Tag - congress

 
 

CONGRESS

Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 13, 2013
U.S. Homeland Security chief resigns
Janet Napolitano, who as President Barack Obama's homeland security secretary has one of the broadest and most challenging portfolios of any Cabinet member, announced Friday that she is stepping down to become president of the University of California system.
WORLD
Jul 13, 2013
U.S. to buy Russian-made choppers for Afghanistan despite Assad ties
By the end of 2016, the Afghanistan Air Force is due to have 86 Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters. Most of them will have been purchased by the United States from Rosoboronexport, the same state weapons exporter that continues to arm the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2013
White House delays health care rule that businesses insure workers
The mandate requiring U.S. employers to provide insurance for workers will not take effect until 2015.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 2, 2013
Boehner 'soft' approach boon, bane
When someone crosses John Boehner, he or she can expect a couple of reactions from the House speaker. Sometimes it is a thwack on the back and a disapproving shake of his head, quickly followed by a begrudging smile to indicate that all is forgiven. Sometimes it is a fake yell and then a shrug. One recalcitrant...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2013
Is Rand Paul going mainstream, or is mainstream going Rand Paul?
Rand Paul seems to be crossing over to the mainstream — or maybe it's the other way around. When Kentucky's junior senator arrived in Washington just over two years ago, he seemed destined to inhabit the role of perpetual outlier. But now, he's in the mix on just about everything that is happening,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 24, 2013
Baby names by red and blue, not pink and blue
Republicans and Democrats don't seem to agree on very much these days. They are divided on the kinds of television shows they watch, cars they drive and beers they drink. And now research by political scientists at the University of Chicago adds one more thing to that list: baby names.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 20, 2013
U.S. House passes bill with new limits on abortion
The House approved legislation Tuesday that would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the most sweeping abortion restriction to pass any chamber of Congress in a decade. The vote was 228-196.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 12, 2013
Obama in Bush surveillance territory
For four years, President Barack Obama's approach to counterterrorism has been defined by his embrace of paramilitary power — the drones and the commando teams whose ruthless pursuit of al-Qaida helped cripple the terrorist network through a global targeted killing campaign.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 12, 2013
Monitoring scandals unite left, right
A late spring storm of Washington controversies has created a rare event in these partisan, polarized times: a shared I-told-you-so moment for the left and the right.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2013
Lawmaker traces origin of IRS row to Cincinnati
An Internal Revenue Service manager in Cincinnati singled out the first tea party case that prompted widespread targeting of conservative groups, and an agent from the same office developed the initial search criteria for the initiative, according to the House oversight committee's top Democrat.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2013
Audit reveals details of lavish spending at IRS event in Anaheim Hilton
The 2,609 Internal Revenue Service managers who flew to Anaheim, California, for a three-day conference on "Leading Into the Future" were treated to a welcoming reception with free cocktails and gifts, including briefcases, engraved pens and Los Angeles Angels baseball tickets.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2013
Tea party rallies to thwart bipartisan education plan
Tea party groups over the past few weeks have suddenly and successfully pressured Republican governors to reassess their support for a rare bipartisan initiative backed by President Barack Obama to overhaul the nation's public schools.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2013
Naming Lautenberg's successor puts GOP's Christie in bind
In a state where political blood feuds have been a proud tradition, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, went to extremes trying to live up to the legend: They hated each other and made it known.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2013
Liberal hawks mum on U.S. intervention in Syria
For interests on both sides of Syria's civil war, the past two weeks have been the time to increase the pressure. Hezbollah sent reinforcements to the troops of President Bashar Assad, and Russia reiterated its intention to furnish the regime with weapons. At the same time, Republican Sen. John McCain...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2013
Obama to pick Bush official to head FBI
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to nominate James Comey, a former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, to replace Robert S. Mueller III as FBI director.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2013
What Bachmann meant to politics
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's surprise retirement announcement likely brings an end to an Icarus-like political career in which she rapidly rose to national prominence before falling hard.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2013
Record as Newark mayor weighs heavily on Booker Senate bid
Cory Booker has become one of the most famous mayors in the nation with the help of a careful political campaign that cast him as a unique talent willing to forgo better opportunities to save this crime-ridden and poverty-plagued city.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2013
Apple used 'complex web' to avoid taxes, Senate inquiry finds
Apple used a "complex web" of offshore entities — with no employees or physical offices — that allowed it to pay little or no taxes on tens of billions it earned overseas, according to a Senate investigation unveiled Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2013
Obama keeps fluid grip on levels of power
President Barack Obama's professed ignorance of the targeting of conservatives by one government agency and his support of tracking journalists' sources by another highlight one of the great paradoxes of his presidency: Sometimes he uses his office as aggressively as anyone who's held it; other times...
WORLD
May 19, 2013
Obama seeks over $1 trillion in new taxes
President Barack Obama's most recent budget request will reduce borrowing by $1.1 trillion over the next decade compared with current law — almost entirely through higher taxes on the rich, large estates and smokers, congressional budget analysts said Friday.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan