The lame-duck session begins today, with retiring and defeated Members of Congress coming back to Washington to make their last legislative decisions. Because of the lack of accountability to voters, the lame-duck period brings heightened scrutiny. Congress has 16 working days scheduled between now and the end of the year, …
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has a new idea to make it easier to pass legislation: Cut Republicans out of the process. He’s calling it “filibuster reform,” but it would do away with the minority’s historic rights because they are an inconvenience to the Democrats’ liberal, uncompromising political agenda. …
This session, Congress has consistently increased criminal penalties through legislation. In what type of bills are they doing it? In appropriations bills, of course. Where else would Congress increase criminal penalties? For example, in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the maximum penalties for violation of Arms …
Yesterday, the Senate narrowly voted (51-48) to raise taxes on 1.2 million small businesses, which will likely kill more than 700,000 jobs at a time when nearly 13 million Americans are out of work. Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Jim Webb (D-VA) joined all Republicans in bipartisan opposition to the …
Cybersecurity legislation will likely be taken up by the Senate tomorrow. Regrettably, the idea that we just need to do something about cybersecurity seems to be trumping the view that we need to do it right. The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (CSA), authored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I–CT) and Susan …
