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Keyword: lawmakers

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  • WRAPUP 9-Obama, Lawmakers Fall Short On US Debt Deal

    07/12/2011 3:44:30 AM PDT · by Biggirl · 5 replies
    http://www.reuters.com/ ^ | July 12, 2011 | Steve Holland And Thomas Ferraro
    WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and top U.S. lawmakers fell short on Monday of finding enough spending cuts for a deal to avoid an Aug. 2 debt default and Republicans came under fresh pressure to agree to tax hikes. The two sides achieved no breakthrough in a roughly 90-minute meeting and scheduled a third straight day of talks for Tuesday. This came after Obama, at a news conference, declared it is time for both Republicans and Democrats to "pull off the Band-aid, eat our peas" and make sacrifices. "If not now, when?" Obama said.
  • Lawmakers seek new immigration museum in DC (call for "melting pot museum" study)

    07/07/2011 7:57:39 PM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 18 replies
    Yahoo ^ | 7/7/11 | Brett Zongker - AP
    WASHINGTON (AP) — Several members of Congress called Thursday for a presidential commission to study the formation of a "melting pot museum" in Washington to tell the history of immigration and migration that formed the nation. Democratic Virginia Rep. Jim Moran introduced legislation Thursday that calls for studying the creation of a National Museum of the American People without any federal taxpayer funds. The bill had 11 other co-sponsors. "The people of the United States do not have a comprehensive and accurate picture of all the peoples who created and continue to build the nation," the bill says.
  • Lawmakers sue President Obama over Libya

    06/15/2011 11:51:30 AM PDT · by Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid! · 9 replies
    politico.com ^ | 6/15/11 12:06 PM EDT | REID J. EPSTEIN
    A bipartisan group of House members announced on Wednesday that it is filing a lawsuit charging that President Obama made an illegal end-run around Congress when he approved U.S military action against Libya. “With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who led the 10-member anti-war coalition with Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.). The White House is expected on Wednesday to deliver to Congress a much-anticipated report detailing military activity in...
  • CA: GOP lawmakers threaten to withhold votes unless environmental rules are rewritten

    03/16/2011 10:11:25 AM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 13 replies · 1+ views
    Los Angeles Times ^ | 3/16/11 | Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper
    The handful of Republican lawmakers most likely to provide crucial votes for Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan are threatening to withhold their support without a dramatic rewriting of state environmental law. The demand, pushed in private talks with the governor, would curtail lawsuits against projects threatening ecological damage, grant waivers to big telecommunications companies and exempt many urban developments from environmental review. The legislators have declined to share the details of their proposal publicly, but draft legislation to overhaul the law was obtained by The Times. Sweeping changes in the California Environmental Quality Act would stand little chance of approval...
  • NH Lawmakers To Work Late Wednesday...Because Of Poetry Contest

    03/16/2011 9:54:08 AM PDT · by Nachum · 3 replies
    Associated Press ^ | 3/16/11 | Staff
    Concord, N.H. - New Hampshire House lawmakers — not known for short speeches — plan to wax long into the night to free their chamber for a statewide poetry competition. The House had planned on meeting three days this week to vote on more than 250 bills. When they scheduled the three sessions, House Speaker William O’Brien had already promised the 2011 New Hampshire Poetry Out Loud program could hold its statewide championship in Representatives Hall at 7 p.m. Thursday. O’Brien hopes to finish the work on bills Wednesday night.
  • Some California lawmakers want easier access to carry concealed guns

    03/13/2011 8:50:28 PM PDT · by Nachum · 15 replies
    Los Angeles Times ^ | 3/13/11 | Patrick McGreevy
    The right to carry a concealed weapon in California is mostly reserved for those at risk of violence — jewelers, bail bondsmen and criminal prosecutors among them. But some legislators say their job has become dangerous too. Despite objections from some law enforcement officials and even gun rights advocates, they want a law that would make it easier for them to tote firearms for protection. The lawmakers cite the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in Tucson and threats from constituents in California as cause for permits to carry weapons. "I've had guys physically come up to me
  • Wis. lawmakers flee state to block anti-union bill

    02/17/2011 12:41:33 PM PST · by Nachum · 37 replies
    ap ^ | 2/17/11 | SCOTT BAUER,
    MADISON, Wis. – A group of Wisconsin lawmakers blocked passage of a sweeping anti-union bill Thursday by ignoring orders to attend a vote and instead left the state to force Republicans to negotiate over the proposal. As ever-growing throngs of protesters filled the Capitol for a third day, the 14 Democrats disappeared from the Capitol. They were not in their offices, and aides said they did not know where any of them had gone. Hours later, one of them told The Associated Press that the group had left Wisconsin. Sen. Jon Erpenbach said Democrats fled to slow down consideration of...
  • Cuban-American Lawmakers Blast Obama's Plan to Ease Cuba Travel Restrictions

