Word: actualizations
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...Barack Obama's pick to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta has no significant intelligence experience and is known around the capital mainly for his budgetary prowess, bipartisanship and management skills. While these are all important traits for a spymaster, so is some experience with actual spycraft: backlash to Panetta started immediately, with Senate intelligence committee chair Dianne Feinstein noting that she believed "the agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time." The dilemma Obama faced - and perhaps the reason he chose someone from outside the spy community - is that...
True, the 110th Congress may not have made quite as much progress as many hoped. In a time of war, financial crisis, rising health care costs and volatile gas prices, its success in passing actual pieces of legislation has been below average: it enacted only about 3% of legislation introduced into law (the average rate for the past 35 years is about 4.5%). Still, as the 111th convenes on Jan. 6, at least the outgoing class can claim to have excelled at one great congressional tradition: approving a lengthy list of inconsequential, not very discriminating and occasionally downright peculiar Congressional...
There are three types of legislative resolutions. First, there are joint resolutions, which are approved by both houses of Congress and can be as serious as real bills, with actual outcomes like appropriating emergency funds (if the President signs them) or adding Constitutional amendments (if they are ratified by the states). Then there are concurrent resolutions, like the annual congressional budget resolution, which also must get approval of both houses but do not carry the force of law. The third type is a simple resolution, which is also not a law and needs the approval of only one house. This...
...constituents quite like Congressmen and Senators giving agreeable shout-outs to local sports heroes. Last year, the 110th Congress praised superstar Olympian Michael Phelps; it also celebrated Wichita State University's championship women's bowling team. Legislators, it seems, aren't very picky. Unless of course they are passing actual laws...
...Pentagon insists Posse Comitatus is not going to be an issue because the 20,000 troops will play no role in actual law enforcement. "The first point to make, our department understands and respects the concerns that have been voiced - even under circumstances where some of the concerns are not well based in fact," says Paul McHale, the outgoing assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, who vows transparency about the mission. McHale says he met with the American Civil Liberties Union a few weeks ago to give assurances that the proposals will not infringe on the basic rights of civilians...