U.S. Congress

"Wiki the Vote" Project on Congresspedia Profiles Congressional Candidates in the 2008 Election

by Conor Kenny — October 9, 2007 - 1:51pm
  • Topics: Citizen Journalism, U.S. Congress, Democracy

    • On Tuesday, the Center for Media and Democracy and the Sunlight Foundation launched a new collaborative, citizen-driven project on Congresspedia to build profiles on the hundreds of challengers for congressional seats, which will compliment the existing profiles on every member of Congress. The project is non-partisan and, in true open-source fashion, is free for anyone to participate -- even the candidates themselves.

    Even for official party nominees, information on challengers is usually woefully inadequate and information on primary challengers is often nearly non-existent. The explosion of citizen blogging in the last few years has created a wealth of individual opinions and perspectives, but what has been lacking is a central repository of collaboratively produced, in-depth and accurate information. The Wiki the Vote project, due to its easily editable wiki format, will be just that.

    Congresspedia Review: Last Week in Congress (Oct. 1 - 5, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — October 9, 2007 - 5:33am
  • Topics: Iraq, This Week In Congress, U.S. Congress

    • The big two issues in the 2008 elections - health care and the war - dominated the news out of the Capitol dome this week while (of course) more federal investigations into members of Congress slowly moved forward and yet another senate Republican announced his retirement.

    President Bush vetoed the significant expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), but Democrats have vowed to pass it again, this time with a veto-proof majority.

    Preview: Congress This Week (October 1-5, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — October 1, 2007 - 4:58pm
  • Topics: This Week In Congress, U.S. Congress

    • The big issues this week include whether President Bush will carry through on his threat to veto the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion, which had broad support from Republicans in addition to all Democrats. Congressional Democrats are also likely this week to respond to Bush's request last week for an additional $42 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which brings 2008's total to $190 billion.

    For information on what's happening in the committees, see below for a full listing of committee hearings, courtesy of GovTrack.us.

    Hearings Schedules:

    Pill Pushers Avoid Advertising Restrictions

    by Bob Burton — October 1, 2007 - 2:26am

    Congress has jettisoned proposed amendments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) legislation that would have expanded the agency's powers over drug industry direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns promoting prescription drugs.

    Main Source: 
    Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2007

    Congresspedia Review: Last Week in Congress (Sept. 17-21, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — September 23, 2007 - 11:43pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • It was heady week in Congress, with developments in two investigations of members Congress and a series of votes on Iraq deployments, habeas corpus for War on Terror detainees, health insurance for low-income children, trade with Peru, a seat in the House of Representatives for Washington, D.C., the housing credit crisis and MoveOn's controversial ad. The headlines are below, but you can find more details, including how your members of Congress voted, by clicking through the links to the full Congresspedia articles.

    Washington, Will You Be Mine?

    by Diane Farsetta — September 18, 2007 - 3:12pm

    "The mining industry is confronted with a very challenging environment," said Kraig Naasz, the new head of the U.S. industry lobby group National Mining Association (NMA).

    Main Source: 
    The Hill (Washington DC), September 18, 2007

    Preview: Congress This Week (Sept. 17 - 21, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — September 17, 2007 - 9:30am
  • Topics: This Week In Congress, U.S. Congress

    • In the coming week the Senate will continue to debate the Fiscal Year 2008 defense budget after last week's testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker, which will provide a platform for general debate on the Iraq War and measures to begin withdrawing troops. It will also look at a bill to provide a congressional seat for Washington, D.C. The House will take on the Federal Aviation Administration section of the federal budget and, through the Financial Services Committee, will take up legislation to increase federal backing of low and middle income mortgages.

    Know anything about these issues? Click the links to the articles above and add what you find. A complete list of the week's congressional hearings are below, courtesy of Govtrack.

    Hearings Schedules:

    The Week In Congress (September 10-September 14, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — September 13, 2007 - 4:03pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • The main event this week on Capitol Hill was General Petraeus's testimony on the situation in Iraq. Between the testimony and the shortened week due to Rosh Hashanah, the Senate still had time to get through one major appropriations bill and preempt a vote on a resolution defending Gen. Petraeus that Senate Republicans were trying to tack onto it. Also, President Bush was expected to sign the Senate ethics and transparency bill, S.1, on Friday. More details can be found below and the links go to the full Congresspedia articles. Remember, Congresspedia is a wiki, so if you would like to add to these articles or record your representatives' votes, head on over and click "edit":

    Coming Up This Week in Congress (Week of Sept. 10th, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — September 10, 2007 - 9:17am
  • Topics: This Week In Congress, U.S. Congress

    • The marquee events in Congress this week will be the hearings in both chambers of Congress with testimony from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the Iraq War. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will also hear testimony from Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and FBI Director Robert Mueller on the July National Intelligence Estimate, which claimed that Al-Quaeda had largely rebuilt itself to pre-Afghanistan War levels. Most of these hearings, whose schedules are listed below, are available for live viewing via C-SPAN.

    Also on the Senate's agenda is the $104.7 billion Transportation-Housing and Urban Development Fiscal Year 2008 funding bill, which currently exceeds President Bush's budget request by $3.1 billion and may receive a veto threat from him. With the beginning of Rosh Hashana on Wednesday evening, business in the Capitol will largely cease for the week.

    Hearings Schedules:

    The Week In Congress (September 3-September 7, 2007)

    by Conor Kenny — September 7, 2007 - 2:44pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress

    • It was an eventful week on Capitol Hill, as Congress returned from its August recess and dug into a series of spending bills that must be completed by the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. The nutshell versions of the major bills that received action are below and the links go to their full Congresspedia articles.

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