Federal income-tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service, making this week a politically opportune time for Congress to debate tax issues.
The House today debated a “taxpayer assistance” bill that would end the private collection of federal taxes, strengthen taxpayer protections from identity theft and tax fraud, stop federal contractors from using foreign subsidiaries to evade Social Security and other employment taxes, simplify the reporting of cellular telephone taxes, and expand tax help for low-income taxpayers.
Democrats who spoke in favor of the bill included Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Brad Ellsworth of Indiana and Rahm Emanuel of Illinois.
Categories: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Producer's Picks, Technology, Brad Ellsworth, Taxes, Earl Blumenauer, Crime, Rosa DeLauro, Rahm Emanuel
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Presidential candidate Barack Obama has won the endorsement of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a fellow Illinois Democrat in Congress, based on his opposition to the Iraq war when that policy stance wasn’t necessarily a good political move.
“Barack Obama … is the only one [running for president] who really has the capacity to send a very different signal around the world, someone who can effectively go to capitals of both our allies and our adversaries and create a new new tone that creates the space for peace,” Schakowsky said in a video released by Obama’s campaign.
Categories: Illinois, Iraq, Barack Obama, Jan Schakowsky
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For more than two decades, Congress had its own “Rappin’ Rep” in the form of New York Democrat Major Owen, who retired at the beginning of this year. But that strain of modern music, much of it marked by violent and profane lyrics, is still relatively unknown to most lawmakers in Congress.
All the more reason to hold a hearing about it, don’t you think? That’s just what the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection did last week — and it generated some pointed commentary from rappers and lawmakers alike. Here’s a sampling, via video excerpts compiled by CapNews.Net.
- Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.: “You can’t justify to me the use of the word nigger because my slavemaster used it. … [T]here is no justification at all. My slavemaster raped my mama and my ancestors. I am not going to buy into that. … I can’t condone that at all. I have to deny that approach. I do not want to adopt the morays, the metaphors, the machinations and the mentality of my slavemaster. I want to move myself and my community from those kinds of anchors.”
- Rapper/producer Levell Crump (aka, David Banner): “Traditionally, multibillion-dollar industries have thrived on the premise of violence, sexuality and derogatory content. This capitalistic trend was not created nor introduced by hip-hop. It has been here. It is the American way. … Hip-hop is sick because America is sick. … If Congress wants to change hip-hop, they can charge with Congress Heights. That’s right down the block. If you want to see why we rap the way that we rap, go to Congress Heights.”
- Rapper/producer Percy Miller (aka, Master P): “It’s definitely a problem from society, but we are inflaming this problem by not being responsible, and I want to take that responsibility.”
- Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.: “I come to work every single day trying to do better for the people that you’re sending your message to. My question to you is, are you willing to try to do better in communicating a message that is more positive?” To which Crump responded: “I am willing to work harder to change the conditions in which I come out of so maybe I won’t have to talk about it. … There’s nothing that you can look at in my music and say that it doesn’t exist in my community.”
Categories: Illinois, Massachusetts, Entertainment, Civil Liberties, Edward Markey, Culture, Bobby Rush
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The House this evening cleared to President Bush a bill that would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The vote was 265-159.
Bush has threatened to veto the bill, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she hopes the president will “dig deeply into his heart and think about the children in America who don’t have healthcare. Because if not, I think that the president is giving new meaning to the words, ’suffer, little children’” from the Bible.
Pelosi’s office has posted speeches from other Democratic lawmakers online, including:
Categories: New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Producer's Picks, Health, Frank Pallone, Charles Rangel, Bill Pascrell, Hilda Solis, Lois Capps
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The “fairness doctrine,” a policy that until 1987 required broadcasters to give equal time to opposing viewpoints, has been getting attention lately as Republicans try to keep Democrats from reinstating the rule on the airwaves. Below is a clip of Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., debating Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., about that issue.
Coleman opposes revival of the fairness doctrine and noted that the talk of doing so is unwisely aimed at talk radio, which is dominated by conservatives. “I think it’s very dangerous for government to be in the position of deciding what’s fair and balanced,” he said, later adding that “there’s nothing fair about the fairness doctrine.”
Categories: Illinois, Minnesota, Norm Coleman, Richard Durbin, Civil Liberties, Media, Communications
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