Politics

Congress Links

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

It’s the end of a pretty non-eventful week in Washington D.C. I think Kargo X sums up the situation best: “The Senate isn’t able to pass anything, so everybody goes home. They’ll be back next week to not pass anything, and then they’ll go home for even longer.”

Even though nothing’s moving past the great Senate wall in Congress these days, there’s still plenty to talk about. To that end, here are your weekend links. Rest assured knowing that all of this great content will be fueling more than a few smug conversations on the political fundraising circuit this weekend. Me… I’ll be in Western Massachusetts roto-tilling my spent pumpkin patch and mending loose strands on my powdered wig. Carpe diem!

• In light of the GOP filibuster of the Defense bill/“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” repeal earlier this week, 69 House Dems have written to the Obama Administration asking them not to appeal the recent CA district court ruling that found DADT unconstitutional. (Wonk Room)
• By the way, there was a lot of important stuff that went down in defeat when the Republicans filibustered the Defense bill over the DADT provision. (Mother Jones)
• Sen. Mary Landr ieu [D, LA]">Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA] has placed a hold on Obama’s pick for OMB chief, Jack Lew, and says she won’t lift it until the Obama Admin lifts the moratorium on deep-water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. (Federal Eye)
• Matt Yglesias says Landrieu’s hold illustrates the need to reform Senate rules so that industries that dominate a particular state don’t unduly dominate national issues. (Matthew Yglesias)
• Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] has scheduled a vote next week on the Obama payroll-tax-holiday/anti-job-outsourcing stimulus bill. (Senatus)
• The text of the Obama jobs bill isn’t out yet, but based on the details that have been reported thus far, The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson wonders if it could be the worst jobs bill yet. (The Atlantic)
• In Sen. Barbara Boxer’s [D, CA] re-election race against Carly Fiorina, 87% of individual expeditures are from groups on either side of the abortion issue. (Sunlight Reporting Group)
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week approved major defense trade treaties with the United Kingdom and Australia. (The Cable)
• The House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill designed to pressure China into letting the value of its currency rise. The bill is set for a vote in the full House next week. (BusinessWeek)
• Here’s the actual bill — H.R.2378 – Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act. (OpenCongress)
• On Friday I reported that Sen. Sam Brownback’s [R, KS] support for a renewable energy standards bill was contingent on it staying a stand-alone measure. So much for that. NYT reports: Senators See Renewable Energy Bill as Christmas Tree for Pet Projects (New York Times)
• At the Coffee Party convention Saturday, Free-culture and fair-elections here Lawrence Lessig is leading a mock Constitutional Convention. It start at 9:30 a.m. and runs all day until 4:30 p.m. Watch live. (UStream)
• Wondering about that “Ag Jobs bill” that came up at the Colbert hearing on Friday? Here it is — H.R.2414 – Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2009. (OpenCongress)
• Oh, I thought the Colbert testimony was in fine taste, funny, and actually successful at getting people to think for a second about an important issue that we typically ignore. Watch for yourself. (TPM DC)

Full post as published by Open Congress on September 25, 2010 (boomark / email).