Who Won Libya?

House preserves its own budget as others face cuts Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 9:39 am, Wednesday, May 22, 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers are moving to protect Capitol Hill's budget even as they slash programs like education, health research, water projects and housing aid for the poor. The move by the House Appropriations Committee promises a small budget increase for legislative branch operations even as funding for labor, health and education programs would absorb an almost 20 percent cut.

House Republicans promote 20-week abortion ban Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 9:36 am, Wednesday, May 22, 2013 NARAL Pro-Choice America's president, Ilyse Hogue, said in a statement that Franks was "using this bill in a shameless effort to exploit the terrible tragedy in Pennsylvania where Kermit Gosnell was just convicted of murder for performing illegal abortions." The House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, led by Franks, planned a hearing on the legislation Thursday, but there are no concrete plans for the full House to take up the measure. Since Republicans took control of the House in 2011, GOP leaders have concentrated on economic and fiscal issues, giving less stress to some of the social issues important to conservatives in the party.

If you look at the redacted decision a federal judge in the District Court of Maryland handed down last October, you would think it involves a classified CIA program, burying all pertinent information -- sometimes almost entire pages -- under black boxes.But the case isn’t about a secret weapons program -- it’s about baby strollers or kitchen appliances or action figures or some other consumer product. But we don’t actually know because everything from the name of the company involved, to the product it makes is secret, thanks to an potentially unprecedented court ruling that consumer advocates fear could set the a standard of allowing corporations to challenge actions they don’t like without even revealing their name. Welcome to the “Company Doe” case.In 2008, after a spate of high-profile recalls of lead-tainted toys from China and other products, Congress passed a law to beef up the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent federal agency that regulates everything from baby cribs to ATVs to swimming pools -- over 15,000 different products, all together. The law also created a user-friendly online database aimed making it easier for consumers to learn about potentially dangerous products by centralizing government reports and allowing any consumer to post their own complaints.Continue Reading

My friend John Fugelsang likes to say that the Democratic Party is like an S&M submissive who forgot his safety word. After the lame performance of Democrats in the immigration reform markup, I would say Fugelsang is being generous. Republicans are incredibly skilled at holding no actual power but nonetheless making wildly effective threats. Democrats on the other hand display the unique and vexing ability to have every political advantage and still cave on their own goals, more often than not preemptively.I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I would not be surprised if the modern Democratic Party’s strategy is secretly being bankrolled by Eli Lilly as a ploy to sell Prozac to liberals.In the latest example of this disconcerting trend, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) proposed an amendment to the Senate immigration markup that would arguably harm American workers. In fact, it wasn’t just Democrats and labor unions that opposed this amendment; Republican Sen. Charles Grassley also opposed the amendment. But Democrats nonetheless backed the change in order to woo Hatch’s committee vote. Meanwhile, not only was Hatch’s committee vote not needed to approve the bill but Hatch has explicitly said he may still not vote for the legislation unless other changes are made. In other words, Hatch got to water down the legislation and Democrats got, er, well… nothing.Continue Reading