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The Mark-Up, 05-20-2009
TPMDC's daily update on the biggest legislative initiatives on the Hill:
- Guantanamo: The Senate stripped Guantanamo detention center closing funds from a war funding bill by an overwhelming vote of 90-6.
- Credit Card Reform: The House passed--and the President will soon sign--legislation cracking down on credit card companies. House leaders split the bill in two because of a measure sponsored by Tom Coburn (R-OK) allowing people to take guns into national parks. Both parts of the bill passed, but the move allowed liberal Democrats to go on record against the idea.
- EFCA: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) tells potential EFCA opponents to get serious about compromise, or they'll have to go on record, one way or another, on the question of the original bill.
- Defense Spending: Defense Secretary Robert Gates isn't backtracking on his decision to cancel the (well over-budget) presidential helicopter program. But he does envision the possibility of a "escape helicopter," to make the President's job seem more awesome.
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Please explain to me just what in all Sam Hill does carrying concealed arms into National Parks has to do with Credit-FARGING-Cards????
May 20, 2009 7:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's see . . . Blanche Lincoln, the duly elected Senator of WalMart, will be voting EFCA can go to Heck.
May 20, 2009 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
With the arrest of the terrorists in New York, one wonders if our prison system is able to hold them or will they need to be placed out of the country too. Is there a fear they will form some gang in prison as the head of the FBI suggested? Someone in the media needs to investigate how much is spent annually on high security prisons in this country, and demand an explanation of why these prisons aren't up to the job of taking in the prisoners who are found guilty of threatening our security, and why states that profit from these prisons aren't willing to take in terrorists. We also need to know how much is spent annually on Gitmo. Taxpayers have a right to know how much we can save by closing Gitmo and placing the terrorists in the prisons that have been built at tax payers costs specifically for high risk criminals.
May 21, 2009 12:50 AM | Reply | Permalink