    01/16/2011 8:47:16 AM PST · by Nachum · 24 replies
    Fox News ^ | 1/16/11 | Staff
    Republican lawmakers of Cuban descent sharply criticized President Obama's plans to loosen Cuban travel policy to allow students and church groups to go to the communist country, saying the changes will benefit the Castro regime while doing little for the average citizen. "Loosening these regulations will not help foster a pro-democracy environment in Cuba," said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "These changes will not aid in ushering in respect for human rights. And they certainly will not help the Cuban people free themselves from the tyranny that engulfs them."
  • Lawmakers consider new curbs on incendiary speech

    01/11/2011 9:56:35 AM PST · by Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid! · 39 replies
    thehill.com ^ | 01/10/11 08:52 PM ET | Russell Berman
    SNIP Several leading House Democrats blamed the inflammatory rhetoric for contributing to the Tucson massacre, while Republicans denounced criticism of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) following the tragedy. One lawmaker, Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.), has said he would introduce a bill to make it a crime to threaten or incite violence against a federal official. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) suggested the Federal Communications Commission was “not working anymore,” adding she would look at ways to better police language on the airwaves. A brick was thrown through a window of Slaughter’s district office last year. SNIP Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)...
  • Lawmakers recite Constitution on House floor (a begrudgingly bipartisan display of 'unity')

    01/06/2011 9:12:45 AM PST · by NormsRevenge · 11 replies
    Yahoo ^ | 1/6/11 | Jim abrams - ap
    WASHINGTON – And let it be said, on this second day following the convening of the 112th Congress, newly sworn members of the House shall stand and read aloud the Constitution of the United States. .. Republicans in charge of the chamber rattled it off with missionary zeal, .. Democrats pitched in, but with seemingly less ardor.
  • Tax Cut Bill Loaded With Deals for Lobbyists, Lawmakers (Another $857.8 billion added to debt)

    12/11/2010 11:13:29 AM PST · by Libloather · 37 replies
    Fox News ^ | 12/11/10
    Tax Cut Bill Loaded With Deals for Lobbyists, LawmakersAssociated Press Published December 11, 2010 WASHINGTON -- In the spirit of the holiday season, President Obama's tax-cut deal with Republicans is becoming a Christmas tree tinseled with gifts for lobbyists and lawmakers. But that hardly stopped the squabbling on Friday, with Bill Clinton even back at the White House pleading the president's case. While Republicans sat back quietly, mostly pleased, Democrats and other liberals were going at each other ever so publicly. As Clinton lectured on Obama's behalf, Vermont independent Bernie Sanders castigated the agreement for the TV cameras in the...
  • Lawmakers Seek Probe of TSA's Pat-Down Training After Reported Misbehavior

    11/22/2010 5:31:49 PM PST · by Nachum · 17 replies
    Fox News ^ | 11/22/10 | Staff
    In separate letters issued Monday, two U.S. lawmakers are looking for answers on the training and methods employed by Transportation Security Administration agents, including one congressman who wants to know why officers trailed a videographer who taped a kid stripped at the security gate. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who is expected to become chairman of the House oversight subcommittee responsible for the federal workforce, wrote President Obama demanding that he initiate a probe into why TSA officers followed around Luke Tait, a Utah Valley University student who on Friday recorded a young boy having his shirt removed by his father...
  • TSA chief likely to face lawmakers' questions on pat-downs, body scans

    11/17/2010 3:32:47 AM PST · by SkyPilot · 49 replies · 1+ views
    CNN ^ | 17 Nov 1089 | CNN Wire Staff
    Washington (CNN) -- The head of the Transportation Security Administration will likely get a pat-down on air-travel security measures as he testifies before Congress on Wednesday morning. The appearance by John Pistole was scheduled before controversy broke out over the past week about the agency's full body scans and pat-downs. But protest movements about the searches make such questioning likely when Pistole testifies about his agency's security efforts before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Hero pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger on Tuesday joined the opposition to heightened airport security procedures, which critics have called invasive. Sullenberger, who...
  • Oklahoma to consider executing death row inmates with drugs vets use to put down animals

