Congress

Stories 921 - 940 | << Prev   Next >>

With No Funds for Ill. Prison, Gitmo Closure Unlikely Until '11

Obama's next request months away

(Newser) - There’s no money to buy the Illinois prison President Obama wants to use to house detainees from the US facility at Guantanamo Bay, meaning it’s unlikely the Cuban detention center will be closed before 2011. Congress last week rejected a request for $200 million to cover the purchase...

Blue Dog Says House Leaders Drove Him to GOP

Griffith has consistently voted against his party

(Newser) - Former Democrat Parker Griffith today blamed the Democratic leadership for his defection to the GOP, slamming congressional leaders for pursuing legislation "that is bad for our country and hurts our economy." Griffith, an Alabama doctor, singled out health care reform as a large part of his decision, deriding...

Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive
Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive
Ezra Klein
Dec 22, 2009 10:15 AM CST

Liberal 'Kill Bill' Case Is Naive, Deceptive

Hey, Jane Hamsher: A better bill is not coming along, and this ain't bad

(Newser) - Ezra Klein isn’t “sure there's much in the way of productive dialogue to be had” with liberal firebrand Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake concerning her call yesterday to kill the Senate health care reform bill, but he’ll try anyway. Hamsher’s list is “misleading,” her “...

10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You
10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You
KILL THE BILL
Dec 21, 2009 6:03 PM CST

10 Ways Senate Health Reform Hurts You

Measure that should have saved money will cost an arm and a leg

(Newser) - The Senate health reform bill is all fire and brimstone for the folks over at Firedoglake . The “con job” legislation “isn’t a ‘starter home,’ it’s a sink hole,” Jane Hamsher writes, and “it needs to die so something else can take its...

Sniveling Lefties Should Just Take the Health Care Victory

Screwy Senate has a flawed, but good bill

(Newser) - The health care bill is as good as it’s going to get, and progressives whining about it—or worse, trying to kill it—are being ridiculous. “In a normal democracy,” EJ Dionne writes, the majority support would quickly pass a public option or Medicare expansion. But the...

2009: The Year Jackasses Took Over

Hyper-partisanship rewarded as decorum departs Congress

(Newser) - Forget about donkeys and elephants, 2009 was the year of the political jackass, writes David Kuhn. The usual corruption and infidelities were on display, but that's nothing new. What is new are hyper-partisan, outburst-prone boors like Republican Joe "You Lie" Wilson and Democratic provocateur Rep. Alan Grayson—who "...

DC Legalizes Gay Marriage
 DC Legalizes Gay Marriage 
Dec 15, 2009 2:21 PM CST

DC Legalizes Gay Marriage

Bill passes 11-2, could be struck down by Congress

(Newser) - The Washington, DC, City Council voted today to legalize gay marriage in the nation's capital, handing supporters a victory after recent defeats in Maine, New York, and New Jersey. Mayor Adrian Fenty has promised to sign the bill, which passed 11-2, and gay couples could begin marrying as early as...

Lieberman's Sabbath Walk Breaks GOP Filibuster

Spending bill clears hurdle when Joe casts final vote

(Newser) - Senate Democrats turned back a Republican effort to block a final vote on a huge end-of-year spending bill that gives most federal agencies a generous budget boost. The 60-34 vote largely along party lines met the minimum threshold to end the filibuster by Republicans, who say the $447 billion measure...

Winners, Losers in Bank Reform Bill

Big banks and securities firms face tougher standards

(Newser) - The financial reform bill now on its way to the Senate is the biggest such effort since the Great Depression. The Wall Street Journal runs down who wins and loses, beginning with the Winners:
  • Mortgage lenders: The bill doesn't allow bankruptcy judges to adjust the terms of first mortgages.
  • Credit
...

Hoyer: US Must Raise Debt Ceiling $1.8T

Not until we have a solution, say moderate Dems and GOP

(Newser) - House Democrats are attempting to raise the national debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion to pay for loans coming due next year, despite strong opposition from Blue Dogs, their brethren in the Senate, and the GOP. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said today the move is necessary, and Nancy Pelosi...

McCain Morphs Into Chief Obama Foe
 McCain Morphs Into 
 Chief Obama Foe 
ANALYSIS
Dec 11, 2009 12:00 PM CST

McCain Morphs Into Chief Obama Foe

Graham calls Arizona senator 'de facto leader of the Republican Party'

(Newser) - John McCain has made the transformation from possible Obama ally to a full-blooded Republican partisan, though insiders aren’t quite sure why. Some see his vocal opposition to the Obama administration’s policies as a concession to the realities of next year’s election, where he may face a challenge...

Why Congress Can Boss Big-Time Sports Around
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...

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!'

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

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...

Stupak: Ignore Lies About My Amendment
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...

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option
bluff and counterbluff
Dec 7, 2009 9:28 AM CST

GOP: Congress, Prez Must Go On Public Option

If there is one, which we hope there isn't. Good idea, say Dems.

(Newser) - In the circus that is the Senate these days, a couple of anti-public-option Republicans—Tom Coburn and David Vitter—rolled out an amendment to the health care bill Friday requiring members of Congress to enroll in any such plan that might come to pass. When Dems didn’t object—Sherrod...

'Pink-Ribbon Culture' a Disservice to Women
 'Pink-Ribbon Culture' 
 a Disservice to Women 
Barbara Ehrenreich
Dec 2, 2009 1:38 PM CST

'Pink-Ribbon Culture' a Disservice to Women

Questionable mammograms trump right to choose in new movement

(Newser) - When women raise a fury over questionable mammograms while letting the “anti-choice” Stupak amendment pass with nary a peep, you know something’s wrong with what passes for the “women’s health movement” these days, writes Barbara Ehrenreich. "All but the wealthiest women's right to choose" could...

Blue Dog Tanner Retiring
 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...

GOP Base United Vs. Obama, Little Else

For most, leadership is ineffective, or nonexistent

(Newser) - A lot of strong opinions are swirling around the Republican base, but none of them appear to point a way forward for the fractured party. GOP voters and GOP-leaning independents polled are united in their distrust of—even anger at—the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress. But second in...

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