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Tag Archives: Ill.
Durbin, Byrd, Mondale Call For Filibuster Reform
Robert Byrd, whose 50-plus years in the Senate give weight to his thoughts on the institution, charged Wednesday that the minority party has been abusing the filibuster. Byrd, in testimony before the rules committee, suggested changes to the rules that would strike a balance between allowing the majority to function and preserving minority rights.
Also on hand were Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Senate veteran who last led the fight to change the rules — reducing the necessary votes from 67 to 60 in the mid-1970s. The panel reflects the party’s long-running commitment to changing the parliamentary rules, something Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid first voiced support for back in March.
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Tagged committee, dick durbin, filibuster, former vice president, former vice president walter mondale, Ill., institution, Leader Harry Reid, Majority, Minority, necessary votes, parliamentary rules, party, Robert Byrd, Sen. Dick Durbin, Senate, senate majority leader, senate majority leader harry reid, testimony, Vice President Walter Mondale, Walter Mondale, Wednesday, weight
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Congress Targets Broken Federal Toxics Law
The effort to protect Americans from chemical dangers took a historic step forward today as Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Environmental Health, introduced legislation to overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. The current law is riddled with so many loopholes that in more than 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been able to regulate only five of the 83,000 chemicals in use in consumer goods.
In the House, meanwhile, a key committee rolled out its “discussion draft” of a parallel proposal. Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) , chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman and Commerce, and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), chairman of the Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, will begin hammering out a final version that could go to a floor vote later this year.
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Tagged bobby rush, Calif., Chairman, chemical, commerce, commerce committee chairman, committee, consumer, consumer protection subcommittee, effort, Environmental, environmental protection agency, floor vote, Henry Waxman, house, Ill., key committee, NJ, protection, senate subcommittee, Senator Frank R, Subcommittee, toxic substances control, toxic substances control act
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One year ago, Fair Elections now more than ever
One year ago, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) introduced the Fair Elections Now Act, legislation aimed at ending Congress’ reliance on special interest campaign cash. After an election cycle that saw fundraising records smashed time and again, the bill had never been more necessary.
A year later, things have changed. What people didn’t like about the political money system before has gotten worse. Big banks and Wall Street executives are using millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign contributions to block reforms to a system that let them wreck our economy. Health insurers succeeded in watering-down important, cost-saving provisions in the health care bill. Progress on climate change seems stalled. And just a few months ago, the Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. FEC, gave the green light for corporations to spend even more money to influence our elections.
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Tagged bill, campaign, campaign cash, citizens united, Conn., D-Conn, D-Ill, dick durbin, Fair, fundraising records, health, health care bill, Ill., John Larson, money, N.C., political money, Reps, Sen. Dick Durbin, System, Wall Street, wall street executives, Walter Jones, Year
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James Clyburn: We Don’t Have The Votes To Pass Health Care, But We Will
Perhaps the most critical lawmaker at this juncture of heath care reform is Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the man entrusted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ill.) to produce the votes for the bill’s passage.
As Majority Whip, the South Carolina Democrat has been dispatched to persuade skeptical lawmakers that they shouldn’t walk away from the legislation. But on Sunday, he acknowledged that the votes weren’t there for reform — yet.
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Tagged bill, care, D-Ill, Democrat, heath, Ill., James Clyburn, juncture, lawmaker, lawmakers, legislation, Majority, majority whip, man, nancy pelosi, passage, reform, Rep. James Clyburn, S.C., South Carolina, Speaker Nancy Pelosi
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Health Care Reform: Without Trust, Americans Remain Screwed
It is a wonder of incredulous proportions that Speaker Pelosi declared the other day that the House reconciliation bill will not contain a public option, because the Senate did not include it in their bill and it does not have the votes for one. This was after Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he will “whip” anything the House sends over to the Senate, after 41 Senators have now committed to a public option, and Adam Green, head of a progressive group, did its own whip count this past week and came up with over 50 senators who would support a public option. Add to this that the House has already included the public option in its version of health care reform and a voter would surely ask, what the hell is going on?
