Today in CongressFebruary 24, 2012
- S.2008 - Next Generation Television Marketplace Act of 2011 Introduced Dec 16, 2011 47 articles
- S.2010 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2011 Introduced Dec 16, 2011 38 articles
- H.R.3630 - Welfare Integrity and Data Improvement Act President Signed Feb 22, 2012 34 articles
- S.2009 - Insular Areas Act of 2011 Senate Passed Jan 06, 2012 33 articles
- S.16 - Patient Choice Restoration Act Introduced Jan 25, 2011 31 articles
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Dems Re-Intro Super PAC Disclosure Bill by Donny Shaw February 21, 2012
One of the best ways to understand why Congress does what it does is to follow the money. Take a look at which corporations and unions are donating to members of Congress who support their pet bills and you can start to see the networks of influence that partly control what legislation gets considered and how senators and representatives vote. Unfortunately, in our post-Citizens United v. F.E.C. world, following the money is becoming much more difficult. In the 2012 presidential contest, Super PACs, which do not have to publicly disclose where all of their money comes from, have officially overtaken candidate campaigns in election fundraising and spending. Any semblance of separation between Super PACs and campaigns has completely disappeared as well, meaning that the traditional, regulated and disclosed candidate campaign has basically been replaced by the unlimited, secretive Super PAC.
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- Anti-Web Censorship Bill Protest from Our Perspective at OCFeb 8
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- House Getting Creative With the Earmark MoratoriumFeb 6
- Liberate OpenGovData NowFeb 1
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A Most-Viewed Senator
Amid an ethics committee investigation, Sen. John Ensign [R, NV] announced on April 22nd that he was resigning his Senate seat effective May 3rd. Ensign had an extramarital affair with the wife of his former top aide, whom he helped secure a lucrative lobbying job for while the affair was still going on. The investigation will be dropped once Ensign is now longer a member of the Senate. Under Nevada law, the governor will appoint a replacement, most likely Rep. Dean Heller [R, NV-2].
A Most-Viewed Representative
Rep. David Wu [D, OR-1] has announced his plans to resign from Congress in response to allegations that he sexually assaulted the teenage daughter of one of his campaign contributors. In a statement Wu said that he would step down "effective upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis."
Latest Votes
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H.R.3630 Welfare Integrity and Data Improvement Act
Ayes 293 Nays 132 Feb 17, 2012
On the Conference Report
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S.1813 America Fast Forward Financing Innovation Act of...
Ayes 54 Nays 42 Feb 17, 2012
On the Cloture Motion
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H.R.3408 Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Ge...
Ayes 168 Nays 254 Feb 16, 2012 On the Amendment
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H.R.3248 To designate the facility of the United States...
Ayes 412 Nays 0 Feb 15, 2012 On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass
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H.Res.547 Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R....
Ayes 235 Nays 186 Feb 15, 2012 On the Resolution
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