Congress

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White House Party-Crashers Take the Fifth

Congressmen chide Salahis for professing support for Secret Service

(Newser) - Alleged White House gate-crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi said little to a House panel today, repeatedly invoking their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. The couple took the Fifth a combined total of 30 times as they refused to cooperate with the security committee's investigation into the Secret Service lapse that...

Voters Losing Faith in Obama, Democrats
Voters Losing Faith in
Obama, Democrats
NEW POLL
Jan 19, 2010 6:17 PM CST

Voters Losing Faith in Obama, Democrats

People split on which party should control Congress; first time since '03

(Newser) - President Obama is still personally popular with voters, but approval of his party continues to slip and galvanize support for Republicans, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows. Voters are split 41%-41% on which party should control Congress after November—the first time voters haven't favored Democrats in this poll...

Now Dodd Can Make a Real Difference
Now Dodd Can Make a Real Difference
Jan 7, 2010 11:37 AM CST

Now Dodd Can Make a Real Difference

Lame duck can cut a deal with GOP on financial oversight

(Newser) - Sen. Chris Dodd’s decision not to seek reelection could make financial regulatory reform more likely while burnishing his own tainted legacy. Oddly, the route to legislative success for the historically Wall Street-connected Dodd would require him to back away from the more populist, pro-consumer stance he took when his...

Obama Wants State of the Union Moved to February
Obama Wants State of the Union Moved to February
MORE TIME FOR HEALTH BILL
Jan 6, 2010 8:48 PM CST

Obama Wants State of the Union Moved to February

President aims for health bill to be complete, signed

(Newser) - President Obama wants his State of the Union address to be in early February, a week or so later than usual, so Congress (which must formally invite him to speak) can hammer out a final health-reform bill. “The president wants to be able to talk about health care in...

5 Things Obama Has Done Right (or Better Than You Thought)
5 Things Obama Has Done Right (or Better Than You Thought)
MARK HALPERIN
Dec 28, 2009 12:13 PM CST

5 Things Obama Has Done Right (or Better Than You Thought)

...and 5 failures bigger than you realize

(Newser) - Obama clearly ran a successful campaign—but what kind of a job did he do running the country in his first year at the helm? While the president "has not been overmatched, he has not yet mastered the role either," Mark Halperin writes in Time . Some things he's...

Pelosi Will Keep Just Enough Dems in Line
Pelosi Will Keep Just Enough Dems in Line
nate silver
Dec 26, 2009 12:19 PM CST

Pelosi Will Keep Just Enough Dems in Line

She needs 218 on health care, and she's 'very good at her job'

(Newser) - On the surface, it seems logical to assume Nancy Pelosi will have a tough time keeping enough Democrats on board for the final health care vote. After all, the House version just barely passed and now must be reconciled with a more conservative Senate bill. Proponents of reform shouldn't worry,...

Dodd Rips Newbies—Ahem, Franken—for Lacking 'Civility'

Comment may be dig at Minn. freshman, who shut down Lieberman

(Newser) - Chris Dodd battled a perceived lack of decorum in the Senate yesterday with some stern language from the floor. The Connecticut Democrat did not name names but rather cryptically chastised the Senate’s “newer members” for failing “to understand how the Senate has worked for more than two...

Health Bill Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote
 Health Bill Clears  
 Last Hurdle Before Vote 
7am tomorrow
Dec 23, 2009 4:14 PM CST

Health Bill Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote

Party line roll call ends filibuster, sets stage for tomorrow

(Newser) - Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle today, setting up a final vote at 7am tomorrow to pass the legislation. Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster, with all 58 Democrats and two independents hanging together against unanimous Republican opposition. Tomorrow's...

Credit Reform May Drain $9B in Holiday Sales

Consumer protections result in lower limits, less spending

(Newser) - The impending enactment of new credit card law is poised to rob retailers of $9 billion in holiday sales compared to last year. The law, designed to protect consumers from rates being raised on the sly and sneaky fees, already has led to lower credit limits and more rejected applications...

White House Telling Me to Zip It: Stupak
 White House 
 Telling Me to 
 Zip It: Stupak 
HEALTH CARE REFORM
Dec 23, 2009 1:25 PM CST

White House Telling Me to Zip It: Stupak

Rep predicts Senate abortion language won't pass House

(Newser) - The White House would really rather Bart Stupak keep his opinions about the abortion funding “compromise” in the Senate health care bill to himself, but the staunch rep isn’t playing ball. “They think I shouldn’t be expressing my views on this bill until they get a...

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...

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