GOOD: “As the 2018 midterm elections approach in the U.S., Google’s power to influence undecided voters remains overshadowed by Facebook’s personal data crisis. Facebook has “taken it on the chin” for its role in the 2016 presidential election, and organizations like the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and the Russian troll farm known as the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
How The New York Times Uses Software To Recognize Members of Congress
Times Open: “Even if you’ve covered Congress for The New York Times for a decade, it can be hard to recognize which member you’ve just spoken with. There are 535 members, and with special elections every few months, members cycle in and out relatively frequently. So when former Congressional Correspondent Jennifer Steinhauer tweeted “Shazam, but… Continue Reading
2018 Annual Report of Medicare Trustees to Congress
Medicare fund on a course to run dry by 2026 – “The Medicare Program is the second-largest social insurance program in the U.S., with 58.4 million beneficiaries and total expenditures of $710 billion in 2017. The Boards of Trustees for Medicare (also Boards) report annually to the Congress on the financial operations and actuarial status of… Continue Reading
15 experts opine on whether US president can pardon himself
Vox – Sean Illing: “Can presidents pardon themselves? The answer, surprisingly enough, is not that clear. But since President Trump just tweeted that he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself, the question is suddenly relevant. Trump’s lawyers have previously explored the potential uses of presidential pardons — including whether the president can pardon himself… Continue Reading
U.S. Department of State Personnel: Background and Selected Issues for Congress
CRS report via FAS – U.S. Department of State Personnel: Background and Selected Issues for Congress. Cory R. Gill, Analyst in Foreign Affairs. May 18, 2018. “Shortly after his confirmation as Secretary of State in April 2018, Secretary Mike Pompeo lifted the hiring freeze that former Secretary Rex Tillerson left in place for over a… Continue Reading
(Robo)Call Me Maybe: Robocalls to Wireless Phones Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
CRS report via FAS – (Robo)Call Me Maybe: Robocalls to Wireless Phones Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Kathleen Ann Ruane, Legislative Attorney. May 29, 2018. “Robocalls—calls placed using an automated dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voice—are on the rise. Advances in technology have made it cheaper and easier than ever to dial millions… Continue Reading
CRS – Legal Sidebar Sidewalks, Streets, and Tweets: Is Twitter a Public Forum?
CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal Sidebar. Sidewalks, Streets, and Tweets: Is Twitter a Public Forum? Valerie C. Brannon, Legislative Attorney. May 30, 2018. “On May 23, 2018, a federal district court in New York in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump held that the Free Speech Clause of the… Continue Reading
Supreme Court decision – companies can use arbitration clauses to block employees class action suits
The New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that companies can use arbitration clauses in employment contracts to prohibit workers from banding together to take legal action over workplace issues. The vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s more conservative justices in the majority. The court’s decision could affect some 25 million… Continue Reading
WaPo More than 210,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine
The wider more accurate statistics and graphics on how gun violence has impacted students in American schools since Columbine [1999]: “The Washington Post has spent the past year determining how many children have been exposed to gun violence during school hours since the Columbine High massacre in 1999. Beyond the dead and wounded, children who… Continue Reading
Why Congress Matters: The Collective Congress in the Structural Constitution
Rao, Neomi, Why Congress Matters: The Collective Congress in the Structural Constitution (February 15, 2018). Florida Law Review, Vol. 70, No. 1, 2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3124493 “Congress currently operates in the shadow of the administrative state. This Article provides a modern reconsideration of why Congress still matters by examining the “collective Congress” within the… Continue Reading
Financial Regulation: The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act
CRS report – Financial Regulation: The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155), May 14, 2018 “The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155) was passed by the Senate on March 14, 2018. The bill generally aims to provide regulatory relief to banks, relax mortgage lending rules, relax capital… Continue Reading
Senate Intel Cmte acknowledges Russia interfered in 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump
Washington Post: “The Senate Intelligence Committee has determined the U.S. intelligence community was correct in assessing Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the aim of helping then-candidate Donald Trump, contradicting findings House Republicans reached last month. “We see no reason to dispute the [intelligence community’s] conclusions,” the committee’s chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.),… Continue Reading
