Pan Blaiz: JFK's warning speech that... John F Kennedy last WARNING speech to the WORLD. Oil Pipeline: Nebraskans vs. the State Department. - Room for Debate. Roosevelt Institute lauds Feingold for freedom work. 111th United States Congress. Congressional leaders meeting with President Obama, November 30, 2010. Major events[edit] Major legislation[edit] Enacted[edit] Health care reform[edit] At the encouragement of the Obama administration, Congress devoted significant time considering health care reform. Proposed[edit] (in alphabetical order) See also: Active Legislation, 111th Congress, via senate.gov Vetoed[edit] Treaties ratified[edit] December 22, 2010: New START (111-5) Major nomination hearings[edit] January to April 2009: Senate held confirmation hearings for Barack Obama's cabinet.July 13–16, 2009: Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the United States Supreme Court.June 28–30, 2010: Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Elena Kagan's appointment to the United States Supreme Court.
Impeachments[edit] H.Res. 520: Judge Samuel B. Party summary[edit] Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Changes in membership" section, below. Senate[edit] Leadership[edit] Obama Weekly Address: Education Agenda Helps Students, Jobless. WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says kids and the economy will benefit from the changes he's making in education policy and his plan to spend billions to upgrade schools and keep teachers on the job. Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to push his $447 billion jobs bill through the prism of education. He recapped steps he has authorized to let states opt out of unpopular proficiency standards because Congress has been slow to update the existing law. "If we're serious about building an economy that lasts, an economy in which hard work pays off with the opportunity for solid middle-class jobs, we had better be serious about education," Obama said.
"We have to pick up our game and raise our standards. " Obama said the package of tax cuts and direct spending he has sent to Congress would put tens of thousands of teachers back to work and modernize at least 35,000 schools. "Our kids only get one shot at a decent education. In the weekly Republican message, Sen. Global Witness welcomes landmark U.S. effort to curb corruption and promote transparency. The United States’ dual pledge to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and to support legislation that would stop U.S. states from allowing secretive front companies to be set up represents an important step forward in the global fight against corruption and corporate secrecy, said campaign group Global Witness.
Announced on Tuesday, September 20th by President Obama, these measures form key elements of the U.S. Open Government Partnership National Action Plan. “Transparency is the building block of any fair society and key to breaking the cycle of corruption that blights the lives of millions of people across the globe,” said Alexander Soros, member of Global Witness’s new Advisory Board. “Today’s announcement therefore represents an important step forward in this battle. Let’s hope this significant demonstration of leadership is emulated across the globe.”
Oil and mining revenue transparency U.S. An end to secret U.S. front companies / Ends Contact: A Call for Fairness. IBM's Many Bills: This Law Visualization Tool Can Help Unlock Legislative Dealings. The question of what Congress is doing has always been difficult to answer. Most of us refer to back to SchoolHouse Rock's classic "How A Bill Becomes a Law" as the definitive guide to the legislative process. When politicians bury backroom deals or draft duplicitous legislation, investigating the origins and significance of new legislation is that much harder. IBM has saved you the trouble with its new legislative visualizer called Many Bills. No more trolling through the Congressional Record to uncover our elected officials' tricky dealings! Now you can do it all from the safety of your own home with Many Bills' visual explorer. Okay, so not many of us are digging through the public record during an early morning web session. But plenty of professionals--and engaged citizens--will benefit from Many Bills' clear analysis of representatives' legislative activity, latest submissions, and connections with the rest of the Washington establishment.
[Hat Tip: The Solutions Journal] Al Franken Calls For ‘Explicit Ban’ On Discrimination Against LGBT Students. FDR: Grilled Millionaires Speech. Elizabeth Warren: A Progressive Worth Fighting For | From the Wire. The Nation September 14, 2011 Elizabeth Warren: A Progressive Worth Fighting For Elizabeth Warren is running for the United States Senate for the right reason and with the right message. In fact, her reason and her message are the same—a bit of political calculus that ought not be lost on Democrats who seem so frequently to stumble when it comes to aligning their ambitions and themes. Warren wants to change the economic debate in a country where the poverty rate is rising, the middle-class is shrinking, the rich are getting dramatically richer and the corporations are writing the rules. In Warren’s words, working families have been “chipped at, hacked at, squeezed and hammered for a generation now, and I don’t think Washington gets it.” “Washington is rigged for big corporations that hire armies of lobbyists,” she continued.
From a messaging standpoint, that is precisely the right place to begin a major 2012 campaign—with a bow to reality and an embrace of populism. Read more » Howard Dean: Obama's Job Act is 'Brilliant' Teachers union launches ad campaign supporting Obama jobs bill - The Hill's Video. The National Education Association (NEA) launched a multistate television ad campaign Wednesday in support of President Obama's American Jobs Act. The 30-second television ad urges lawmakers to vote for the legislation, with several children saying school programs are being cut and teachers are being laid off. The president's proposal includes $30 billion to pay for teachers and another $30 billion to modernize schools.
