Because of the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), prospects for passage of the conference report on Financial Regulatory Reform is now in a holding pattern. This conference report is expected to pass the House this week, but prospects for passage in the Senate are in doubt. President Obama has called on Congress to pass this bill by the July 4th recess next week. Conservatives worry that this bill establishes permanent bailout authority for failing businesses and that the regulatory provisions will hurt American competitiveness. The so called “Financial Services …
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has filed an amendment to a tax extenders bill expected to be considered by the Senate today. The amendment would reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and, according to a press release from D.C. Parents for School Choice, would “preserve the program for current and future students”. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are co-sponsors. As Virginia Walden Ford and I wrote last week in a post on The Corner, school …
Liberals in America are mad because they have had a difficult time implementing an unpopular far left agenda, especially with regard to Obamacare. One of the results of this rage is for liberals to attack one of the rules in the Senate that protects unlimited debate and amendment – the Filibuster Rule. Rule 22 of the Senate’s rules governs the conduct of a filibuster and requires that a “Cloture Petition” be signed by 16 Senators to commence the process of shutting off debate on a nomination or legislation. The left wants …
Why Reconciliation Exists What Is Reconciliation? Reconciliation is an optional step of the annual budget process that allows legislation to be approved by 51 votes in the U.S. Senate rather than the traditional 60 votes necessary to withstand a filibuster. This could also be achieved with 50 votes plus Vice President Biden as the 51st.This process is a shortcut that limits debate, including floor debate, to only 20 hours. The Purpose? Reconciliation was created to streamline Senate rules to make it easier for lawmakers to achieve the spending and tax …
Congress is considering increasing the length of time unemployed workers can collect unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Normally unemployed workers can collect UI benefits for up to 26 weeks. Congress changed the law to allow 39 weeks of benefits. Now many in Congress want to allow 46 weeks of benefits. One of the reasons Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) give for this change is the fact that long-term unemployment has increased. This is true: The number of workers unemployed for more than 26 weeks has …
September 17 is Constitution Day. On this date in 1787, 39 of the original 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document that would eventually be ratified and enshrined as our fundamental law. Recently, many have observed the relative decline of civic knowledge among American citizens, and have taken steps to improve our understanding of our fundamental law, the limited government which it creates, and the basic liberties which it is designed to protect. In 2004, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) sponsored language in an appropriations bill, which passed in …
Liberals usually like to condemn corporate welfare … unless that welfare comes in the form of protectionism. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that a 2000 law, declared illegal by the WTO and repealed by Congress in 2005, is making a comeback thanks to the efforts of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV). The Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act allowed the U.S. corporations that make dumping complaints to take the punitive duties collected by the U.S. government for themselves, instead of allowing the fees to flow to the U.S. Treasury. Among …
