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    Archive for the
    ‘Congress’ Category


    By: Maegan Carberry

    Tonight’s State of the Union

    Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

    It’s one of the most anticipated nights of the year in DC, when President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress. Our nation’s capital is bustling with energy as administration officials, legislators and their staff members, reporters and other key political players prepare to dissect the vision that will be presented for our country in 2011.

    Rock the Vote will be watching the speech at the New Organizing Institute, and after the programming we’ll share our reactions along with our friends at the League of Young Voters Education Fund and AllHipHop.com. You can watch us break it down live on UStream here beginning at 8:15pm EST. (*For DC locals: Come join us at 10pm at the 18th Street Lounge to debrief over drinks if you want to keep the conversation going.)

    In his address tonight, President Obama is expected to challenge members of Congress to work together and silence popular notions that the next two years will be marked by political gridlock.  He will also emphasize a “competitiveness” initiative that will help the country regain its status as the world’s most influential economy and create jobs. Other things to look for: plans to reach out to Republicans and work more closely with the business community, removing troops from Iraq by the end of this year and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (a process that is expected to start in July and continue through 2014), energy and climate change policies in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill, and other pressing issues ranging from immigration reform, gun control and equal rights.

    The GOP rebuttal will be given by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. If you’d like to better familiarize yourself with him, visit his official House site or his Prosperity Project initiative.

    For live updates throughout the speech tonight, follow @rockthevote on Twitter and check back on the blog tomorrow for a follow up post on important State of the Union coverage.

      Maegan Carberry
      Bio: Maegan is Communications Director of Rock the Vote.
      @maegancarberry
      Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

      Posted in Barack Obama, Congress, State of the Union | 1 Comment »


      By: Maegan Carberry

      112th Congress Cheat Sheet

      Thursday, January 6th, 2011

      With newly elected Representatives and Senators entering Congress every two years, it can be difficult to keep up with who’s who.  One minute there’s a liberal woman from San Francisco running the House; the next there’s a conservative from Ohio in power.  Here’s a quick and easy guide to the 112th Congress, which began this week, to help you out.

      Spot a man on Capitol Hill who appears more tan than Snooki and you’ve found Speaker of the House John Boehner.  He hails from a deeply conservative district in Ohio and says he has never been in a tanning booth.  “Young Gun” Eric Cantor of Virginia is taking over the position of House Majority Leader.

      A familiar face, Nancy Pelosi, takes on a new (much worse for her) position as House Minority Leader. Pelosi was not only the first female speaker of the House, but now she’s also the first Speaker to become minority leader since 1955.

      Over in the Senate, it is a familiar cast of characters. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, recently re-elected, will still hold his position as the leader of the Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who like Reid has held the position since January 2007, is the Republican leader.

      Here are some other people to watch:

      The energy in the Republican party right now lies with the Tea Partiers.  Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Utah Senator Mike Lee are all newly elected Senators who were back by the Tea Party.

      In the House, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann (R), head of the Tea Party Caucus, may be considering a 2012 campaign for president.  Michigan Representative Dave Camp (R) keeps a low profile, but as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he’ll have the gavel on issues like health care, taxes, and trade.

      On the Democratic side in the House, Maryland Representative Chris Van Hollen (D) is a top Democrat on the House Budget Committee so he’ll be in the center of the Republican’s efforts to trim spending. New York Representative Steve Israel (D) is the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and as such, he’s charged with helping his party win back a majority in Congress.

      But don’t just take our word for it.  Check out what the Washington Post has to say on the “people to watch” in the 112th Congress here.

      And to put some faces to these names, check out this slideshow.

      Post written by RTV Communications Intern Maeve Coyle.

        Maegan Carberry
        Bio: Maegan is Communications Director of Rock the Vote.
        @maegancarberry
        Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

        Tags: , , , ,
        Posted in Congress | 1 Comment »


        By: Thomas Bates

        UPDATE On Lame Duck Congress

        Friday, December 10th, 2010

        After a dizzying week in Washington the politics aren’t over yet.  Here’s your updated cheat sheet so you can keep track, keep score and keep hope alive. The week that was…


        DREAM Act: The U.S. House of Representatives passed the DREAM Act by a vote of 216-198 on Wednesday night. This legislation would provide a path to citizenship for young people brought to the U.S. illegally before they turned 16, provided that they’ve lived in the country for at least five years, have graduated from high school or gotten their GEDs, and have clean police records.  That path is attending college or serving in the military for at least two years.

        The (in)action is now in the U.S. Senate.  (Bills have to pass both the House and Senate to become law, as civics junkies know.)  Senate leader Harry Reid has said they’ve had to delay the vote because the Democrats can’t get 60 votes to break the Republican filibuster.  (Fun fact: in order to pass bills in the Senate, you need 60 votes, not just 50 because of the filibuster rules that require a 60-vote majority to end debate on a particular bill and bring it up for a vote.)

