Tag: Congress

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Michele Bachmann under investigation for alleged presidential campaign “improprieties”

According to the Daily Beast, Michele Bachmann is currently being investigated by the Office of Congressional Ethics for “improprieties” regarding her failed presidential campaign.

From the Daily Beast report:

Federal investigators are now interviewing former Bachmann campaign staffers nationwide about alleged intentional campaign-finance violations. The investigators are working on behalf of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which probes reported improprieties by House members and their staffs and then can refer cases to the House Ethics Committee.

Former staffers tell The Daily Beast that investigators have allegedly asked about allegations of improper transfer of funds and under-the-table payments actions by Bachmann’s presidential campaign, specifically in relation to the campaign’s national political director, Guy Short, and Bachmann’s onetime Iowa campaign chairman, state Sen. Kent Sorenson. Questions directly about Bachmann, they said, have been primarily focused on what she knew about those men’s actions and when she knew it.

Well, well, well… things that make you go “hmm…”

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US House: Violence Against Women Act passes 286-138

From the Human Rights Campaign: The US House has passed the Senate-approved version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that includes important protections for LGBT individuals.

The  bill was passed 78 to 22 in a bipartisan Senate vote and today’s 286 to 138 vote included 87 Republicans.

Today’s victory marks a rare occasion when Republicans and Democrats came together to ensure explicit protections in the federal code for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”  It is also the first time that any federal non-discrimination provisions include the LGBT community.

President Obama has pledged to sign the bill which prohibits any program or activity funded by the bill from discriminating against a victim based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.  It also explicitly includes LGBT victims in two key VAWA grant programs. 

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Sen. Tom Harkin promises movement on ENDA this year

Senator Tom Harkin, the Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, promised during remarks this morning at an event at the Center for American Progress that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will “move thie year.”

ENDA has clearly been a huge concern for LGBT activists for years and the glacial pace of the bill through Congress has been frustrating to say the least.

Here’s hoping we see SOMETHING happen this year.

(via Towleroad)

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Hurricane Sandy emergency aid bill approved in House

The House has approved a dramatically scaled back aid package for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The size of the bill was cut to only $9.6B. The original bill was for $60B.

67 Republicans voted against the bill.

The House plans to vote again later this month on a $51 billion package in relief aid to state governments still rebuilding after the storm.

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Congress passes "fiscal cliff" package by vote of 257 /167

According to the Associated Press, legislation to block the “fiscal cliff” is headed to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature.

The bill will avoid, for now, the major tax increases and government spending cuts that had been scheduled to take effect with the new year.

The legislation will raise tax rates on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples. That was higher than the thresholds of $200,000 and $250,000 that Obama campaigned for. But remarkably, in a party that swore off tax increases two decades ago, dozens of Republicans supported the bill at both ends of the Capitol.

The Senate approved the measure on a vote of 89-8 less than 24 hours earlier.

The measure split the upper ranks of the Republican leadership in the House.

Speaker John Boehner of Ohio voted in favor, while Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia opposed the bill. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party’s 2012 vice presidential candidate, supported the measure.

Final approval came in the House on New Year’s Night. The vote was 257 to 167.

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Arizona elects first openly bisexual member of Congress

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has defeated Republican Vernon Parker in the race for Arizona’s 9th Congressional District, CNN projected Monday.

Sinema’s win in the newly-created district adds one more seat to the list of pick-ups for Democrats in the House, putting the breakdown at 234 Republicans, 196 Democrats and two independents.

Sinema, a former state senator, had 48.1% of the vote compared to Parker, the former mayor of Paradise Valley, at 45.3%, according to the office of Arizona’s Secretary of State on Monday.

Sinema is the first openly bisexual member of Congress.

She will be the only out LGBT female in the House in the 113th Congress and only the second out LGBT female in Congress.

Tammy Baldwin, who served in the House since winning her seat in 1998, was elected to the Senate in Wisconsin this past Tuesday. Sinema will, however, be joining the largest group of out LGBT lawmakers on the Hill in the nation’s history. In addition to Baldwin and Sinema, out Reps. Jared Polis of Colorado and David Cicilline of Rhode Island were re-elected and Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Mark Takano of California also were elected to Congress.

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Congressional super-committee to announce failure to find resolution

Members of the “super committee” charged with coming up with $1.2 trillion in budget cuts are focused on how to announce failure to reach a deal, Democratic and Republican aides confirmed to CNN Sunday.

While aides said no final decision had been made, they acknowledged that — barring an unforeseen development — an announcement of an end to negotiations is the most likely scenario.

Democrats have proposed a “balanced” solution that would generate $400 billion from increased tax collections and $700 billion in spending meant to jump-start the economy, including an extension of the payroll tax cut, extended unemployment benefit payments and money to permanently prevent cuts in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients.

However, Republicans would only agree to spending cuts and the closing of one small tax loophole for corporate jet owners.

Talks on trying to reach a deficit reduction agreement are essentially over and discussions are focused on a Monday announcement, a senior Democratic aide said.

More at CNN.com

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Super-committee deadline looms

The congressional super committee, facing a fast-approaching deadline, appears headed toward failure unless negotiations shift dramatically in the final few days.

Multiple sources say Republican leaders have proposed a smaller package of spending cuts and revenues as a ‘Plan B’ if the panel does not succeed, though even this offer appears unlikely to gain much traction.

But the plan, which would reduce the deficit by about $640 billion, was dismissed by Democratic leaders according to two Republican sources. Democrats, according to multiple sources, are insisting on a higher revenue component – such as eliminating oil and gas subsidies – to achieve the “balanced approach” they have sought all along.

Republicans, working with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, offered Democratic leaders this “backup plan” which included about $540 billion in mandatory spending cuts and fees, and only $3 billion in revenue from closing the corporate jets tax break.

That formula breakdowns to tax revenues of only one half of one percent of the total reductions proposed.

Sources say the focus has now shifted to finding a way to lessen the blow of the sequester – the automatic across-the-board cuts scheduled to set in if the super committee does not reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years.

(source)