The House passed H.R. 3, a bill waiving permit requirements for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and passed H.R. 1911, a bill that could raise interest rates for college students while tying their rates to the market. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2013
H.R. 1911: Increase Interest Rates for Students
H.R. 1911, the “Smarter Solutions for Students Act”, allows the interest rates on student loans to go up to 8.5% for undergraduate students and 10.5% for graduate students. Continue reading
H.R. 3: No Permits Needed For Keystone XL Pipeline
H.R. 3 “The Northern Route Approval Act” waives the permitting requirements for construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Continue reading
H.R. 1073: Penalties for Attacks
H.R. 1073 the “Nuclear Terrorism Conventional Implementation and Safety of Maritime Navigation Act of 2013” assigns penalties for attacking United States’ ships and for using or attempting to use radioactive weapons. It also adds “United States corporations” to the list of entities protected. Continue reading
H.R. 258: Don’t Lie About Military Medals for Money
H.R. 258: “The Stolen Valor Act of 2013” penalizes people with a fine and up to a year in prison if they wear a military medal they didn’t earn in order to get money, property, or any other tangible benefit. A previous version of this bill was ruled unconstitutional. Continue reading
CD028: The IRS Scandal
In this episode, highlights from the House Ways and Means Committee IRS scandal hearing. IRS staffers made a list of keywords including Tea Party, 9-12, Patriot, etc. to help them find social welfare groups applying for tax exempt status that were actually political in nature. This is the scandal you’ve been told about; the real scandal is how many of them have been approved. Continue reading
H.R. 1062: Prevent Wall Street Regulations
H.R. 1062, the “SEC Regulatory Accountability Act” aims to make the Wall Street police much more friendly to Wall Street. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will have to take Wall Street’s financial interests into account when placing rules upon them; SEC will also have to explain themselves when they don’t take Wall Street’s rule-making suggestions. Continue reading
H.R. 45: Repeal ObamaCare
H.R. 45, introduced by Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota, is the latest bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – a.k.a. ObamaCare. Continue reading
CD027: Overtime
After a health care rant, we look at H.R. 1406, a bill that would have allowed workers to get vacation time instead of cash for their overtime. It’s a bill I’d actually like to see survive. Continue reading
H.R. 1406: Time Off Instead of Overtime Pay
H.R. 1406 the “Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013” allows employers to offer their employees paid time off instead of overtime pay, if the employee agrees to it. Continue reading