MetaFilter posts tagged with congress

Apple Bobbles - and Drops - the Ball

oneswellfoop — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:37:35 -0800

Apple has rejected an iPhone app for making contact with your Congressperson. Why? Because it identifies each US Representative/Senator with a 'bobblehead' caricature by MAD magazine artist Tom Richmond (who, having done 540 not-terribly-disrespectful caricatures, is justifiably pissed). “Obscene, pornographic, or defamatory”?!? Well, maybe the Nancy Pelosi is gratuitously goofy...

Health Care Has Passed

reenum — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:01:23 -0800

The House of Representatives just passed the health reform bill in a vote of 220-215.

Fading Away

reenum — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:13:01 -0800

Mark McGwire was one of the most feared sluggers in the game during his career. In 1998, the home run chase between McGwire and Sammy Sosa helped baseball recover from the 1994 strike. But, when a reporter found a bottle containing andro in McGwire's locker, some chinks in his armor began to emerge. The andro story wasn't enough to overshadow McGwire and Sosa's record breaking seasons. McGwire received many accolades, from having a highway named after him to having cameos on TV shows. After it became well known that baseball players had engaged in widespread steroid abuse from 1990 on, a public outcry began to overshadow the sport. McGwire was not immune to these allegations. The saga culminated with Senate hearings in 2005, where McGwire refused to discuss his alleged steroid use. After his Senate testimony, McGwire retreated to his home in California and refused to speak to the media. Once thought to be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, McGwire received only 23 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility in 2008. With his recent hire as the Cardinals' hitting coach, McGwire will attempt to repair some of his tarnished legacy.

Republican Candidate pulls out of Congressional race

saffry — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:50:04 -0800

The only open seat for Congress this election day, in New York's 23rd district, was shaping up to be an interesting 3-way race with possible implications for the future of the Republican party. But after today's Sienna poll showing Democratic Bill Owens leading in this traditionally Republican district, the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has announced she is suspending her campaign. Is the race now a shoe-in for Conservative Doug Hoffman, already endorsed by Pawlenty, Palin and others in the far-right of the party? Or will Dede's supporters, who were drawn to her her more moderate stance, simply stay home?

It's not over yet?

tylerfulltilt — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:19:54 -0800

State of the debate filter: Harry Reid is looking like a giant waffle iron. Congress is getting crushed with phone calls. A G.E. healthcare exec, says "Shit or get off the pot already." The insurance industry says, "Back up off a deez!" And people aren't wavering in their support of a public option. For: http://healthcareforamericanow.org/ http://www.healthreform.gov/ http://www.barackobama.com/ http://citizensforapublicoption.com Against: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/STOP-GOVT-HEALTHCARE http://www.cprights.org/ http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/ http://www.rallycongress.com/2/2247/

I could probably afford better insurance if I wasn't paying for theirs.

sio42 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:53:52 -0800

What kind of health insurance would you have as a federal government employee? The Office of Personnel Management would like to help you decide among the gazillion plan choices you have. Perhaps you are a Congress member? Then head on down to the Attending Physician of the United States, "It's one of the, quote, benefits of being in Congress," Kagen said. "They have physicians and nurses that will see you on the spot, on the beck and call." (link to single page print version). from the article quoting Kagen...

"But while [Rep Steve] Kagen touted in campaign advertisements and news interviews that he had no insurance coverage, he openly admitted he used OAP services. In January, for example, he paid more than $4,000 out of pocket for outpatient arthroscopic knee surgery. After the procedure, he said, he used the attending physician's office and staff to assist him with physical therapy."

Wikipedia on the Office of Attending Physician A NYT editorial on why we can't all have the same health care as Congress - and how we could possibly all have better care.

Congress’s health plan pays for routine expenses like office visits and vaccinations, for example, which is like auto insurance covering oil changes or new windshield wipers. As a result, the premiums are steep — upwards of $13,000 a year for a family (69 percent of which is paid by the government). To provide the 50 million Americans who are now uninsured with such a plan would require scary tax increases.

