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was president, politics simply worked, or at least that’s what Chris Matthews says.

On Tuesday's Up to Date, we talk with Matthews about his new book, Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked, which chronicles the bipartisan efforts of President Reagan and then Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil to raise the debt ceiling and pass other important legislation back in 1981, and why Congress just can’t seem to do the same now.

Guest:

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D, MO-5) joins Steve Kraske to give an update on what happening with the federal government shutdown and the impending debt ceiling issue.

When thousands of federal employees are being forced to go without a paycheck indefinitely because of inaction in Congress, is it really ethical for members of Congress to keep accepting their own paychecks?

On Thursday's Up to Date, the Ethics Professors join us to discuss that and other issues of murky morals. Should we consider signing up for healthcare part of a civic duty to lower medical costs for everyone? And how should we set a limit when it comes to the cost and scope of treatment?

What do you do after your congressional career is finished?

In the first part of Wednesday's Up to Date, we catch up with two former U.S. congressmen from Missouri, Alan Wheat and Kenny Holshuf, who have returned to Washington as policy advisors on behalf of a local law firm.

Guests:

Members of Congress will soon be asked to decide whether to support President Barack Obama's request for authorization to attack the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Assad's regime allegedly used chemical weapons on civilians and rebels in an attack last month. Here is a round-up of what we know so far from congress members in Kansas and Missouri.

Kansas Congressional Delegation:

The weather isn’t the only think that’s still got some heat behind it. Although Congress is in recess, hot-button topics such as immigration and sequestration cuts are still in the news.

In the first part of Thursday's Up to Date, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D, MO-5) and Rep. Kevin Yoder (R, KS-3) join us to talk about these issues and shed some light on where Congress might be headed when it goes back into session in September.

Guests:

Sequestration, or the automatic across-the-board funding cuts set to kick in nationwide at the beginning of 2013, will tally nearly $110 billion in cuts over the next nine years.

Missouri Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson will retire from the House of Representatives next February.

He served 12 years as a district attorney and 12 years as a member of Congress. Now, former U.S. Representative Dennis Moore is focusing his energies on another battle close to home: Alzheimer’s.

Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri is no stranger to the rough and tumble world of politics. After all, she’s been at it for three decades in a state that is traditionally tough on Democrats.

Barack Obama isn't the first President in conflict with a Congress run by the opposing party. However, being in that position doesn't mean nothing gets accomplished. Take it from Historian of the U.S. Senate Donald Richie.