NewsTrust - U.S. Congress - Most Recent Stories

Democrats and Republicans Line Up to Do Battle Over Results of Stimulus Package

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Michael D. Shear, Paul Kane - Feb. 16 (News Analysis) - Thanks to the party-line nature of Congress's votes on the economic stimulus package, the plan to turn around the worst financial crisis facing the country in more than 50 years now carries not only enormous fiscal stakes but also political stakes that are nearly as large.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

U.S., as Part of Stimulus Bill, Will Compare Effectiveness of Medical Treatments

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Robert Pear - Feb. 16 (News Report) - The $787 billion economic stimulus bill approved by Congress will, for the first time, provide substantial amounts of money for the federal government to compare the effectiveness of different treatments for the same illness. Under the legislation, researchers will receive $1.1 billion to compare drugs, medical devices, surgery and other ways of treating specific conditions. The bill creates a council of up to 15 federal employees to coordinate the research and to advise President Obama and Congress on how to spend the money... ...Bureaucrats “will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost-effective,” Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York, wrote on Bloomberg.com. Rush Limbaugh broadcast the charges to millions who listen to his radio talk show.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 4 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Republicans Bet on America's Failure

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Brent Budowsky - Feb. 16 (Opinion) - The passage of the $787 billion jobs bill represents a great victory for President Obama, a huge triumph for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and a tremendous moment for the smart Republican senators: Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Don’t sacrifice privacy when digitizing medical records

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

USA Today - Feb. 16 (Editorial) - For the first time since digital systems took off this decade, Congress has added some strong privacy safeguards in the measure Obama is expected to sign this week. But the fierce, down-to-the-wire battle between health care industry players who opposed many safeguards and privacy advocates shows how difficult it is to make patient privacy a priority. Failing to do so will leave patients vulnerable to many abuses:

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Illinois GOP leader calls on Sen. Burris to resign

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Associated Press - By Rupa Shenoy - Feb. 16 (News Report) - State Rep. Jim Durkin told reporters Sunday that Democrat Roland Burris should resign over an affidavit contradicting statements he made earlier to a House committee. Durkin also wants Burris investigated for possible perjury.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Sorry, America, I'm the bearer of bad news

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Daily Telegraph - By James Delingpole - Feb. 16 (Opinion) - Towards the end of an American tour last week to promote my new book Welcome to Obamaland: I've Seen Your Future and It Doesn't Work, I began to feel ever so slightly guilty. Partly it was all those people I met still wearing their "Vote Obama" badges like religious talismans, still quite obviously brimming with audacious hope for their country's bright future under the new Obamessiah. Who was I to come from the other side of the pond and rain on their parade?

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Cut the Military Budget--II

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Nation - By Barney Frank - Feb. 15 (Opinion) - When I asked him years ago what he thought about military spending as stimulus, Alan Greenspan, to his credit, noted that from an economic standpoint military spending was like insurance: if necessary to meet its primary need, it had to be done, but it was not good for the economy; and to the extent that it could be reduced, the economy would benefit.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.6 average - 9 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obama, Your Treasury Secretary's Plan Stinks -- Assume Responsibility and Take Care of It

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Marie Cocco - Feb. 15 (Opinion) - there is no concrete plan. Neither are there concrete numbers, though the presumption from the Treasury Department is something on the order of $2 trillion to be pumped into the financial system.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Stimulus struggle hints at a party showdown

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Janet Hook - Feb. 15 (News Report) - The monthlong struggle over the stimulus plan left behind a smoking battlefield of partisanship, but it also set the stage for a political collision on a scale seldom seen in Washington -- a showdown on a succession of even more divisive issues that could shadow the future of the two major parties. Against the background of the worst economic crisis in three-quarters of a century, Congress passed the $787-billion economic recovery bill without a single GOP vote in the House, and only three Republican votes in the Senate, the bare minimum to avoid a paralyzing filibuster. Economists across the political spectrum widely agree that some sort of federal action on an unprecedented scale is urgently needed.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obama to Work on Executive-Pay Limits After Industry Complaints

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Bloomberg - By Brian Faler, Ryan Donmoyer - Feb. 15 (News Report) - The Obama administration pledged to work with Congress on limiting executive pay at banks that get federal bailout money as critics said tough new restrictions in economic-stimulus legislation will prompt talented managers to leave. The limits, championed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, were tucked into the $787 billion fiscal stimulus bill approved Feb. 13 by Congress. President Barack Obama plans to sign the stimulus bill into law Feb. 17 in Denver, said his spokeswoman, Jen Psaki.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

The New Filibuster

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Think Progress - By Matthew Yglesias - Feb. 15 (Opinion) - Kevin Drum raises an important point, namely that “The filibuster was never intended to become a routine requirement that all legislation needs 60% of the vote in the Senate to pass.” Indeed, the filibuster was never intended at all. A few years into the existence of the U.S. Senate, they undertook a review of their rules. A determination was made that the motion to end debate was unnecessary, so it was removed from the rulebook. The Senators who made that decision suffered from a lack of imagination, because they didn’t see that having stripped it from the rulebook they’d created a situation in which a minority could block action on legislation. You can tell they didn’t intend to do that because there was no filibustering for a while. But under this second rule-set, in principle a minority of one could block legislation.

NewsTrust Rating: 2.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

President Honors Pledge to Post Bills Before Signing

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

cato-at-liberty.org - By Jim Harper - Feb. 15 (Opinion) - Friday afternoon, the White House blog announced that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was posted online for public comment. This looked like good evidence that the President intends to honor his campaign promise to post legislation online and take public comment for five days before signing it. But it’s not great evidence of that. The Whitehouse.gov post went up at 2:05 pm, but the House didn’t vote until 2:24 pm and the Senate voted at 05:29 pm. (Click on the “votes” to see how your representatives did.) As of Saturday afternoon, the Thomas legislative tracking system doesn’t indicate that the bill has been presented to the President yet. And news reports indicate that the President will sign the bill on Monday, three days after it was “pre-posted.”

NewsTrust Rating: 2.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

A Smaller, Faster Stimulus Plan, but Still With a Lot of Money

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By David M. Herszenhorn - Feb. 14 (News Analysis) - If nothing else, the plan is a striking return of big government. It also symbolizes continuing partisanship, despite Mr. Obama’s promise of new cooperation. No House Republican voted for the measure, and the three in the Senate who did are viewed as renegades by their party’s leadership.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obama Scores Early Victory of Historic Proportions

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Michael D. Shear, Alec MacGillis - Feb. 14 (News Analysis) - Twenty-four days into his presidency, Barack Obama recorded last night a legislative achievement of the sort that few of his predecessors achieved at any point in their tenure.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Stalled Switch to Digital TV A Classic Tale of Breakdown

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Kim Hart, Peter Whoriskey - Feb. 14 (Special Report) - The nation's switch to all-digital broadcasts has been more than a decade in the making. The federal government has spent nearly $2 billion to help people prepare. Broadcasters spent another $1.2 billion to run warning ads and millions more to upgrade equipment. Until last week, the United States seemed ready to follow the half-dozen European countries that have made the switch.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Defence role in CIA's secret jails

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Age - Feb. 14 (News Report) - THREE human rights groups have obtained documents that confirm US Department of Defence involvement in the CIA's "ghost" detention program, and the existence of secret prisons at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and in Iraq.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.4 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Hoyer Speaks on Bipartisanship, Regular Order at Georgetown University's Transition Conference