NewsTrust - U.S. Senate - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

The Sad Race for Bottom on the Loony Right

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Robert Reich - Feb. 28 (Opinion) - even if they lose the presidency on Election Day they’re still likely to be in charge of at least one house of Congress as well as several state legislators and governorships. That’s a problem for the nation.

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League of Conservation Voters: George Allen Named to Dirty Dozen

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

action.lcv.org - Feb. 10 (Press Release) - Former Virginia Senator George Allen earned an abysmal 1% LCV lifetime score during his time in the Senate. Additionally, Allen has received nearly $500,000 from oil and gas interests. This is Allen's 3rd time on the Dirty Dozen, having been named to the list in 2000 and 2006.

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Why Aren’t More Arab Americans Working in Mainstream Journalism?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Columbia Journalism Review - Jan. 31 - There are anywhere between 3.5 and 5.1 million Americans of Arab descent, according to figures from the Arab American Institute, yet relatively few work in journalism full time. While meaningful estimates aren’t known, as journalism scholars that conduct demographic research in American newsrooms do not typically tally newsmakers of Arab descent, the National Arab American Journalists Association counts around 250...

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Calling Wall Street A ‘Gambling Casino,’ Democratic Rep. DeFazio Proposes Financial Transactions Tax

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - Oct. 06 (Opinion) - Echoing the demands of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) is proposing to tax the trading of stocks, bonds, and derivatives. DeFazio, along with his Senate co-sponsor Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), has proposed the tax several times in the past. But this time around, the idea is getting a boost of momentum [...]

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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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Think Talks with the Group That Hacked A Fox News Twitter Account

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think SB - By Adam Peck - Jul. 04 (Interview) - Perhaps deciding on a different strategy, The Script Kiddies have scrubbed all past mentions of their hack of the Fox News Politics Twitter account and replaced them with alarming and, most importantly, fake accounts of President Obama’s death. The updates have jarred quite a few readers–us included–who saw the news coming from what they believed to be an authentic Fox News source.

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Republican Budget Extremist and Cruel

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Sen. Bernie Sanders - Jun. 02 (Opinion) - Given the reality of record-breaking corporate profits and the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else, it should be a surprise to no one that every recently published poll suggests that the overwhelming majority of the American people want the deficit to be addressed through shared sacrifice. They do not believe that the deficit should be reduced solely on the backs of working families, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor - many of whom are already suffering as a result of the recession. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Republicans have proposed.

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How Wall Street Thieves, Led by Goldman Sachs, Took Down the Global Economy -- Their Outsized Influence Must be Stopped

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Les Leopold, AlterNet - Apr. 26 - If we don't bust up Big Finance, there soon will be another financial crisis that will destroy what's left of our middle-class way of life.

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Rand Paul, a Senate show horse, not a workhorse

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Lexington Herald-Leader - By Tom Eblen - Apr. 25 (Opinion) - There are two kinds of people in Congress: workhorses and show horses. Few show horses have pranced and preened as much as Rand Paul has during his first months as a United States senator.

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The Right Bailing The Left Out On Spending

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Matthew Yglesias - Apr. 20 (Opinion) - You have a government set to steadily increase spending on autopilot as a result of demographic change and rising health care costs. And you have a Democratic President urging congress to enact spending cuts. But you have conservative politicians refusing to make a serious effort to reach an agreement out of some blend of taxophobia and fear of giving the President a win. The result, again, whether the right realizes it or not, is a gift to the wing of the Democratic Party that disagrees with Obama about the desirability of enacting spending cuts.

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An Anti-Science Mania Takes over GOP

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:12:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Robert Benson - Mar. 21 - The current vogue among a majority of national-level elected Republicans to reject the validity of the scientific consensus on climate change recalls the anti-evolutionary furor seen in the Scopes Monkey Trial.

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What Wisconsin Can Teach Washington

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Real Clear Politics - By E.J. Dionne, The New Republic - Mar. 10 (Opinion) - Consider the contrast between two groups of Democrats, in Wisconsin and in the nation's capital. The Washington Democrats, including President Obama, have allowed conservative Republicans to dominate the budget debate so far. As long as the argument is over who will cut more from federal spending, conservatives win.

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GOP Backs Massive Tax Increase To Phase Out Abortion Coverage By Private Insurers

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Talking Points Memo - By Brian Beutler - Feb. 09 (Opinion) - Ultimately, the impact of tax like the one in the Republican legislation would likely be to phase out abortion coverage in the private insurance market. This would upend the long-standing bipartisan consensus, which does not enshrine the idea that the government should exert pressure on private entities to deny medical services they don't like.

