Conor Kenny's News Articles

Congresspedia Review: This Week in Congress (April. 7 - 11, 2008)

by Conor Kenny — April 16, 2008 - 3:10am
  • Topics: Election 2008, U.S. Congress

    • The big stories on Congress last week were the Senate's passage of a housing crisis bill, House Democrats delaying the U.S.-Columbia Free Trade Agreement and testimony by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

    President Bush had thrown down the gauntlet on Monday by submitting the Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress for approval. Under the Trade Promotion Authority (or "fast track" authority) rules in place, the House had 60 days to give the agreement an up-or-down vote and the Senate had 30 following that. House Democrats, however, were able to parry his move by invoking a part of the Trade Promotion Authority law that affirms "the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedures of that House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as any other rule of that House," and passed a resolution removing the deadline in this case.

    Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (April. 12 - 18, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — April 14, 2008 - 11:41am
  • Topics: This Week In Congress

    • By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas

    As Americans rush to finish their tax returns on Tuesday, Congress is also hustling to finish the Farm Bill and a housing crisis package while gearing up for fights over Iraq War funding.

    The 2002 Farm bill is set to expire on April 18th, and members of both chambers are scrambling to work out an extension. Substantial debate remains, however, over the bill's overall price tag: the $10 billion increase initially floated has been countered by House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), who, with the support of House Republicans, wants to limit the increase to $5.5 billion.

    Peterson’s proposal would also strip out a disaster relief program championed by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). Peterson cited "pay as you go" rules as his reason for opposing the program. On the flip side, Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) was upset that his proposed food stamps increase, coupled with tax breaks for farmers, was left out of the Senate version.

    (More on this weeks' legislation and a complete list of this week's committee hearings after the jump.)

    Congresspedia Review: This Week in Congress (March 31 - Apr. 4, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — April 9, 2008 - 12:24pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • The mortgage crisis bill was the big action in Congress last week, with other movement on the global AIDS program and endangered species designation for polar bears. Two Democratic congressmen also had big days in court, five superdelegates came out for Obama, too and it wouldn't be 2008 without several members announcing retirement from Congress.

    Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) unveiled a bipartisan compromise housing bill that gives $6 billion to homebuilders and other businesses suffering from the economic downturn but provides little relief for struggling homeowners. Dodd and Shelby said the bill was just a starting point and Democrats hope to include a provision stridently opposed by most congressional Republicans and the mortgage industry to allow judges to reduce high interest rates and even loan amounts on "underwater" home mortgages of people entering bankruptcy.

    (More after the jump...)

    Congresspedia Wiki-the-Vote Congressional Elections Update

    by Conor Kenny — April 3, 2008 - 3:33pm
  • Topics: Election 2008, U.S. Congress

    • By Avelino Maestas, Congresspedia Assistant Managing Editor

    With all the focus on the 2008 presidential elections (and the superdelegates) it’s easy to forget that we're in the middle of Congressional elections, too. In recent weeks, we’ve also seen a number of announcement regarding incumbents retiring, resigning, or looking to move up the political ladder.

    Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (March 31 - Apr. 4, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — March 31, 2008 - 2:09pm
  • Topics: This Week In Congress

    • Senators and representatives return to work today following a two-week recess to once again find the struggling economy dictating their schedules. The mortgage crisis is continuing, and home foreclosures are on the rise. In addition, cities across the country are bracing for an oversupply of housing units as construction of new homes and condos—began while the housing bubble was at its peak—is completed. Meanwhile, taxpayers are waiting for rebate checks that were part of a stimulus package approved last month.

    In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to vote on a second stimulus package meant to relieve pressure on the housing market and on homeowners. Under the Senate measure, municipalities would share $4 billion in grants for the restoration of foreclosed homes. The bill would also provide $200 million for loan counselors, and would amend bankruptcy law to allow judges to modify mortgages for individuals on the verge of bankruptcy.

    The bankruptcy provision is a bitter pill for the banking industry, which has lobbied for its removal from the legislation. In addition, Senate Republicans are striving to insert their own amendments: a limit on plaintiff attorneys’ fees and an extension of President George W. Bush’s 2001 tax cuts.

    While there’s plenty to get done on the economic front, Congress will also take up legislation regarding the Iraq war in April. House leaders are drafting an “emergency” supplemental spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, since Pentagon officials have refused to include the wars in their normal budget requests. Democrats are saddling the legislation with a slew of domestic priorities, hoping to force tough votes for GOP members.

    There's more—including committee meeting schedules—after the break.

    Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (March. 7 - 14, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — March 10, 2008 - 3:23pm

    There’s five days remaining before a two-week spring recess, and Congress will probably remain bitterly divided as it continues work on the 2009 federal budget. Also this week, a March 15 deadline is fast approaching for some type of agreement on the long-delayed Farm bill, while lawmakers will question the Air Force over a recent contract for airborne fuel-tankers, and discuss proposed cuts to a popular community revitalization program.

    The tax cuts pushed by President Bush earlier in this term aren’t set to expire for another two years, but they’re figuring heavily into discussions in the 2009 federal budget. The cuts extend to some middle-income brackets and were approved with bipartisan support. However, they automatically sunset in 2010.

    While Democrats haven’t signaled whether they would let the cuts expire at that time, the budget resolutions working their way through the House and Senate are based on Congressional Budget Office guidelines. Since the CBO relies on current law for projections, the House and Senate resolutions assume some additional revenue would be generated when the cuts expire.

    Republicans will be quick to jump at an opportunity to blame the majority for any spending supported by new taxes. That presents a problem for House and Senate Democrats, who respectively have included $12 billion and $18 billion in increases for domestic programs.

    President Bush has vowed to veto any budget bills that exceed his proposal, setting up a repeat of the 2008 budget, when continuing resolutions were used to keep the government running while Congress and the White House battled over appropriations bills.

    For more, including committee schedules, keep reading after the break:

    Citizen-Driven Superdelegate Transparency Project Provides Best Superdelegate Reporting - Anywhere

    by Conor Kenny — March 6, 2008 - 4:21pm
  • Topics: Superdelegates 2008, Citizen Journalism, Election 2008, Democracy

    • The motley crew of citizen journalists, activists, bloggers and transparency advocates that make up the Superdelegate Transparency Project (STP) have produced the best, most transparent and highly detailed reporting on the Democratic superdelegates - anywhere. Through collaborative research with nearly 300 citizen journalists, the folks at DemConWatch, LiteraryOutpost, the HuffPost's OffTheBus project, OpenLeft and CMD's Congresspedia have produced a tally that rivals or bests those of the major media outlets. The STP even breaks the numbers down by state and congressional district with ever-expanding bios of hundreds of superdelegates AND we now have a wicked-cool live-updating widget.

    Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (Feb. 29 - March 7, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — March 4, 2008 - 2:12pm
  • Topics: This Week In Congress

    • The House and Senate will begin laying the groundwork for the 2009 federal budget this week, with proposals coming from the Senate Finance Committee and from the House and Senate budget and appropriations committees. Also this week, a compromise might be reached on electronic surveillance, with some saying a bill could head to the President by the end of next week.

    The budget proposals — to be unveiled on Wednesday — are produced with two separate frameworks: each resolution is non-binding, but includes policy priorities in “reserve funds” and “reconciliation” instructions. Reconciliation instructions are provided to authorizing committees, which then produce a set dollar amount to fund policy priorities based on spending and taxation. The reserve funds, on the other hand, must follow “paygo” rules, and be offset by revenue increases or spending cuts.

    Bush Administration officials have already threatened a veto for any budget proposals that exceeds the president' spending goals.

    More on FISA, ethics reform, consumer protection and the week's committee schedules below...

    Congresspedia Review: This Week in Congress (Feb. 22 - 29, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — February 29, 2008 - 5:27pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • While several measures advanced by the Senate were stripped from the economic stimulus bill signed earlier this month by President Bush, Democrats this week were still pushing for their inclusion in a second stimulus package. Also, negotiations continued on the long-debated farm bill extension, the Senate briefly discussed a withdrawal timetable for Iraq, and the House fought over a proposal for an independent ethics panel.

    Congresspedia Review: This Week in Congress (Feb. 9 - 15, 2008)

    by Conor Kenny — February 15, 2008 - 10:30am
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • Democrats in Congress this week challenged their Republicans colleagues in the House and Senate and the Bush Administration, approving contempt citations for two White House aides and a controversial intelligence authorization that drew a veto threat from President Bush.

    The animosity on the Hill came on the heels of a bipartisan push to approve an economic stimulus package, which Bush signed on Wednesday. The spirit of compromise that ushered the stimulus bill through Congress in less than two weeks was quickly erased when the debate over intelligence reform resumed this week.

    When Democrats in the House approved contempt citations for former White House counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton – rather than conference with the Senate on a reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – GOP members walked out and staged a protest on the Capitol steps.

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