The most basic job the majority in the House of Representatives has to do is to choose a Speaker. According to the Congressional Research Service, the first-day routine of a new session includes: The Clerk calls the House to order. A prayer from the Chaplain and the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Clerk. The Clerk calls quorum. And, at long last, the election of the Speaker. It is literally the first substantive action the House is supposed to take at the start of the session. This clown-car can’t even manage this most basic task. It’s ridiculous. It’s an insult, and, perhaps most vitally, it is incredibly dangerous. Republicans cannot be trusted to govern. Tell that to your Trump-humping uncle.

A judge brought in to clean up after a “kids for cash” scandal has expunged every juvenile court case decided by a Pennsylvania jurist convicted of corruption.

Senior Judge Arthur Grim was selected almost three years ago to review juvenile court cases decided by former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, who’s serving time in jail for his involvement in the corruption case.

As a result of Grim’s efforts, records have been expunged for more than 2,000 juveniles sentenced by Ciavarella.

Ciavarella and another ex-judge are serving federal prison sentences for sending juveniles to for-profit youth detention centers in return for money.

This is nice and all, but it’s a reminder that we still live in a country where, increasingly, our penal system is becoming an industry. Some judge put prices on these kids’ heads. Coulda just a soon have been your kids. Or you. That’s where it goes, though, when you think that everything’s for sale and that the “free market” (which does not actually exist) can do anything and should do everything.