Congress – News Stories About Congress - Page 51

Oct 19, 2009 8:04 AM CDT

GOP Slow-Pedals Effort to Oust Rangel

New York Dems nervous as ethics probe drags on

(Newser) - Rep. Charlie Rangel, the ethically challenged head of the House Ways and Means Committee, has become yet another millstone for New York Democrats, whose electoral chances are already sagging under an unpopular governor. Several candidates want him gone, and are tacitly supporting GOP efforts to get him booted from his...

GOPers Run
'Witch Hunt' for Muslim Spies

Glenn Greenwald

Oct 16, 2009 10:37 AM CDT

GOPers Run 'Witch Hunt' for Muslim Spies

Advocacy group tries to place Muslim interns in Congress. So?

(Newser) - Four House Republicans are using a document reprinted in a fringe book on a supposed conspiracy to “Islamize America” to call for an investigation into Muslim “spies” in Congress—spies in the form of interns in congressional offices, that is. How “repugnant” and crazy, writes Glenn Greenwald...

Beck Could Be
'Major' Factor
in 2010 Vote

OPINION

Oct 16, 2009 10:08 AM CDT

Beck Could Be 'Major' Factor in 2010 Vote

If he combines angry right-wingers with libertarians, look out

(Newser) - Don't look now, but Glenn Beck could turn out to be a big factor in the 2010 elections, writes Marc Ambinder. Beck is cooking up some kind of voter mobilization project, which is a "tricky proposition" given that "conservative talk radio audiences—and Fox News viewers—tend to...

Health Debate Now Hinges on Public Option

Oct 15, 2009 7:22 AM CDT

Health Debate Now Hinges on Public Option

Obama, Reid warm to Snowe 'trigger' plan phased in state by state

(Newser) - The White House and Congress are now wrangling to reconcile the five health care bills on the floors of the House and Senate, and no issue is causing greater headaches than the so-called public option. The Senate Finance Committee's bill, which has the support of Republican Olympia Snowe, doesn't have...

Six Senate
Swing Votes

HEALTH REFORM

Oct 14, 2009 12:55 PM CDT

Six Senate Swing Votes

From Dems who swing right to left-leaning GOPers, debate promises suspense

(Newser) - As health care reform bills merge and change on the Senate floor, the pool of legislators to watch has grown. The Wall Street Journal takes a look:

Olympia Snowe, R-Maine: Her vote for the Finance Committee bill was clutch, but "doesn't forecast what my vote will be tomorrow,"

...

GOP Takes Down
Tweet Linking
Pelosi, Hitler

Oct 14, 2009 11:34 AM CDT

GOP Takes Down Tweet Linking Pelosi, Hitler

Link to doctored video from NRCC 'an error,' pulled after DCCC outrage

(Newser) - Turns out linking a genocidal dictator with the speaker of the House might be a little over the top, as the National Republican Congressional Committee found itself today taking down a tweet with a link to a video comparing Nancy Pelosi to Adolf Hitler. A broadside from the Democratic Congressional...

Fido, Fetch
My Tax Break!

Oct 13, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

Fido, Fetch My Tax Break!

Longshot GOP bill wants to make pet expenses deductible to boost economy

(Newser) - A bill with appealing benefits for pet owners and advocates alike is crawling through Congress, though it’ll probably be put down without ceremony. The HAPPY Act proposes pet expenses be tax deductible up to $3,500 a year, as a way to stimulate the economy and, of course, encourage...

Snowe to Vote for Health Bill

Oct 13, 2009 12:26 PM CDT

Snowe to Vote for Health Bill

She provides crucial Republican support for Obama's overhaul

(Newser) - Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe says she will vote for a Democratic health care bill, breaking with her party on President Obama's top legislative priority. The Maine senator kept virtually all of Washington guessing how she would vote until she announced it late in the Senate Finance Committee debate today. "...

Dour Industry Report Backfires

HEALTH CARE REFORM

Oct 13, 2009 10:14 AM CDT

Dour Industry Report Backfires

Dems, GOP alike have hard time believing Hail Mary predicting higher costs

(Newser) - The health insurance industry report presented yesterday that predicts the reform bill will do little to stop rising costs appears to have backfired. Dems are up in arms at the timing and content of the “misleading and harmful” attack from their erstwhile ally in the effort. Sen. Jay Rockefeller...

Yea or Nay, How Health Bill Hinges on Snowe's Vote

ANALYSIS

Oct 13, 2009 10:07 AM CDT

Yea or Nay, How Health Bill Hinges on Snowe's Vote

Either way, Maine Republican will likely preserve leverage going to the floor

(Newser) - The day is finally here: Olympia Snowe will have to vote one way or another on the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill. The Maine Republican has been coy—“It’s all about what I’m comfortable doing at the end of the day”—but that doesn’...

