Congress

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Insider-Trading Probe Targets House Committee Chair

Rep. Spencer Bachus faces first-of-its-kind ethics investigation

(Newser) - Foxes have been found guarding hen houses on Capitol Hill in the past, but ethics investigators now believe they have identified a particularly greedy one. Rep. Spencer Bachus, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is being probed for possible violations of insider-trading laws, reports the Washington Post . The investigation...

Things Congress Talks About: Caribou Sex

Texas' Louie Gohmert says Alaskan pipeline is hot date meet-up

(Newser) - A Texas Republican congressman is adamant in his backing of the trans-Alaska pipeline, but not because of silly energy independence. No, we must keep the oil flowing for the sake of ... caribou romance. So argued Rep. Louie Gohmert, tongue perhaps in cheek, during a meeting of the House Natural Resources...

Lawmakers Shuffled Millions to Relatives&#39; Causes
Lawmakers Shuffled Millions to Relatives' Causes
investigation
Feb 8, 2012 7:36 AM CST

Lawmakers Shuffled Millions to Relatives' Causes

'Washington Post' finds 16 members of Congress engaging in practice

(Newser) - A Washington Post investigation finds that 16 members of Congress have sent tax dollars, sometimes in the millions, to companies or other organizations with links to their family trees. Through direct funding or earmarking, these lawmakers have boosted the budgets of Pentagon programs, environmental groups, schools, and other places where...

Lawmakers Use Earmarks to Aid Own Properties
Lawmakers Use Earmarks to Aid Own Properties
INVESTIGATION
Feb 7, 2012 5:55 AM CST

Lawmakers Use Earmarks to Aid Own Properties

Just a coincidence that pork benefits own real estate, they say

(Newser) - Members of Congress are not only steering earmarks to their own districts, but also their own backyards, funding projects that boost the value of properties they own, a Washington Post investigation finds. Comparing disclosure forms against public records revealed that over the last few years, some 33 members of Congress...

Congress OKs $63B to Update Air Control System

GPS technology will replace radar to control traffic

(Newser) - A bill to speed the update of the US air traffic control system from radar to one based on GPS technology and to open US skies to unmanned drone flights within four years received final congressional approval today. The bill passed the Senate 75-20, despite labor opposition to a deal...

Congress Dodging Earmark Ban: Watchdogs

Lawmakers attach special funds to budgets to direct cash homeward

(Newser) - Congress' ban on earmarks doesn't seem to be stopping members from channeling money to home-state projects. These days, instead of tacking such projects on to bills, legislators are creating "slush funds" that ultimately serve the same purpose, watchdog groups tell the New York Times . Included in the Army...

Senate Passes Insider Trading Ban

Measure to be before House next week

(Newser) - Lawmakers in Congress are inching closer to deciding, somewhat belatedly, that they shouldn't be allowed to profit by playing the stock market using inside information they have gleaned on Capitol Hill. A bill that bans insider trading by lawmakers and thousands of executive branch officials is heading to the...

House Votes to Freeze Congress, Federal Pay

Bill expected to die in Senate

(Newser) - House lawmakers have voted in favor of a pay freeze for themselves and millions of other people whose paychecks come from Uncle Sam. The House voted 309-117 in favor of extending President Obama's 2-year pay freeze for federal employees , reports the Washington Post . Obama has called for an 0....

Congress Moves to Ban Its Own Insider Trading

Bill an attempt to restore faith of hostile public

(Newser) - Soon, insider trading may be illegal for lawmakers, too . In an effort to boost its historically low approval rating, the Senate will today hold a procedural vote allowing it to later this week pass a bill banning Congress from trading on nonpublic info, or giving that info to others to...

Mark Kelly Won't Run for Wife Giffords' Seat

'I need to focus on Gabby,' he says

(Newser) - Mark Kelly has put to rest rumors that he would run for wife Gabby Giffords' congressional seat in Arizona. "I'm not running," the newly retired astronaut tells CNN in an interview airing today. "My job right now is to make sure Gabby has everything she needs....

Gabby Giffords: I'm Leaving Congress
 Giffords: I'm Leaving Congress 
Jan 22, 2012 1:15 PM CST

Giffords: I'm Leaving Congress

'I have more work to do,' says Arizona congresswoman

(Newser) - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is stepping down from the Arizona congressional seat that nearly cost her her life, she announced in a YouTube video posted today. "Arizona is my home. Always will be. A lot has happened over this past year," she says, voicing her hopes for progress on...

Obama: Aloof Image Is Media Creation

Press corps miffed by quiet social life, he suggests

(Newser) - President Obama isn't aloof, he says—it's just that he and Michelle don't tend to paint the town red. "My suspicion is that this whole critique has to do with the fact that I don’t go to a lot of Washington parties and, as a...

84% Unhappy With Congress
 84% Unhappy With Congress 
survey says
Jan 17, 2012 7:15 AM CST

84% Unhappy With Congress

That's another new record...

(Newser) - For once, a poll finds a new high for Congress rather than a new low. Of course, that high—84%—is the percentage of Americans who disapprove of the job Congress is doing. And many Americans aren't just moderately unhappy: Almost two-thirds of that group "disapprove strongly."...

New Kennedy May Reclaim Massachusetts for Dems

Joseph III exploring a run for Congress

(Newser) - Capitol Hill has been without a Kennedy a full year now after a six-decade run, but that has a decent chance of changing in September: Joseph P. Kennedy III is formally "exploring" a run for Barney Frank's House seat. "A hail and hearty 31, JPK3 has got...

Obama Defies Congress With More Recess Appointments

He picks three for National Labor Relations Board

(Newser) - President Obama isn't winning much love among his political enemies on Capitol Hill today. Hours after making a controversial recess appointment to lead the new consumer protection agency, the president announced three more—this time to the National Labor Relations Board. The move will please the president's pro-union...

Congress' Job Approval: Count It on One Hand

We have a new Mendoza line: 5%

(Newser) - This version of Congress hasn't been getting good marks from the public, but a new poll by Rasmussen Reports still has an eye-popping stat on just how deep the frustration goes. In a survey of likely voters, only 5% thought Congress had done a good or excellent job. Not...

Members of Congress With Lowest Net Worth

Alcee Hastings leads the way with a negative $4.7 million

(Newser) - Apparently, not everyone in Congress is rich . The Washington Post compiled a list of the 25 lawmakers with the lowest net worth, based on 2010 disclosures analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. Here are the "top" 5, all of whom are in the red. (There's no explanation...

Bad News for Dems? Ben Nelson Retiring

Nebraska seat could shift to Republicans in Senate

(Newser) - Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson won't seek reelection next year, potentially harming Democratic hopes to hold onto the Senate majority, Politico reports. Though Nelson's approval ratings had struggled, they were on the rise this year, thanks in part to $1 million in national Democratic Party advertising. Meanwhile, Republicans spent...

Ron Paul's House Record a Picture of Futility
 Paul's Record: Quiet Futility 
Dec 27, 2011 7:58 AM CST

Paul's Record: Quiet Futility

Only 0.2% of his bills have become law

(Newser) - Ron Paul has sponsored 620 measures in his 11-and-a-half terms in Congress, but only one of them has become a law—a bill allowing the sale of a Galveston customhouse to a historical society. That tells you much of what you need to know about Paul’s congressional record, which...

Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You

Figures show widening wealth gap, and with it polarization

(Newser) - Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic...

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