House of Representatives – News Stories About House of Representatives - Page 37

How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both

health care

Dec 23, 2009 8:32 AM CST

How to Combine the 2 Bills and Improve on Both

Sacrifices in store for Pelosi and Co.—and maybe for the industry

(Newser) - The House will need to make a lot of last-minute sacrifices when combining its health care bill with the Senate’s, but if legislators play their cards right, the final bill could be a stronger beast. The Senate must stand by its strong cost control mechanisms, writes David Leonhardt of...

Blue Dog
Rep. Griffith
Switches
Parties

Dec 22, 2009 11:12 AM CST

Blue Dog Rep. Griffith Switches Parties

Alabama Rep. will become a Republican

(Newser) - After less than a year in the House, Blue Dog Democrat Parker Griffith is hopping across the aisle to join the GOP. The Alabama congressman will make the announcement this afternoon, an Alabama Republican Party source tells the Hill . He will cite health care legislation as his main reason, says...

Grayson
Wants Critic Jailed 5 Years

Dec 19, 2009 10:06 AM CST

Grayson Wants Critic Jailed 5 Years

He asks Holder to go after creator of parody website

(Newser) - Firebrand congressman Alan Grayson is so angry about a parody website that he wants the attorney general to prosecute its creator and imprison her for 5 years. Grayson sent a four-page complaint to Eric Holder, accusing the woman behind MyCongressmanIsNuts.com of lying to federal election officials, reports the Orlando ...

House OKs Bill to Turn Down Loud TV Ads

Dec 15, 2009 8:00 PM CST

House OKs Bill to Turn Down Loud TV Ads

Measure even has cutesy acronym: It's the CALM Act

(Newser) - Think TV commercials can be too loud? Well, the House of Representatives is with you, today passing a bill—the CALM Act, a cutesy acronym for Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation—that would turn down the volume. Ads significantly louder than the program they’re interrupting are a particular target of...

House Passes Financial Regulations Overhaul

Dec 11, 2009 2:14 PM CST

House Passes Financial Regulations Overhaul

Bill passes 223-202, with Senate to act next year

(Newser) - The House today passed a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations that would govern Wall Street and reconfigure the power of the agencies overseeing the banking system. The vote was 223-202, with nearly all Republicans in opposition because of fears over too much government intrusion. The bill is designed to address...

Why Congress Can Boss Big-Time Sports Around

interstate commerce

Dec 10, 2009 1:00 PM CST

Why Congress Can Boss Big-Time Sports Around

BCS playoff bill the latest in a long line of similar measures

(Newser) - A House subcommittee ushered through a bill that would keep the BCS from billing its title game as the “national championship,” unless the NCAA institutes a playoff system. Where does Congress get off telling college administrators what to do? Well, sports are considered interstate commerce, according to the...

Glenn Beck Rips
Ill. Rep's Hubby

Dec 10, 2009 9:19 AM CST

Glenn Beck Rips Ill. Rep's Hubby

Rep. Jan Schakowsky's spouse compares Fox host to McCarthy

(Newser) - Glenn Beck picked the wrong congressperson's spouse to pick on. The Fox host went after Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s husband, Robert Creamer, who has done time for bank fraud, claiming he wrote a “prison manifesto” the Obama administration is following for health care reform. "This is a...

House Subpoenas
Gate-Crashers

Dec 9, 2009 5:12 PM CST

House Subpoenas Gate-Crashers

But the Salahis say they'll take the Fifth

(Newser) - A House committee followed up on its threat to force the couple who crashed President Obama's State Dinner last month to testify. Lawmakers voted to subpoena Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who refused to appear voluntarily. Even now, the Salahis say they will take the Fifth when they show up, the...

Bachmann: 'I'm
a Lovable Little
Fuzz Ball!'

Dec 9, 2009 3:37 PM CST

Bachmann: 'I'm a Lovable Little Fuzz Ball!'

Says she just doesn't get why liberals don't like her

(Newser) - Michele Bachmann gave an interview to MinnPost in which she rails against the usual subjects with the usual hyperbole, but her response when asked why liberals hate her is memorable: "I don't know. I'm a lovable little fuzz ball! I have no idea what they would have to fear....

House Panel: Kill College's BCS System

Dec 9, 2009 3:18 PM CST

House Panel: Kill College's BCS System

Subcommittee passes measure aimed at pushing playoff system

(Newser) - Lots of people hate the BCS college football system, and now a House panel does, too. Rep. Joe Barton of Texas pushed the anti-BCS measure through an Energy and Commerce subcommittee today. It would prevent college football officials from calling any game a "national championship" unless it's the result...

