Congressman Whose Amendment Ended Federal Gun Research: 'I Have Regrets'

Congressman Whose Amendment Ended Federal Gun Research: 'I Have Regrets': "In 1996, Rep. Jay Dickey (R-AR) spearheaded a piece of legislation that effectively put an end to government-funded research of gun violence. Now 75, the retired congressman admitted in a Huffington Post interview, “I have regrets.”

Dickey said his mind was changed after years of watching people lose their lives in mass shootings, like the massacre at Umpqua Community College last week that left 10 people dead.

“I wish we had started the proper research and kept it going all this time,” Dickey said.

His namesake amendment eliminated the $2.6 million that the Center for Disease Control spent on researching the effects of firearms ownership on public health. " 'via Blog this'

Tearful President Obama Attends Daniel Inouye's Memorial Service – CMOH awardee

The noticeably emotional President attended the late Senator's funeral services in Hawaii on Sunday.

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Larry Downing / Reuters

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

Image by Photo Cory Lum-Pool / Getty Images

Image by Photo Cory Lum-Pool / Getty Images

Image by Photo Cory Lum-Pool / Getty Images

Image by Photo Cory Lum-Pool / Getty Images

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

Image by Hugh Gentry / Reuters

S. 900 (106th): Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (On the Conference Report) -- GovTrack.us

S. 900 (106th): Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (On the Conference Report) -- GovTrack.us: "Wisconsin
Wisconsin

YEA   R   Ryan, Paul WI 1st
NAY   D   Baldwin, Tammy WI 2nd
YEA   D   Kind, Ronald “Ron” WI 3rd
YEA   D   Kleczka, Gerald “Jerry” WI 4th
NAY   D   Barrett, Thomas WI 5th
YEA   R   Petri, Thomas “Tom” WI 6th
NAY   D   Obey, David “Dave” WI 7th
YEA   R   Green, Mark WI 8th
YEA   R   Sensenbrenner, James"

'via Blog this'

Weapons manufacturer bribes Congress to buy tanks that Pentagon doesn't want?

The Pentagon wants to save $3 billion by freezing refurbishing work on its M1Abrams tanks, but the tank’s manufacturers are donating to Congressional campaigns to bribe members of Congress to lobby for their continued funding.

While the M1 tank has survived the Cold War, two conflicts in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, its value has declined in US efforts abroad. Aside from being vulnerable to improvised bombs, the tanks don’t serve much of a purpose while warfare is limited.

Their primary purpose is to destroy other tanks, according to Paul D. Eaton, a retired army general. Their usefulness is therefore limited in modern counterinsurgency warfare. The US Army already has more than 2,300 M1’s deployed and about 3,000 more being stored at a military base in California.

House Approves Bill on Mental Health Parity - New York Times

House Approves Bill on Mental Health Parity - New York Times: " After more than a decade of struggle, the House on Wednesday passed a bill requiring most group health plans to provide more generous coverage for treatment of mental illnesses, comparable to what they provide for physical illnesses.

The vote was 268 to 148, with 47 Republicans joining 221 Democrats in support of the measure."

'via Blog this'

Payroll tax bill passes

 

Congress on Friday easily approved a two-month extension of the payroll tax break and renewed several other provisions dealing with unemployment and Medicare, capping a wild week in which lawmakers engaged in one final nasty legislative fight before an annoyed American public.

The end was quick and painless for House Republicans, who capitulated to President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats after taking Capitol Hill to the precipice of a pre-Christmas crisis that threatened to raise taxes on 160 million Americans on Jan. 1.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70810.html#ixzz1hOolaufF

Congress: Trading stock on inside information? - CBS News

Congress: Trading stock on inside information? - CBS News: "Washington, D.C. is a town that runs on inside information - but should our elected officials be able to use that information to pad their own pockets? As Steve Kroft reports, members of Congress and their aides have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they regulate. For now, the practice is perfectly legal, but some say it's time for the law to change."

'via Blog this'

Tom Coburn’s cuts: Military’s Tricare Prime health care program targeted - The Washington Post

Tom Coburn’s cuts: Military’s Tricare Prime health care program targeted - The Washington Post: "Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wants to cut taxpayer funding for non-military elements of the Defense Department, starting with making retired, uninjured service members pay more for what he described as “extremely low-cost health care for life” for themselves, their spouses and dependents under the Tricare Prime system."

Happy Birthday!

