June 1, 2010 10:18 pm
The Washington Post, “New records show some lobbyists are top fundraisers for political candidates”
by Dan Eggen
Bundling has become a cornerstone of the money game in Washington, allowing lobbyists and other fundraisers to funnel multiple contributions to campaigns without running afoul of individual donation limits. The practice is a frequent target of criticism from reformers, and President Obama proposed new limits on lobbyist contributions and bundling earlier this year.
The new FEC records come as the result of 2007 legislation, also supported by Obama, requiring reports of contributions of $16,000 or more that are bundled by lobbyists. The process is riddled with loopholes, however: The reports do not identify the specific contributors whose donations were bundled, and under FEC rules some recipients don’t have to file at all if they don’t already keep track of bundlers.
Even so, the new data provide a revealing look at the central role of lobbyist-fundraisers in channeling money to candidates, particularly to Democrats, who currently control the levers of power in Washington. About three-quarters of the contributions documented in the reports went to Democratic committees or candidates, with the DCCC ($2.4 million) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ($1.1 million) topping the list. (The Democratic National Committee, following Obama’s lead, does not accept contributions from registered lobbyists.)
The Washington Post article continues here.
May 30, 2010 3:08 pm
Washington Times, “Senate says no to 6,000 border troops”
by Stephen Dinan
Senate Democrats managed Thursday to block deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, but the proposal still garnered a majority of senators, showing widespread support for a border-security-first strategy and underscoring why President Obama is having difficulty trying to win an immigration-legalization bill.
The vote flustered Democrats, who seemed uncertain how to handle the proposal and were reluctant to defy Mr. Obama, who just this week proposed that a much smaller 1,200-troop force be deployed.
In the end, 12 Democrats joined 39 Republicans in voting for the deployment – though that still fell nine votes shy of the 60-vote supermajority needed for passage.
Washington Times article continues here.
May 8, 2010 10:19 pm
Fox News (AP), “Parties Mull Possible Pact After U.K. Election Locked in Standoff”
Within days, Britain may have something it hasn’t seen since World War II — a coalition government.
The first-place Conservatives and third-place Liberal Democrats are negotiating in hopes of resolving an election that failed to produce a clear winner. It remains to be seen whether the right-wing and center-left party can share power or even cooperate on keeping a minority Conservative administration in control of Parliament. They are likely to find common ground on the economy and taxes but have divergent views on voting-system reform, nuclear weapons and some key foreign policy issues.
With negotiations between the parties likely to stretch on for at least two more days and the ruling Labour party still lobbying for its own alternative coalition with the Liberal Democrats, the only thing that’s clear “is how confused it is at the moment,” according to Bill Jones, a professor of politics at Liverpool Hope University in northern England.
Fox News (AP) article continues here.
May 3, 2010 2:27 pm
“Show us your papers.”
The Hill, “Dems spark alarm with call for national ID card”
by Alexander Bolton
A plan by Senate Democratic leaders to reform the nation’s immigration laws ran into strong opposition from civil liberties defenders before lawmakers even unveiled it Thursday.
Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker in the nation to carry a national identification card with biometric information, such as a fingerprint, within the next six years, according to a draft of the measure.
The proposal is one of the biggest differences between the newest immigration reform proposal and legislation crafted by late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
The national ID program would be titled the Believe System, an acronym for Biometric Enrollment, Locally stored Information and Electronic Verification of Employment.
It would require all workers across the nation to carry a card with a digital encryption key that would have to match work authorization databases.
“The cardholder’s identity will be verified by matching the biometric identifier stored within the microprocessing chip on the card to the identifier provided by the cardholder that shall be read by the scanner used by the employer,” states the Democratic legislative proposal.
The Hill article continues here.
April 10, 2010 2:52 pm
Politico, “Rep. Bart Stupak to retire, putting seat in play”
by Mike Allen and Josh Kraushaar
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who had a central role in the health reform fight as the leader of anti-abortion Democrats, plans to announce Friday that he will not run for reelection, a Democratic official said. Without Stupak on the ballot, the seat becomes an immediate pickup opportunity for Republicans.
“Now with health care done, he’s retiring,” a friend said. “He has thought about retiring for the last three cycles, but was always talked into staying: to elect John Kerry to help end the war, to elect a Democratic majority to get health care done.”
President Barack Obama called Stupak on Wednesday and asked him not to retire. Stupak, 58, also resisted entreaties from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the dean of the Wolverine State delegation.
Politico article continues here.
April 4, 2010 6:44 pm
The Hill, “Survey: Four in 10 Tea Party members are Dems or independents”
by Sean J. Miller
Four in 10 Tea Party members are either Democrats or Independents, according to a new national survey.
The findings provide one of the most detailed portraits to date of the grassroots movement that started last year.
