AOL News has a new home! The Huffington Post.
Click here to visit the new home of Politics Daily!Hot on HuffPost:
Walker Recall Effort Struggles To Gain Momentum
Controversial Book On Obama Appears To Have Lifted Key Quote
PatriotAct
Opinion: The GOP's Unforced Errors
By Elaine S. Povich - AOL NewsIt may be a cliche, but Casey Stengel still said it best: "Can't anybody here play this game?" Listen up, House Speaker John Boehner, that old baseball phrase-maker is talking to you. And to your leader, Eric Cantor, and your whip, Kevin McCarthy. Two days in a row, you were embarrassed when the House you supposedly "control" refused to go along with your wishes on two relatively easy bills -- one to renew the Patriot Act and one to compel the United Nations to pay back $179 million it got from the United States. The embarrassments are enough trouble on their face, but what's more important ...
Congress Extends Patriot Act Without Additional Privacy Protections
By Christopher Weber - Politics DailyA bill extending the Patriot Act by one year is headed to President Obama's desk after being passed by Congress without additional privacy measures to protect against civil liberty abuses. The House passed the legislation 315-97 on Thursday, one day after it sailed through the Senate. The anti-terror statute was set to expire Sunday. The White House pushed to extend the Patriot Act because of provisions it says are important in tracking suspected terrorists, Reuters reported. Among the act's extended provisions are the authority to follow individual suspects not members of an organized ...
Congressional Agenda for 2010: Controversy and Budget Busting
By Patricia Murphy - Politics DailyWhen Congress starts its work for the year Tuesday, Democrats in Washington will begin working on two distinct types of legislation leading up to the crucial mid-term elections in 2010 -- the bills they want to do, and the bills they have to do. At the top of the list of to-do's that Democrats are eager to tackle are passing a final version of health care reform, along with a swift pivot to dealing with the economy, or as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refers to it, "Jobs, jobs, jobs." In addition to jobs and health care, a senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tells Politics Daily ...
Domestic Surveillance in Doubt as Patriot Act Expiration Looms
By Patricia Murphy - Politics DailyThe House and Senate are working through a stack of must-do legislation before the end of the year, but neither has scheduled time to debate expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act. Without at least a temporary extension, three sunsetting portions of the law that grants domestic surveillance powers to law enforcement will expire on Dec. 31. The looming deadline coincides with a growing concern among law enforcement officials that homegrown terrorism is becoming a more dangerous and immediate threat. In addition to last month's shooting at Fort Hood, reports came this week that a Chicago ...
Massive To-Do List Grows As Senate Health Debate Stalls
By Patricia Murphy - Politics DailyPresident Obama has made health care reform his top legislative priority on Capitol Hill. But several time-sensitive and controversial measures are threatening to derail the Democrats' plans for health care by year's end unless the Senate can quickly pass reform legislation and attend to at least a dozen other looming bills within the next several weeks. From appropriations bills that must pass by Dec. 18 to contested portions of the USA Patriot Act, which expire on Dec. 31, to the estate tax, which will drop from 45 percent to zero on Jan. 1, the items remaining on the Senate's agenda would ...
Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions
By David Sessions - Politics DailyThe Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the much-criticized USA Patriot Act, the Justice Department said in a letter to Congress that was made public Tuesday. On the campaign trail, Obama promised a close look at the law, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin a hearing on it next week. The provisions are set to expire at the end of the year. ...
Clarence Thomas Slept Through Obama's Inaugural Address
By Dylan and Ethan Ris - Politics DailyIn a post-Patriot Act world, you can't get away with anything.Although it probably wouldn't take government-sanctioned domestic spying to catch a guy sleeping on the balcony of the Capitol in the middle of a presidential inauguration.Doubly true if the guy happens to be a Supreme Court Justice.Yes, folks. That is definitely Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the United States, sleeping through Barack Obama's inaugural address. Even his pal Antonin Scalia had the decency to frown through the speech with his eyes open.These shots are excerpted from a remarkable 1474-megapixel composite ...
Curbs on PATRIOT Act Tool Sought
By Mark Impomeni - Politics DailyThe House and Senate are both set to consider legislation that would restrict the use of a tool granted to the FBI under the USA PATRIOT Act. The tool, known as a national security letter, is an administrative subpoena that allows the Bureau to demand certain information from persons being investigated for suspected ties to terrorism activities without the oversight of a federal judge. The FBI has admitted that use of the letters regularly brings in more information than the government is legally allowed to collect and maintain and has promised to tighten its procedures for record ...
FBI Improperly Accessed Personal Data, Again
By Mark Impomeni - Politics DailyFBI Director Robert Mueller, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, acknowledged that the Bureau had improperly obtained telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic for the fourth straight year in 2006. The information was obtained by the agency through the use of a controversial tool granted by the USA PATRIOT Act and most often was given to the FBI by banks, credit bureaus, and other businesses furnishing more information than was requested, Mueller said.The scope of the information gathering will be revealed in a new audit of the Bureau's activities, expected to be ...
Follow Politics Daily
POPULAR
- Nancy Pelosi Confirms House May Skip Up or Down Vote on Senate Health Bill
- Debrahlee Lorenzana: A Double Take on Those Double D's
- Campbell Brown Quits CNN With Shockingly Frank Farewell
- Palin Earnings Estimated at $12 Million
- The Five Most Racist Obama Cartoons?
- Soraya M., Stoned to Death for Being an "Inconvenient Wife''
- Jimmy Carter Leaves Church Over Treatment of Women
- No posts are available.
News From Our Partners
- Dragon arrives at space station in historic 1st
- Picking new leader, Egyptians search for superman
- Egyptians vote in first free presidential vote
- Moon chips from Vegas casino mogul sent to NASA
- Egyptians vote to rid nation of autocratic rule
- More Stories »
- 'Masters of the Universe' Sure Have Fragile Egos
- Romney: My Mistakes 'Haunt Me'
- Newt Lauds Romney: He's Like Eisenhower
- Irked Senate Panel Votes 30-0 to Cut Pakistan Aid
- GSA Bash Organizer Steps Down
- More Stories »
- Know Your Enemy
- Obama’s Challenge in Egypt
- The Edwards Waiting Game
- Are Doctors Doing Too Much?
- The Pagan Cult of Reagan
- More Stories »
- Ambition Counteracting Ambition
- Robert Blagojevich Speaks Out
- In Iowa, Obama Calls Romney's Words 'A Cow Pie of Distortion'
- In Iowa, Obama Calls On Congress to Act on Clean Energy Tax Credits
- Romney Has Interesting Morning in Inner-City Philly
- More Stories »
- Romney Challenged on How Much Class Size Matters
- Panetta Calls Pakistan Doctor's Treason Sentence 'Disturbing'
- Leon Panetta on Possible Iran Strike: We Have Plans for Everything
- Panetta Dismisses Romney's Afghanistan Criticism
- Leon Panetta: 'Nothing Inappropriate' Shared With Bin Laden Filmmakers
- More Stories »
Top News
More News
More on Aol
Local News
More Blog/Sites
Sites and Services
HuffPost Politics