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Congress

Congressional Fail: Don't Let Congress Take Credit

Harry Moroz | Posted 10.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: Consumer Protection, Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights, Congress, Senator Dodd, Credit Cards, Rep. Maloney, Credit Card Accountability Responsbility and Disclosure Act, Financial Regulation, Politics News
Harry Moroz

Even as consumers suffer the housing crisis and an abysmal job market, they face the prospect of hundreds or even thousands more dollars of credit card debt because of Congress.

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Citigroup Taxpayer Ownership Doesn't Prevent Lobbying

Bloomberg.com | Jonathan D. Salant and Lizzie O’Leary | Posted 10.23.2009 | Business

Read More: Citigroup Tarp, Tarp, Congress, Bailout, Consumer Protections, Lobbyists, President Obama, Bank Lobbyists, Bank Bailout, Lobbyblog, Citigroup Lobyists, Citigroup, Business News

Citigroup Inc., which has yet to repay $45 billion in federal assistance, has more lobbyists than any other company who registered to try to shape leg...

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Let's Be on the Right Side of History

Deepak Bhargava | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Health Care Reform, Congress, Immigrants, Latino Vote, Medicaid, Health Care, Immigration Debate, Politics News
Deepak Bhargava

Faced now with an incredible opportunity to reform health care, we must ensure we are on the right side of history and our truest values of inclusion.

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Car Dealers Exempt From New Consumer Protection Agency

Steve Parker | Posted 10.22.2009 | Business

Read More: Walt Minnick, White House, National Automobile Dealers Association, North Dakota, Congress, California, Mike Castle, John Campbell, President Obama, Cfpa, Cars, Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, Mississippi, Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Delaware, Travis Childers, House Financial Services Committee, Business News
Steve Parker

The House Financial Services Committee approved a key amendment Thursday, 47-21, to keep automobile dealers exempt them from a new government consumer protection agency.

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The Public Option is Dead as a Doornail

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: House Democrats, Congress, Senate Finance Committee, Rahm Emanuel, Public Option, Nancy Pelosi, Ahip, President Obama, Health Care Reform, Health Insurers, Max Baucus, Pharmaceuticals, Politics News
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

The public option epitaph was written months ago during the more than two dozen secret meetings that Obama and his aides had with the insurance industry and pharmaceutical bigwigs.

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NoEscalation.org: Can the Peace Movement Reach President Obama?

Robert Naiman | Posted 10.25.2009 | World

Read More: John Murtha, Barnett Rubin, Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama, Afghanistan Escalation, Congress, Joe Biden, David Obey, Afghanistan War, World News
Robert Naiman

Congress fights over whether we can "afford" to provide every American with quality health care, but every health care reform proposal on the table will likely cost less than McChrystal's endless war.

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Want Healthcare Reform? Pick Up The Phone.

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.25.2009 | Politics

Read More: President Obama, Senator, Obama, Reform, Democratic Party, Telephone, Pelosi, Call to Action, Switchboards, 2010, Nancy Pelosi, Health Care, Re-Elected, Reid, House, Contact, Congressmen, Democrat, Congress, Call, Democrats, Representative, Organizing for America, Barack Obama, Election, Pick Up the Phone, Congressman, Elections, Self Interest, Chris Weigant, Phone, Health, Hcr, Blue Dogs, Harry Reid, Healthcare Reform, Senate, Healthcare, Politics News
Chris Weigant

Yesterday, over 300,000 people picked up the phone and called Congress demanding health care reform this year. The phones ringing off the hook certainly did not go unnoticed by Congress.

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Congress Gets in the Act on Coal Ash

Rob Perks | Posted 10.21.2009 | Green

Read More: Kingston, Epa, Congress, Tennessee, Coalspill, Coalash, Tennesseevalleyauthority, Dirty Coal, TVA Coal Ash Pond Disaster, Green News
Rob Perks

Kudos to Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) for bird-dogging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the need to regulate pollution from coal-fired power plants.

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What Is Patriotism?

Janet Ritz | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Patriotism, Unemployment, The Environmentalist, Economy, War, Health Care Reform, Green News, Climate Change, Afghanistan, Health Care, Barack Obama, Global Warming, Corruption, Congress, Politics News
Janet Ritz

President Obama may deserve criticism. But trying to undermine his presidency, his legitimacy, his personal safety, especially in a time of war, is unpatriotic at best.

