Senate Republicans on Tuesday complained about the rally atmosphere of a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the “card check” method for forming labor union. A day later they released a video mash-up to emphasize their point.
The video showed committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, endorsing the applause and cheers of labor officials when they heard points they liked, but he drew the line at hostile vocal reactions to critics of the legislation.
“I don’t want to permit any hissing or booing or foot-stomping or throwing of things like that,” Harkin said. “I mean, there are limits as to what people can express here.”
Categories: Iowa, Tennessee, Vermont, Producer's Picks, Labor, Tom Harkin, Lamar Alexander, Bernie Sanders
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The Sunlight Foundation, an open-government group, has been pushing hard for the past few years to force a vote on legislation that would compel Senate candidates to post their campaign finance reports electronically. Sunlight took its cause to Twitter this week by telling people to “tweet” their support for the idea to senators who can make it happen.
The new media tactic caught the attention of two Democratic senators, @clairecmc of Missouri and @Barbara_Boxer of California. Boxer noted that she co-sponsored a previous bill on the topic and will do so again. And Claire McCaskill wrote: “I’ve supported electronic filing of campaign reports for a long time. It’s embarrassing that we are not required to file electronically.”
“In less than 24 hours, two out of 15 of the senators on Twitter who had not co-sponsored are now cosponsors,” Blumenthal noted on Sunlight’s blog. “In terms of grassroots outreach that is an amazing turn around.”
Here is a sampling of other Hill tweets from today:
- Why did the public lands bill fail in the House? According to @GOPLeader, it was a Second Amendment fight.
- @Senate_GOPs complained that labor unions turned a Senate hearing on “card check” into pep rally.
- @DeanHeller wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., about card check. “It could cost us 600,000 jobs by end of 2010.”
- @edlabordems posted videos from today’s hearing about lost educational opportunities in alternative settings.
- @SenJohnMcCain found a Washington Post article on Democratic thoughts about taxing health benefits “very interesting.” President Obama scoffed at the idea in the 2008 presidential campaign.
To get Capitol Hill’s inside scoop from Twitter, subscribe to “Hill Tweet News.” It’s the best and quickest way to learn who sniped at whom, and why; what lawmakers did and said in committee, on the floor, on the news shows and elsewhere; and what articles, shows, Internet videos and more grabbed their attention.
Categories: California, Missouri, Gun Rights, Politics, Health, Labor, Technology, Education, Taxes, Natural Resources, Claire McCaskill, Hill Tweet News, Barbara Boxer
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Rep. Rob Wittman praised today’s House’s passage of a water-quality improvement bill and lawmakers’ decision to include his language for restoring the Chesapeake Bay. “We are truly at a tipping point” for the bay,” the Virginia Republican said. “If we don’t act now and act forcefully, we chance losing the bay forever.”
Categories: Virginia, Environment, Natural Resources, Rob Wittman
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Reps. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., took to the airwaves on MSNBC’s “Hardball” today to debate the record of President Obama after his first 50 days in office.
“He’s doing exactly what he should do, what he said he was going to do,” Lee said. She noted that businesses and even people in Republican districts will benefit from Obama’s decisions.
But Pence called Obama “an admirable person” but said “the problem is his policies.” He said the answer to last year’s record spending for bailouts is “more of the same. … They spend too much, they tax too much, and they borrow too much.”
Categories: California, Indiana, White House, Budget, Banking, Monster Media Mash-Up, Barbara Lee, Mike Pence, Bailouts
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President Obama’s decision to reverse U.S. policy on embryonic stem-cell research triggered a round of policy tweets from lawmakers both for and against the idea.
Obama lifted restrictions on the research and issued a presidential memorandum designed to insulate scientists from political interference. @LEETERRYNE said embryonic stem-cell research is “inappropriate and immoral” and added that other stem-cell research is a viable option. @SenatorMenendez countered that Obama’s action signals a “new era of hope.”
Others tweeting on the topic included @GOPLeader, @RepMaryFallin, @bobinglis and @RepTomPrice.
Here is a sampling of other Hill tweets from today:
To get Capitol Hill’s inside scoop from Twitter, subscribe to “Hill Tweet News.” It’s the best and quickest way to learn who sniped at whom, and why; what lawmakers did and said in committee, on the floor, on the news shows and elsewhere; and what articles, shows, Internet videos and more grabbed their attention.
Categories: California, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Utah, Health, Kevin McCarthy, Robert Menendez, Education, Taxes, John Boehner, Social Policy, Tom Price, Claire McCaskill, Hill Tweet News, Tom Latham, Jason Chaffetz, Bob Inglis
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