In the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2010, the National Applications Office is not listed as among the programs that are being cut or significantly reduced in funding. Why? On Friday, there was a markup session for the legislation, with the opportunity to eliminate funding for the satellite spy operations against American citizens. Why did the Democrats on the Price's subcommittee fail to act? Read Full Story

With H.J. Res. 23, Trent Franks manages to take an extremist pose without actually getting anything done. Once more, we see that the Franks agenda is made up of a bizarre mix of radicalism and ineffectiveness. If we weren't in the middle of an economic crisis, these kinds of antics would be entertaining. Read Full Story

S. 1227, the “Truth in Employment Act of 2009,” has just one active clause within its volumes of rhetoric: Section 8(a) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(a)) is amended by adding after and below paragraph (5) the following: `Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring an [...] Read Full Story

Dorgan is from North Dakota. Bingaman is from New Mexico. They don't have anything to fear from an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It's easy for them, in their landlocked states, to say that coastal states shouldn't worry about oil slicks resulting from drilling accidents or hurricanes surging up from the Caribbean Sea. Read Full Story

Congressional candidate Jeremy Cloward has proposed a solution to the daycare problem: Universally-available, free daycare centers established through local public school districts. Read Full Story

One of the most important stories from Congress this week probably won’t be covered in the newspapers, so you’ll have to watch for it over at the Library of Congress web site. It has to do with two bills introduced late last week by California U.S. Representative Jane Harman. The bills, H.R 2703 and H.R. [...] Read Full Story

Congressman Robert Wexler calls Azerbaijan "one of America’s most important strategic allies in the Caucasus region". What makes Azerbaijan such an important strategic ally in the Caucasus region, and why does that matter? Read Full Story

Maloney's record places her high above Gillibrand's short record in the House. Gillibrand's record in the Senate is no better. She has taken little meaningful legislative action, and has earned a net score on our Senate legislative scorecard of just 8 points out of a possible 100. Read Full Story

Are we willing to watch the devastation of Pacific salmon runs, the disappearance of resident killer whale populations, and the general impoverishment of California's riverine and marine ecosystems, just for the sake of inexpensive strawberries and salad greens in winter? Read Full Story

In the first four months of the 111th Congress, 214 caucuses in the House of Representatives registered formally with the Committee on House Administration as Congressional Membership Organizations. Since then, 21 more CMOs have followed suit, bringing the current count of caucuses in the House of Representatives to 235. Whether you call them caucuses or CMOs, [...] Read Full Story