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Congress

Started by D Lim; Last updated by D Lim

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Congress

"Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels; two-thirds, more or less, idiots; and three-thirds, more or less, poltroons." -H.L. Mencken

Stories

Stories 81 - 100 of 924

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May 2009
- Coleman Gaffe Costs Specter Seniority on Senate Panels
  
  Washington Post | May 6, 09 3:10 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Party-switcher Arlen Specter's comment that Republican Norm Coleman should be Minnesota's senator cost him seniority on Senate panels yesterday, a source told Politico. His gaffe was the final straw for Senate Dems already angry about the prospect of being bumped from senior positions by the 29-year senator. A resolution last night switched Specter to the Democratic side of the five panels he serves on. But contrary to what he expected, Specter was placed in junior slots, reports the Washington Post . More »
- What the GOP Needs Is a Bill Clinton
  
  New York Times | May 5, 09 9:28 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Republican moderates like Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter are right that the GOP has a hole in the center, writes Ross Douthat in the New York Times . The problem is that they’re not the right kind of centrists to fill it. Yankee Republican moderates are either just liberals with nostalgia for the GOP name (Collins), or “politically savvy but intellectually vacuous” horse-traders (Snowe and Specter). What Republicans need is a Bill Clinton equivalent—an authentically conservative reformer able to attack GOP dogma. More »
- Bill Would Keep ED Ads Off TV at Most Hours
  
  The Hill | May 4, 09 3:01 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A bill proposed in the House would ban advertising for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction from airing in the daytime and prime time, the Hill reports. The “Families for ED Advertising Decency Act” would confine such “indecent” advertising to between 10pm and 6am. Under the bill, the makers of drugs like Viagra and Cialis could face a possible $325,000 fine for violations. More »
- States, Congress Mull 'Silver Alert' for Missing Elderly
  
  Associated Press | May 4, 09 2:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - States across the US are moving to create procedures that would alert the public about older people in the grips of dementia who’ve gone missing, the AP reports. The so-called “Silver Alert” system has already been taken up by 15 states, and the House has approved a national measure. Statistically, around 60% of Alzheimer’s patients, and those similarly impaired, will wander from caregivers at least once. More »
- Specter Enjoys 20-Point Lead Over Toomey
  
  Quinnipac University | May 4, 09 11:44 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Arlen Specter beat Pat Toomey 53% to 33% in a Quinnipiac poll of Pennsylvanians’ preferred candidate for US senator. But against Tom Ridge, who may become the Republican candidate, Specter's lead grows more precarious—voters prefer Specter to Ridge by a margin of 46% to 43%, the Quinnipiac poll showed. More »
- Specter: I'll Filibuster the Dems If Needed
  
  Politico | May 3, 09 11:53 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Arlen Specter may be a Democrat now, but the erstwhile Republican senator says he’s not afraid to use the F-word: filibuster, Politico reports. Specter told NBC’s Meet the Press he hasn’t promised to be “a loyal Democrat” and made the switch after realizing through “polls and a lot of personal contact” that his re-election prospects with the GOP were “bleak.” More »
- Dowd: GOP Has Short Memory
  
  New York Times | May 3, 09 10:57 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As their party contracts with the defection of Arlen Specter, the GOP is complaining about a disappearing balance of power: “How quaint,” writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times —this from the party whose “arrogant” previous administration “did its best to undermine checks and balances.” Meanwhile, the current “professor in chief” is playing constitutional scholar, assuring us he won’t run things like “the Boy Emperor and his regents.” More »
- Sebelius: Never Mind Biden; It's OK to Travel
  
  Politico | May 3, 09 10:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama’s new Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made the talk show rounds today, insisting that people should continue traveling, despite remarks to the contrary by Joe Biden. “Traveling and being in close places is certainly something we encourage people to continue to do,” she told Fox News Sunday. More »
- Alaska Rep. Disavows Twitter Impostor
  
  Fox News | May 1, 09 1:28 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Whoever’s been masquerading as Rep. Don Young on Twitter is an impostor, Fox News reports. “Congressman Young is NOT currently using Twitter,” said a spokesman. “The messages posted seem to be the work of someone with a little too much free time on their hands.” Someone has been impersonating the Alaska Republican for about a week, sending out missives like, “Can anything top a peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich?” More »
- Hispanic Groups Urge Obama to Pick Latino for High Court
  
  The Hill | May 1, 09 1:13 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Even before David Souter’s retirement plans became public, leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent President Obama a letter asking him to fill any Supreme Court vacancy with a Latino justice, the Hill reports. Wednesday’s missive praises Obama for appointing Hispanics to key positions—including two Cabinet posts—but notes the dearth of Hispanic justices in federal courts. More »
April 2009
- House Approves Credit Card Reform
  