The answer to this query is an easy one: Pelosi speaking for her caucus simply does not trust the Senate. She has pointed to the over 290 bills the House has passed yet they are gathering dust on someone’s desk over in the Senate. From some corners, it seems that even though 41 senators are publicly supporting the public option, when the “rubber hits the road” in terms of these senators having to cast a vote, maybe they are bluffing and really don’t mean what they say or do not really back a document (Senator Bennett’s letter) to which they affixed their signatures. But then again this would call into question whether the word of any elected official can be trusted. We surely know that answer. The icing on this cake is, of course, that Obama and his minions are remaining silent, preferring to let two chambers who don’t trust one another duke it out, and whatever mess is decided upon they call health care reform will be what Americans will have to live with. All the while, the American voter does not trust Washington regardless of whether it is health care reform or not. Obama even delayed his upcoming trip to Indonesia and Australia for a few days to build trust among the rank and file, according to the White House Press Secretary.
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Tagged Adam Green, american voter, answer, Australia, bill, care, dick durbin, health, health care reform, house, house reconciliation bill, Ill., Indonesia, option, Press Secretary.More, progressive group, reform, rubber hits the road, Senate, senate majority whip, Senator Bennett, Speaker Pelosi, voter, Washington, Whip, white house press
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DynCorp and the Afghan Police
Today the blogosphere is buzzing with news regarding yesterday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Xe Services subsidiary Paravant in Afghanistan or the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, introduced by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) which would make it the military’s responsibility to use its own personnel to train troops and police, guard convoys, repair weapons, run military prisons and do military intelligence activity.
But I think the most newsworthy event of the past week is the Feb. 22 hearing, “An Urgent Need: Coordinating Reconstruction and Stabilization in Contingency Operations” held by the federal Commission on Wartime Contracting.
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Tagged Afghanistan, Armed, armed services committee, blogosphere, committee, contingency operations, hearing, Ill., intelligence activity, jan schakowsky, military prisons, News, newsworthy event, Paravant, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Senate, senate armed services, senate armed services committee, senate armed services committee hearing, stop, subsidiary, today, Yesterday
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Northwestern PROTEST: 320 Rally For Living Wages (WATCH)
More than 320 students, faculty and community members gathered Wednesday afternoon to demonstrate for sub-contract workers’ rights at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
According to the Daily Northwestern, the university pays nearly all of its sub-contract workers in food and janitorial services between $9 and $11 an hour. The living wage for Cook County, in which Northwestern sits, is $13.23.
Sarah Palin Coming To Illinois: Palin To Speak Near Peoria In April
Sarah Palin’s rhetoric is still popular in some parts of the country, but whether her Illinois visit in April will help the state’s Republican party remains to be seen.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet, Palin will be in Washington, Ill. on April 17 for a speech and dinner that will raise money for a parking lot, youth scholarships and other projects. Washington is a town of about 14,000 near Peoria.
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Tagged April, Chicago, chicago sun times, country, Ill., Illinois, illinois visit, Lynn Sweet, money, parking lot, party, Peoria, republican party, rhetoric, Sarah Palin, speech, state, sun, Times, Visit, Washington, youth scholarships
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Public Option Activists Launch ‘Cascade’ Campaign, Polling Effort
Activists hoping to keep up momentum for the late stage push for a public option for insurance coverage are commissioning a set of polls in strategic states to show the level of support for passing the provision through a congressional process known as budget reconciliation.
The progressive troika, which includes the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, and Credo Action, is sponsoring public opinion surveys in Washington, Nevada, Illinois, and North Dakota, with other states also under consideration. Each state contains either a key member of Senate Democratic leadership — Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), fourth-ranking Patty Murray (D-Wash.) — or a caucus member who has been skittish about using reconciliation to pass a public plan — Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).
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Tagged America, budget reconciliation, campaign committee, coverage, democracy for america, dick durbin, Ill., Illinois, insurance, kent conrad, Leader Harry Reid, Majority, majority whip, member, momentum, Nev., Nevada, nevada illinois, North Dakota, opinion surveys, option, progressive change, push, Reconciliation, Sen. Kent Conrad, set, stage, Wash., Washington, washington nevada
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