U.S. Congress

"I Shop. Therefore I Give."

by Judith Siers-Poisson — December 22, 2007 - 12:59pm

'Tis the season of gift giving, and of retailers trying to grab as much of their market share as they can. While encouraging consumerism and excessive consumption, sellers also seek to tap into nobler urges toward benevolence and charity at this time of year.

Main Source: 
<i>New York Times</i>, December 22, 2007

Featured Participatory Project: Add to the Congresspedia Voting Record Resource Center

by Conor Kenny — December 11, 2007 - 5:52pm

Wading through the thousands of votes that Congress performs each year can be an arduous task, but the CMD staff has created the Congresspedia Voting Record Resource Center to help you get to the bottom of what your senators and representative have been doing in Washington. There you'll find step-by-step instructions on how to add information on how they voted on topics like immigration, torture and children's healthcare to their "permanent record" - their Congresspedia profile.

Main Source: 
Congresspedia Voting Record Resource Center

Congresspedia Review: Last Week in Congress (Nov. 30 - Dec. 7, 2007)

by Conor Kenny — December 10, 2007 - 11:07am
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • As predicted, Congress' tackling of energy and climate change issues was cause for a contentious week on Capitol Hill, though they it did come several steps closer to passing a far-reaching bill. The federal budget took a back seat to other, controversial subjects - including more drama with House pages, congressional transparency and the farm bill - but that ensures it will return to the spotlight next week.

    Featured Participatory Project: Recording Your Senators' Votes on Immigration Reform (U.S.)

    by Conor Kenny — November 28, 2007 - 9:09am

    On Congresspedia we are continuing to profile important votes this year in Congress as a way of building the same kind of "permanent records" for members of Congress that school kids used to get threatened with.

    Featured Participatory Project: Record Whether Your Senator Voted to Confirm Bush's A.G. Pick

    by Conor Kenny — November 14, 2007 - 9:56am

    Michael Mukasey was confirmed as the Attorney General of the United States by the Senate last week in a contentious 53-40 vote.

    Main Source: 
    Congresspedia

    Praise the Lord and Pass the Prosperity

    by Sheldon Rampton — November 8, 2007 - 6:17pm

    Iowa Senator Charles Grassley (Republican-Iowa) is investigating reports of lavish spending by Christian televangelists, including Joyce Meyer,

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, November 7, 2007

    Guest Post: Is This the Best We Can Do For Global Warming?

    by Conor Kenny — November 7, 2007 - 2:56pm
  • Topics: Global Warming, U.S. Congress

    • This is a guest post by Donny Shaw, who runs OpenCongress. A joint project of the Sunlight Foundation and the Participatory Politics Foundation, OpenCongress lets you research, track, and understand legislation in Congress.

    (That's not a rhetorical question.)

    As expected, the Senate has chosen to move forward with the the most lenient global warming bill among the several it had to choose from. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner's (R-VA) cap-and-trade bill, the America's Climate Security Act of 2007 was marked up favorably by the Private Solutions to Global Warming Subcommittee by a vote of 4-3. It will now move to the full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for a vote before going to the Senate floor.

    The bill would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by about 63 percent below present levels by 2050 through setting limits on the emissions that manufacturers and utilities can release. It would also establish a carbon-trade market to encourage polluters to clean up their operation in the name of profit, but it contains loopholes that would give away many of the carbon credits instead of selling them at auction, thus severely weakening the incentives for reducing pollution. Another bill that has been competing for traction with Lieberman-Warner calls for mandatory reduction of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, closer to what many consider to be the scientific consensus as to what needs to be done to avoid the worst effects of global warming. And that bill would sell the carbon credit rather than give them away.

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