        Are the votes there to make this the law of the land before 2010 runs out? We’ll see.

        DADT: Ugh? Efforts to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy failed in the U.S. Senate yesterday.  Why, you ask?  The filibuster!  The vote was 57 to 40 in favor of moving forward with consideration of the big Defense bill (which includes repealing DADT), but as we learned with the DREAM Act (and hundreds of other pieces of legislation), 60 votes is the coin of the realm.  The funny thing is: 60 Senators have said they support ending DADT, but not all of them voted for moving forward yesterday.  Strange days.  Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a separate, free-standing bill that would straight-up end DADT (not as part of the Defense bill), and we’ll see if they can get that bad boy considered, voted on and passed.

        If so, the House will take that bill immediately.  As Speaker Pelosi Tweeted yesterday:
        “@SpeakerPelosi If new Lieberman & Collins #DADT bill passes Senate, an army of allies stands ready to pass standalone repeal in House http://go.usa.gov/1pb”

        Tax cuts: The week began with President Obama announcing that he had reached a compromise on the Bush-era tax credits and a whole host of other tax breaks.  Of particular interest to us, one of the items included in the compromise package is the American Opportunity Tax Credit for education, a priority for young people which improved the HOPE credit for tuition expenses and increased maximum credit to $2,500 (up from $1,800).

        The politics of the tax bill are just blindingly complicated, so we won’t go into it here.  The policy fights around this are also very complicated.  The White House has an explanation about it in video and chart form.

        Want more charts?  Click here.

        Pell grants: Finally, we’re pushing for Congress to fully fund the Pell Grant program.  Congress has set $5,550 as the maximum award level for students, but has not appropriated the money need to make that happen.  Without the appropriation of an additional $5.7 billion, the maximum aid award next year will be slashed by $845.  We’re concerned because without action we are looking at a more than 15 percent reduction to the program, which would eliminate Pell Grant access for hundreds of thousands of students while millions more will have their awards deeply cut.

        The House passed a spending bill that would fully fund the program. As with most everything else, we are waiting to see what the Senate does.

        Stay tuned.
          Thomas Bates
          Bio: Thomas is Rock the Vote's Vice President of Civic Engagement.
          @BatesThomas
          Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

          Tags: , , ,
          Posted in Congress | 1 Comment »


          By: Amanda Pagay

          Colbert testifies before Congress

          Friday, September 24th, 2010

          Congress got quite a show this morning when Stephen Colbert testified before the House subcommittee on immigration. While keeping with his comedic TV persona, Colbert answered serious questions from House members at a hearing titled “Protecting America’s Harvest.”

          Colbert discussed his work on the United Farm Workers’ (UFW) “Take Our Jobs” campaign, which was meant to discredit the idea that illegal immigrants take away jobs from U.S. citizens.

          The “Take Our Jobs” campaign offers Americans the chance to work in the fields if they believe undocumented workers are taking good agriculture jobs from US citizens. During an interview this summer, Colbert asked UFW President Arturo Rodriguez how many people had taken the challenge – the answer was three. “Make that four,” Colbert responded. “I’ll do it.”

          The episode featuring Colbert’s day in the fields aired this Tuesday as a lead up to his testimony in Washington today. Click here to watch Stephen Colbert testify before Congress.

            Amanda Pagay
            Bio:

            Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

            Tags: , , ,
            Posted in Congress, immigration | Comments Off


            By: Mary

            Unacceptable

            Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

            This is unbelievable – a lobby firm in Washington (who’s clients are presumably against clean energy legislation) have been caught faking grassroots letters targeting members of Congress urging them to vote against clean energy legislation.

            Bonner & Associates, on behalf of their clients, created fake staff members and forged letters on behalf of Creciendo Juntos, a nonprofit network in Charlottesville, VA that tackles issues related to the local Hispanic community as well as the NAACP…and you guessed it - the organizations had no idea this was happening! They were targeting Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA).

            This is unacceptable and totally f*ed up.  The most basic fundamental right in our democracy is the freedom to voice our opinions to our elected officials and ask them to represent us.  No matter the issue or organization, if anyone abuses and disrespects this system by faking letters from citizen groups in order to get their special interest agenda passed…no way.  More than an apology is needed in this situation, the lobby firm should disclose their client and be investigated by the Department of Justice for fraud.

            Join us in asking the Justice Department to investigate this abuse.

            Call Attorney General Eric Holder’s office and demand that Bonner and Associates disclose their client and be investigated for fraud.  Here is his #: 202-353-1555.

            This is NOT what democracy looks like, and we won’t let it stand.

            ~Mary, Rock the Vote

              Mary
              Bio:
              @Rockthevote
              Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

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              Posted in Congress | 1 Comment »

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