Sick and Wrong

sensate — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:20:04 -0800

Matt Taibbi takes a look at the health care reform circus in Congress. It doesn't come off looking much better than Goldman Sachs. (more inside) Another favor to industry buried in the bills involves the issue of choice. From the outset, Democrats have been careful to make sure that a revamped system would not in any way force citizens to give up their existing health care plans. As Obama told the American Medical Association in June, "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what." That sounds great, particularly in conjunction with the new set of standards for employer-provided insurance outlined in the House version of reform. Under the bill — known as HR 3200 — employers must provide "essential benefits" to workers or face a stiff penalty. "Essential benefits" includes elements often missing in the fly-by-night plans offered by big employers: drug benefits, outpatient care, hospitalization, mental health, the works. If your employer does not offer acceptable coverage, you then have the right to go into one of the state-run insurance "exchanges," where you can select from a number of insurance plans, including the public option. There's a flip side, though: If your employer offers you acceptable care and you reject it, you are barred from buying insurance in the insurance "exchange." In other words, you must take the insurance offered to you at work. And that might have made sense if, as decreed in the House version, employers actually had to offer good care. But in the Senate version passed by the HELP committee, there is no real requirement for employers to provide any kind of minimal level of care. On the contrary, employers who currently offer sub-par coverage will have their shitty plans protected by a grandfather clause. Which means … "If you have coverage you like, you can keep it," says Sen. Sanders. "But if you have coverage you don't like, you gotta keep it."

Iraq's New Surge: Gay Killings

Acromion — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:31:13 -0800

The lynching of gays in Iraq is on the rise, according to ambassador Christopher Hill's testimony before the house today."Hamizi, a computer science graduate, is at the cutting edge of a new wave of violence against gay men in Iraq. Made up of hardline extremists, Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year alone." WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE, POSSIBLY NSFW

Know Thy Congressman

sciurus — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:29:45 -0800

Know Thy Congressman (an Apps for America Project of Sunlight Labs) provides a handy bookmarklet that lets you get a quick overview of Congresscritters that you might not be familiar with. The winners for Round Two of Apps for America (focusing on data.gov) were announced yesterday.

Round 1 submissions for Apps for America (previously)
Round 2 submissions for Apps for America
Round two winners:
- DataMasher - Create your own mashups. Want to know how many unemployed people there are per square mile? Find out here.
- GovPulse - Browse & filter the Federal Register.
- This We Know - Discover what data the government has on your community.

DeathPanels.org: The Disturbing Details Behind Health Care Reform!!1!!

tylerfulltilt — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:25:40 -0800

People are starting to get a little worn out on Healthcare coverage, or at least, a little worn out on the way it's been covered. Thank god our own grrarrgh00 isn't listening. Because someone has to spread the truth about Obama's nazi socialist communist granny killing satanist witchcraft healthcare reform.

It Begins

nasreddin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:51:32 -0800

Three committees of the United States House of Representatives have released the House's version of healthcare reform--the America's Affordable Health Choices Act. The bill [1000 page pdf] [summary] introduces a Health Insurance Exchange, minimum standards for benefit packages, protections for consumers, and a "level playing field" public insurance option with the right to use Medicare rates for the first three years. Initial reactions are positive.

Crowdsourcing Transparency

Miko — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:28:40 -0800

Can You Spot a Lobbyist? Who made up the bulk of the audience when Congress began work on health care reform legislation? Lobbyists, according to this photo ID-crowdsourcing project, part of Dollar Politics, a new NPR investigative series. Bill Moyers shines some sunlight too, with Some Choice Words for 'The Select Few.'

Violating Terms of Services and Cyberbullying

jabberjaw — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:02:48 -0800

"We call it cyber-bullying and we don't have a law to address it." In the matter of the United States v. Drew (pdf), the misdemeanor charges against Lori Drew have been overturned. Judge George Wu noted that violations of the Terms and Services of a website cannot be considered a crime. A Congresswoman has drafted a bill (pdf) to fill in the gaps, allowing for future cyber-bullying convictions. Previously: (1, 2, 3, 4) Cyber-bullying may affect as many as 1 in 10 students, and is considered a serious problem. The proposed bill seeks to address the issue, but does it really? Judge Wu's written ruling will be filed next week.

