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[personal profile] treesahquiche
By Raymond Hernandez

WASHINGTON -- After years of fierce lobbying and debate, Congress approved a bill on Wednesday to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others who became sick from toxic fumes, dust and smoke after the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

The $4.3 billion bill cleared its biggest hurdle early in the afternoon when the Senate unexpectedly approved it just 12 days after Republican senators had blocked a more expensive House version from coming to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

In recent days, Republican senators had been under fire for their opposition to the legislation.

Click for the full story. )

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WELL, IT'S ABOUT TIME. This is an awesome follow-up to a previous post on this community regarding the matter. Anthony Weiner, I hope you're not angry anymore. :)
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[personal profile] mistersandman
Senate Democratic leaders vowed to pass the controversial immigration bill known as the DREAM Act by the end of the year, after delaying a vote on Thursday because they couldn't advance a House-approved version past Republican opposition.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the upper chamber, said in a joint statement that they will work with House leaders and the administration to ensure that the bill, which would carve out a path to legalization for hundreds of thousands of foreign-born youngsters brought to this country illegally, will be law by the end of the lame-duck session.

Read more... )

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Source


You can tell this was written for Fox News by the number of times the word "illegal" is used. The language in the last couple of paragraphs rubs me the wrong way as well.   And I just noticed the original headline, in the URL: "Senate Punts DREAM Act Vote House Passes Different Version"

In my eyes, there's not much "controversial" about this bill. Human decency aside, we would entice people who have a *college education* to stay in America.
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[personal profile] treesahquiche
By David Herszenhorn

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Tuesday evening predicted that Congressional Democrats would emerge victorious in the midterm elections because voters would decide that they do not want Republicans to restore the policies of President George W. Bush.

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Well, I'm certainly glad that the Democrats haven't lost all their spine! I wish that the tax cuts would just die, because they don't really help anyone who actually needs them and they comprise most of the deficit. I don't give a damn about the deficit (nations accrue debt, it's the way it works, it's economically viable, take an Economics 101 course if you're still worried), but surely the money being funneled into tax cuts could be better used elsewhere? Tax cuts don't jumpstart the economy, since they don't encourage spending as much as creating jobs by funding existing programs does (and the American economy pretty much runs on Dunkin consumer spending), and it'd be nice to see an increase in funding for education or regulatory agencies like the EPA and FDA (maybe even beef them up a little bit so they'll have the power to intervene in places they should).

(Appropriate icon is appropriate because I haven't slept all night.)
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[personal profile] treesahquiche
By Anthony Weiner

Last week I got angry on the floor of the House. In this age of cable and YouTube, millions of people evidently saw the one-minute-plus clip. But there has been relatively little focus on why the substantive debate that sparked it matters.

Republicans are douchebags, no one is surprised. )

Anthony Weiner is a member of the House of Representatives from Queens and Brooklyn.

Source

I thought that I had already plumbed the depths to which conservatives in the United States could sink, but apparently I was wrong! 9/11 -- the tragic attack that brought everyone together as a nation, the event which every Republican politician paid lip service to in order to send us overseas to a war that is exponentially increasing our national deficit with each passing day -- is apparently no longer a legitimate concern for the Republican Party. The people who died at the hands of hostile enemies and the people who are dying of the toxic exposure and stress injuries they suffered while tirelessly working to aid the rescue effort are apparently no worthier of regard than a speck of lint on the suits of Republicans.

Yes, people die everyday of unsafe work conditions, inadequate healthcare, not being able to afford the cost of living, and gross neglect. But they shouldn't. Not Americans, anyway, and definitely not -- especially not -- American heroes. If we don't take care of the brave and selfless people who saved our country when they're in need now, then we shouldn't expect anyone to come running when it comes time to face our next great crisis.

I applaud Representative Weiner for standing up to this bullshit and not being afraid to be angry about it.
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[personal profile] treesahquiche
OKLAHOMA CITY -- One of the more unlikely showdowns for the fall elections is taking shape here in this staunchly conservative state, where same-sex marriage is constitutionally banned and the Legislature frequently takes on issues like abortion.

Brittany Novotny, a Democrat and Oklahoma's first known transgender candidate, is running for a seat in the State House against Sally Kern, the Republican incumbent who gained national attention in 2008 for saying that "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation" and that homosexuality was a bigger threat than terrorism.

Click for the full story. )

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Well, I guess it's nice that both candidates are veering away from ad hominem and sticking to real issues. Um. I hope their supporters will do the same.
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[personal profile] treesahquiche
TRENTON -- Stephen M. Sweeney, the president of the State Senate here, glowered with disgust as he described how one New Jersey town paid out nearly $1 million to four retiring police officers for their unused sick days and vacation time.

Mr. Sweeney, a Democrat, also scowled about the estimated $46 billion New Jersey owes in pension contributions and its $58 billion in liabilities to finance retiree health coverage for government employees.

For years, Republican lawmakers have railed against public employees' pay and benefits, but now another breed of elected official is demanding labor concessions, too: current and former labor leaders and allies themselves.

Click for the full story. )

Source

I'm siding with the public workers on this one; if librarians or teachers made decent wages, do you think I'd be studying for a PharmD so I can work for Big Pharma? I'd at least take the slow track (eight years instead of six) so I could enjoy myself and get a Linguistics degree. Shit, even the scientists at the FDA barely make half of what people in comparable private sectors do.

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