Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chairman Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) says the Bush administration asked Congress for a lot of money and executive power, but no one to keep track of where the money was going. Dodd says that doing nothing wasn’t an option, but neither was the Bush adminstration’s proposal. (0:25)
Sapphire Energy President CJ Warner says algae-based fuel would not require new buildings because it is compatible with the existing oil-based infrastructure. (0:32)
Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) said that he enjoyed the in depth overview the President gave his health care plan during Wednesday’s address to Congress. (0:40)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) says people can’t expect members of Congress to just snap their fingers and produce a health care reform bill. He says it will take time. (0:31)
By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service
Legal experts, former politicians, and a member of the Obama administration discussed the balance of powers in the U.S. government in a panel hosted by the Constitution Project and the Project on Government Oversight.
The conversation focused on the authority of Congress to obtain information from the executive branch in order to maintain oversight, an authority that some panelists argue has been compromised by the Bush and Obama administrations.
“Congress has been dealt a pretty good hand by the Founding Fathers,” said Morton Rosenberg, a legal expert on the separation of powers in government. “But of late, it’s been playing its cards very badly.” Rosenberg said he was “concerned about the state of Congress’ ability to engage in effective oversight…to ensure that its will is carried out.”
Former Congressman Mickey Edwards, a Republican from Oklahoma, emphasized that the American government puts power in the “hands of the people directly through their elected representatives.” He said that Congress has an “obligation” to exert authority over declarations of war, spending priorities, tax policy, and confirmations to the Supreme Court.
“If the Congress does not do everything in its power to get the information it needs to act on behalf of the American people, it has abdicated its responsibility, and it has been guilty in my view of malfeasance.”
Rosenberg described the mechanisms by which Congress exercises authority over the executive branch, including the threat of subpoena. He said that over the past decade, the efficacy of these mechanisms has declined, citing a case where the House of Representatives voted to hold two aides to George W. Bush, Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt.
Rosenberg also criticized the Obama administration, which he said has “not evidenced any substantial change in the executive’s attitude toward Congressional access to information.” He mentioned that Obama has upheld the “controversial Bush II practice of pin-pointing provisions of law that he was signing into law as being unconstitutional or suspect, and he would decide whether or not…to obey them.”
Ron Weich, the Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs in the Obama administration, said that the current executive branch agrees that Congressional oversight is important, and emphasized that President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, along with many other members of the Obama administration, have served in Congress.
Nonetheless, he argued that the Constitution establishes “a healthy push-and-pull among the branches.”
Regarding the release of information to Congress, Weich said that there are “limits on what we [the executive branch] can provide, and these are embodied in long-standing principles.”
Former Congressman Christopher H. Shays, a Republican from Connecticut, says firmer Congressional oversight would create more accountability, and could have prevented some of the abuses that took place in the Abu Ghraib prisons. (0:45)
Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Ks.) accuses Congress and the Obama administration of using Americans’ tax dollars to go on a spending spree. She also discusses how her constituents in Kansas are fed up with the spending. (0:18)
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
House Republicans gathered on Tuesday to denounce the inclusion of publicly funded abortions in the proposed health care reform.
“If the President is serious about passing true health care reform… [he] needs to step up, clarify his position about whether he wants abortion to be included in his health care reform,” said Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Ok.)
The proposed health care reform legislation requires every American to have the right to benefit from a minimum health care coverage, which may include abortion unless Congress makes abortion a statutory exception.
Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Penn.) warned that “The issue here is clear – abortion is not explicitly excluded, it is implicitly included. The stakes are high and the implications incredibly far reaching.”
GOP leaders claim that allowing abortion to be funded by taxpayers may legitimize the procedure, which in turn could lead to an increase in abortion rates.
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) noted the disrespect shown to pro-life Americans who, through this legislation, would indirectly fund abortion through taxation.
“Millions and millions of American women have profound moral qualms about the killing of unborn children by abortion, putting these American women in a position that violates their deeply held beliefs on abortion… [The legislation] will trespass their rights to refrain from funding an industry that they find to be destructive to our nation’s social and moral fabric,” Foxx said.
“Abortion, except in rare circumstances, is not heath care,” noted Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.)
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says that he agrees with the statements on impartiality that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has made during her confirmation hearings, but he says that her record suggests that she believes a judge’s personal experiences should impact his interpretation of the law. (0:48)
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor says that her comments regarding a “wise Latina woman” have been misunderstood. She says that she does not believe that any person is more capable of good judgment based on their race or gender. (0:42)
