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FROM AP: 10 Things to Know for Monday
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Before she decides to completely give up a career in public service, here are five things that Ashley Judd should know.
No single financial institution should be so large that its failure would cause catastrophic risk to millions of American jobs or to our nation's economic wellbeing. And no institution in America should be above the law.
A funny thing, wonderful in its own small way, happened last week. The Senate voted 99-0 in favor of an amendment to end subsidies to too-big-to-fail financial institutions. This vote is a harbinger of things to come -- if the public keeps ratcheting up pressure.
The proposals put forward by Democrats in Congress reflect the values of the overwhelming majority of Americans. The same cannot be said for the budgets put forward by Republicans in Congress.
The U.S. Senate cast key votes on the fiscal 2014 budget resolution Friday that sent a clear message on climate change: we won't stand in the way of executive action to cut the carbon pollution from our nation's power plants.
The sequester was set in stone for the next six months, so America is now going to learn what "budget cutting" really means.
The National Popular Vote plan does not "counteract" the excess power of small states. In fact, it does just the opposite, giving voters in small states the attention and electoral clout that they deserve in proportion to their votes.
Rumor has it the U.S. Senate will consider a budget bill provision to approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Here's what they need to share with their constituents.
Both Republican and Democratic senators see the Obama administration as unduly delaying the approval of this Keystone pipeline.
'Comprehensive Immigration Reform,' a.k.a. CIR, seems to be on a roll. The Gang of Eight in the Senate and a similar cabal in the House claim they will release bills in April. I hope they do.
Want to cut something like $850 billion from the next 10 years of budgeting? End the War. There's a novel budget-cutting idea, eh, folks? The Drug War has now cost us roughly the same amount as the Iraq War, to put it in context -- $2 trillion each.
While the military justice system is different from our civil justice system for good reasons, the time has come to take a hard look at the rules which allow military commanders to vacate entire jury convictions, expunge criminal records, and reinstate convicted sex offenders.
Paul Ryan introduced his version of the Republican budget this week, and it seems Ryan has agreed that two or three of President Obama's biggest budget victories actually do significantly cut the deficit, and are therefore worth including in the Republican plans for the future.
There is a clear role for the Treasury, and senators should use today's hearing to clarify it. If the Treasury has a responsibility to coordinate and ensure regulatory oversight of U.S. financial institutions, then what is it doing to ensure financial regulators provide stronger oversight?
As long as both parties go into negotiations determined to make each other side look bad, they have about as much chance of reaching a meaningful bipartisan agreement as a non-floater has of beating Michael Phelps across the pool.
When agreements are always so far off, and hair-brained ideas like "Sequestration" become policy, we are looking a situation where something drastic is called for.
