Congress – News Stories About Congress - Page 48

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

poll

Nov 30, 2009 9:19 AM CST

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...

Hoffman Concedes, Again

deja vu

Nov 24, 2009 4:44 PM CST

Hoffman Concedes, Again

It's all over, finally, in the upstate congressional race

(Newser) - Doug Hoffman conceded the New York congressional election to Democrat Bill Owens yet again today. The Conservative Party candidate said he won't challenge the results, despite the urging of supporters. With the absentee ballots counted, "the results re-affirm the fact that Bill Owens won,” Hoffman said. The muted...

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...

Congress' New
Whipping Boy:
The Fed

Nov 23, 2009 8:54 AM CST

Congress' New Whipping Boy: The Fed

Bernanke & Co. run into populist ire over Wall St bailouts, unemployment

(Newser) - When Fed Chair Ben Bernanke goes before Congress next month seeking a second term, he'll run straight into cantankerous legislators riding a tide of populist rage over the Wall Street bailout and high unemployment. While the Fed acted decisively to bail out the financial markets last year, it's widely viewed...

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...

GOP Traffic-Jam Ploy
Is Snarling Senate

OPINION

Nov 19, 2009 9:43 AM CST

GOP Traffic-Jam Ploy Is Snarling Senate

Stalling tactics are making Democrats turn on each other

(Newser) - Senate Democrats are starting to turn on each other like angry drivers stuck in rush-hour traffic thanks to Republican obstructionism, writes EJ Dionne. Republican senators are eating every word they once said against filibusterism and are stalling even legislation that they support in a Machiavellian effort to keep the Democrats...

Reid 'Optimistic'
About 60 Votes

Nov 18, 2009 10:00 AM CST

Reid 'Optimistic' About 60 Votes

Majority leader thinks he's got the support to send bill to the floor

(Newser) - Harry Reid is “cautiously optimistic” about the success of his frantic attempts to unite the 60 votes of his caucus behind the Senate health care reform bill. “I think we’re together,” he says. But the majority leader was positively voluble about the bill itself, notes the...

Conservative
Kids' Book
Vilifies Pelosi

Nov 17, 2009 1:42 PM CST

Conservative Kids' Book Vilifies Pelosi

She's a tiara-wearing opponent of free enterprise

(Newser) - Help! Mom! The Radicals Are Ruining My Country! sounds like what it is: A picture book aimed at conservative children—or maybe the children of conservative parents. In any case, a tiara-wearing Nancy Pelosi features prominently, and she ain’t a Santa Claus figure, notes Boing Boing . The book,...

Stupak Is the Last Straw—No More Caving!

KATHA POLLITT

Nov 16, 2009 11:12 AM CST

Stupak Is the Last Straw—No More Caving!

Women should not 'take one for the team' on abortion coverage

(Newser) - Painting the Stupak-Pitts amendment as a necessary evil—a concession women should make for the “greater good” of health care reform—is ridiculous, Katha Pollitt writes. Women have been consistently sidelined by the “theocrats and male chauvinists” throwing their weight around in the Democratic Party. “Why don't...

Goldman to Insurers:
Health Reform Will Hurt

best plan is no plan

Nov 13, 2009 9:48 AM CST

Goldman to Insurers: Health Reform Will Hurt

Who knew Wall Street and teabaggers could agree?

(Newser) - Here's a reason for Goldman Sachs to be even more popular with the public: The investment bank has issued research on private health insurers advising that fighting off reform would best for their bottom line. Goldman takes as the “base” case passage of the bill that exited the Senate...