On Wednesday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released over 1,100 pages of “previously classified Vietnam-era transcripts that show senators of the time sharply questioning whether they had been deceived by the White House and the Pentagon over the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.” Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Committee authorized the release of the declassified material. Kerry said: “These transcripts and testimony were selected because they shed light on an important period of American history and all of its...
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Coalition Urges Inclusion Of Energy Efficiency As Senate Dems Go To Bat For Small Business
Senate Democrats are ramping up in an attempt to pass legislation designed to aid American small businesses, as a diverse coalition urges President Obama and Senate Democrats to include one of Obama’s signature energy initiatives as part of that bill. Senate Democrats want to push a Small Business Jobs Act past GOP opposition, and bring to a vote a package of small-business tax breaks, community-bank-driven capital, and breaks on Small Business Administration loans. Meanwhile, an organization formed to promote...
Health Care Reform Will Help Everybody
Many Americans assume the new health care reform act will benefit mostly the poor and uninsured and hurt everyone else, according to polls. As Matt Yglesias wrote, “Basically, people see this as a bill that will take resources from people who have health insurance and give it to people who don’t have health insurance.” Those who still oppose the reform say that people ought to pay for their own health care. We all believe in the virtues of hard...
White House Expects New Drilling Moratorium To Hold, But Conservatives Still Are Not Pleased
The Obama administration expects its new moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling to stand up in court where an earlier ban did not. But conservatives continue to rail against the temporary suspension. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Monday announced a new suspension of deepwater drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), saying a pause is needed to ensure that oil and gas companies first implement adequate safety measures to reduce the risks associated with deepwater drilling operations and...
Gibbs: Potential For GOP To Take House Is An ‘Obvious’ Statement
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs is defending remarks he made during a national TV interview Sunday in which he acknowledged Republicans could take control of the House of Representatives this November. Responding to a reporter’s question Monday during his regular White House press briefing, Gibbs says he only “stated the obvious.” Gibbs appeared Sunday on the NBC program Meet The Press, in which he remarked that there is “no doubt there are enough seats in play that could...
White House Presses Senate On Jobs Subsidies
A key White House economic adviser is urging the Senate to extend a jobs-subsidy program that is favored by many, including the conservative governor of Mississippi. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Subsidized Jobs program, which allows states to use funds from the 2009 economic stimulus to help pay wages for new employees, is set to expire Sept. 30 — but ought to be allowed to continue, according to Jared Bernstein, chief economic advisor to Vice President Biden....
Capitol Idea: In The Senate, Republicans Block But The Democrats Just Run
I hope the Democrats enjoyed their week off more than did the millions of jobless Americans who are losing their unemployment benefits. Two weeks ago, congressional Democrats were berating Republicans, who have been blocking legislation that would extend those benefits. Leading Democrats rightly described the lapse in benefits as an “emergency,” given that out-of-work Americans are relying on their unemployment insurance to at least attempt to keep their heads above water while searching for a new job. Democrats rightly...
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