• CSI: Crime Scene Incompetence

    CSI: Crime Scene Incompetence

    S. 132: The Criminal Justice and Forensic Science Reform Act of 2011 would establish much-needed national forensic science standards. It would allow the Department of Justice to certify forensic science labs and practitioners. It would give the DOJ authority to identify what actually qualifies as “forensic science” and establish standards regarding experts, testimony, and use of evidence. Of course, the [...]

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  • Going Home for the Holidays: A (Temporary) End to the Payroll Tax Cut Fight

    Going Home for the Holidays: A (Temporary) End to the Payroll Tax Cut Fight

    Earlier this evening, Speaker John Boehner announced that House Republicans will support a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts. With a call for a final vote Friday morning, Boehner and the GOP leadership have abandoned their current push for a one-year extension of the cuts in order to pass the stopgap provision and end the political battle in time [...]

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  • Those Who Sacrifice Liberty for Security

    Those Who Sacrifice Liberty for Security

     Last Thursday was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights. Congress, apparently feeling that 220 years was a nice round number, decided that this would be the perfect time to repudiate most of the basic principles that document embodies. This rather impressive feat was achieved through the National Defense Authorization Act, of which you can get [...]

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  • Superfail

    Superfail

    Adam presents: The Adventures of Supercommittee! Disguised as the mild-mannered Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the Supercommittee in fact has powers far greater than normal subgroups of legislators. Charged with cutting $1.2 trillion from the deficit, the Supercommitte is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall legislative hurdles in a single bound, [...]

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  • Pols Fight, Markets Fail

    Pols Fight, Markets Fail

    As far back as November President Obama was aware that Congress was going to have to raise the debt ceiling. It’s anyone’s guess why he thought it better to wait until the 112th Congress was seated in January, but he did. He was rewarded with weeks of grueling negotiations resulting in a deal passed by Congress on the final day [...]

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  • T-Two Days: McConnell’s Grand Old Deal

    T-Two Days: McConnell’s Grand Old Deal

    With less than two days to go, Congress and the White House have moved in an expected direction on the debt crisis talks, producing few surprises along the way. On Friday night, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)’s version of the debt limit bill finally passed in the House on a 218-210 party-line vote, with no Democrats voting “aye” and 22 [...]

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  • Being Reasonable Is Not a Bargaining Strategy

    Being Reasonable Is Not a Bargaining Strategy

    We have arrived at crunch time. In 100 hours (give or take), the United States will no longer have money to pay the bills. Will the gas get shut off? Will we get harassing phone calls from China, Brazil, and Japan? No one quite knows. In an attempt to not find out, politicians in Washington, D.C., have been frantically negotiating, [...]

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  • Live Blogging the Debt Deal News Conferences

    Live Blogging the Debt Deal News Conferences

    You can follow President Barack Obama’s news conference and House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) response regarding current debt ceiling negotiations on live.cnn.com 9:25 p.m. A short set of news conferences tonight: Boehner’s arguments fall flat this evening – he is attacking Obama but without pointing out any real reasons to reject the spending cut in the Democratic proposals. 9:23 p.m. [...]

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  • The Politics of Defending Defense

    The Politics of Defending Defense

                United States policymakers have been talking non-stop about cuts since the 2010 midterm elections. The conversation has moved beyond whether or not to cut; we are now debating how many trillions of dollars the final package of cuts will be. The first round was earlier this year when lawmakers were negotiating a package of [...]

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  • Playing with Fire

    Playing with Fire

    Vice President Joe Biden has been negotiating with leading congressional Republicans for weeks in an attempt to reach a deal on deficit reduction so that Congress will vote to raise the debt ceiling. The discussions have been taking place behind closed doors, so I had been holding out hope that these talks were going somewhere—anywhere. And I thought they were: [...]

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