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Antitrust Official Gets Stampeded By Big Beef

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

All Things Considered - Jan. 26 - President Obama's appointee for antitrust issues in the meat industry wanted to give cattlemen more clout against big meatpackers. But he's quitting his job on Thursday. His reform efforts ran into fierce opposition from the country's packers and big cattle producers.

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Mitt Romney Tax Returns Released: Paid Just 13.9% Rate In 2010, Had Swiss Bank Account

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Steve Holland, Kim Dixon - Jan. 23 (News Report) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released tax records on Tuesday indicating he will pay $6.2 million in taxes on a total of $42.5 million in income over the years 2010 and 2011.

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Stop Being Cynical About Corporate Money in Politics and Start Being Angry

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:53:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Bill McKibben - Jan. 05 - My resolution for 2012 is to be naïve—dangerously naïve. I'm aware that the usual recipe for political effectiveness is just the opposite: to be cynical, calculating, an insider. But if you think, as I do, that we need deep change in this country, then c

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The GOP's Payroll Tax Fiasco

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Wall Street Journal - By WSJ Editorial Board - Dec. 21 (Opinion) - GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell famously said a year ago that his main task in the 112th Congress was to make sure that President Obama would not be re-elected. Given how he and House Speaker John Boehner have handled the payroll tax debate, we wonder if they might end up re-electing the President before the 2012 campaign even begins in earnest. The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. This is no easy double play. Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible.

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US Senate passes its version of NDAA bill, which would allow military to detain anyone on US soil - OpenGlobe

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

OpenGlobe - By Tempodivalse, OpenGlobe contributors - Dec. 02 (Special Report) - The US Senate on Thursday passed its version of a bill that, among other provisions, would enable the US military to indefinitely detain anyone who is deemed to be engaging in terrorist activities.

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Expanded Visa Law Would Give U.S. World’s Tired, Poor Technologists: View

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:13:00 -0800

Bloomberg - Dec. 01 - Congress works. Or so it seemed for a day this week when the House of Representatives voted 389 to 15 to ease restrictions on the entry of highly skilled immigrants to the U.S. The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011 was sponsored by conser

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Jon Stewart Mocks Barney Frank's Retirement Coverage On Fox News (VIDEO)

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Katla McGlynn, Jon Stewart - Nov. 30 (Comedy News) - After nearly three decades of serving Massachusetts' 4th congressional district, Democratic U.S. Representative Barney Frank announced Monday that he will not be seeking re-election in 2012. On Tuesday night's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart bid farewell to him the only way he knows how: with clips of absurd reactions from the GOP.

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Barney the bully: Congressman Frank’s other legacy

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Dana Milbank - Nov. 30 (Opinion) - The morning after his retirement announcement, Rep. Barney Frank scored an interview on NBC’s “Today” show, gaining the opportunity to act as an elder statesman in front of a TV audience of millions. Instead, the Massachusetts Democrat chose to quarrel with the interviewer.

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Facebook post says Congress has disproportionate share of millionaires

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

PolitiFact - By Angie Drobnic Holan - Nov. 21 (Fact Check) - Over the past two months, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to cities around the country, and those other movements are busy putting out messages that protest against income inequality. A reader recently sent us an example from Facebook, which w

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Boehner’s Big Stretch on Small Business

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

FactCheck - By Robert Farley - Nov. 11 (Fact Check) - House Speaker John Boehner claimed that “small-business people” make up more than half of those who would be hit by a tax increase on “millionaires.” Not really. Only 13 percent of those making over $1 million get even as much as one-fourth of that income from small business, according to … More >>

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Handling of jobs speech timing blurs White House message

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - By Tom Cohen - Sep. 01 (News Report) - A day after the usually non-controversial act of scheduling a presidential speech to Congress became a high-profile political dispute, President Barack Obama and the White House struggled Thursday to refocus the nation on the jobs package he will present rather than a backroom showdown labeled as childish and nonsense. On Wednesday night, the White House agreed to move Obama's special address to a joint session of Congress back one day -- from September 7 to September 8 -- after Republican complaints and follow-up consultations with House Speaker John Boehner.

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Former Goldman VP Confirms Name Change, Does Not Dispute Promoting Goldman’s Interests As Issa Staffer

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Lee Fang - Aug. 18 (Investigative Report) - This morning, ThinkProgess published a story about a top staffer to Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) who helped the congressman draft a letter to bank regulators, asking them to back off new rules for banks like Goldman Sachs. As we reported, the staffer is a former Goldman Sachs vice president with a history of [...]

