Earlier this week, it was Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) being targeted by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which is hoping that some liberal lawmaker will stand up to insist that the public insurance option be included as part of the Democrats’ final health reform bill. Today, the group launched More…
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) reiterated his long-standing concern that surging U.S. troops in Afghanistan will destabilize Pakistan. Why can’t the Pakistanis move more decisively against extremists if our surge places pressure on their side of the border?
Gen. David Petraeus replied that he hears from his Pakistani counterparts that “you More…
“Syndicate of terror” was how Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton described the relationship between al-Qaeda and the various insurgent and terrorist networks across the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a position eagerly endorsed by her colleagues Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen. Anticipating the argument that the syndicate More…
Anticipating that the debate over reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act will soon come to the Senate floor, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday asked Attorney General Eric Holder to declassify key information about how the law’s “business records provision” has More…
The push is on to dilute the climate change bills moving through Congress, and it’s not coming only from conservatives. Mother Jones’ Kate Sheppard reports today that 14 Senate Democrats are urging their leadership to amend the proposal to grant more free polluting permits to the coal-burning utilities More…
A group of 10 Democratic senators today reintroduced legislation designed to end the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine — a long-standing push that never quite seems to get enacted.
In a statement, the lawmakers cite the reasoning behind the proposal.
Under current law, possession of five grams of
I’ve been tracking the progress of Rep. Jack Kingston’s (R-Ga.) Czar Accountability and Reform (CZAR) Act of 2009, the legislation that would kill the salaries of Obama appointees not confirmed by the Senate. As of today, Kingston has found 116 co-sponsors, including Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the party’s whip, More…
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was none too pleased with The New York Times this morning. At the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup session of the Patriot Act Sunset Extension Act, which would extend several provisions of the controversial law with only minor modifications, she went out of her way to read More…
Kate Phillips has all you need to know about yesterday’s hearing on the “constitutionality of czars,” called by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) and taking the form of a friendly dialogue between him, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and some witnesses. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also appeared, asking questions that were more More…
Greg Sargent has the letter from White House Counsel Greg Craig to Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), answering some of the worries he and other senators have expressed about the high-level administration officials appointed without the advise and consent of the Senate. Sargent sums up Craig’s points, which should More…
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