June 19, 2013
Politics: Congress
Coburn: Treasury keeps stalling congressional request for full listing of conference costs
By Susan Ferrechio | 06/19/13 10:15 AM
The Treasury Department has yet to provide Congress with a full list and cost of employee conferences, despite repeated requests from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
Treasury officials blame multiple requests from different Congressional panels, admitting “confusion,” but Coburn isn’t buying it....
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News: Watchdog
Paralysis in Congress keeps federal worker disability fraudsters cashing the checks
By Mark Flatten | 06/19/13 06:50 AM
Getting federal employees off disability and into retirement while closing off opportunities for fraud has proved all but impossible for President Obama and his immediate predecessor, as well as for Congress. Part three of a three-part series by the Washington Examiner Watchdog team.
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Politics
House passes ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy
By Susan Ferrechio | 06/18/13 07:20 PM
The Republican-led House Tuesday passed a bill banning most abortions after 20 weeks.
The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, approved by a vote of 228 to 196, comes in the wake of gruesome details that emerged during the trial of late-term abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, who was...
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Politics: Congress
Obamacare’s tariff on hiring American workers still plagues immigration bill
By Philip Klein | 06/18/13 09:40 AM
An unnamed staffer for Sen. Marco Rubio has caused the latest stir over the immigration bill by telling the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza that, “There are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can’t cut it…There shouldn’t be a presumption that every American worker is a star...
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Issues: Labor
Congressman: Labor Department expanded wage rule without public comment
By Sean Higgins | 06/18/13 10:40 AM
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said at a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing this morning that the Labor Department expanded the reach of Davis-Bacon Act without public comment earlier this year.
Davis-Bacon is a law that requires contractors engaged in any federally-funded...
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Washington Secrets
Obama thwarted: 'No indication' he will win back House
By Paul Bedard | 06/18/13 11:30 AM
President Obama's non-stop fundraising for congressional Democrats is building a huge campaign war chest for next fall, but there is little hope that his party will win back control of the House and make Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaker again, according to an exhaustive new analysis.
But the report...
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More Congress Articles
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DC, Congress
Panel OKs revisions to Eisenhower memorial designs
By Sean Lengell | 06/19/13 07:10 PM
A long-delayed memorial honoring Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed to be built just off the National Mall took a key step forward Wednesday, when a presidentially appointed panel unanimously approved...
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Drones, National Security, Congress, Beltway Confidential
FBI is using drones in America, director tells Congress
By Susan Ferrechio | 06/19/13 05:55 PM
The Federal Bureau of Investigations employs the use of drones for surveillance on U.S. soil, the agency’s director told lawmakers on Wednesday. At an oversight hearing conducted by the Senate...
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Republican Party, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Senate GOP says repeal of 'death tax' must be part of tax reform
By Steve Contorno | 06/19/13 05:50 PM
Senate Republicans on Wednesday said that a repeal of the federal estate tax must be a key component of any tax reform proposal, setting up a showdown with President Obama, who hopes to raise the...
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Entitlements, Agriculture, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Cuts to food stamps threaten farm bill
By Sean Lengell | 06/19/13 02:10 PM
White House opposition to the House’s massive farm bill could leave some Republicans and conservative groups in the awkward position of agreeing with President Obama. As the House continued...
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Fiscal Policy, Senate, Immigration, Congress
CBO: Senate immigration bill would expand Obamacare
By Philip Klein | 06/18/13 07:30 PM
If the Senate immigration bill becomes law, federal health care spending would increase by $112 billion over the next decade as more people take advantage of Medicaid, Medicare and subsidies from...
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Agriculture, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Congressman calls for defunding National Sheep Industry Improvement Center
By Sean Higgins | 06/18/13 03:40 PM
No, I’m not trying to pull the wool over your eyes, the federal government really does fund a National Sheep Industry Improvement Center. It is part of the Agriculture Department. You can read a...
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Senate, Immigration, Congress, Beltway Confidential
John McCain: New border security plan could unite Dems, GOP
By David M. Drucker | 06/18/13 02:30 PM
Democratic and Republican senators are in tense discussions over a border-security amendment to the Gang of Eight immigration-reform package that could prove critical to its passage, Sen. John...
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Harry Reid, Immigration, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Support falling in polls, Harry Reid announces rush to pass immigration bill
By Byron York | 06/18/13 10:35 AM
With a new poll showing falling support for the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced an accelerated schedule in which the Senate...
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Senate, Immigration, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Senate to vote on amendment to build double-layer border fence
By Susan Ferrechio | 06/18/13 05:05 AM
The Senate will vote Tuesday on four amendments to the comprehensive immigration reform bill, including one that would require a double-layer, 700-mile fence along the southern border before any...
