'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Two of President Obama's second-term personnel picks that have attracted conservative and business opposition moved a step closer to confirmation Thursday.
President Obama's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Labor hit another snag in the Senate on Wednesday after Republicans who oppose the pick used a parliamentary maneuver to again delay a key vote on his nomination.
Sen. Tom Harkin said he will remove his hold on President Obama's pick to lead the nation's Medicare agency, but the powerful Iowa Democrat said Tuesday he is still not happy with the administration's "penny-wise, pound-foolish" tendency to raid a fund designated for preventative health programs.
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.
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.
In political battles to raise the minimum wage, activists love to trot out a handful of business owners who support new mandates. These so-called "high road" employers - part of an umbrella group called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage - act as a foil for other businesses who warn of the consequences of forcing higher labor costs on low-margin employers.
Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa purely hates "big money" in politics, though he's willing to make an exception for donors to the proposed Harkin Institute of Public Policy at Iowa State University.
Senate Democrats on Wednesday defeated the latest Republican effort to repeal President Obama's health-care law, signaling that the 2012 elections did little to change the bitter political divisions over the 3-year-old policy.
President Obama opened the door to making significant changes to entitlement programs during a meeting Tuesday with Senate Democrats, though some among the lawmakers quickly warned that they would not go along with benefit cuts or a higher retirement age.
Sen. Tom Harkin and Rep. George Miller's proposal for a $10.10 minimum wage -- a 39 percent increase over the current level -- is a recipe for employment disaster ("Democrats propose measure to raise minimum wage," Web, Tuesday).
Democrats in Congress proposed legislation Tuesday to boost the federal minimum wage to more than $10, going beyond what President Obama has proposed and arguing the working poor need the extra support amid a sour economy.
Rep. Tom Latham, Iowa Republican, said he won't seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.
Republicans hoping to capture a majority in the Senate are casting wary eyes on the tea party, well aware of 2010 and 2012 races that opened the flood gates to candidates outside the GOP ticket.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin took to the floor of Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday and echoed what House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently told Fox News' Chris Wallace: the federal government does not have a spending problem.
!["My understanding is that the waivers [for No Child Left Behind] become obsolete" if new federal education reforms go into effect, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a Senate panel Thursday. (Associated Press)](http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2013/02/07/20130207-203446-pic-978981655_s101x94.jpg?1fbd290a7096b720cc65944f28bf8ba0fe24af6d)
Obama administration waivers granted to 34 states and the District of Columbia, which freed them from the constraints and mandates of the No Child Left Behind law, would be nullified if lawmakers move a major new education reform package this year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told lawmakers Thursday.
By limiting the influence of big money in politics, elections can be more about the voters and their voices, not big-money donors and their deep pockets," says Mr. Harkin.
Republicans have tried, unsuccessfully, to take down Mr. Obama's law more than 30 times, said Sen. Tom Harkin, Iowa Democrat.
Sen. Ted Cruz's push to withhold 'Obamacare' funds ends in defeat →
