Politics

Congress Links

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

The financial reform debate has officially begun in the Senate, though votes on amendments won’t begin until next week. Meanwhile, the House has passed legislation authorizing Puerto Rico to take a series of votes on whether to become a U.S. state, become an independednt nation, or keep its current status as a commonwealth. Get the latest on this and more in today’s roundup of links on Congress.

• The first amendment to the Senate financial reform bill will be a symbolic “no taxpayer money for bailouts” provision from Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]. (Boxer’s office)
• Democrat Rep. Luis Gutierrez comes out strongly against the Puerto Rico Democracy Act. (HuffPo)
• Senate Judiciary votes for cameras in federal court rooms. (AP)
• Sen. Rockefeller tries to reassure critics of his Cybersecurity Act — “This bill does not create any new emergency powers for the president or anyone else in government.” (Tech Daily Dose).
• 6 financial reform compromises Republicans may demand. (The Atlantic)
• The Performance Rights Act is picking up more support from key members of the Dem leadership. (Intellectual Property Watch)
• Sen. Shelby [R, AL] says financial companies support the Democrats’ financial reform bill because it will “bring […] them under the Federal safety net where they will get preferential treatment just like Goldman Sachs got in the AIG bailout.” (Sunlight Reporting Group)
• Mike Konczal dissects and explains the SAFE Banking Act. (Rorty Bomb)
• The American Prospect has a great series of articles in its June issue on all aspects of financial reform. (via Baseline Scenario)
• …and the Freerisk wiki is an amazing resource for infor on all things finanical reform (Riski)
• Democrats now starting to come out against further extensions of unemployment insurance benefits. (Daily Kos)

Full post as published by Open Congress on April 30, 2010 (boomark / email).