Alabama Rep. Says He Has List of Socialists

Rep. Spencer Bachus faces first-of-its-kind ethics investigation

(NEWSER) - Foxes have been found guarding hen houses on Capitol Hill in the past, but ethics investigators now believe they have identified a particularly greedy one. Rep. Spencer Bachus, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is being probed for possible violations of insider-trading laws, reports the Washington Post . The investigation of the Alabama Republican is the first of its kind involving a member of Congress, and comes as lawmakers are taking steps to stamp out insider trading by legislators and executive branch officials . More»

But even if they gave full salaries, they'd barely make a den

(NEWSER) - For a bunch of people so concerned with the growing national debt, the House of Representatives doesn't have a lot of members putting their money where their mouths are. The House has program that allows representatives to return a portion of their salaries toward debt reduction (the Senate doesn't even have such a program), but only two or three reps actually do so, the Washington Post reports. Last fall, $2,610.39 was donated—or enough to stave off the national debt's growth for a whopping five one-hundredths of a second. More»

(NEWSER) - In the post-Obama political landscape, a young congressman is attempting a feat perhaps more difficult than putting a black man in the White House, writes Robbie Brown in the New York Times. That would be putting a black man in the Alabama governor’s mansion. “Yes, it will be hard,” said Artur Davis, a four-term congressman and a star of last year’s Democratic convention. “But God has blessed us through that which is hard before.” More»

House passes its version of renewal bill despite veto threat

(NEWSER) - The Violence Against Women Act, which provides funding to protect women from domestic violence and passed Congress easily in its prior two reauthorizations, is headed for Congress' latest partisan showdown. The House passed its version of the bill by a 222-205 vote yesterday over a veto threat from the White House, reports Politico . Democrats complain that the Republican version of the bill, unlike the version that has already passed the Senate, doesn't include additional protections for abused gays, Native Americans, and illegal immigrants. More»

Measure to help students gets bogged down in DC politics

(AP) - Republicans defied a veto threat as the House voted today to prevent federal loan costs from doubling for millions of college students. The vote gave the GOP a momentary election-year triumph on a bill that has become enmeshed in partisan battles over the economy, women's issues, and President Obama's health care overhaul. The measure's 215-195 passage was largely symbolic because the package is going nowhere in the Democratic-dominated Senate. Both parties agree students' interest costs should not rise, but they are clashing along a familiar fault line over how to cover the $6 billion tab: Republicans want spending cuts and Democrats want higher revenues. More»