Word: powerful
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...Reid's office says that limiting amendments is hardly a new practice and that Republican leaders indulged in it repeatedly when they were in power. In the wake of the jobs bill success, he is dusting off a long list of popular bills, like the tourism legislation, that will be hard for Republicans to vote against, including a package that extends unemployment insurance, health care benefits for the unemployed and tax breaks for companies; a bill to help ease credit for small businesses; the Federal Aviation Administration's reauthorization, a bipartisan measure that has been kicking around Congress for three...
...Congress does little better - and probably worse - at overseeing itself. Democrats promised to overhaul ethics oversight in Congress, but failed to deliver. Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, championed limits on lobbying by family members of members of Congress when Democrats were out of power in 2005, but once they took over in 2007 the promised restrictions never materialized...
...spoke at the semi-annual meeting of the Assembly of Experts, which he heads. The group, an elected body comprised of 86 clerics, most of them well into senior citizenship, is tasked with, among other things, overseeing the actions of the Supreme Leader, though it has never used that power. Referring to the post-election turmoil, Rafsanjani took no clear sides but made a rare acknowledgment of wrongdoing by regime forces, stating that "unfortunate incidents occurred that were unprecedented in our country, and these incidents caused disputes and in some instances hostilities, and events took place that no Muslim heart...
Unsurprisingly, Marine Le Pen, vice president of France's far-right National Front Party, whose power base lies near Roubaix, has been quick to jump on the issue. France, she says, needs to be defended from Islam's growing influence. Quick's halal option is "an Islamic tax" on diners. Not to be outdone, members of the ruling conservative Union for a Popular Majority (UMP) have also fretted over Quick's menu change. UMP secretary general Xavier Bertrand says it is undermining France's secular, integrationist social model, while UMP parliamentarian Richard Mallié salutes Vandierendonck's "republican combat...
Part of Rafsanjani's effectiveness is the system's inability to marginalize or radicalize him. Nevertheless, the past several months have been trying ones for the 75-year-old, one of the richest men in the country and one of the Islamic Republic's most powerful players since its inception 31 years ago. He and his family vocally opposed the re-election of Ahmadinejad. His daughter Faezeh has spent time in jail; his son Mehdi, who is currently outside of Iran, will potentially be subject to arrest if he returns. Rafsanjani, who was President of Iran for two terms ending...