Congress

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Fat Chance Lawmakers Will Read Health Bill: Hoyer

(Newser) - House lawmakers may well be be voting before the end of summer on a momentous health-care reform bill. But that doesn't mean they're actually going to read the bill. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer laughed off the suggestion when CNS News posed it. “If every member pledged to not...

Grave Lack of Security at Fed Buildings: GAO

Agents snuck in bomb parts, assembled them in restrooms

(Newser) - A covert investigation shows the nation’s federal buildings are woefully under-protected from potential terrorist attacks, CNN reports. Undercover agents were able to sneak bomb components through security into each of the 10 federal buildings—occupied by the Homeland Security, Justice, and State departments—they tested, assemble explosive devices in...

Franken Victory Could be Nightmare for Harry Reid

Majority leader faces 'a lot more pressure'

(Newser) - Al Franken brings Harry Reid a potential extra vote—but he also brings the Senate majority leader a massive headache, Politico reports. “What’s really changed for us?” says a leadership aide. “Nothing, really. Except there’s a lot more pressure.” That may be an understatement: Democrats...

Obama to Lefties: Don't Bash Health Care Moderates

President urges advocates to promote his health care agenda instead

(Newser) - President Obama wants his liberal allies to stop heckling moderate Democrats on health care, the Washington Post reports. “We shouldn’t be focusing resources on each other,” Obama said in a phone call with a handful of senior House and Senate lawmakers. Grass-roots groups have been slamming legislators...

60 Votes No Quick Fix for Senate Dems

Absences, diverse opinions could prove stumbling blocks

(Newser) - With the Minnesota election finally settled, Senate Democrats have 60 potential votes now—but that won’t guarantee smooth sailing, the New York Times reports. Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd may often be out sick, and a range of viewpoints means the caucus won’t likely “walk in lockstep,...

Post Sells Access to Officials, Reporters

For $25,000, lobbyists can meet with lawmakers, WaPo staff

(Newser) - Lobbyists who pay $25,000 to $250,000 can attend off-the-record Washington Post gatherings with administration officials, members of Congress, and members of the paper's staff, Politico reports. The offer, described on a flier passed along by a lobbyist, “essentially turns a news organization into a facilitator for private...

Congress Hands Taxpayers Hefty Travel Tab
Congress Hands Taxpayers Hefty Travel Tab
ANALYSIS
Jul 2, 2009 7:10 AM CDT

Congress Hands Taxpayers Hefty Travel Tab

Jaunts to Paris, Kabul cost $13M last year, 10 times 1995 figure

(Newser) - Spending by Congress on taxpayer-funded trips overseas is nearly ten times what it was in 1995 and triple the amount spent in 2001, the Wall Street Journal finds in an analysis of some 60,000 travel records. Last year, hundreds of members of Congress went abroad at a cost of...

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...

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