The national breakdown of the Tea Party composition is 57 percent Republican, 28 percent Independent and 13 percent Democratic, according to three national polls by the Winston Group, a Republican-leaning firm that conducted the surveys on behalf of an education advocacy group. Two-thirds of the group call themselves conservative, 26 are moderate and 8 percent say they are liberal.
The Hill article continues here.
March 30, 2010 11:26 pm
Triangle Business Journal, “Waxman, Stupak want CEOs of Deere, Caterpillar, AT&T at congressional hearing”
Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Bart Stupak of Michigan want the CEOs of Deere & Co., Caterpillar, AT&T and Verizon to come to Capitol Hill and explain how the health-care reform bill signed into law last week will lead to billions of dollars in extra costs for their companies.
The four companies have all said they face increased costs because of a provision in the health-care law that taxes a subsidy companies receive for providing prescription drugs to their employees.
AT&T (NYSE: T), which has more than 1,000 employees in the Raleigh-Durham area, said Friday that it would record a $1 billion noncash charge in the first quarter due to the tax changes. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), which announced earlier this month that it would lay off 121 employees in Clayton, said it would take a $100 million charge.
Triangle Business Journal article continues here.
March 30, 2010 11:23 pm
Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, “After health care vote, Stupak 11 request billions in earmarks”
by Anupama Narayanswamy and Bill Allison
A day after Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and ten other House members compromised on their pro-life objections to the bill to deliver the necessary yes-votes to pass health care reform, the “Stupak 11″ released their fiscal year 2011 earmark requests, which total more than $3.4 billion–an average of $314 million worth of earmark requests for each lawmaker. *
The eleven members were the focus of high level pressure by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats because they threatened to vote against the health care reform bill, which passed the House on Sunday, March 21, by a seven vote margin. Granting earmark requests are one of the ways leadership can encourage members to vote their way.
Stupak requested more than $578 million in earmarks, including $125 million for a replacement lock on the Sault Ste. Marie, $25.6 million to build a federal courthouse in Marquette, Mich., $15 million to repaint the Mackinac Bridge and $800,000 to preserve the Quincy Mining Company smelter near Hancock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group article continues here.
March 24, 2010 1:24 pm
Fox News, “Republicans Use Objections to Stall Senate Hearings, Force Votes on Health Care ‘Fixes’”
Republicans used a procedural move Wednesday to halt hearings in the Senate and force Democrats to vote on a series of politically dicey matters relating to the health care “fixes” sent over by the House this week.
Senate Republicans said they would insist that no committee meet after 11 a.m., two hours after the Senate gaveled in on Wednesday. The objection was used as part of the “two-hour rule,” a formality that requires unanimous consent for the Senate to meet two hours after the chamber has come into session.
To start a hearing beyond that time now will require the approval of all 100 senators.
Fox News article continues here.
March 23, 2010 1:56 pm
Breitbart (AP), “13 attorneys general sue over health care overhaul”
Attorneys general from 13 states sued the federal government Tuesday, claiming the landmark health care overhaul bill is unconstitutional just seven minutes after President Barack Obama signed it into law.
The lawsuit was filed in Pensacola after the Democratic president signed the bill the House passed Sunday night.
“The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage,” the lawsuit says.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is taking the lead and is joined by attorneys general from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Colorado and Louisiana. All are Republicans except James “Buddy” Caldwell of Louisiana, who is a Democrat.
Some states are considering separate lawsuits and still others may join the multistate suit.
Breitbart (AP) article continues here.
March 21, 2010 9:17 pm
Reuters, “House approves sweeping healthcare overhaul”
On a narrow and hard-fought 219-212 vote late on Sunday, House Democrats approved the most dramatic health policy changes in four decades. The vote sends the bill, already approved by the Senate, to Obama to sign into law.
The overhaul expands the government health plan for the poor, imposes new taxes on the wealthy and bars insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Its passage caps a year-long political battle with Republicans that consumed the U.S. Congress and dented Obama’s approval ratings, and fulfills a goal that has eluded Democrats since former President Bill Clinton’s failed attempt in 1994.
Reuters article continues here.
March 20, 2010 2:08 pm
My Way News, “House Dems confident in overcoming abortion rift”
by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Alan Fram
Victory within reach, President Barack Obama set his sights on rallying House Democrats on Saturday for a final health care push as party leaders appeared confident they had overcome a flare-up within their ranks over abortion funding restrictions in the legislation.
Building on Democrats’ momentum, House leaders decided on a straight up-or-down vote on Obama’s top priority and the defining issue of his first year in office, backing off a much-challenged plan to vote on the bill indirectly. With the vote scheduled for Sunday, the battle tilted in Obama’s direction as more Democrats disclosed how they would vote.
The president decided to make a final personal appeal with a Saturday afternoon visit to the Capitol where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was expected to reassure House rank and file that the Senate would complete the legislation. Reid’s means would be a letter indicating he had the votes.
My Way News article continues here.