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Senate, Immigration, Congress, Beltway Confidential
First look: The amendment that could decide the fate of immigration reform
By Byron York | 06/17/13 10:25 PM
As the Senate debate over the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill reaches full speed this week, leading Democrats have pronounced the border security amendment proposed by...
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Afghanistan, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Bob Corker blocks Afghan spending bill over millions in payments to Karzai
By Susan Crabtree | 06/17/13 03:40 PM
Sen. Bob Corker, the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is demanding to know why the U.S. government allegedly has made tens of millions of dollars in cash payments to Afghan...
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Barack Obama, Congress, White House
After House blocks Gitmo closure, Obama taps envoy
By Susan Crabtree | 06/17/13 03:25 PM
Under pressure to demonstrate a renewed commitment to shutter the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, President Obama has tapped a high-powered Washington attorney as one of two special envoys...
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Ted Cruz, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Ted Cruz hopes to reverse SCOTUS ruling on Arizona voter registration law
By Joel Gehrke | 06/17/13 02:40 PM
Seven Supreme Court (SCOTUS) justices ruled that federal law prevents Arizona from requiring a proof of citizenship from newly-registering voters, but Sen. Ted Cruz. R-Texas, hopes to change that...
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Marco Rubio, Immigration, Congress
Benefits and borders: Q&A with Marco Rubio
By David M. Drucker | 06/17/13 08:00 AM
Lost amid the congressional shouting over immigration reform is a Washington rarity: A freshman Republican with Tea Party roots and scant experience in the national political arena is poised to...
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Nancy Pelosi, Congress
Even President Obama may not be able to put Nancy Pelosi back in the speaker's chair
By Conn Carroll | 06/17/13 06:35 AM
President Obama told a Democratic fund raising event in April that he wants Nancy Pelosi back as Speaker of the House and vowed to do everything in his power to make that happen in the 2014...
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John Boehner, Immigration, Congress
John Boehner won't back immigration bill without majority GOP support
By David M. Drucker | 06/16/13 11:50 PM
House Speaker John Boehner is not going to bring a comprehensive immigration-reform plan to thefloor if a majority of Republicans don't support it, sources familiar with his plans said. "No way...
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Nancy Pelosi, Washington Secrets, Congress
Pro-life 'farm team' eyes House, challenging Nancy Pelosi
By Paul Bedard | 06/16/13 07:45 PM
Anti-abortion female lawmakers and activists, long shouted down by pro-abortion Democrats, are stepping up their efforts to bring their "farm team" of state politicians to Washington and challenge...
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Harry Reid, Congress
Harry Reid again threatens to curb GOP filibusters
By David M. Drucker | 06/16/13 06:25 PM
With Democratic frustration boiling over, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is once again threatening to curtail the Republicans' ability to block legislation through use of the filibuster....
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Abortion, Immigration, Congress
Immigration, farm aid, abortion top Congress' agenda
By Susan Ferrechio | 06/16/13 06:05 PM
Congress this week will tackle immigration reform, farming and abortion, though lawmakers also will continue to focus much of their time on a growing list of scandals surrounding the Obama...
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PennAve, Immigration, Congress, Beltway Confidential
Marco Rubio says immigration bill nearly in ‘perfect shape’
By Brian Hughes | 06/16/13 03:05 PM
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on Sunday that lawmakers needed to beef up the border-security portions of a Senate immigration bill but that most of the blueprint should obtain bipartisan support....
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Top 5 Most Read Stories
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Lights out: House plan would protect nation's electricity from solar flare, nuclear bomb
By Paul Bedard | 06/17/13
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After 4 years of Michelle's anti-obesity campaign, America is still getting fatter
By Paul Bedard | 06/19/13
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Support falling in polls, Harry Reid announces rush to pass immigration bill
By Byron York | 06/18/13
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If it’s not mandatory, is it ‘banned’?
By Timothy P. Carney | 06/19/13
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Bloomberg's anti-gun group calls Boston Marathon bomber a victim
By Paul Bedard | 06/19/13
From the Weekly Standard
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June 17, 1953
Today, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, President Obama paid appropriate tribute to the brave East Germans who rebelled 60 years ago against Communist dictatorship:
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Problems of the Second Generation
The Boston Marathon bombings highlighted, once again, the challenges of assimilating Muslim youth. And while the onus of accountability ought not rest exclusively on Muslim Americans, it...
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Release Osama Bin Laden’s Files on Taliban
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it was moving forward with its attempt to negotiate with the Taliban, which has opened a long-awaited political office in Doha, Qatar. The...
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