House, Senate Dems Split on 'Cadillac Tax'

Oct 13, 2009 8:14 AM CDT

House, Senate Dems Split on 'Cadillac Tax'

As finance committee votes, caucus divided on how to fund reform

(Newser) - The Senate Finance Committee is poised to send its bill to the full legislature today, but its provision taxing "Cadillac" insurance plans is raising hackles in the House. Max Baucus and other senators say taxing high-cost plans will raise $200 billion, a quarter of the legislation's price tag, and...

GOP Trains Fire on Pelosi

2010 playbook

Oct 12, 2009 6:31 AM CDT

GOP Trains Fire on Pelosi

Republicans go after House speaker despite failures in '06, '08

(Newser) - Republicans angling to take back the House and Senate in 2010—or at least trim their losses from the last two elections—are making attacks on Nancy Pelosi a central feature of their campaign, and it's already getting ugly. The GOP has been releasing statements mocking "Gen. Pelosi" for...

Let McChrystal
Make His Case
to Congress

peggy noonan

Oct 9, 2009 1:39 AM CDT

Let McChrystal Make His Case to Congress

National debate is needed to build consensus

(Newser) - President Obama may not want to hear from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, but Congress certainly does, writes Peggy Noonan, and he should let them. Staying on in Afghanistan and withdrawing are both unappealing options that could have dire consequences, and even though the Pentagon doesn't want to do it, the country...

Pelosi Eye Roll Hints at Dem Rift on Afghanistan

Oct 8, 2009 10:40 AM CDT

Pelosi Eye Roll Hints at Dem Rift on Afghanistan

She doesn't seem to be on the same page as Reid

(Newser) - It was a little thing. After Tuesday’s powwow with the president on Afghan strategy, Harry Reid emerged from the White House with Nancy Pelosi and announced: “Everyone said that ‘whatever decision you make, we will support it,’” as the House speaker rolled her eyes. Though...

If Congress Can't Pass Health Reform, Yank Their Coverage

Opinion

Oct 8, 2009 7:30 AM CDT

If Congress Can't Pass Health Reform, Yank Their Coverage

Pols should be punished for 'longstanding and grievous breach of responsibility: Kristof

(Newser) - Nicholas Kristof has a modest proposal for lawmakers who vote down health care reform. If universal coverage is defeated, he writes, let’s take away the insurance of 15% of Congress, at random, and cut benefits to an inadequate level for another 8%. “I wouldn’t wish the trauma...

Why the Dems Will
Hold Congress in 2010

ANALYSIS

Oct 8, 2009 7:12 AM CDT

Why the Dems Will Hold Congress in 2010

Incumbency, early preparation make 1994 redux unlikely

(Newser) - The last time a young Democrat became president, an angry debate over health care preceded a disastrous midterm election, costing the party control of both the House and the Senate. Yet it's too soon to make the easy comparison between 1994 and 2010, writes Wall Street Journal analyst Jerry Seib....

Rove: Health Care Bill Is
Gift to GOP

OPINION

Oct 8, 2009 4:05 AM CDT

Rove: Health Care Bill Is Gift to GOP

Backlash against spending will be 'boon' to party in 2010

(Newser) - The GOP is winning the debate on health care and it'll win control of Congress as well if the Democrats manage to pass a health care bill, writes Karl Rove. Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus wants to "front-load" the bill with hefty tax hikes that will kick in...

CBO: Baucus Bill Would
Cut Deficit by $81B

Oct 7, 2009 4:26 PM CDT

CBO: Baucus Bill Would Cut Deficit by $81B

Projection is good news for Democrats

(Newser) - Good news for Democrats and Max Baucus: The Congressional Budget Office says the Senate finance panel's health care bill won't add to the deficit. In fact, the CBO says the bill would reduce it by $81 billion over 10 years. That should make it easier for Baucus to push his...

Jay Rockefeller
Is the New Teddy

analysis

Oct 7, 2009 1:10 PM CDT

Jay Rockefeller Is the New Teddy

Senator inherits Kennedy's cause of health care reform

(Newser) - Jay Rockefeller shares little of the temperament of the late Ted Kennedy, but what they do share is essential. “Massive wealth and a virtual lock on his Senate seat frees a man to do what he believes in,” writes Margaret Carlson. And for both men—the West Virginia...

2010 a Toss-Up as
Indies Flee the Dems

gallup poll

Oct 7, 2009 10:03 AM CDT

2010 a Toss-Up as Indies Flee the Dems

But trend and dismal 21% approval of Congress could spell Dem's demise

(Newser) - The sizable lead among registered voters Democrats have maintained since the 2006 midterm elections has eroded to almost nothing. In the latest Gallup poll, Dems have just a 2-point advantage over Republicans going into the 2010 midterms, 46% to 44%, well within the sampling error. That’s down from a...