Politics

Congress Links

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

It was a short first work week back for Congress, and next week will be short too. The House comes back into session Wednesday and the Senate comes back on Monday, but won’t be voting on anything until Tuesday. Here’s your weekend roundup of links on Congress — what’s driving the debates and shaping the political landscape. Have a good one!

• The big Senate vote on repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which will actually be a vote on invoking cloture on the Defense Authorization bill that contains it, will be on Tuesday. Some senators who once supported DADT repeal are starting to flip-flop, making the outcome of the vote uncertain. (Washington Monthly)
• Lady Gaga is ramping up her campaign to repeal DADT with this video asking her fans to call their senators. (YouTube)
• Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA] says she’s staying “open-minded” about extending all of the Bush tax cuts temporarily. (The Hill)
• Paul Krugman says the GOP offer of a full temporary tax cut extension is a setup for enacting a permanent extension in the near future. (Krugman)
• If Congress doesn’t do something with the expiring Bush tax cuts soon, pay checks will be slashed for everyone in January, at least temporarily. (Bloomberg)
• Elizabeth Warren (SourceWatch bio) has been appointed to a temporary position to oversee the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that is to be created from the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. (WaPo Political Economy)
• Sen. Al Franken [D, MN] to Obama: thanks for appointing Warren, now make her permanent. (FDL News)
• Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick [D, AZ-1] is asking House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi [D, CA-8] for a vote on cutting members of Congress’ salaries by 5%. (ABC)
• Kirkpatrick’s pay-cut bill: H.R. 4720 — Taking Responsibility for Congressional Pay Act. (OpenCongress)
• In both scope and volume, the 111th Congress has been incredibly productive when it comes to enacting legislation. But voters don’t seem too impressed. (BusinessWeek)

Full post as published by Open Congress on September 18, 2010 (boomark / email).