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Don't kid yourself: The Senate's still broken

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Salon - By Alex Pareene - Dec. 23 (Opinion) - Maybe we were all wrong about the Senate! When push finally came to shove, they ratified START, passed the food safety bill and the 9/11 first responders bill, confirmed a bunch of judges, repealed "don't ask, don't tell," and extended unemployment benefits. And they finished up their work before Christmas. I must admit, I predicted doom for a lame duck session, and I repeatedly predicted that "don't ask, don't tell" in particular would be a victim of delaying tactics and obstruction. I was completely wrong on both counts. But who could've predicted that the Senate... would work?

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Is The Lame Duck Justifiable?

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New Republic - By Jonathan Chait - Dec. 23 (Opinion) - I strongly approve of the ends of the lame duck Congress, but as a small-d democrat, I don't approve of the means. Why should Congress have a period of time to act in which many members enjoy zero accountability before their constituents? The arrangement is ripe for abuse.

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"I've Been to 44 Funerals In the Last 4 1/2 Years" - 9/11 First Responder John Feal Calls on Senate to Pass Zadroga Bill

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By John Feal, Amy Goodman - Dec. 22 (Interview) - More than nine years after the September 11th attacks, the Senate may be on the verge of finally voting on legislation that would grant $6.2 billion medical coverage and compensation to thousands of 9/11 first responders exposed to toxic substances at Ground Zero. The House passed a $7.4 billion dollar version of the bill in September. But the Senate version has been held up by a Republican filibuster. We speak with John Feal, a former construction worker and 9/11 first responder.

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Senate Democrats ‘likely’ to pass new 9/11 health bill

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Raw Story - By Eric W. Dolan - Dec. 20 (Opinion) - Legislation to improve health care services to rescue workers who became ill as a result of breathing dangerous fumes and dust at the World Trade Center may receive a second chance after being blocked by Senate Republicans last week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to bring up a scaled-down version of the 9/11 first responders health bill for another vote during the lame-duck session. The bill is expected after the Senate votes on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) on Tuesday. Forty-one of the 42 Republican Senators voted against considering the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 last week, with one Republican, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kentucky, abstaining. At the last minute, Democrat Sen. Reid also voted against the bill in a parliamentary move which allowed him to bring the legislation up for a second vote.

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The Ultra-Imperial Presidency

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Miller-McCune - By Melinda Burns - Dec. 16 (Interview) - Yale’s Bruce Ackerman, a constitutional scholar, warns that unilateralism in the “most dangerous branch” of government is setting the stage for a tragic future. Bruce Ackerman discusses how far the country has strayed from the system the Founding Father

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Sen. Bernie Sanders: Our (Wealth-Dominated) Banana Republic

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Bernie Sanders - Dec. 08 (Speech) - (Video speech)

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DADT No More? Republicans Threaten To Block All Dem Initiatives

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Talking Points Memo - By Brian Beutler - Dec. 01 (Opinion) - Just hours after Democrats and Republicans agreed to bargain on tax cuts, and fewer hours still after Defense Secretary Robert Gates implored Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year, word leaked that Republicans aren't really interested in any of it -- a major repudiation of his authority.

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None dare call it sabotage

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Monthly - By Steve Benen - Nov. 20 (Opinion) - Consider a thought experiment. Imagine you actively disliked the United States, and wanted to deliberately undermine its economy. What kind of positions would you take to do the most damage?

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Sen. Rockefeller: FCC Should Take FOX News, MSNBC Off Airwaves

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Real Clear Politics - By Jay Rockefeller - Nov. 17 (Speech) - "There's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to FOX and to MSNBC: 'Out. Off. End. Goodbye.' It would be a big favor to political discourse; our ability to do our work here in Congress, and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and more importantly, in their future."

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Michael Moore: Let's Pass Some Laws Before the Republicans Head Into Town (after all, that's what they'd do)

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Michael Moore - Nov. 16 - Dear Congressional Democrats: Welcome back to our nation's capital for your one final session of the 111th Congress. Come January, the Republicans will take...

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White House ponders, What now?

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 16:30:49 -0800

Washington Monthly - By Steve Benen - Nov. 14 - WHITE HOUSE PONDERS, WHAT NOW?.... Governing hasn't exactly been easy for the Obama administration over the last two years. The White House benefited from a like-minded U.S. House, but Senate obstructionism reached a point unseen in American history.

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An Agenda for the Lame-Duck Congress

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

The Nation - Nov. 10 (Editorial) - Nancy Pelosi says she wants to continue leading House Democrats because she is "driven by the urgency" of creating jobs and protecting healthcare reform, financial regulation, Social Security and Medicare. She's got her priorities right. Now the soon-to-

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