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Growing Calls for Immigration Reform That Leaves No Family Behind

Steve Ralls | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gay Families, Patrick Leahy, DREAM Act, Family Immigration, Jerrold Nadler, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Reuniting Families Act, Immigration, Congress, Mike Honda, Uniting American Families Act, Politics News
Steve Ralls

Millions of families remain separated because of bureaucratic paper trails and discriminatory policies that do not recognize gay families for the purposes of equal immigration rights.

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America Can Do Better -- Stopping Child Abuse Deaths

Michael Petit | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: MacKenzie Phillips, Congress, Child Abuse, Jaycee Lee Dugard, Barack Obama, Politics News
Michael Petit

Children at grave risk of being abused or killed need the government's protection and we should have a national approach for doing this because the heavy toll exacted by abuse and neglect is both economic and moral.

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Cybersecurity - A Dark Horse in the National Race for Resources

Sarah Granger | Posted 10.21.2009 | Technology

Read More: Cybersecurity, Senate, Congress, Cybersecurity-Czar, Technology News
Sarah Granger

Congress is well aware that cybersecurity is a concern. It's not just a political phrase to drop in hopes of greater appropriations; the language is making its way into some major bills.

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Why Majority Support Does Not Guarantee Health Reform (and Why This Isn't All Bad)

Elizabeth Rigby | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Fear, Public Fears, House, Health, Public Opinion, Congress, Health Care, Health Reform, Obama Health Care, Town Hall Meetings, Senate, Public Option, Barack Obama, Politics News
Elizabeth Rigby

A full defense of the public option requires moving beyond the basic arguments for reform. It requires reform proponents to take seriously the fears of opponents, even if they make up only a minority of the American public.

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Obama Uses Facebook, Twitter To Advance Health Care Reform

Huffington Post | Posted 10.21.2009 | Technology

Read More: Social Media, Obama, Congress, Time to Deliver, Organizing for America, Grassroots, Technology News

President Obama used social networking to overwhelm Congress' phone lines Tuesday when he asked his thousands of followers on Facebook and Twitter to ...

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Cutting The Fat From School Lunches (AUDIO)

Huffington Post | Victoria Fine | Posted 10.22.2009 | Impact

Read More: Fruits and Vegetables, Congress, Iom, Calories, Trans Fat, School Lunches, Impact News

A child can't grow on tater tots alone, says the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine. A new report by the IOM recommends that America'...

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The Man Behind the J Street Smear Campaign

MJ Rosenberg | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: J Street, Aipac, Lenny Davis, West Bank, Jews and Barack Obama, Judaism, Lobbyists, Arab-Americans, Congress, Israel, Politics News
MJ Rosenberg

There sure is a lot of effort going into discrediting an organization that is, in fact, only a little to the left of the "mainstream" pro-Israel organizations.

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Organizing for America's "Time to Deliver" Is Now

Micah Sifry | Posted 10.20.2009 | Technology

Read More: Health Care Reform, Congress, Barack Obama, Jeremy Bird, Organizing for America, Online-Organizing, Technology News
Micah Sifry

Today, Obama is doing something no sitting U.S. President has done before. He is using his massive network of grass-roots supporters to generate pressure from below on them to pass health care reform.

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An Optimist on Climate Change

Alexia Parks | Posted 10.21.2009 | Impact

Read More: Congress, David Johnston, United Nations, Green, Copenhagen, Unfccc, Sustainability, Climate Change, Joe Biden, Bill Mckibben, United Nations Convention on Climate Change, Barack Obama, Global Warming, Impact News
Alexia Parks

We're at a point," I've been told, "where everything we know is out of date. What happens next is unknowable, unspeakable, and undetermined."

