The lights at the House are out until January 15th and the Senate gets back on the 21st, but there's still plenty happening on Congresspedia. One of the most exciting is the Wiki the Vote project to build profiles on each and every candidate for Congress. Candidates, supporters, detractors and those whose motivation I haven't quite been able to discern have been showing up to add all kind of information to the profiles.
By Congresspedia Assistant Managing Editor Avelino Maestas
Congress wrapped up the first term of its 110th session this week, finally passing a massive spending bill covering the federal budget for 2008 and sending an energy bill to the White House as well. Lawmakers also extended an alternative minimum tax exemption that will help millions of taxpayers. In addition, Congress gave Bush another blank check on Iraq war funding, appropriating $70 million.
This week in Congress, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid will face dissent within his caucus this week when the Senate debates policy for conducting intelligence gathering within the U.S. It also appears Congress will finally approve a $515 billion spending package, capping months of continuing resolutions and partisan feuding over the 2008 federal budget. President Bush may also have a comprehensive energy bill to sign by week’s end, if the House can approve the Senate’s weakened version of the CLEAN Energy Act. Medicare and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will likely see votes as well.
FISA Revamp
The Senate today will take up reform of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that regulated the nation’s intelligence gathering apparatus and its application at home and abroad. Lawmakers will debate the RESTORE Act, a successor of the Protect America Act, which included temporary changes to FISA. The PAA expires in February, necessitating Congressional action for reforms to continue.
Two versions of the RESTORE Act have been pushed in the Senate: one by the Intelligence Committee and another by the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary bill varies from the Intelligence version in several respects: it prohibits the bulk surveillance of foreign telecom traffic that is not directed at a specific person or source. The Judiciary bill also mandates an audit of past National Security Agency activities (which may have been illegal) and requires a court review of activities that are directed against American citizens regardless of whether they are the target of a specific investigation.
However, the most glaring difference is telecom immunity. The Intelligence version grants phone and internet companies retroactive protection from prosecution for their cooperation with the Bush administration in surveilling American citizens. The Judiciary version of the bill does not contain immunity, and the bill approved by the House in October. Bush has threatened to veto any bill that does not include the immunity.
Reid will introduce the Intelligence version today. Sens. Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold have heatedly opposed the bill, and Dodd has threatened a filibuster as well.
Last week saw Democratic collapses in Congress on the federal budget and the energy bill as Senate Republicans and President Bush held the line against Democratic-backed changes to federal spending and energy policy. Time, however, is running out for Congress to pass the overdue federal budget before the Christmas recess, and both sides may be looking to cut a deal. Democrats were on the losing side after a number of other dustups as well, notably the alternative minimum tax, an expansion for children’s health coverage, and the 2007 Farm Bill.
Following special elections in Ohio and Virginia this week, the U.S. House of Representatives welcomed Reps. Bob Latta and Robert Wittman today. Latta won the race to replace deceased Rep. Paul Gillmor, while Wittman was elected to fill the seat opened when Rep.
This week: Time is running out to pass the (already overdue) federal budget (including funding for Iraq and Afghanistan), energy and climate legislation, fixing the Alternative Minimum Tax, the Farm Bill and hearings on the erased waterboarding videotapes.
The federal budget and Iraq funding:Lawmakers are quickly running out of time to pass the 2008 federal budget as the last continuing resolution (which continues funding the government at 2007 levels) will expire at the end of the week, and a looming holiday recess is fast approaching.
The House and Senate will take up an omnibus spending package this week that will contain the funding for the remaining 15 cabinet departments and other agencies comprising the federal government (the Defense Department spending bill was approved last month). Democrats – who had already reduced the amount of spending contained in the package over President Bush's budget request from $22 billion to $11 billion – are planning to sweeten the deal further by including funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The last time House Democrats offered an Iraq spending bill, they included language requiring troop reductions, with a full withdrawal complete by December 2008. That bill was defeated in the Senate, where it fell short of the 60 votes required to end debate and move to a vote.
The Democratic plan is now to get the ball rolling in the House, introducing a spending package with $30 billion in funding for Afghanistan, in a move designed to appease anti-war progressives who want to end the Iraq war but one that is ultimately fairly empty, since everyone acknowledges that the Department of Defense will likely shift that money to continue funding Iraq. The Senate will then introduce an amendment including as much as $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan.
By cutting the strings to withdrawal from the Iraq funding, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hope to win over enough Republicans to override a presidential veto. However, though details of the spending package haven’t been disclosed, President Bush has already threatened to veto the measure.
As predicted, Congress' tackling of energy and climate change issues was cause for a contentious week on Capitol Hill, though they it did come several steps closer to passing a far-reaching bill. The federal budget took a back seat to other, controversial subjects - including more drama with House pages, congressional transparency and the farm bill - but that ensures it will return to the spotlight next week.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the year that the Falsies Awards have truly arrived!
Here at the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), we've dearly treasured our Falsies since we gave the first awards out in 2004. After 12 months of reporting on the cynical, manipulative and just plain anti-democratic pollution of our information environment, we love adding an extra dash of humor to our work. But this year's Falsies Awards are extra super special.
Free Speech TV has launched the "It's Our Web" campaign, featuring a a short, entertaining animation explaining the dangers of media centralization and suggesting positive alternatives. "This is a truly pivotal time for the Internet, the most powerful and interactive medium humans have ever seen," says Steve Anderson, who produced the video. "New commercial incursions by big online media enterprises, including the widely disdained "Facebook Beacon," make explicit what new media giants have been doing quietly for some time; searching for new and evermore effective ways to sell our attention, our clicks and our private information to advertisers and marketers."
It's crunch time for Congress. Coming off of their two-week Thanksgiving recess, lawmakers have a full plate on their table: 11 appropriations bills (the bulk of the federal budget) remain to be approved; energy legislation might have a shot in both chambers; warrantless wiretapping will be on the agenda; and the farm bill waits in the wings.
Appropriations
Even with high-profile, controversial subjects on the agenda in both chambers, funding the federal government will have to take front stage soon. Congress included a continuing resolution tucked in the FY08 Defense Appropriations Bill to generally fund the government at the same levels as last year, but that will expire on Dec. 14, and 11 of the 12 spending bills are still unresolved. The House and Senate approps. committees will be busy consolidating funding for 15 Cabinet departments and numerous smaller agencies, with Democratic leaders likely to push for an omnibus spending package rather than try to pass each individually.
For details on the Senate and House calenders, including committee schedules, click through below the fold.
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