State Medicaid Directors Balk at Backdoor Cuts to Program

Nov 16, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

State Medicaid directors from around the country gathered this week in Washington, D.C. for their annual meeting and continued to express frustration and displeasure with the Bush administration's plans to continue to stick it to the states through the Medicaid program.

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House Majority Leader: Hoyer Hired

Nov 16, 2006 by Dana Chasin

By a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Steny Hoyer (D-MD) prevailed over Jack Murtha (D-PA) today in the race for House Majority Leader. The result was "a blow to incoming Speaker of the House" Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed and campaign for Murtha. Some in the House charged that Pelosi was "undercutting her pledge to clean up corruption by backing a veteran lawmaker who they say has repeatedly skirted ethical boundaries."

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FEC Fines Sierra Club $28,000 For "Express Advocacy" in Voter Guide

Nov 16, 2006 by Kay Guinane

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) charged that in 2004 the nonprofit environmental group Sierra Club, a 501(c)(4), used funds from its corporate treasury to pay for a pamphlet "expressly advocating" the defeat of federal candidates. A specific guide was considered titled, "Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide," that used check marks to compare the environmental records of Bush and Kerry and the U.S. Senate candidates. It was found that the pamphlet “expressly advocated” Kerry and Castor’s election and Bush and Martinez’s defeat.

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House Majority Leader's Race: A "Total Crap" Shoot

Nov 16, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

As of this writing, the House Democratic Caucus is holding its leadership elections for the 110th Congress, with the Majority Leader's race between Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Jack Murtha (D-PA) still up in the air. In the balance is the leadership tone on Congressional ethics standards. This is no idle matter: to the surprise of both most observers, midterm election exit polls cited corruption in Congress as one of the most important issues motivating citizens to vote.

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Senate Finance: Notes on the Newbies

Nov 15, 2006 by Dana Chasin

Incoming Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus (D-MT) has announced the panel's Democratic members for the 110th Congress, as follows: CHAIR: Baucus, Rockefeller (WV), Conrad (ND), Bingaman (NM), Kerry (MA), Lincoln (AR), Wyden (OR), Schumer (NY), Stabenow (MI), Cantwell (WA), Salazar (CO). Notes on the Newbies:

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    Continuing the Continuing Resolution

    Nov 15, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

    CQ.com ($) reports that the House has passed an extension of the stopgap funding measure known as the FY 2007 continuing resolution. The current continuing resolution was set to expire this Friday. Hence, the swift action from the House.

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    Dudley Evades Democrats' Probes in Hearing

    Nov 15, 2006 by Matthew Madia

    Monday's hearing on the nomination of Susan Dudley to be the new director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in OMB did little to reveal Dudley's positions on a variety of issues. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the current chair of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, was the only Republican member of the committee to attend the hearing. The incoming chair, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), did not attend the hearing but submitted an extensive list of questions to Dudley prior to the hearing.

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    Any Hopes for Senate Electronic Filing?

    Nov 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

    The Campaign Finance Institute brings light to the fact that in six of the top ten Senate races, voters could not look up candidate's election contributions since June 30. House and Presidential candidates, other party committees, all PACs, and Section 527 political organizations, all have to file their federal campaign finance reports electronically while Senators do not. The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S.1508)would require U.S. Senate candidates to do so.

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    Bank Plans to Close Life for Relief and Development's Accounts

    Nov 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

    As previously reported, on September 18 the Joint Terrorism Task Force raided the Muslim charity Life for Relief and Development in Michigan. It has recently been revealed in the Detroit Free Press that subsequently after the raid the organization was told by Comerica Bank that they were to close all seven of their bank accounts by October 2. While in operation the charity used Comerica to circulate millions of dollars. In light of Ramadan and the difficulty of closing the accounts so quickly, they were given an extension till November 15.

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    Government Funding of Religious Structures

    Nov 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

    On November 9 a federal appeals court ruled that the government can not fund a building where both secular and religious activities occur, even if it is in the interest of supporting secular work that assists the community. The case Community House Inc. v. the City of Boise involves a secular nonprofit, Community House, which ran a homeless shelter in the city-owned building. A Christian nonprofit, Bosie Rescue Mission was then selected to run the shelter planning to change the facility to be for men only and requiring all residents to attend religious services.

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