NEA is the nation's largest union, with 3.2 million members made up of teachers and other education staff. "The American Jobs Act is a win-win for the American people," NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said in a statement. "Congress can choose to put students ahead of political gridlock by supporting a bill that puts Americans back to work, modernizes our schools, and puts educators in classrooms instead of on the unemployment lines. " The ad will air in Washington, D.C., and five states: Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Titivil: Elizabeth Warren on class warfare: You built a factory out there? Good... Obama’s plan. Most of the news tonight about Obama’s $3 trillion deficit reduction plan focuses on the increased taxes on millionaires it includes. This is the so called “Buffett rule” that would prevent the ultra-rich from paying lower average tax rates than the middle class. But what about his plan for health care programs?
Here’s all I’ve seen so far, from the Wall Street Journal: The president will also propose changes to Medicare and Medicaid that would reduce the deficit by about $300 billion over 10 years. [...]Mr. Obama won’t call for raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67, an idea he was willing to agree to in negotiations this summer with House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio). Hitting providers and not beneficiaries–not directly anyway–is good electoral politics and challenging interest group politics. Details are expected to be announced on Monday. UPDATE: Jon Cohn is reporting some different numbers over 10 years: U.S. keeps eight nations on religious freedom blacklist. By Agence France-PresseTuesday, September 13, 2011 18:47 EDT WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged governments Tuesday to do more to defend religious freedom as Washington released a report citing eight countries with troubling records on the issue.
“We reaffirm the role that religious freedom and tolerance play in building stable and harmonious societies. Hatred and intolerance are destabilizing,” Clinton said, releasing the State Department’s International Religious Freedom report for the second half of 2010. The report named China, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Uzbekistan, a list unchanged since 2009, as “countries of particular concern” regarding religious freedom. Ten other countries were cited for failing to sufficiently protect religious rights: Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam. “No religious group is immune from government coercion and harassment.
Industrial Hemp Farming Bill Passes Assembly. Four Southern California counties given a 'golden opportunity' in this pilot program. Legislation that would allow the cultivation of industrial hemp in the Central Valley counties of Kern, Kings and San Joaquin plus Imperial County in Southern California was approved by the Assembly Wednesday on a 46-19 vote. Senate Bill 676, authored by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, allows California farmers to grow industrial hemp for the legal sale of seed, oil and fiber to manufacturers. “Hundreds of consumer products containing hemp are made in California, but the manufacturers of these goods are forced to import hemp seed, oil and fiber from growers in Canada, Europe and China,” says Mr. Leno. “Family farmers are missing out on a golden opportunity to grow hemp, which can help expand their businesses, create jobs and stimulate the economy.”
Mr. THC is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical found in marijuana, a plant related to industrial hemp. House Democrats push legislation to overturn Citizens United ruling. A pair of House Democrats introduced legislation Tuesday to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling that freed corporations to spend unlimited money on elections. Sponsored by Reps. John Conyers (Mich.), senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and Donna Edwards (D-Md.), the proposal would amend the Constitution to empower Congress and the states to limit corporate spending on political activities. “Last year, the Supreme Court overturned decades of law and declared open season on our democracy,” Conyers said in a news release. “It is individual voters who should determine the future of this nation, not corporate money.” In the controversial Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court ruled that government limits on corporate funding of political broadcasts for or against individual candidates violate the rights to free speech guaranteed under the Constitution.
FAA expects to land $5.4B in stopgap funds - Seung Min Kim. Alan Grayson: My 10-Year-Old's Jobs Program. I like to help my children with their homework, whenever I have time. (And since January, I've had more time.) It's great to help them -- I know all the answers, and I never have to take the exams. Last night, we tried something different. They helped me with my homework. A math problem: "We are spending $159,000,000,000.00 on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. If we ended the wars, brought the troops home, took that money, and created decent jobs paying $30,000 apiece in the United States, then how many jobs would we create? " Skye, the 16-year-old, took out her phone, clicked on the calculator app, and gave the answer: "5,300,000 jobs. " Correct. I asked the 12-year-old, Star, and the 10-year-old, Sage. Then I asked the 6-year-old twins, Storm and Stone.
OK, so we have a jobs program that a 10-year-old can understand. And what would that jobs program do to the unemployment rate? As opposed to spending our money in Iraq, on Iraq. That's what happens to our tax dollars spent in Iraq. Obama Jobs Plan: American Jobs Act Would Make Small Dent In Unemployment Rate. WASHINGTON -- Even if Congress heeds President Barack Obama's demands to "pass this bill right away" and enacts his jobs and tax plan in its entirety, the unemployment rate probably still would hover in nosebleed territory for at least three more years.
