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Author: Carolyn Lochhead

U.S. crushes ivory to save elephants from extinction

This week, the Obama administration will take its most visible step in its campaign to stop the slaughter of African elephants, crushing six tons of ivory in Denver Thursday. Last July, Obama established a Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking composed of the State, Interior and Justice departments to develop a strategy to stop what […]

ENDA clears Senate after nearly 20 years

In a 64-33 vote, including 10 Republicans, the Senate overwhelmingly passed, 64-32, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, or ENDA, Thursday. The first version of the bill was introduced in 1994, but none has ever passed either chamber. The bill bans discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, pushed a broad religious […]

Senators say Twitter could reap $154 million tax break

Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) fingered Twitter as the latest Silicon Valley poster child of corporate tax avoidance, in this case through stock options that are likely to be granted when the high-flying social media company makes its IPO debut Thursday. Levin, chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and McCain, […]

ENDA debate reaffirms religious exemption

The fight over a broad religious exemption in the Employment Nondiscrimination Act is all but over. The question is whether the House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco will attempt to force the bill to a vote in the House this year. Pelosi has said all options are on the table. The Senate Wednesday approved 

Gay discrimination bill going to Senate floor

Senate majority leader Harry Reid will bring the Employment Nondiscrimination Act to the Senate floor between now and Thanksgiving, his office confirmed Monday. The bill would ban workforce discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgendered people. A vote is likely but Reid’s office cautioned that the actual vote could come after Thanksgiving. In any event Senate 

Day 10: Lots of meetings, guide to debt limit problem

President Obama (and Vice President Biden) Thursday will meet with the Senate Democratic Caucus in the State Dining Room. After that, they will meet with House Republican leaders and certain House GOP committee chairs in the Roosevelt Room. Republicans have more or less dropped their Obamacare demands that shut down the government and have pivoted  

Politicssource 2013-09-25 16:51:31

The House and Senate farm bills for the first time would open a trickle of funding for a program that doubles food stamp benefits that are spent on fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets. The program is currently operating with private funds at 300 farmers markets across the nation, including seven in the California  

Nancy Pelosi floats new strategy to pressure GOP on immigration

With the fall window for enactment of a big immigration overhaul closing rapidly, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi has come up with a new strategy to force House Republicans to bring legislation to the floor. An aide familiar with the strategy said the Pelosi plan is to introduce a bipartisan bill nearly identical to the