The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote today on a motion to proceed to debate on the annual defense authorization bill. Normally, such a step is a routine, mechanical one. In this case, though, it is one of the most important national security votes of the year - and will be scored as such by the Center for Security Policy and a number of other organizations in their annual legislative scorecards.
Two months after the oil-rig explosion tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration's reaction shifted from listless to knee-jerk: a moratorium on all deep-water oil-drilling operations that have blowout preventers. Of course, this came after federal judges twice tossed out the moratoriums that this administration had tried to impose.
Weeks after the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began, the fundraising arm for Senate Democrats circulated a petition to hold BP "accountable" while accusing Republicans of making excuses for "bad environmental actors."
HOUSE: Bill to help sick 9/11 responders advances
Like millions of other Americans, I have watched with a mix of bafflement and frustration as Congress has wrestled with
PRESIDENT BUSH
