Category: Congress

based on a diary at ProgressiveBlue.com

I have to admit to being more than a little disconnected since January; life, a new and hectic job, and so many people putting words and expectations into and onto the new Administration without looking at what was actually said or not during the campaign.  The life and job are all good; for an old political dog like myself, the politics have been a little too deja vu.  After 4 months of increased disinterest, I’m starting to think maybe it’s time to come out of this funk.

So, when Darcy Burner took the Executive Director position at the newly renamed ProgressiveCongress.org, I thought “it’s only a matter of time before she starts connecting people to the folks on the Hill.”  And sure enough, that’s exactly what she has planned.  Follow me below to find out how and when, and why I think this could be the start of something really good.

This essay will turn Orange Sunday around 8 p.m. Eastern. It is also posted on my own blog.

Welcome to the seventh installment of “Considered Forthwith.”

This weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies. If you want to read previous dairies in the series, search using the “forthwith” tag. I welcome criticisms and corrections in the comments.

This week I will look at the House and Senate committees on Appropriations. With the passage of the budget resolution by the House and Senate (PDF), the Appropriations committees are starting their work. I have heard from Hill staffers that many people worked late last week to review the appropriations for fiscal year 2010.

There are a whole slew of things I want to write about coming out in the news, but, this one needs to be written NOW.

There are only two ways to go on torture; a) There are investigations, or, b) There is a continued public kangaroo court that means nothing.  There cannot be both.

Follow me after the fold…

This will appear in Orange tomorrow. If this column is finished on Saturday, I will share here early. It is also posted on my own blog, A Little R&R.

Welcome to the sixth installment of “Considered Forthwith.”

This weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies. If you want to read previous dairies in the series, search using the “forthwith” tag or use the link on my blogroll. I welcome criticisms and corrections in the comments.

This week, I will examine the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This is an example of a select committee that has become a permanent fixture in the House. Select committees are usually investigative in nature, but this one also handles intelligence bills like the annual Intelligence Authorization Act.

Note: Last week, I mentioned covering the Senate Judiciary Committee. I’ll get to Senate committees after the fallout has settled from the Specter party switch.  

Welcome to the fifth installment of “Considered Forthwith.”

This weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies. If you want to read previous dairies in the series, search using the “forthwith” tag or use the link on my blogroll. I welcome criticisms and corrections in the comments.

This week, we will look at the House Judiciary Committee. Next week, this series will look at the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committees have similar jurisdiction, but they are different enough to Justify a separate entry.

 

Over the past 16 months, what members of Congress knew and when did they know it has slowly emerged in newspaper accounts. Four select members of Congress were notified in September 2002 when the CIA gave a secret high level briefing regarding the use of “harsh interrogation” and “overseas detention sites”.

U.S. law requires Congress be informed of covert activities, but allows for limited access to briefings in sensitive matters. In this meeting, four members of Congress were informed. They were Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Porter Goss, and Senators Bob Graham and Richard Shelby. The ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees sometimes described as the “Gang of Four”.

According to the Washington Post in December 2007, the four Congress members raised no objections to the “interrogation” techniques described, including waterboarding.

I’ll be posting this over on Daily Kos and Congress Matters tomorrow night. I wanted to give Docudharma the first preview.

Also crossposted at my own blog (for my ten or so regular readers).

Welcome to the fourth installment of “Considered Forthwith.”

This approximately weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies. If you want to read previous dairies in the series, search using the “forthwith” tag or use the link on my blogroll. I welcome criticisms and corrections in the comments.

This week, Considered Forthwith will examine both the House Committee on Standards and Official Conduct and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. These are two small committees with no standing subcommittees. For the sake of ease, I will refer to the two committees as the “House Ethics Committee” and the “Senate Ethics Committee.”  

Crossposted at Daily Kos, Congress Matters and A Little R&R.

This is a series I started at Daily Kos and Congress Matters. I figured I would offer it here, too. If ya’ll don’t like it, let me know. I can handle the falmes.

Welcome to the third installment of Considered Forthwith. This approximately weekly series looks at the various committees in the House and the Senate. Committees are the workshops of our democracy. This is where bills are considered, revised, and occasionally advance for consideration by the House and Senate. Most committees also have the authority to exercise oversight of related executive branch agencies.

If you want to read previous dairies in the series, search using the “forthwith” tag. I welcome criticisms and corrections in the comments.

Do you want action on the issue of the Bush Administrations apparent State Sponsored Torture program? It is an easy enough question, but you should consider it. Not, do you think it will happen or should happen, but do you want it to happen? Knowing the answer to this question can inform your next steps, so even if you think you know take a couple of minutes and really think about it.

Cross Posted At Square State

cross-posted at The Dream Antilles and dailyKos

At about 12:30 today, I walked across Route 203 and cast a ballot in the First District, Town of Austerlitz, Columbia County, New York in the NY-20 congressional election.  I’m in the southern part of NY-20, right up against the Massachusetts border, and I’ve lived here for more than 20 years.  I know that Murphy now has one vote.