Politics

Congress Links

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

Tomorrow is the day we’ve all been waiting for: White House health care summit day. Though I’m sure that lawmakers have been busy studying up for the big event, Congress managed to get some work accomplished today – for example, the Senate’s passage of the $15 billion jobs bill. And while I’m sure you’re studying up for the summit as well, please take some time to check out today’s roundup of articles and blog posts you may have missed:

• Sen. Chris Dodd [D, CT] today introduced a constitutional amendment allowing Congress to regulate federal campaign spending and fundraising in response to the Citizens United decision. (The Hill)
• The Kaiser Family Foundation has another great health care table. This time they compare current Democratic and Republican health care proposals to a 1993 Republican health care plan. (Kaiser Health News)
• Advisors for the late John Murtha [D, PA-12] don’t know what to do with the half-million dollars left in his campaign coffers. (The Hill)
• Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] has chosen three Democratic senators to sit on the president’s bipartisan deficit reduction commission: Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT], Sen. Dick Durbin [D, IL] and Sen. Kent Conrad [D, ND]. Conrad was a lead sponsor of a failed effort to create a congressional deficit commission. (The New York Times)
• A bill that we discussed yesterday granting federal recognition to Native Hawaiians passed the House yesterday in a 245-164 vote. It now faces a vote in the Senate. (The Honolulu Advertiser)
• Major legislative battles over health care, climate change and Wall Street have pushed lobbyist salaries skyward. (The Hill)
• Ahead of a suspected crackdown on gun rights by the Obama administration, state legislatures are loosening gunlaws. That crackdown, however, has yet to come. (The New York Times)

And remember to stay tuned to OpenCongress tomorrow for analysis and coverage of the health care summit.

Full post as published by Open Congress on February 24, 2010 (boomark / email).