Politics

Congress Links

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

• Democratic leaders are asking Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D – AR) to “water down” her provision in the Senate FinReg  bill that would ban banks from receiving government subsidies for their profitable – but risky – derivatives trading operations. Lincoln is refusing. (New York Times)
• Sen. Lincoln is also pushing a change in the bill that would exempt an Arkansas bank owned by the Walton family (of Wal-Mart fame) from certain capital holding requirements. (Wall Street Journal)
• House, Senate negotiators agree to establish a consumer protection bureau housed in the Fed as part of the new financial regulation bill. (Businessweek)
• House Democrats, nervous about deficit, propose $7 billion in budget cuts for next year. (AP)
• Deficit worries have also driven cuts in the Senate’s stalled unemployment relief bill, but massive tax breaks remain untouched. (The LA Times)
• The House subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold hearings on Thursday to examine “location-based mobile services”. Concerns over possible privacy violations are expected to be the main focus of the hearings. (Washington Post)
• Rep. Joe Barton (R – TX-06) tweeted an article supporting his infamous “shakedown” accusation, the tweet was quickly retracted by Barton’s spokesman.  (Washington Post)
• Senate is expected to quickly confirm Petraeus to be the new to commander in Afghanistan.(Politico)
• Senate and House feud over medicare cuts. (Politico)
• Iran prepares for and reacts to Congress’ sanctions on Iran’s fuel exports. (WashingtonPost)
• Highlighting Congress’ oil spill legislation, The Political Climate has used OpenCongress links to explain current bills.
• House Democrats prepare to draft legislation in order to tighten oil spill practices. (Reuters)

Full post as published by Open Congress on June 24, 2010 (boomark / email).