December 24, 2007, 5:09pm
Before Congress adjourned for the year, a House ethics task force released recommendations for an independent office to weigh complaints against lawmakers. Massachusetts Democrat Michael Capuano, who chairs that task force, discussed the report on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program.
Categories: Podcast of the Week, House, Massachusetts, Ethics, Michael Capuano
December 14, 2007, 8:02pm
Mike Huckabee has been climbing toward the top of the Republican presidential polls, but he hasn’t gotten so big for his political britches that he won’t take time for the smaller fish in the big media pond. Today, he joined Ed Morrissey for an interview at Heading Right Radio.
Morrissey posted excerpts of the interview at Captain’s Quarters. Here’s one comment on immigration:
Every person who lives in this country ought to live with his head held up, and not in fear of each other or our own government. … The laws are broken. Fix the law, fix the border, and then if people do come back, they’ll come back with an actual permit.
Huckabee also answered questions about the role of religion in politics — his own as a Christian and those of GOP rival Mitt Romney, a Mormon — and about the proper reach of the federal government, among other things.
Categories: Podcast of the Week, Politics, Mike Huckabee, BlogTalkRadio
December 8, 2007, 12:53pm
The mortgage industry is a mess, and President Bush thinks it’s time for the federal government to help the private sector do something about it. He outlined a three-step plan in his weekly radio address:
Bush urged lawmakers to pass legislation to modernize the FHA and provide funding to support mortgage counseling. “Congress has not sent me a single bill to help homeowners,” he said.
In this week’s Democratic address, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois chastised the Republican minority for what he sees as their determination to “make this a ‘no-can-do’ Congress.” One complaint focused on the GOP’s efforts to block mortgage-related bills.
“The mortgage crisis isn’t just your neighbor’s problem any more — it’s everybody’s problem,” Durbin said. “… Yet Senate Republicans blocked two bills this week that would help families facing foreclosure hold onto their homes and keep the mortgage crisis from spreading.”
Categories: Podcast of the Week, Weekly Radio Address, Taxes, Economy
November 17, 2007, 2:18pm
Congress has chosen “political posturing” over priorities like funding military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and changing the tax code so more Americans aren’t hit with the alternative minimum tax, President Bush said today.
The so-called AMT is designed to ensure that the wealthy pay some taxes despite write-offs, but an estimated 25 million people will have to pay the tax unless Congress exempts them, as it has in recent years. Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, are pushing an emergency war spending bill that would require troop withdrawals from Iraq to get the money.
The president used his weekly radio address to urge action on both issues before the end of the legislative year in a few weeks. “[U]nless they complete this work soon, middle-class Americans will pay higher taxes and American troops will not receive the critical funding they need to fight and defeat our enemies,” Bush said.
Sen. Bob Casey, R-Pa., criticized Bush in the Democratic address and challenged Republicans in Congress to support the Democratic effort to link troop withdrawal to additional war spending.
“President Bush has asked for nearly $200 billion more to continue the war indefinitely, with no accountability,” Casey said. “This request is unacceptable, and we are negotiating a way forward that will responsibly deploy our troops out of Iraq so that we can transition the mission to training Iraqis, protecting our forces and fighting terrorists.”
Categories: Podcast of the Week, Pennsylvania, Iraq, Bob Casey, Weekly Radio Address, Taxes
November 6, 2007, 4:59pm
Equity and fairness are the key goals of the “mother of all tax reforms” proposed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel.
Republicans have criticized the plan as the “mother of all tax hikes, but Rangel, D-N.Y., defended his bill in this week’s edition of “C-SPAN Newsmaker.” He said the measure “is good for American business” because it would close tax loopholes and give the same lower rate to all corporations rather than favoring a few.
“Everything that I do in the [tax] code, the president promised to do,” Rangel added, noting that President Bush in the past has promised to close tax loopholes and eliminate the alternative minimum tax, which aims to ensure that wealthy people pay at least some taxes despite write-offs. Rangel also said he is open to compromise.
“As chairman of the committee, I did not say ‘my way or the highway,’ as it used to be when Republicans were in charge. I welcome alternatives to the Democratic bill. I haven’t gotten anything.”
Categories: Podcast of the Week, New York, Taxes, Charles Rangel
Subscribe to RSS