Congress

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Iraq Vet to Spearhead Reversal of 'Don't Ask'

Rep. Murphy steps in as bill's sponsor

(Newser) - The battle to ditch the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays is being led by the first Iraq veteran to serve in Congress, the Los Angeles Times reports. Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy has taken over as sponsor of a bill that would allow gays to openly serve...

The Climate Change Bill Is Awful—Now Pass It

'Pathetic' Waxman-Markey at least puts a price on carbon: Friedman

(Newser) - Waxman-Markey is a "pathetic" and "appalling" bill that totally fails to respond to the urgency of climate change—and it should be passed by the Senate and signed into law straight away, writes Thomas Friedman. For the New York Times columnist, the flawed legislation has one great...

Don't Expect Laughs From Sen. Franken
Don't Expect Laughs From Sen. Franken
OPINION
Jul 1, 2009 5:34 AM CDT

Don't Expect Laughs From Sen. Franken

During campaign he was wonky and even a bit boring

(Newser) - Liberals may be hoping for biting wit and conservatives for embarrassing shtick, but according to Bob Benenson of CQPolitics, Al Franken is likely to disappoint both when he finally arrives in the Senate. Throughout his campaign Franken displayed an impressive mastery of Minnesota issues and made clear his candidacy was...

Debate Rages as Congress Mulls Ban on Horse Slaughter

(Newser) - All US horse slaughterhouses have closed, but horse slaughter remains a big business. Thousands are shipped to Mexico and Canada, with sometimes-grisly results. “The treatment of these animals is absolutely unspeakable,” said one Mexico City veterinarian tells Salon. Now, Congress is considering a bill to ban both slaughter...

Dems Put Pragmatism Before Policy
Dems Put Pragmatism Before Policy
OPINION
Jun 30, 2009 8:56 AM CDT

Dems Put Pragmatism Before Policy

Desperate to pass bills, Congress quick to forgo ideals: Brooks

(Newser) - The Democrats learned lasting lessons from the Clinton health care battle: Let Congress, not the White House, write the bills; don’t try to fight the corporations; and avoid failure at all costs. As a consequence, writes David Brooks in the New York Times. the party has taken a “...

Blame Founding Fathers for Paralysis on Climate Change

Minority's outsize power prevents real change: Tomasky

(Newser) - Barack Obama's narrow victory last week, when the House passed the climate change bill by just 7 votes, raises the question of why it's so tough to get change enacted even when the president is popular and his party has majorities in both houses of Congress. The problem Democrats face...

Troubled Banks Have a New Benefactor: You

Industry hikes fees on checking accounts, overdraft transactions

(Newser) - Your children aren’t the only ones who think you’re an ATM: Your bank does, too. Facing declining revenues and smacked with tough, new credit card legislation from Congress, banks are hiking overdraft, ATM, and checking account fees, the Washington Post reports. The average bounced check fee rose 2....

Climate Bill Doesn't Go Far Enough
 Climate Bill Doesn't 
 Go Far Enough 
OPINION
Jun 27, 2009 5:00 PM CDT

Climate Bill Doesn't Go Far Enough

(Newser) - The Waxman-Markey climate change bill isn’t as bad for business as its detractors claim, and “that’s the problem,” Bryan Walsh writes in Time. Because of concessions to coal and farm states that depend on the carbon economy, the bill is watered down and seeks to achieve...

Forget Bipartisan Backing for Health Care Reform Bill

(Newser) - Barack Obama can keep up the bipartisan talk, but it looks like Democrat-sponsored health care reform legislation in Congress has very little chance of winning meaningful GOP support, per the New York Times. GOP lawmakers are balking en masse at the provision for a public plan to challenge private insurers,...

House Passes Major Climate Change Bill

Dems OK legislation by 7 votes after days of intense talks

(Newser) - In a triumph for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed sweeping legislation today calling for the nation's first-ever limits on pollution linked to global warming. The bill also aims to usher in a new era of cleaner, yet more costly energy. The vote was 219-212, capping months of...

