The U.S. Congress
 
 
The Congress recessed on June 27th for the upcoming Fourth Of July holiday leaving a mountain of unfinished business. The Congress has completed some legislation in recent months that was heavily influenced by the Special Interests. Big Oil paid an average of $134,362 to each U.S. Senator that voted NO on the energy bill. The bill failed. If it had passed, it would have eliminated $17 billion in tax breaks to the big oil companies. The $290 billion farm bill passed. Businesses that benefited from its passage paid very significant contributions for YES votes. Two Colorado representatives (John Salazar (D) and Marilyn Musgrave (R) received $390,000 from agriculture interests and another $74,000 from sugar cane and sugar beet growers. The FISA bill (surveillance of U.S. citizens) passed in the House. Of interest with this bill is that since 2005, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon have contributed $3.5 million to House member re-election campaigns and that these companies spent $10.8 million in the first three months of 2008 lobbying the congress to pass the bill. The bill contains a controversial clause that provides immunity from prosecution to the telecommunications companies in any law suit against the government for violation of U.S. citizens civil rights. The Senate has not yet finished with this bill The Senate seems to be in a complete meltdown these last few months. Bills that pass by wide margins in the House can’t even get to the floor of the Senate as Democrats and Republicans bicker over partisan issues. Harry Reid D-NV , the Senate Majority Leader has blocked 13 Republican backed amendments to pending legislation while the Republicans use every means at their disposal to kill legislation proposed by Democrats. This last month in the Senate is a great example of how these two political parties completely ignore their constituents while they battle each other for control and of course for the money rolling in from the special interest groups. In the meantime, bills addressing the tanking economy, gas prices, the housing crisis, health care and climate change remain in limbo in the Senate. Read about the money pouring into the congress and about what is NOT happening in the Senate at the websites below. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703409.html?hpid=topnews http://www.mgwashington.com/index.php/news/article/phone-giants-gave-liberally-to-lawmakers-during-wiretapping-debate/1279/ http://maplight.org/node/5674 http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9365562 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202521.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061902483.html If you see any of your elected congressional representatives in your area during this recess, let them know how you feel about the current situation in Washington. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703409.html?hpid=topnewshttp://www.mgwashington.com/index.php/news/article/phone-giants-gave-liberally-to-lawmakers-during-wiretapping-debate/1279/http://maplight.org/node/5674http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9365562http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202521.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061902483.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5
The Best Do Nothing
Congress
That Money
Can Buy
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Senate Meltdown