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Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Rolling Stone - By Matt Taibbi - Aug. 17 (Investigative Report) - Imagine a world in which a man who is repeatedly investigated for a string of serious crimes, but never prosecuted, has his slate wiped clean every time the cops fail to make a case. No more Lifetime channel specials where the murderer is unveiled after

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Tea Party Rep: Bank Should Have Known I Wouldn't Be Able To Repay $2.2 Million Loan

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Talking Points Memo - By Jillian Rayfield | - Aug. 11 (Opinion) - Tea Party aligned Georgia Rep. Tom Graves (R), who castigates Washington for fiscal irresponsibility, reached an out of court settlement Wednesday after he was sued for defaulting on a $2.2 million loan -- which his attorney argued is the bank's fault for lending him the money in the first place.

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DNC chair blames Tea Party ‘tyrants’ for S&P credit rating downgrade

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Hill - By Alicia M. Cohn - Aug. 08 (Opinion) - Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill: DNC chair blames Tea Party ‘tyrants’ for S&P credit rating downgrade — The head of the Democratic National Committee joined Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Monday in casting blame for the U.S. credit downgrade on the Tea Party movement. — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) …

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Jon Stewart Rips President Obama For Debt Ceiling 'Dealageddon' (VIDEO)

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Aug. 02 (Comedy News) - video

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Debt Limit Debate Round-Up

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Lori Robertson - Jul. 29 (Fact Check) - The last few weeks have been filled with debate, accusations, stalemate and false claims about the debt ceiling and how -- and whether -- it should be raised. As the Aug. 2 default deadline looms, here's a look at the less-than-factual talking points ...

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Dems suggest compromise on debt

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By Carrie Budoff Brown - Jul. 29 (Breaking News) - Politico - The president would be able to lift the debt ceiling unless two-thirds of both chambers override his veto.

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Janice Hahn Wins California US House Race

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Michael R. Blood - Jul. 13 (News) - LOS ANGELES -- Democrat Janice Hahn has defeated Republican Craig Huey in a bitter contest for a Southern California House seat, preserving her party's hold...

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For Boehner, Lofty Budget Goals Checked by Reality

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Carl Hulse - Jul. 11 (News Report) - At a private meeting about deficit reduction at the White House last week, Speaker John A. Boehner told his fellow Congressional leaders and President Obama that he did not spend 20 years working his way up to the top job on Capitol Hill just for the cachet of the title — he wanted to accomplish something big.

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No Grand Bargain: Boehner Walks Away From Big Deficit Deal

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Jay Newton Small - Jul. 10 (News Report) - After days of hype in Washington, House Speaker John Boehner threw cold water on the prospect of a grand bargain on deficit reduction Saturday night, effectively scaling back negotiations on a deal tied to the effort to raise the debt ceiling before an Aug. 2 deadline. “Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes,” Boehner said in a statement. “I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase.” The decision to seek a smaller, $2 trillion deal (door No. 2, as it turns out) came after an afternoon call between Boehner and Obama. Boehner suggested dealing with most revenue issues in a sweeping tax reform bill later in the year, a GOP leadership source said, but Democrats demanded that significant revenue increases be part of the debt ceiling deal — something Boehner felt couldn’t pass the House. Talks also broke down, the GOP source said, over cuts to entitlements — a measure House Democratic leaders have long said their members can’t swallow.

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Harry Reid cancels Senate July 4 recess after Obama chides Congress

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CBS News - Jun. 30 (News) - Senate will stay in session next week, Senate leader announces one day after Obama tells Congress to get to work on a debt limit deal Read more by CBSNews.com staff on CBS News' Political Hotsheet.

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Inside Nancy Pelosi’s drive to win the House majority back for Democrats

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Karen Tumulty, Paul Kane - Jun. 27 (News Report) - Nancy Pelosi no longer has a balcony with the grandest view in Washington. The size of her staff has been cut by a third. And it took months, she said, to get rid of the smell of cigarette smoke from the second-floor suite she received in her swap with now-House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

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Business group: Public companies shouldn’t have to compare CEO and worker pay

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Peter Whoriskey - Jun. 24 (News Report) - a group backed by 81 major companies — including McDonald’s, Lowe’s, General Dynamics, American Airlines, IBM and General Mills — is lobbying against new rules that would force disclosure of that comparison.

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Congress Divides on Libya, Moves Toward Key Votes

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Atlantic Monthly - By Conor Friedersdorf - Jun. 22 (Opinion) - Senators John McCain and John Kerry are from different political parties, but the former presidential candidates have a lot in common: both men fought in Vietnam, voted to authorize the Iraq War, and are now pushing their colleagues to support another war of choice. On Tuesday, they introduced legislation permitting "limited use" of U.S. troops for 12 months in Libya. "It is time to authorize the president's use of force, whether he thinks he needs it or not," McCain said.

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