Romney Care is 5 years old!!

 

Rep Eric I. Cantor | IAVA Action Fund Congressional Report Card

Rep Eric I. Cantor

Virginia - District 7

Grade: D

Why That Grade?

1 = voted with IAVA Action

Cut to VA Budget (Vote #1): 1
Homeless Veterans (Vote #2): 1
Stop Loss Payments (Vote #3): 0
Advance Approps (Vote #4): 1
Female Veterans (Vote #5): 1
Funding the VA (Vote #6): 1
Disabled Veterans (Vote #7): 1
Mandatory Screenings (Vote #8): 0
Deployment Protections (Vote #9): 1
Homeless Veterans (Vote #10): 1
USERRA for NG (Vote # 11): 1
Caregiver Support (Vote #12): 1
Military Sexual Trauma (Vote #13): 0
Fully Fund the VA (Vote #14): 1
Advance Approps (CoSpon #1): 0
Disability Reform (CoSpon #2): 0
New GI Bill 2.0 (CoSpon #3): 0
Jobs for Vets (CoSpon #4): 0
111th Total Score: 11
110th Congress Grade (2008 Report Card): B

U.S. House of Representatives
(out of a possible 18 points)

18 Points
A+

16-17 Points
A

14-15 Points
B

12-13 Points
C

10-11 Points
D

9 Points & Below
F

Download | IAVA Action

Very important reading!

Download | IAVA Action

Read the report!

Sen Mark R. Warner
Virginia
Grade: C
Why That Grade?
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Sen James H. Webb, Jr.
Virginia
Grade: B
Why That Grade?
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Rep Tom Perriello
Virginia - District 5
Grade: A+
Why That Grade?

Financial Regulation Bill Contains Measure To Address ‘Conflict Minerals’

Congressional negotiators reached a deal yesterday to reconcile the House and Senate versions of financial regulatory reform. The bill contains an obscure provision “that requires any publicly traded company that uses certain minerals to file reports annually with the Securities and Exchange Commission certifying whether the minerals originated in Congo or neighboring countries.” Many of the minerals used in electronic devices like cell phones and computers are mined in the Congo, a country “plagued by regional conflict and a deadly scramble for its vast natural resources.”

The mineral sales finance “multiple armed groups, many of whom use mass rape as a deliberate strategy to intimidate and control local populations.” The provision in the financial regulation bill is designed to, according to its sponsor Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), “bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices.”

CAPITAL CULTURE: Slaves who built Capitol honored - Boston.com

African-American slaves sweated in the summer heat and shivered in the winter's cold while helping to build the U.S. Capitol.

Congress took note of their service and sacrifice Wednesday by erecting commemorative plaques inside the Capitol in their honor. Lawmakers said the memorials will ensure that the contributions of slaves in building one of the world's most recognizable buildings are never again forgotten.

"In remembering the slaves who labored here, we give them in death some measure of the dignity they were so cruelly denied in life," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said at the plaques' unveiling.

The plaques read: "This original exterior wall was constructed between 1793 and 1800 of sandstone quarried by laborers, including enslaved African Americans who were an important part of the workforce that built the United States Capitol."
AUDIO: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127949799

CAPITAL CULTURE: Slaves who built Capitol honored - Boston.com

Health care protesters ready for Obama

When President Barack Obama visits Bozeman next week, the local arm of a national group opposing health care reforms before Congress will be there as well, organizing a protest rally.

The rally and tour, complete with a bus featuring a red hand and big lettering that says “Hands off my health care,” is part of a national effort organized by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group with ties to the Republican Party.

In Montana, the effort is being coordinated by Jake Eaton, former executive director of the Montana Republican Party.

Women still only receive about 78 cents for every dollar that men get for doing equivalent jobs.

There were people who actually voted against this bill; see other post on the site. Were these people hatched from an egg, with no mother, sister, or wife who wouldn't fair well without this bill?

Pay Discrimination Bill Is Sent to Obama

The bill is a response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the bill, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days.

The measure, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after receiving a congratulatory phone call from Obama, is ''a bold step to move away from that parsimonious interpretation'' of the Supreme Court.

The plaintiff in the case, Lilly Ledbetter, argued that she did not become aware of the pay discrepancy until near the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala.

The Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress, but Obama strongly supports it and the Democratic-controlled Congress moved it to the top of the agenda for the new session that opened this month.