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[Editress’ Note: It’s important to be well-informed. Read the full CISPA bill here.] via Donna Cassata, AP, MSNBC The Obama administration on Wednesday threatened to veto a House bill designed to defend critical U.S. industries and corporate networks from electronic attacks by foreign governments, cybercriminals and terrorist groups, arguing the measure falls short in protecting … Continue reading
via Allison Joyce, Reuters The federal government is about to become the country’s worst backseat driver. Congress wants to put tracking devices in the car of every American, and that’s not even the scariest provision in a new bill being passed around Washington. The US Senate has already signed off on a new legislation that, … Continue reading
via Gail Collins, The New York Times The debate over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin seems to be devolving into an argument about the right to wear hoodies, but it really does not appear to be a promising development. Congress, which never draws any serious conclusions from terrible tragedies involving gunplay, did have time … Continue reading
via Jim Garrison, The Huffington Post President Obama’s National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order of March 16 does to the country as a whole what the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act did to the Constitution in particular — completely eviscerates any due process or judicial oversight for any action by the Government deemed in the … Continue reading
[Editress’ Note: Today marks the 40th anniversary of the day Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, which guarantees equal protection under the law regardless of sex, but today it is still not included in our Constitution. Today we are facing a War on Women. We must fight back. The ERA must be ratified … Continue reading
via Pam Belluck, The New York Times Leticia Parra, a mother of five scraping by on income from her husband’s sporadic construction jobs, relied on the Planned Parenthood clinic in San Carlos, an impoverished town in South Texas, for breast cancer screenings, free birth control pills and pap smears for cervical cancer. But the clinic … Continue reading
via Gail Collins, The New York Times I am shocked to report that Congress, the beating heart of American democracy, is unpopular. Not unpopular like a shy kid in junior high. Unpopular like the Ebola virus, or zombies. Held in near-universal contempt, like TV shows about hoarders with dead cats in their kitchens. Or people … Continue reading
via Editorial Staff, The New York Times Even in the ultrapolarized atmosphere of Capitol Hill, it should be possible to secure broad bipartisan agreement on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, the 1994 law at the center of the nation’s efforts to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The law’s renewal has strong backing … Continue reading
via Susan Davis, USA Today The roster of congressional candidates for this year’s elections is taking shape and one trend is emerging: 2012 could be another “Year of the Woman” in American politics. The moniker was famously applied in 1992 when four women were elected to the Senate, a high watermark for the chamber that … Continue reading
via Somini Sengupta, The New York Times The unlikely coalition of companies and consumer groups that last week helped quash antipiracy legislation on Capitol Hill is now weighing the future of what might be called lobbying 2.0. Can the Internet industry, along with legions of newly politicized Web users, be a new force in Washington? … Continue reading
via Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune Show of hands: How many of you tried to go to Wikipedia on Wednesday and, instead of reading “List of Gilmore Girls Episodes,” were puzzled by the black and white screen that said “Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge”? Every English-language article was blocked, the frivolous ones and the serious … Continue reading
via Luke Johnson, The Huffington Post The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act (PIPA), have ignited widespread online protests–yet there is considerable confusion surrounding the legislation. Here’s a rundown of how the bills would work: The legislation would allow copyright holders and the Justice Department to seek court … Continue reading
via Jasmin Melvin, Reuters Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks on Friday, delivering a stunning win for Internet companies that staged an unprecedented online protest this week to kill the previously fast-moving bills. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for January 24 “in light … Continue reading
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via Zach Carter, The Huffington Post Google will join thousands of tech activists, entrepreneurs and corporations on Wednesday in protesting the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, a controversial bill that has generated national outrage among Internet experts. On Wednesday, more than 7,000 websites are expected to voluntarily “go dark,” by blocking access to their content … Continue reading
via Sarah Skidmore, Christian Science Monitor Wikipedia will black out the English language version of its website Wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress, the foundation behind the popular community-based online encyclopedia said in a statement Monday night. The website will go dark for 24 hours in an unprecedented move that brings added muscle … Continue reading
via E.D. Kain, Forbes If Obama does one thing for the remainder of his presidency let it be a veto of the National Defense Authorization Act – a law recently passed by the Senate currently which would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door … Continue reading
via Michael McAuliff, The Huffington Post The Senate on Thursday blocked a second attempt to spare U.S. citizens from potential indefinite military detentions and was set to vote on a third effort to do the same later in the day. Under a provision of the mammoth defense authorization bill, the military would be granted the … Continue reading
via Marie Diamond, ThinkProgress Yesterday, Senate Republicans unveiled their much-hyped alternative to President Obama’s jobs plan. The “Jobs Through Growth Act” is heavy on Republicans’ favorite policies like cutting corporate taxes and reducing regulation, but light on details. Nevertheless, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) declared that it would create 5 million jobs. Moody’s Analytics estimated that … Continue reading
President Barack Obama’s job-creation package effectively fell to pieces on Monday as a top Republican lawmaker said the House of Representatives will only pass portions of the $447 billion measure. As Obama continued to press lawmakers for a vote on his signature legislation, Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, said that was not … Continue reading
Charles H. Percy, a former United States senator from Illinois and a moderate Republican who clashed with President Richard M. Nixon over Watergate and whose own presidential ambitions were stymied by Nixon’s resignation, died Saturday in Washington. He was 91. His death was announced by the office of his son-in-law, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 