    11/10/2010 8:57:04 AM PST · by Niuhuru · 91 replies
    DailyMail ^ | 8:39 AM on 10th November 2010 | Daniel Bates
    The state of Oklahoma is planning to execute death row inmates with drugs intended for use on animals. Lawmakers want to switch away from the only brand of anaesthetic that has been used in the US for lethal injections because there is not enough to go around. The replacement is likely to attract controversy because it is currently used by vets to anesthetise animals for operations. Other states are watching closely and may well follow suit, but such a move is likely to face a challenge from human rights groups to ensure that it is safe to use.
  • French Senate OKs Retirement Reform in Tense Vote

    10/22/2010 12:28:55 PM PDT · by EBH · 15 replies · 1+ views
    New York Times ^ | 10/22/10 Filed at 2:55 p.m. ET
    PARIS (AP) — The French Senate, pushed into an early vote, approved on Friday a hotly contested bill raising the retirement age to 62, hours after riot police forced the reopening of a strategic refinery to help halt growing fuel shortages amid nationwide strikes and protests. In tense balloting after 140 hours of debate, the Senate voted 177-153 for the pension reform. The measure is expected to win final formal approval by both houses of parliament next week. President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government, keen to get the measure passed and quell increasingly radicalized protests, cut short the debate and voting...
  • State lawmakers preparing citizenship legislation (no citizenship to children of illegals)

    10/19/2010 12:30:31 PM PDT · by Justaham · 53 replies · 1+ views
    Associated Press ^ | 10-20-10 | PAUL DAVENPORT and AMANDA LEE MYERS
    Lawmakers in at least 14 states are collaborating on proposed legislation to deny U.S. citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, according to lawmakers, including the sponsor of Arizona's 2010 law targeting illegal immigration. "We're taking a leadership role on things that need to be fixed in America. We can't get Congress to do it," Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, of Mesa, said Tuesday. "It's a national work group so that we have model legislation that we know will be successful, that meets the constitutional criteria." The efforts by the state legislators come amid calls to change the U.S. Constitution's 14th...
  • Jobs crisis extends to unemployed, lawmakers (November is Coming!)

    10/08/2010 6:59:11 PM PDT · by Texas Fossil · 3 replies · 1+ views
    Yahoo Finance ^ | October 8, 2010, 7:12 pm EDT | Jeannine Aversa & Christopher S. Rugaber
    WASHINGTON (AP) -- There's no relief from the jobs crisis -- for everyday Americans or lawmakers facing the midterm elections. The most rampant layoffs of teachers and other local government workers in nearly three decades more than offset weak hiring in the private sector in September, resulting in a net loss of 95,000 jobs. Unemployment remained stuck at 9.6 percent. The jobless rate has been at or above 9.5 percent for a year and two months, the longest stretch since the Great Depression. The "underemployment" rate adds part-time workers who would rather work full time and jobless people who aren't...
  • Arizona lawmakers rate higher than peers

    10/06/2010 3:19:57 PM PDT · by SandRat · 1 replies
    SIERRA VISTA — While most Arizonans believe that major changes are needed in the state budgeting process, they also have the highest opinion of their lawmakers out of five states faced with similar severe budget issues, according to a study out today. The study, “Facing Facts: Public Attitudes and Fiscal Realities in Five Stressed States,” found that one-third of Arizonans trust their state government “all or most of the time.” That rating was higher than those of the respondents from all other states in the survey, which included California, Florida, Illinois and New York. Along with Florida, the Grand Canyon...
  • San Francisco lawmakers pass alcohol services fee

    09/14/2010 4:43:58 PM PDT · by SmithL · 19 replies
    AP via SFGate ^ | 9/14/10
    San Francisco lawmakers have approved a fee on alcohol distribution to help the city recover the cost of dealing with problem drinkers, but the measure faces a likely mayoral veto.
  • U.S. lawmakers cheer as China steel firm backs out

    08/19/2010 7:33:26 PM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 10 replies
    Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 8/19/10 | Doug Palmer
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers from U.S. steel-producing states on Thursday cheered a decision by Chinese steel company Anshan Iron & Steel Group to back off plans to invest in a U.S. steel plant. "Not only would this venture have set a dangerous precedent further undermining our domestic steel market, but it posed serious national security concerns," Representative Tim Murphy, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in a statement. Anshan's decision comes at a time when China has pushed past Japan to become the world's second largest economy and high U.S. unemployment and a huge budget deficit are causing political anxiety in the...