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Step Up to Mike's Challenge

Linda Milazzo | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics

Read More: Roger and Me, Barbara Boxer, Fair Elections Now Act, Houses, Lobbyists, Vermont, Connecticut, Jobs, Fahrenheit 9/11, Dianne Feinstein, Contributors, Arizona, California, Capitalism: A Love Story, New Mexico, New Jersey, Clean Money, Maine, Senator Barbara Boxer, iPhone App, Foreclosure, Congressman Henry Waxman, North Carolina, California Fair Elections, Participatory Democracy, S. 752, H.R. 1826, Campaign Finance, Congress, Democracy, Henry Waxman, Democrats, Sicko, Insurers, Corporations, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Corporate Greed, Medical Treatment, Iphone, Banks, Michael Moore, Republicans, Senate, Campaign Finance Reform, Healthcare, Fena, Hardball, Anderson Cooper, Msnbc, Chris Matthews, Cnn, Politics News
Linda Milazzo

Despite all we've learned from Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Roger and Me, we continue to take abuse. Our pal Mike is now asking us to act.

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Ryan Grim

House Vote On Insurance Industry Antitrust Exemption Coming

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Anti-Trust, John Conyers, Congress, Health Care Debate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Health Insurers, Insurance Companies, Obama Weekly Radio Address, Transparency, Politics News, Obama Health Insurance Reform, Health Insurance Companies, Nancy Pelosi, Health Care Reform, Harry Reid, Health Care, Obama Health Care Reform, Politics News

The battle against the health insurance industry is steadily intensifying. House Democrats have formally scheduled a vote to revoke the industry's che...

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Obama Weekly Radio Address: Insurers Are "Filling The Airwaves With Deceptive And Dishonest Ads"

AP | DARLENE SUPERVILLE | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Transparency, Anti-Trust, Congress, Obama Health Insurance Reform, Health Care Debate, Health Insurance Companies, Health Insurers, Health Care Reform, Insurance Companies, Health Care, Obama Weekly Radio Address, Obama Health Care Reform, Politics News

...

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Olympia Snowe and the Importance of Being Pivotal

Rick Horowitz | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: House of Representatives and Health Care, Congress, Senate Finance Committee, Snowe and Republicans, Olympia Snowe, Max Baucus, U.S. Senate and Health Care, Snowe and GOP, Olympia Snowe and Health Care, Health Care Bill, Olympia Snowe Health Care Vote, Snowe Public Option, Politics News
Rick Horowitz

Olympia Snowe's vote might not have been a tie-breaker, but it was a mood-shifter. And at least she's not the kind who gloats, flaunts her influence and does a victory dance when the bargaining is done.

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Obama To Critics: Don't Tell Me I'm Holding The Mop The Wrong Way

The Huffington Post | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Dnc Fundraising Dinner, Pelosi Obama, Congress, California, DNC Fundraiser, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Mop, President Obama, Pelosi, Obama, San Francisco, Obama Cleaning Up Mess, Politics News

On Thursday night at a DNC fundraising dinner in San Francisco, President Obama took a new analogy in addressing his critics. "Another way of putting ...

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Halftime At The Healthcare Reform Superbowl

Chris Weigant | Posted 10.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: 60 Votes, Win One for the Gipper, White House, Kennedy, Chris Dodd, Democratic, Reform, Alan Grayson, Football Metaphor, Grayson, Halftime, Snowe, Pelosi, Edward Kennedy, Win One for the Skipper, Baucus, Nancy Pelosi, Budget Reconciliation, Health Care, Reid, Reconciliation, Conference Committee, House, Football, Cheerleader, Olympia Snowe, 50 Votes, Democrat, Congress, Democrats, Floor Vote, Teddy Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Steny Hoyer, Coach, Chris Weigant, Sailing, Health, Corporate Whore, Max Baucus, Harry Reid, Superbowl, Dodd, Hoyer, Pep Talk, Healthcare, Senate, Politics News
Chris Weigant

A football locker room. Hundreds of Democrats are sitting on benches, to hear Coach's halftime pep talk in the Health Care Reform Superbowl. Some appear exhausted, some appear battered.

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Why Can't We Just Say "Obama, We're Proud of You?"

Joe The Nerd Ferraro | Posted 10.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Rabin, Lincoln, Nobel, Joe the Nerd, Gop, Gandhi, Congress, Benigno Aquino, Mlk, Palme, Bhutto, Rfk, Obama, Jfk, Sweden, Politics News
Joe The Nerd Ferraro

The Nobel being awarded to Obama is the world saying loud and clear that the right wing zealots in the United States are out-of-line with everybody else on the planet.

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