The Associated Press is reporting that Democratic and Republican lawmakers have reached a tentative deal today on a stimulus package. First the good news: the giveaway does not include money for food stamps, unemployment insurance benefits or infrastructure projects. Also, although it is not mentioned in the AP story, we …
Progressives are in full hyperventilation mode over the possibility that Congress will meet its deadline next week to permanently reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to bring current United States intelligence agency practice under the law. Last August Congress temporarily amended FISA through the Protect America Act. But due to …
Lawmakers may not be giving up earmarks en masse, but the negative stigma of pork-barrel spending has rubbed off on some members of Congress. In the Senate, conservative champion Jim DeMint and veteran appropriator Ted Stevens clashed openly during a meeting late last year. DeMint acknowledged that his quest to …
The Politico reports today that fiscal conservatives face several hurdles in their quest to end earmarks, not the least of which is that “Democrats last year actually approved fewer earmarks than Republicans did when they ran Congress.” A closer look at the numbers reveals that isn’t exactly true. Liberals are …
Vice President Cheney spoke at Heritage this morning about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a critical tool in the government’s arsenal to fight terrorists. The law is under consideration once again by Congress, which passed temporary changes last summer. With those modifications set to expire on Feb. 1, Cheney renewed …
Brian Riedl’s paper on economic growth and tax rebates has caused quite a stir. Over at OMB Watch, blogger Craig Jennings calls it “breathtakingly moronic” and resorts to name calling, claiming Riedl would “fail tenth-grade economics” for his analysis. (Jennings mustn’t have known Riedl studied economic policy while earning his …
As if the rumblings from Capitol Hill suggesting President Bush is “open” to a stimulus package larger than his $150 billion offer weren’t bad enough, now Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center director Len Burman is calling for a tax increase solution to our economic woes. This while even the two leading …
A federal judge in Miami sentenced Brooklyn-born convert to Islam Jose Padilla to over 17 years in prison pursuant to his jury conviction for conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism. The judge stressed that the sentence would serve as a warning to others that support for terrosism “will not …
Responding to a suit by the Nevada State Education Association challenging at-large caucus locations set up by the Nevada State Democratic Party, Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall wrote: If there’s one thing that’s core to the modern Democratic party is that voter suppression tactics are always wrong. Much of the …
