Word: congress
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Meanwhile, amidst the muddling political circus in Congress, Obama and his administration showed tenacity in refusing to forfeit their vision for reform. Campaigning on the promise of fixing America’s unfair and unsustainable healthcare system, Obama put reform at the top of his political agenda and did not allow the debate to disappear from the public consciousness. As calls to throw out the bill and begin from scratch grew raucous upon Brown’s stunning election in January, Obama and his team increased their efforts by appealing directly to members of both parties and their constituents...
...immediate consequence of this achievement is that it will finally free Congress to work definitively to address other important issues. While healthcare was a critical problem that deserved the highest attention, myriad others also merit scrutiny and action. Specifically, Congress should now focus its efforts on reforming financial regulations and energy policy. As for now, Democrats on Capitol Hill can relish their historic triumph in a battle that was begun over a century ago. This legislation is a tremendous achievement for the Democrats in Congress and signifies a victory of the highest caliber for Obama’s young presidency...
...fact not surprising to anyone who has followed the healthcare reform battle in the last year is that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, now signed into law, managed to pass through both chambers of Congress without a single Republican voting “Yea.” In comparison, another landmark bill passed 75 years ago, the Social Security Act of 1935, passed the House 372 votes to 33, with 81 Republicans voting in support. Thirty years later in 1965, the Medicaid and Medicare amendments were added with a House margin of 307-to-116, with 70 Republicans...
...increasingly it seems that the needs of constituents have fallen on deaf ears to Washington leaders as party-line commitment now trumps the duty to hometown voters. Representation in Congress is no longer vested in pushing constituency interests, which are now being marginalized by national party politics. In fact, the ill-fated “Cornhusker Kickback” represents the rare hat tip to a congressman’s constituents in the last year. Kudos, Senator Ben Nelson, for trying...
...Pentagon took a giant step toward integrating openly gay men and women into the U.S. military on Thursday. No, it didn't repeal 1993's "Don't ask, don't tell" law - only Congress can do that. But it did something that could be almost as important: it eased the enforcement of that law by loosening the regulations that have been used to snare 13,500 gays - and boot them out of uniform - since 1994. "These changes will allow us to execute the law in a fair and more appropriate manner," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. The revised regs "provide...