Why? Because the 1.9 million new jobs the White House says the bill would produce in 2012 falls short of what it's needed to put the economy back on track to return to pre-recession jobless levels of under 6 percent, from today's rate of 9.1 percent. That's how deep the jobs hole is. The persistent weakness of the U.S. economy has left 14 million people unemployed and more than 25 million unable to find full-time work. Economists of all stripes pretty much agree that it will be a long, hard road no matter what Congress does. Obama estimates his American Jobs Act would lower unemployment by just a single percentage point by next year, to just over 8 percent, heading into the 2012 presidential election. Hot News & Views. CNN Poll: Respondents Give Lukewarm Favor To Jobs Act That's Full Of Policies They Support. Sen. Bernie Sanders: We are in one of the greatest political struggles | Raw Replay. Lawmakers to IRS: Clear up tax issues for same-sex couples.
A group of roughly 75 House members, almost exclusively Democrats, is pushing the IRS to clean up issues that same-sex married couples and domestic partners face in filing their taxes. Overall, 15 states recognize either same-sex marriages or domestic partnerships, with New York becoming the sixth state to allow same-sex couples to marry this summer. But the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in the 1990s, means the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages, leading to filing confusion that the group of lawmakers wants the IRS to address. “Now, more than ever, our tax system must be simplified for taxpayers and provide for efficient and economical administration of our tax laws,” the lawmakers, spearheaded by Rep.
Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), wrote to Doug Shulman, the IRS commissioner. As the letter notes, Nina Olson, the nation’s taxpayer advocate, cited some of the issues same-sex couples face in her 2010 annual report to Congress. Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires. Scott Eells/Bloomberg News, left; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The investor Warren E.
Buffett, left, inspired the name of President Obama's proposal. With a special joint Congressional committee starting work to reach a bipartisan budget deal by late November, the proposal adds a new and populist feature to Mr. Obama’s effort to raise the political pressure on Republicans to agree to higher revenues from the wealthy in return for Democrats’ support of future cuts from and . Mr. Mr. Mr. In a speech on Thursday, Speaker John A. “Tax increases, however, are not a viable option for the joint committee,” Mr. The Obama proposal has little chance of becoming law unless Republican lawmakers bend. It could also reassure Democrats who have feared that Mr. The millionaires’ tax is among several changes Mr. The millionaires’ rate would affect only 0.3 percent of taxpayers, they said.
Mr. Mr. Mr. Echoes of Nixon’s Order on ITT Deal in Democrats’ Letter to Obama on AT&T - Washington Wire. Main Street Fairness Act | The New Rules Project. Sponsored by Senator Mike Enzi and 19 other Senators, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 would allow states, provided they have met certain conditions, to require large internet and mail-order retailers to collect state and local sales taxes. To exercise this authority, a state must either 1) adopt legislation implementing the provisions of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which requires states to adhere to uniform definitions, filing requirements, and other rules regarding sales tax collection, or 2) adopt legislation to exercise the state’s authority under this act and meet the minimum specifications the act spells out, including providing remote sellers with free and regularly updated software to collect and remit sales taxes.
The Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 exempts online and catalog retailers that have less than $1,000,000 a year in out-of-state sales from having to collect sales tax. This Act may be cited as the `Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013′. (A) Provide– Obama plan: raise taxes on wealthy to pay for jobs creation. U.S. to require bankruptcy plans from ‘too big to fail’ firms.
Sen. Sanders champions liberal charge against money's influence in politics. 'God Bless America'? Not in high school math class, US judges rule. Court strikes down ban on soliciting day laborers. Weekly Address: Passing the American Jobs Act. Obama reconnects with Black Caucus - Joseph Williams. Progressive Politics Needs More Woman Politicians. Cleaver: If Obama wasn't president, we would be ‘marching on the White House’ ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ officially ending - The Federal Eye. When you talk too much for Twitter. Sen: Sherrod Brown: Congress Should Have Same Retirement Age As Public In Spirit of 'Shared Sacrifice' Dems Float Surtax On Millionaires To Pay For Jobs Bill. Kind of a big deal: $1.6 billion coming for energy efficiency projects. Release: Tax Time? Not for Giant Corporations - Newsroom: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont) Cocacabana - An FP Photo Essay By Jared P. Moossy.
Fed Defies GOP Pleas To Not Do Anything to Help the Economy. Roosevelt Institute lauds Feingold for freedom work. Cleta Mitchell Wrong Again. Washington Leaders Celebrate Citizenship and Immigrant Integration. Rep. Grijalva introduces Border Infrastructure and Jobs Act. Bradley Manning and Julian Assange Both Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.