Critics Blast Congress for Lack of Staff Diversity

NFL hiring rule may translate to Capitol Hill

(Newser) - Congressional staffs are so overwhelmingly white that Capitol Hill needs its own version of the NFL rule requiring teams hiring a head coach to interview at least one person of color, critics tell the Hill. Frustrated staffers, lobbyists, and aides point out that even though more minorities are being elected,...

Cap-and-Trade Bill 'Biggest Tax in US History'

(Newser) - The cap-and-trade climate legislation that could come up for a House vote tomorrow makes no economic sense and “is likely to be the biggest tax in American history,” write the editors of the Wall Street Journal. Democrats are defending the bill with an incomplete Congressional Budget Office estimate...

Why GOP Sees Hope for 2010
 Why GOP Sees Hope for 2010 
ANALYSIS
Jun 24, 2009 10:34 AM CDT

Why GOP Sees Hope for 2010

GOP could mount a comeback, if it plays smart

(Newser) - They got an electoral thumping in 2006 and did no better in 2008, but Republicans may be getting their groove back. The GOP is still polling at record lows, and the Ensign scandal won’t help the party buck its reputation for moral hypocrisy. Yet, Politico reports, the opposition is...

Court Will Quash Key Voting Act Provision—Next Time

(Newser) - Today’ non-decision by the Supreme Court on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is actually a stern repudiation, Tom Goldstein writes for SCOTUSblog. Reading between the lines, Goldstein surmises that the court will strike down Section 5 when the next challenge comes if Congress does not significantly alter it...

Obama Signs Smoking Crackdown

(Newser) - President Barack Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he took up as a teenager as he signed the strongest-ever US anti-smoking bill today and praised it for providing needed protections for future generations. "It is a law that will save American lives," Obama said....

Obama? Big Pharma. Here's an $80B Drug Discount

(Newser) - Big Pharma has offered the feds a discount of up to $80 billion on drugs for programs like Medicare, the Washington Post reports. The pledge, which comes at a crucial moment in the health-reform debate, may be a pre-emptive strike before President Obama pushes for a proposed $100 billion price...

On Immigration Reform, Obama Skips Specifics
On Immigration Reform, Obama Skips Specifics
ANALYSIS
Jun 19, 2009 2:45 PM CDT

On Immigration Reform, Obama Skips Specifics

(Newser) - Lackluster support for immigration reform has forced President Obama to be purposefully vague about a timeline for legislation, Michael Muskal writes in the Los Angeles Times. “I’m committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform,” Obama told Latino leaders today. But his “vague language on timing for immigration...

Husband Outed Ensign Affair to Fox News
Husband Outed Ensign Affair
to Fox News
UPDATED
Jun 19, 2009 1:55 PM CDT

Husband Outed Ensign Affair to Fox News

Hampton's lawyer made 'exorbitant demands': senator

(Newser) - The husband of John Ensign’s mistress sent a letter detailing the affair to Fox News just days before the senator’s public admission, the Las Vegas Sun reports. A spokesman said Ensign acknowledged the affair because Doug Hampton had approached “a major television news channel.” The senator's...

Why Health Reform Will Happen—And Why It Won't

(Newser) - With the Obama administration stepping up its push for health-care reform, Mark Halperin, in Time, lists five reasons why it will, and won't, get done. The pros:
  • The industry is "still on board."
  • "Barack Obama doesn't fail too often."
  • It's a must-win for the entire White
...

Courting Obama, Pols Harbor Hoop Hopes

Elite tune up their game in hopes of playing with prez

(Newser) - In Washington, everyone wants to be on the inside. How do you know you’re in? “A pickup game with Obama,” says a former Clinton press secretary. “That's the inner, inner, inner sanctum.” So aspiring members of the inner, inner circle are hitting the court, working...

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