Word: congressed
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Democrats in Washington have taken extraordinary steps to address long-term unemployment in this recession. Last year Congress added 33 extra weeks of unemployment benefits. As part of the stimulus bill this year, Congress added an additional potential 20 weeks for the worst hit states, raising to 79 weeks the maximum time a laid-off worker can draw unemployment assistance while looking for a job. To combat "hysteresis," or the atrophying of job skills in the labor force, the Labor Department issued an opinion earlier this year that workers can still draw unemployment insurance even if they work a volunteer...
Ways and Means is one of Congress's most powerful clubs, the guardian of the federal tax code and the body responsible for finding a way to pay for anything Congress wants to do. The Obama Administration had counted on Rangel's committee to be a key linchpin in its push for health-care reform - which would also rank as Rangel's crowning legislative achievement. It hasn't worked out that way, at least not yet. Deeply split along party lines, the Ways and Means panel has become a target for critics who say Obama has allowed congressional Democrats...
...deep and raspy, and he expresses himself with a bluntness that suggests he's been around too long to care what people think. At 79, Rangel is one of Capitol Hill's oldest lions, with an impressive backstory that lends him stature with his colleagues. "As a leader in Congress, he's a respected voice," says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...
...financial markets is not the kind of politically charged, life-or-death issue that should drive a normally discreet Cabinet member to go on a blue streak in front of dozens of officials. But Geithner and the Obama Administration have more at stake in getting reform pushed through Congress by the end of the year than it may seem...
...support of one potential foe, the pharmaceutical industry, the Obama Administration reportedly made a side deal to limit drug spending cuts in any health-care reform bill to $80 billion. According to the New York Times, the Administration reaffirmed the deal after the drugmakers expressed concern that Congress might push for even bigger cuts...