Politics

Congress Links

By Sunlight Foundation & Participatory Politics Foundation

Congress reacted to WikiLeaks’ release of classified documents, Democrats are making a push to break the Republican filibuster of the DISCLOSE Act, and the heat has gone up on illegal immigration, even as the numbers of immigrants has fallen.

• Members of Congress played down the significance of WikiLeaks’ highly publicized release of classified Pentagon documents.  Sen. John Kerry [D-MA] condemned the leak as “unacceptable”, but cautioned “it’s important not to over-hype, or get excessively excited” about them. Sen. John McCain dismissed the leaked information as “little more than what we knew already” and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) insisted that the documents are outdated and do not reflect President Obama’s leadership in Afghanistan. (Wall Street Journal)
• Congressional Democrats are worried that they may not be able to overcome the Republican filibuster of the DISCLOSE Act. President Obama meanwhile attacked Republican opponents of the DISCLOSE Act, accusing them of voting “to allow corporate and special-interest takeovers of our elections.” (The New York Times)
• Advocates of “cap-and-trade” to mitigate catatstrophic climate change worry that environmental legislation will be more difficult to pass in the near future, as Republicans are poised to pick up seats in the House and Senate this November. (NY Times)
• The seven Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have written to its chairman seeking a hearing on alleged politicization of the Civil Rights Division. (Politico)
• The LA Times notes that the rhetoric surrounding illegal immigration continues to heat up, despite the fact that illegal immigration has actually been falling for several years. (LA Times)
• As midterm elections approach, Democrats are worried about ethics investigations into Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) (Politico). Susan Crabtree of The Hill explains how an ethics trial for Rangel would work.

Congress Links compiled by OC Research Associates Moshe Bildner, Jason Rhee, and Hilary Worden. Questions & comments welcome: writeus at opencongress d0t org yo. You know how we do. Photo via our terrific partners Daylife. Man oh man do they ever know their news. So much info out there, gets wild, you know?

Full post as published by Open Congress on July 28, 2010 (boomark / email).