By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities

The health care law has the look of a plan that isn't coming together, and the administration appears unable to foresee the outcome and stay a step ahead of the potential mess.

The 2014 election battle for control of the Senate will affect just about everything the upper chamber does this year and next, because it could take just a handful of upsets to put the Republicans back in charge.

Clearly, President Obama is playing a nasty political game with the air-traffic controller furloughs that have forced severe airline delays across the country.

Montana Sen. Max Baucus said Tuesday he won't seek a seventh term next year, saying he wants to spend the next year and a half on Capitol Hill focused on serving his constituents and chairing the powerful Senate Finance Committee without the distraction of running for re-election.

Borrowing a grading system based on the "Star Trek" franchise, the University of Virginia's Center for Politics warns on Thursday in its latest breakdown of the 2014 Senate races that Senate Democrats should be on high alert in seven states in which they hold seats.

The decision by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia Democrat, not to seek another term in the Senate is the first dent in Democrats' chances of hanging onto power in the upper chamber in 2014 — and emblematic of the challenges the party faces in protecting seats they hold in red states.
Senate plans to consider a U.N. treaty espousing equal rights for the disabled is drawing opposition from some Republicans wary of the treaty and asserting that the lawmakers should not be taking up international treaties during a lame-duck session.

After failing to agree on a long-range plan to keep federal highway and transit programs running, Congress on Thursday returned to one of its most tried-and-true tactics of the past year: It kicked the matter down the road by passing a stopgap funding measure.

At a Capitol Hill hearing Thursday looking into the deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship accident, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV called for improved safety regulations and more environmental protection — and also criticized the cruise industry for not paying enough taxes.

After more than four years of delays and almost two-dozen stopgap extensions, Congress on Monday approved a long-term Federal Aviation Administration funding bill that will lead to major upgrades of the nation's decades-old air traffic control system and other safety measures.

A federal law that essentially bans any more construction on the National Mall might prevent an attempt to "nationalize" the District of Columbia World War I Memorial, a National Park Service official said Tuesday.

Officials in the District are accustomed to asking Congress for full voting rights on behalf of the city's 600,000 residents or for greater control of city finances — and getting no satisfaction.

A key senator says the Federal Aviation Administration could face another shutdown because lawmakers haven't resolved a labor issue that is holding up passage of a long-term funding bill for the agency.

Sports equipment manufacturers who say their products prevent concussions are making "empty, unsubstantiated" claims, a key Senate chairman said Wednesday, and could face new regulations if they do not change their marketing practices.

Broadcast and broadband industries are locked in a battle for space on the nation's airwaves.
"It's non-negotiable that IRS agents in Cincinnati and everywhere else must do that work in a totally nonpartisan, evenhanded way," said Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia Democrat. "We'll review carefully the independent inspector general report and tackle the key questions of what happened, how it was handled, who is responsible, and how it's going to be fixed."
IRS audit found political bias against conservatives; groups gave up after application delay →
His colleague, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia Democrat, said the law is "beyond comprehension."