via Patricia Zengerle and Susan Heavey, Reuters A growing number of lawmakers – including a leading pro-gun senator – called on Monday for a look at curbing assault weapons like the one used in a massacre at a Connecticut grade school, a sign that attitudes toward gun control could be shifting. Senator Joe Manchin, a … Continue reading
via Chris Good, ABC News As Congress wrangles over the fiscal cliff, one tiny document will loom large over the negotiations. Known in Republican circles simply as “The Pledge,” the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) Taxpayer Protection Pledge has steered GOP tax policy for decades, applying pressure to any candidate, lawmaker, or president who would … Continue reading
via AP, The Washington Post After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, ruling out any changes despite relentless protest campaigns by some critics. An 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, “came to the conclusion that this policy is … Continue reading
via The Editorial Board, The New York Times This is now the pattern of business in the House of Representatives: Spend most of the time passing bills designed not to become law but to satisfy the ideological desires of conservative voters. And block laws that actually need to get passed. This colossal waste of time, … Continue reading
via Mike Sacks, The Huffington Post On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the federal government’s challenge to the Grand Canyon state’s controversial anti-immigration law, S.B. 1070. The case, Arizona v. United States, will not only be the Court’s second politically-charged blockbuster in as many months, but also a rematch between … Continue reading
via Paul Joseph Watson, Prison Planet A Homeland Security training manual belies claims made by DHS representatives during a Congressional hearing last week that the federal agency is only monitoring social media outlets for “situational awareness,” and proves the fact that Bis Sis is also tracking online criticism of government, including discussion of airport body … Continue reading
Tea party firebrand Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) plans to introduce a provocative measure in the House expressing congressional support for Israel’s right to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as the Palestinians move forward with a controversial request for a declaration of statehood at the United Nations. The resolution, which is modeled closely on … Continue reading