Congress

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Pork Watchdog Taps Byrd
 Pork Watchdog Taps Byrd 
Apr 2, 2008 2:03 PM CDT

Pork Watchdog Taps Byrd

W.Va. rules the roost in earmarks as $2.8B in tasty meat comes under scrutiny

(Newser) - Fiscal responsibility and vegetarianism took a hit today with the release of the 2008 Oinkers, awarded by a Washington watchdog group for the "most egregious and blatant examples of pork." Sen. Robert Byrd landed the top award for earmarking $386 million for West Virginia, but Alaska was the...

Lawmakers Go Bipartisan on Housing
Lawmakers
Go Bipartisan
on Housing
Apr 2, 2008 10:45 AM CDT

Lawmakers Go Bipartisan on Housing

It wasn't April Fool's Day, it was 2 weeks with voters that did it

(Newser) - Lawmakers are suddenly coming together on housing, with Republicans supporting a bill they left for dead two weeks ago, and Democrats cooling the political rhetoric for a change. The difference: those two weeks were spent back home with constituents, Politico notes. “Unless every member of the Senate was in...

Bernanke: Adjustment Is Mostly Over
Bernanke: Adjustment Is Mostly Over
Apr 2, 2008 10:24 AM CDT

Bernanke: Adjustment Is Mostly Over

But admits economy could contract, possibility of recession

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke for the first time acknowledged the possibility of a US recession, but he also voiced optimism that “much” of the adjustment period was over, the Wall Street Journal reports. His testimony before Congress seemed to suggest an end to aggressive stimulus measures—noting that rates had already...

Congress Grills Oil Execs Over Skyrocketing Prices

Honchos place some blame at legislators' feet

(Newser) - Top oil executives faced a panel of angry lawmakers on Capitol Hill today, as Congress fumed over the disparity between the companies’ hefty profits and soaring prices, the Washington Post reports. Said one rep, “I believe the laws of supply and demand when it comes to oil and gas...

Supreme Court Stands Pat on FBI Raid of Rep's Office

Separation of powers violated, appeals ruled

(Newser) - The Supreme Court declined today to hear an appeal of a ruling that the FBI violated separation-of-powers law in a 2006 raid on the office of Rep. William Jefferson, the New York Times reports. Though the raid itself was not unconstitutional, an appeals court found, the FBI went too far...

CIA's Legal Troubles Grow Over Tapes' Destruction

Agency faces growing number of challenges from detainees

(Newser) - The CIA's decision to destroy interrogation videotapes to save itself legal trouble is backfiring in a big way, the New York Times reports. Lawyers for more than a dozen detainees have filed challenges citing the destruction of evidence, putting terrorism cases on shaky ground and jeopardizing future prosecutions as well,...

Mass. Rep Vows to Legalize Pot
 Mass. Rep Vows to Legalize Pot 
Mar 23, 2008 4:44 PM CDT

Mass. Rep Vows to Legalize Pot

Barney Frank says public is ready for change

(Newser) - Rep. Barney Frank will move to legalize “small amounts” of marijuana, Politico reports, citing Americans who think use of the drug is no big deal. “It's time for the politicians to catch up to the public,” said the Massachusetts Democrat on "Real Time with Bill Maher....

Lawmakers Gird for Battle Over Wall Street Reforms

Dems, GOP split over regulation

(Newser) - Lawmakers are debating how to regulate and oversee financial institutions to prevent another Bear Stearns near-catastrophe. But exactly what that solution should look like depends on who's doing the proposing. President Bush and Wall Street say that Washington's heavy hand could hamstring the industry’s ability to innovate, reports the...

In the Works: Wireless Bill of Rights

States fight feds over who will regulate

(Newser) - Wireless carriers seem to have angered a few too many consumers with hidden fees and surprise charges. Politicians in 22 states are considering various versions of a wireless consumers’ bill of rights, reports BusinessWeek. But the wireless industry, daunted at facing different regulations in every state, is throwing its weight...

Economy in Trouble: Bush
 Economy in Trouble: Bush 
Mar 14, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

Economy in Trouble: Bush

President warns of overreaction to housing, credit crises

(Newser) - The economy is experiencing difficulties, but President Bush said today he is certain a recovery will come soon, the AP reports. “In a free-market economy there will be good times and bad times” he said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York. “We’re going...

