April32011
Nadia Prupis of Truthout:
“Armed with an ideological agenda, House Republicans took aim at net neutrality again this month, quietly introducing a Congressional ‘resolution of disapproval’ to overturn recent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) laws prohibiting anti-competitive behavior among Internet providers. H.J. Res. 37 passed 30-23 on March 15, and will now go to the House of Representatives for a vote, which House Speaker John Boehner said in late February could happen ‘as early as next month.’”
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March212011
By:
Jessica Pieklo of Care2.com
House Republicans may be afraid of Elizabeth Warren, but Elizabeth Warren is not afraid of them. That’s a good thing because her agency and its oversight authority is at the top of the list of transparency and regulatory moves by the Obama administration the Republicans hope to undo.
In her first official appearance as a member of the Obama administration, Warren made it clear that she was not about to be bullied by folks like Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala) who has gone out of his way to characterize Warren as an “unaccountable” head of a rouge agency.
Instead, Republicans propose replacing Warren with a five-person board of directors that would slow down its rulemaking procedures. They also plan to starve the agency for funding, making it doomed to fail before its even off the ground.
In her testimony Warren reiterated her resolve to help create a more informed consumer by focusing on disclosure and transparency rules for lenders. By making pricing clear in terms of financial products like credit cards and home mortgages, citizens have the opportunity to make better choices and not find themselves financially upside down while the nation’s largest banks profit from their debt burden.
With all the other battles waging between the administration and House Republicans, this one has largely flown under the radar. But it may be the most important of all the fights so far. If the House Republicans get their way then the very actors who brought on (and profited from) the Great Recession will not only go unpunished in the short term, they will be rewarded long-term for those same destructive practices.
February212011
Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a funding bill that environmentalists say amounts to the biggest attack on clean air and clean water in recent history.
H.R. 1, the continuing resolution offered by House Republicans to keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year, passed by a vote of 235-189. Only three Republicans joined all the Democrats in voting no.
American Lung Association President and CEO Charles Connor called the bill “a severe assault on the health of all Americans.”
“The U.S. House of Representatives failed to protect the public health of all Americans by passing H.R. 1,” said Connor. “This bill ignores public health and will have dire consequences for all Americans, especially people with lung diseases, including lung cancer, asthma and emphysema.”
“The American Lung Association calls on the Senate to recognize that, as passed by the House, H.R. 1 is toxic to public health,” said Connor. “The Senate must start from scratch and recognize that tough fiscal choices can be made without jeopardizing public health.” […]
February92011
The Republican-led House failed to pass an extension of expiring sections of the Patriot Act on Tuesday, an unexpected setback for GOP leaders that shows the difficulty they face in controlling their majority and its “tea party”-inspired members.
Time is short: Key provisions of the terrorist surveillance law expire at the end of the month. A coalition of veteran conservative Republicans and new GOP lawmakers joined many Democrats in blocking passage of the measure, which many tea party activists see as federal government overreaching into private affairs.
The bill required a two-thirds vote to pass but fell seven votes short. Now, the White House and congressional leaders must devise a new strategy, and fast, or the provisions will lapse Feb. 28. The administration wants to extend the Sept. 11-era provisions through 2013. The House bill would have extended them until Dec. 8.
[…]
February52011
Republicans now running the House are barely touching Congress’ generous own budget even as they take a cleaver to many domestic agencies.
A new Republican proposal would reduce domestic agencies’ spending by 9 percent on average through September, when the current budget year ends.
If that plan becomes law, it could lead to layoffs of tens of thousands of federal employees, big cuts to heating and housing subsidies for the poor, reduced grants to schools and law enforcement agencies, and a major hit to the Internal Revenue Service’s budget.
Congress, on the other hand, would get nicked by only 2 percent. […]
January52011
Mike Ludwig of Truthout:
“A law signed by President Obama on Tuesday gives federal regulators new authority and enforcement tools to oversee the safety of the country’s food supply and requires the food industry to take preventative measures to reduce the risk of spreading food-borne illnesses.”
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House Republicans Schedule Health Care Repeal Vote for Next Week
Nadia Prupis of Truthout:
“House Republicans announced Monday that they would vote to repeal President Obama’s health care overhaul on January 12. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Virginia), the incoming House Majority Leader, made the announcement after Republicans posted the proposed legislation, ‘Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act,’ on the House Rules Committee web site.”
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