Ron Paul Poised to Finally Pass Fed Audits

Dec 9, 2009 2:11 PM CST

Ron Paul Poised to Finally Pass Fed Audits

For first time in nine tries, amendment goes to House floor

(Newser) - For Ron Paul, it's got to be sweet. The financial regulatory reform bill that opened for debate in the House today contains Paul's amendment to subject the Fed to congressional audit—his ninth try in 11 years in office to get a Fed-curbing proposal into play. Until now, none of...

Stupak: Ignore Lies
About My Amendment

OPINION

Dec 9, 2009 12:33 PM CST

Stupak: Ignore Lies About My Amendment

Foes misrepresent it as sweeping anti-abortion measure

(Newser) - The Stupak amendment does nothing but maintain “current law” that prohibits federal financing of abortion, says someone who should know: Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak. The co-author of the House amendment complains of "misinformation" characterizing it as a draconian anti-abortion measure. “The amendment specifically states that even those...

Blue Dog Tanner Retiring

Dec 2, 2009 6:10 AM CST

Blue Dog Tanner Retiring

NRCC gleeful at Tennessee Democrat's retirement

(Newser) - Blue Dog Coalition co-founder John Tanner will be calling it a day next year after 11 terms in Congress. The Tennessee Democrat hasn't faced serious opposition since first being elected to Congress, but was likely to meet a strong Republican challenger in 2010, Hotline notes. "Rep. Tanner wisely threw...

Zip It on
Communion
Ban: Bishop
to Kennedy

ROLLICKING RHODE ISLAND

Nov 23, 2009 1:21 PM CST

Zip It on Communion Ban: Bishop to Kennedy

Tobin thinks Patrick's spiritual matters should be left private

(Newser) - The bishop who had the nerve to tell a Kennedy not to take communion—because he supports abortion rights—is steamed that he blabbed about it. “I am disappointed that the congressman would make public my pastoral and confidential request,” says Bishop Thomas Tobin of Patrick Kennedy. He...

Hoffman Can't Catch Owens
in NY-23 Race

finally over?

Nov 20, 2009 7:23 AM CST

Hoffman Can't Catch Owens in NY-23 Race

Not enough ballots remain for him to overcome margin

(Newser) - It looks like the NY-23 race is over, again. With 3,072 absentee ballots left to be counted, conservative Doug Hoffman can't catch Democrat Bill Owens, who leads by 3,176 votes. State officials haven't called the race and won't until it's formally wrapped up, but the Watertown Daily Times...

Senators See Upcoming Vote on Obama—Not Health

NATE SILVER & CO.

Nov 19, 2009 10:18 AM CST

Senators See Upcoming Vote on Obama—Not Health

Eye constituents' votes in 2008, not polls on health care

(Newser) - The upcoming Senate debate on health care reform, like the House vote before it, will be more a referendum on President Obama than a reflection of constituents’ concerns, Andrew Gelman, Nate Silver, and Daniel Lee write. What happened in the House is clear: 31 of 39 Democrats who voted no...

Ex-Rep. Jefferson
Sentenced to
13 Years

cold hard cash

Nov 13, 2009 5:19 PM CST

Ex-Rep. Jefferson Sentenced to 13 Years

Pol busted with $90K in freezer betrays little emotion

(Newser) - A federal judge sentenced former Congressman William Jefferson to 13 years in prison today, less than the 27-plus years prosecutors called for but more than the 10-year term the Louisiana Democrat's lawyer wanted. Jefferson, who was convicted in August of 11 of the 16 counts relating to the public corruption...

Should Democrats Panic? Yes, but Only 'a Little'

nate silver

Nov 13, 2009 8:44 AM CST

Should Democrats Panic? Yes, but Only 'a Little'

Party's in 'fairly bad shape,' but there's time to rebound

(Newser) - A new Gallup poll shows Republicans ahead of Democrats in a generic House ballot, a reversal of political fortune from October. Is it time for the party to panic? "Maybe a little," writes Nate Silver . "My 30,000-foot view is that between the pressures of the jobs...

NY-23 Race Isn't Over Yet: Hoffman Narrowing Gap

still counting ballots

Nov 12, 2009 3:48 PM CST

NY-23 Race Isn't Over Yet: Hoffman Narrowing Gap

Democrat Owens is already sworn in, but absentee ballots remain

(Newser) - An odd twist in that closely watched congressional race from upstate New York: Even though Democrat Bill Owens is already sworn into office to represent NY-23, the state is still counting the ballots—and the margin between him and Conservative Doug Hoffman is shrinking. At last count, Owens led by...

Time to
Drop-Kick
the Dems,
Ladies

OPINION

Nov 11, 2009 3:59 AM CST

Time to Drop-Kick the Dems, Ladies

Is the party prepared to get reelected without women?

(Newser) - House Democrats got their health care package through, but not before selling women down the river (again) by "restricting access to abortion in unprecedented ways," complains Kate Harding in Salon . The latest betrayal is just more evidence that it's time for women to dump the Dems, "who...