US Needs More Visas, Gates Tells Congress

America's status as tech leader is in jeopardy, he says

(Newser) - Bill Gates exhorted Congress today to increase the number of available H-1B visas for highly skilled foreigners, and invest more in domestic education in science and technology, cNet reports. "It makes no sense to educate people in our universities, often subsidized by US taxpayers, and then insist they return...

Dr. Death Set to Make House Call
Dr. Death Set to
Make House Call
Mar 12, 2008 2:28 PM CDT

Dr. Death Set to Make House Call

Kevorkian plans to run for Congress as a Michigan independent

(Newser) - Jack Kevorkian, the Michigan doctor who says he's helped at least 130 die and who's been convicted of second-degree murder in one such assisted suicide, says he plans to run for Congress in a Detroit suburb, the Oakland (Mich.) Press reports. Kevorkian, 79, will make an independent bid against...

Oil-Rich Iraq Should Fund Reconstruction, Say Senators

US taxpayers are footing bill instead

(Newser) - Why isn't an Iraq that's rolling in oil dollars funding its own reconstruction? senators Carl Levin of Michigan and John Warner of Virginia want to know. The Armed Services' Committee honchos wrote the Government Accountability Office saying Iraq is doing little to help itself despite a projected $100 billion in...

Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law
Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law
Mar 9, 2008 8:19 AM CDT

Montana Gov Rips Real ID Law

Calls scheme 'kooky' and 'hare-brained'

(Newser) - NPR Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and every single state legislator have refused to implement the Real ID Act, a congressional mandate to create standardized identification documents. Schweitzer tells NPR the law is "kooky" and "hare-brained," asserting that half a dozen high school students and a Kinko's are...

Dem Physicist Nails House Seat in Ill. GOP Stronghold

Foster wins Hastert's spot in special election

(Newser) - Little-known Democratic physicist Bill Foster beat Illinois Republican Jim Oberweis yesterday in a special election to fill Dennis Hastert's vacated seat in Congress. The Democrat's victory in the GOP suburban stronghold west of Chicago may herald more trouble for Republicans during fall elections, writes the Chicago Tribune. "Voters are...

Judge Upholds Ban on Internet Gambling

Online gambling association will appeal

(Newser) - A Congressional ban on Internet gambling doesn’t violate the Constitution, says a federal judge. An online gambling association that challenged the law failed to show sufficient cause to stop its enforcement, the judge ruled, but does have legal standing to appeal the case. The group plans to do so...

Subprime Lender CEOs Defend Exec Pay

Merrill, Citi and Countrywide honchos cashed in as companies foundered

(Newser) - Banking executives who took home huge paychecks even as the subprime mortgage crisis battered their companies appeared before Congress today to defend their actions. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee grilled them about their enormous pay packages as Republicans apologized to them and questioned the premise of the hearing, the...

Senate Backs Product Safety Crackdown

Sweeping changes in consumer laws

(Newser) - The Senate has passed a tough new product safety measure covering toys, household appliances and thousands of other products. It would ban lead in toys, increase civil penalties for hazardous products tenfold, enable more state regulation and create a database of dangerous items on the market. It also sets up...

Stunned Boeing Presses USAF to Explain Choice

Scheduled debriefing not soon enough for jilted company

(Newser) - Boeing is calling for an “immediate debriefing” on the Air Force's choice of a foreign company to build its fuel tankers, Bloomberg reports. The selection of Airbus and Northrop Grumman is to be the subject of a scheduled March 12 meeting, but Boeing says that isn’t protocol. “...

Universal Health Crossing Lines
Universal Health Crossing Lines
OPINION
Feb 28, 2008 4:22 PM CST

Universal Health Crossing Lines

Post columnist examines bill with 12 Senate supporters, on both sides of aisle

(Newser) - While presidential candidates are busy bickering about how to achieve universal health care, a bill in the Senate has quietly acquired 12 supporters—the biggest bipartisan coalition ever gathered behind universal health care legislation, Ruth Marcus writes in the Washington Post.  Sponsors Ron Wyden and Bob Bennett hope the...

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