  Reuters | Apr 30, 09 4:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The House today approved legislation to protect credit card holders from hidden fees and sudden rate hikes, Reuters reports. Legislators voted overwhelmingly for the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, a measure banks complain will tighten the amount of credit available and make holding a card more expensive. The Senate is expected to pass its own version next, and President Obama hopes to sign the bill in May. More »
- NC Rep Calls Shepard Murder a 'Hoax'
  
  ABC News | Apr 30, 09 12:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A North Carolina congresswoman is backtracking after saying during a House debate that the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard was a “hoax” used by gay-rights activists, WTVD-TV of Raleigh-Durham reports. Arguing against a new hate-crimes bill, Republican Virginia Foxx said the highly publicized killing of Shepard—whose mother was in the chamber because the legislation bears his name—“wasn't because he was gay." More »
- Meghan: Specter Bailed on Us
  
  Daily Beast | Apr 30, 09 8:28 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Arlen Specter has let the GOP down, but only because Republicans did the same, Meghan McCain writes for the Daily Beast. “He’s been made to feel like an outcast by a small, vocal group,” says McCain, herself familiar with the “tired rhetoric” now being hurled at the “progressive-minded” senator. “We need courageous Republicans more than ever. Specter turned his back.” More »
- Dems in a Snit Over Specter's Cozy Deal
  
  The Hill | Apr 30, 09 2:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Some top Democratic senators are rebelling against the deal that brought Arlen Specter into the fold, the Hill reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the aisle-crosser he could keep the 28 years of seniority he gained as a GOP senator, infuriating long-serving Democrats whom Specter will now likely leapfrog over to the top of important panels. More »
- Congress OKs Budget Plan, Advances Health Reform
  
  Washington Post | Apr 29, 09 5:42 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health care system got a big boost today as the Senate followed the lead of the House and approved a $3.4 trillion budget plan, the Washington Post reports. The approval sets the stage for lawmakers to hammer out legislation over the summer on health care and a host of other issues including early education, renewable energy, college loans, and veterans benefits. More »
- Obama Policies Make Boehner 'Want to Throw Up'
  
  Washington Times | Apr 29, 09 1:41 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Obama administration’s policies on national security, spending, and the law make John Boehner almost physically ill, the House minority leader tells the Washington Times . Democratic hate-crime legislation in particular, which Boehner says could be used against religious leaders who don’t support the gay agenda, makes him “want to throw up.” It would amount to prosecutions based on “what we think they were thinking as opposed to what they did.” More »
- Biden Wooed Specter for Years
  
  Politico | Apr 29, 09 10:49 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Joe Biden is the Democrat perhaps most responsible for Arlen Specter’s defection, Politico reports. The VP told a crowd yesterday that he had been trying to convince the Pennsylvania Republican “that he is really a Democrat” for more than 20 years. Specter's onetime Senate colleague recently stepped up the pace. “I have been working on that in earnest for the past 4 years and double-time for the past 100 days,” Biden said. More »
- Silver: Specter Will Shift Left, But Not Too Far
  
  FiveThirtyEight | Apr 28, 09 9:46 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Now that Arlen Specter is flying the Democratic colors, his new party can expect a tangible—if modest—change in his voting behavior, writes Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com. "Democrats have ample reason to be pleased," writes Silver, who crunched the numbers of all previous congressional party-switchers. "Nevertheless, odds are that Specter will line up squarely in the conservative half of the Democratic caucus and will probably leave room to his left for a primary challenge." More »
- Limbaugh to Specter: Take McCain Family, Too
  
  CNN | Apr 28, 09 4:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Rush Limbaugh thinks erstwhile Republican Arlen Specter should take some “other people who aren't really Republicans” to the other side of the aisle, CNN reports. “Take McCain and his daughter with you,” a laughing Limbaugh said today. Though he said Specter's party switch was “ultimately good” because it weeds out false Republicans, "it makes the Senate essentially as big a slam dunk for Obama and the Democrats as the House of Representatives already is." More »
- Specter: I'm Not 'Automatic 60th Vote' for Dems
  
  Politico | Apr 28, 09 3:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter said he will not blindly toe the party line, Politico reports. “I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” the veteran Pennsylvania senator said, pointing out recent opposition to a unionization bill. “If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not vote with them.” More »

Stories 81 - 100 of 924

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Reflection

Reflection ((c) Poldavo (Alex))

Congress Column

Congress Column ((c) ricardo.martins)

DC 027.jpg

DC 027.jpg ((c) clyderob)

Congreso Entrance

Congreso Entrance ((c) puroticorico)

Congreso Facade

Congreso Facade ((c) puroticorico)

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Background

United States Congress
Wikipedia

The United States Congress is the legislature of the U.S. federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and Senate. The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing a congressional district and serving a two-year term. House seats are apportioned...

» Read more about United States Congress at Wikipedia

Recommended Reading

Government

United States House of Representatives
U.S. House of Representatives

United States Senate
U.S. Senate

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