A School for Torture

saulgoodman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:19:30 -0800

An amendment to the Defense Authorization Act currently under consideration in congress would force the notorious School of the Americas (currently known as "WHINSEC") to "release to the public the names, ranks, countries of origin, courses taken and dates of attendance of all the students and instructors at the institute." Originally established in Panama in 1946, and now located at Fort Benning, Georgia, the school has variously been dubbed "School of Assassins" and "The Ultimate Union Buster" by human rights watchers and labor organizations. According to the advocacy group School of Americas Watch (SOA Watch), the training center "has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics." Putting it more pointedly, SOA Watch asserts: "Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, 'disappeared,' massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins." The school remains in operation today, under a new name, despite the lobbying efforts of organizations like SOA Watch to close the program, on the basis of human rights abuses stemming from the school's role in the so-called Argentinian Dirty War and other internal Latin American conflicts. In the US, the School of the Americas/WHINSEC has more recently come under renewed scrutiny for its possible role in shaping interrogation policies that led to the torture of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib. In 1996, the US Defense Department acknowledged that between 1982 and 1991, the School taught torture techniques and other tactics such as blackmail, beatings and executions determined to be inconsistent with US and international standards of human rights, making the school's training manuals from that period available to the public for the first time. [Related Previously: 1, 2]

"a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."

spicynuts — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:09:00 -0800

"a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills." - Despite some vile rhetoric from North Carolina calling his death a hoax, the memory of Matthew Shepard was honored yesterday by passage of a Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Bill in the House. Matt's mom was in the gallery while the Rep from North Carolina called his murder a hoax. Obviously many are calling for an apology from the Rep Foxx. More info on how to get involved or learn back story

Crossing the Line

l33tpolicywonk — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:30:42 -0800

Five US representatives arrested in act of civil disobedience in front of the Sudanese embassy, part of the Save Darfur Coalition's campaign to bring attention to genocide there. One of them, Rep. John Lewis, has seen jail before.

Open Source Disclosure: Improving Congressional Transparency

filthy light thief — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:17:51 -0800

The Sunlight Foundation's open source development team, Sunlight Labs, have announced the winners of the first annual Apps for America contest. Over 40 entries were judged, with Filibusted (Hold senators accountable for blocking legislation) getting top marks. Legistalker (The latest online activity of Congress Members) got second, and there was a 4-way tie for 3rd. [via mefi projects] The Sunlight Foundation have been featured on the Blue before, and Sunlight Labs was previously seen on the Blue with Capital Words, allowing you to see what the most often used word was on any given day in the U.S Congress. They have a few other projects posted that didn't make it to the Blue.

Henry Waxman and his band of Merry Mad Men

formless — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:00:41 -0800

The House passed H.R. 1256, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act a few days ago. The bill would put regulation of tobacco under the jurisdiction of the F.D.A. Some are critical of this bill, pointing out that Philip Morris is behind it. But the bill does contain many positive elements. Manufacturers would be required to disclose product ingredients to the F.D.A. and marketing to children would be further restricted. One aspect that hasn't been discussed much online is the impact this would have on the burgeoning hookah market. The hookah, or nargile, has a long history and culture associated with it. Recently, hookah bars have been popping up in the U.S., especially around college towns. The act specfically targets any flavored tobacco, including cloves, which would outlaw most Hookah tobacco or shisha. This could be seen both as an attempt to discourage smoking among young adults who may not see the health risks in hookah smoking and a move by big tobacco to eliminate new competition. There is one interesting exception from this flavor ban, menthol cigarettes.

The Anti-Tevis?

dersins — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:50:44 -0800

Rosanna Pulido is the Republican nominee for the 5th Congressional District of Illinois (Rahm Emanuel's old seat). She's also an active poster on Free Republic. An active poster on Free Republic who's learning that what you write on the internet can come back to haunt you.

C-SPAN in its dirty thirties

IvoShandor — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:42:21 -0800

March 19, 1979 - The United States House of Representatives goes live on television for the first time in history. Footage from the House floor aired on a network created by a consortium of American cable companies. The first member of Congress to speak? Al Gore (Sorry, only seems to be available on Real Player. Embedded video, in case weird link fails). 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of C-SPAN. Since 1979, C-SPAN has broadcast over 19,000 hours of Congressional Committee hearings, 26,000 hours of U.S. House debate. A 2004 viewership survey estimated 42 percent of cable/satellite viewers, across various demographics, watched C-SPAN at least once or twice per week. (Report overview - PDF) In 2006, a Pew report put the number at 59 million "regular" or "sometimes" viewers. (Full report - PDF) C-SPAN was founded by Brian P. Lamb, a naval veteran who was a social aide to Lyndon Johnson and worked for Richard Nixon. In 1986, the U.S. Senate joined the live TV fray when C-SPAN2 began broadcasting. C-SPAN3 began offering further public affairs programming in 1997. None of non-profit C-SPAN networks receive government funding of any kind. The C-SPAN of 2009 reaches 97 million households, a far cry from the 3.5 million households it reached on its inception. C-SPAN and its sister networks have quietly contributed to the political discourse through it's coverage of the House, its advocacy for cameras in the courts, and its many series, such as Book TV and Washington Journal. Much of their video material is available on the web, archived, or streaming. In February 2009 the network released its Second Historians Presidential Leadership Survey, which garnered some noise in the media. There is also evidence that C-SPAN's viewers are more active citizens than their non-C-SPAN viewing neighbors. Although, the network and its programming have sometimes been criticized for conservative bias. Happy late birthday to C-SPAN!

