On Thursday, the Democratic chairmen of the Senate Transportation and Energy committees, Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pushed the Obama administration to take “prompt and decisive” action addressing the problem of oil train derailments. The senators wrote
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the original author of the Patriot Act wants the Department of Justice to prosecute Obama’s Director of National Intelligence James Clapper for lying to Congress. Via The Hill: “Lying to Congress is a federal offense, and Clapper ought
After President Barack Obama vowed not to negotiate over the continuing resolution or the debt ceiling, after the Democratic Senate failed to pass a successful budget since 2009, The Hill‘s Erik Wasson
(AP) Growing backlash to government surveillanceBy MARTHA MENDOZAAP National WriterSAN JOSE, Calif.From Silicon Valley to the South Pacific, counterattacks to revelations of widespread National Security Agency surveillance are taking shape, from a surge of new encrypted email programs to technology
Despite Congress apparent ire over the possible perjury of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, it seems that Clapper has now emerged without so much as a scratch over his National Security Agency surveillance testimony earlier this year. In March
On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper apologized for what he termed a “clearly erroneous” statement he made under oath to Congress regarding the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs. On March 12, Clapper responded in the negative to a
On Tuesday, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) suggested two prominent Obama administration national security officials lied to Congress about their knowledge of the National Security Agency’s phone and Internet spying programs. Wyden, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Director
Eight senators sponsored a bill on Tuesday that would declassify rulings made by courts that operate under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) were joined by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dean
Although the National Security Agency has protested that it does not have the capability to monitor all the surveillance on communications in the United States, it has been revealed that the agency has a data mining tool named Boundless Informant
Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian talks with CNN’s Jake Tapper about Democratic senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, who objected to the Obama Administration over its interpretation of the PATRIOT Act, leading to indiscriminate collection of Americans’ phone records. “These
On March 12, 2013, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other intelligence officials testified about current and future threats to the United States. Senator Ron Wyden asked: “Does the NSA collect any kind of data at all on millions
During Tuesday’s Senate hearings into the widening IRS scandal, Senator Ron Wyden (OR-D) suggested that the conservative groups, targeted for paralyzing IRS harassment and leaks to the left-wing media, had it coming. Wyden said that if political groups don’t want
Senator Ron Wyden on the Senate floor spoke in support Of Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster against the nomination of John Brennan…
Congressman Louie Gohmert (R – TX) went to the floor of the Senate and delivered chocolates and cough drops to the long filibustering Senator Rand Paul (R – KY). Senator Paul, with the help of Senators Mike Lee (R –
Sen. Rand Paul’s ongoing filibuster (as of this writing) of John Brennan’s nomination as CIA Director is exciting, if only because it is a rare example of leadership and principle on Capitol Hill. It’s quite gratifying to see so much
In response to Democrat Senator: I’m Joining Rand Paul’s Filibuster: Well, maybe not. But I’m told Ron Wyden mentioned the concept of Outlawry in his own filibuster speech, noting that anyone deemed Outlaw by the state has at least the
This thing is starting to catch on: Heading to the floor to speak on Congressional oversight of executive branch & rules for targeted killings. Watch: c-span.org/Live-Video/C-S… — Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) March 6, 2013
The Senate Intelligence Committee has postponed the vote on CIA Director nominee John Brennan until next week, and it has declined to offer an explanation for the delay. The committee’s vice chairman, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), would only say he expects the
This asymmetrical warfare we are engaged in is new terrain. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) a member of the Intelligence Committee, is cleared to know. For two years he has demanded the Obama administration disclose its legal opinions justifying the targeted assassinations
(AP) New tax law packed with breaks for businessesBy STEPHEN OHLEMACHERAssociated PressWASHINGTONTucked into the “fiscal cliff” tax package approved by Congress are billions of dollars in tax breaks that should make the new year a lot happier for businesses of
The Senate approved a five-year extension of a George W. Bush-era surveillance law that allows US spy agencies to conduct wiretapping on foreign citizens without a warrant. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, approved by the House of Representatives in September,
A coalition of 125 celebrity musicians, including pop singer Katy Perry, have joined forces with anti-tax advocates including Grover Norquist and the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) to oppose an intellectual property “reform” bill that critics charge expands government to the
CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien has been caught using left-wing blog Talking Points Memo to counter Virginia House of Delegates member Barbara Comstock on the House GOP budget. As Ali Akbar of Viral Read discovered: Tonight, she was the substitute host
The Obama campaign went after Congressman Paul Ryan over the weekend, claiming that he wanted to push old people off of cliffs by gutting their Medicare. The problem with that false narrative comes by way of Cutter Shambles, the Deputy
(AP) GOP preps for budget battle with Democrats, ObamaBy ANDREW TAYLORAssociated PressWASHINGTONAfter a few months of relative peace on the budget front, Democrats and Republicans are readying for a party-defining, election-year fight over trillion dollar-plus deficits and what to do
Today, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) will formally introduce a new, bipartisan plan for Medicare reform. People 55 years of age or older would not be affected; everyone else, starting in 2022, will receive premium support
The always interesting Business Insider has this report: The Department of Homeland Security’s ICE has launched a major crackdown on websites enabling copyright infringement or selling counterfeits of trademarked goods. In just the past few days ICE has seized at
Few fiscal-policy terms these days seem as elastic as the word “subsidy.” In a strict sense, it means a direct payment from government (i.e., taxpayers) to influence economic behavior. So it was with great interest that I read Robert H.
From Politico: Sen. Robert Bennett lost his party’s nomination during the second round of voting at the GOP state convention Saturday, making the three-term Senator the first incumbent to fall in this volatile midterm election cycle. Bennett finished in third
The first game in a long series of Obamacare battles is complete and the liberals lost Game 1 by 13 votes. The Senate voted against a procedural motion to debate the so-called “Doc Fix” bill Wednesday. Just as Manny Ramirez
Yesterday, Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee torpedoed efforts to require Mediciad applicants to show IDs. We noted that, with fraud running at around $100 billion in Medicaid and Medicare, this might not have been the wisest vote. Well, it
You need an ID to board an airplane, cash a check, use a credit card and, even, enter many downtown office building. However, you don’t need an ID to apply for Medicaid and potentially receive thousands of dollars in government