Congress

GOP Gags Witnesses on Credit Card Woes

Republicans on a consumer credit subcommittee required witnesses to waive privacy rights to their financial history before testifying about run-ins with credit card companies.

Waxman: White House Knew Of Hunt/Kurdistan Oil Contract

Today the House oversight committee released a reportasserting that the White House knew about an oil deal between the Kurdistan regional government and Texas-based Hunt Oil, though President George W. Bush had claimed he knew nothing about the contract before it was announced. According to the report, Ray Hunt, President of the company, talked to Bush administration advisers months before the deal was made. Also, officials at the Commerce and State departments encouraged the deal and even congratulated Hunt after obtaining the contract.

The deal embarrassed the Bush administration and outraged the Iraqi government when it was announced in September. Bush criticized both parties for making a deal that bypassed the Iraqi national government, especially impolitic as a national oil law was still not established.

Dems Cave on Telecom Immunity

Civil liberties groups claim congressional leaders backed down for fear of how national security will play out in November.

A Bit More on That Surprise Kennedy Visit

Regarding yesterday's passage of the Democrats' Medicare bill: If there was ever question about what force of nature compelled nine Republicans to switch their "no" votes of last month to "yes" votes yesterday, they've been put to rest. Here's a hint: It wasn't because they like the legislation.

Abortion Ban For American Indians Only

The new rule, sponsored by scandal-scarred Sen. David Vitter, adds a race-specific layer to a federal law that prohibits abortion coverage under federal health programs.

Steroid Saga Takes Turn for Dramatic, Gross

Congress's sweeping probe into performance enhancing drug use in baseball now seems more like a public feud between Roger Clemens and his ex-personal trainer Brian McNamee.
McNamee walked into the House's Rayburn office building this afternoon carrying seven-years old bloody syringes, vials and gauze pads. His lawyer's promised that this unseemly trash is the treasure proving his client truthfully accused Clemens of using steroids and human growth hormones.

Roadmap to Torture

The Senate Armed Services Committee learned Tuesday how Pentagon officials came to use a program meant to teach special forces to withstand torture as a blueprint for interrogations.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Immigration, that snaggletooth of an issue that has set the Bush administration against its conservative base, is now driving a wedge between Republican leaders in the House and Senate as well. It seems that the House economic stimulus bill -- which has White House support -- does too little, in the eyes of some GOP senators, to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits.

Ron Paul Warns Burma Tyrants: We'll Stay Out of Your Way!

The House yesterday approved a lightweight, nonbinding resolution offering condolences to the people of Burma in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which the Red Cross now estimates took as many as 128,000 lives when it struck the Irrawaddy Delta earlier this month. From a political standpoint, this was a pretty safe vote. Indeed, 186 Republicans joined every voting Democrat to pass the measure. But it didn't go unanimously. That's because Texas GOP presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul disapproved. The final count was 410 to 1.

Is Real ID Really Going to Happen?

Real ID hasn't gone as planned -- at any step of the way.

FISA Vote Tied to Telecom Donations

Campaign finance reformers say telecom industry donations netted them a gift in FISA.

Medicare Pay Cut Bill Divides GOP

Senate Republicans are under intense pressure from physicians groups to stave off Medicare pay cuts, as 129 of their House counterparts did last month.

Billions for Pentagon Failures

The House Oversight Committee wonders why the Pentagon continues to fund programs based on non-existent technology.

Justice in Hot Water Over Dubious Grants

Another Justice Dept. scandal is gaining traction. This time, it involves the wife of prominent Republican Bill Bennett.

Iraqi Parliamentarians Denounce The Bush-Maliki Permanent-Occupation Deal

At Rep. Bill Delahunt's (D-MA) foreign affairs subcommittee this afternoon, the U.S. Congress heard for the first time from Iraqi parliamentarians. The two legislators -- Sheikh Khalaf al-Ulayyan from Sunni Anbar Province and Prof. Nadeem al-Jaberi from Shiite Baghdad -- vigorously denounced the forthcoming U.S.-Iraq long-term-security deal negotiated between the Bush administration and the Nouri al-Maliki government.

Wearing a dark suit, a red tie and wire-rimmed glasses, al-Jaberi couched his arguments against the deal in Iraqi sovereignty. "The Iraqi government right now does not have the full reign of its sovereignty, because of the thousands of foreign troops that are on its land," he said through a translator. "And perhaps the Iraqi government does not have as of yet sufficient tools to run its own internal affairs. Therefore, I ask the American government not to embarrass the Iraqi government by putting it in a difficult situation with this agreement."

Term Limits, Sen. Kennedy?

In a much-hyped rally announcing his endorsement of presidential hopeful Barack Obama, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) piled heaps of praise on the young Illinois senator Monday. Obama, Kennedy said, will be a fighter, an inspirer, a great uniter in the image of Kennedy's brother Jack, who came to power in another era of ideological bickering.

Congress Bows to Big Oil in Burma

The Senate approved a bill that ups trade sanctions, but abandons an earlier push to punish Chevron.

Blue Dogs Resist Unfunded GI Bill

The debate underscores the difficulty of moving legislation in a high-stakes election year -- when political wrangling ensures the failure of most big ideas.

Rocky Road for Credit Card Bill

Parties are split over how to approach business oversight, as lawmakers seek to modernize federal rules governing the highly influential banking industry.

Time to Buy Gold Bars?

Testimony on the Bear Stearns bailout maneuvering suggests the depth of the abyss that financial leaders have dug for the U.S. economy.