That's a lot of gold.

arcanecrowbar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:46:15 -0800

"We are urging music stations all over the U.S. to send us photos of their gold and platinum records." Hearings are starting on the RIAA's new pet bill. They're feeling the pinch and would like a few of their gold records back. Some in the industry are in favor. Others are less excited.

Everyone's Favorite Upstart Mom-and-Pop Search Engine Tries to Yank Watchdog's Funding

univac — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:57:24 -0800

Bob Boorstin, Google's Director of Policy Communications, wrote a letter to the Rose Foundation, suggesting that the foundation stop funding Consumer Watchdog, an outspoken Google critic. Google later apologized for sending the letter. The latest accusations involve claims that Google lobbied Congress to gain the ability to profit from the sale of electronic medical records, a claim that Google denies. Consumer Watchdog countered that Google should back up its denial by fully disclosing its lobbying efforts.

Brother can you spare a jet?

up in the old hotel — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:44:07 -0800

With orders for new aircraft down, the private jet industry is launching a PR onslaught and a website to counter all the bad press surrounding greedy executives flying private jets. Lo and behold, two financial columnists expressed strikingly similar views on the subject. Members of Congress, who love to catch a ride home on a contributor's private plane, are helping out too.

An Economic Stimulus Without the Stimulus?

WCityMike — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:24:16 -0800

A list of cut, halved, and quartered items from the Senate version of the stimulus bill was released to CNN. Fully cut was any stimulus funding for historic preservation, Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters, Farm Service Agency modernization, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, watershed rehabilitation, distance learning, school nutrition, aquaculture, broadband, National Institute of Standards and Technology, detention trustee, Marshalls Construction, federal prisons, BYRNE Formula grant program, BYRNE Competitive grant program, state and local law enforcement, NASA, aeronautics, exploration, Cross Agency Support, National Science Foundation, science, Energy Loan Guarantees, General Services Administration, General Services Administration operations, Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use, Fish and Wildlife, historic preservation, working capital fund, Forest Service capital improvement, State and Private Wildlife Fire Management, Head Start/Early Start, Health Prevention Activity, Health Information Technology Grants, Title I (No Child Left Behind), school construction, higher education construction, project based rental, Neighborhood Stabilization, retrofitting Project 8 housing, or state fiscal stabilization. Stimulus funding was halved for energy-efficient federal buildings, the Smithsonian, law enforcement wireless, and hybrid federal vehicles -- and reduced by 75% for the EPA, NOAA, and FBI construction.

The Future of Snail Mail

Secret Life of Gravy — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:41:41 -0800

Shrinking the United States Postal Service: What happens to Netflix? The second largest employer in the United States, the USPS ran up a $2.8 billion budget deficit last year, even after such cost-cutting moves such as quietly removing foreign mail from registered mail status. The Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission believes cutting service to 5 days a week could save $1.9 billion, with Tuesday-- the lightest day-- being the most likely choice. Change is nothing new to the USPS, but up until now it has been a history of expansion: In article one of the US Constitution, congress was given the power "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." 1775. Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster General. 1831. The Post Office had more post masters than soldiers. 1863. Delivery expands beyond post office to post office. City dwellers may now receive mail at their homes. 1869. Railway Mail Service is inaugurated and by 1930 mail is carried by more than 10,000 trains. 1896. Rural Free Delivery becomes an official service, uniting the entire country. 1912. Parcel Post is authorized, allowing for delivery of packages of more than 4 pounds. 1971. President Nixon signs the bill making the the Post Office Department into the Postal Service, which among other things removes the Post Master General from the line of Presidential Succession, and turns the USPS into an independent agency like the CIA and NASA.