United States House of Representatives

US Senate introduces AAIHR-endorsed proposal to address nursing shortage

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 2, 2023

The Senate bill, which boasts an impressive 14 original cosponsors, would recapture 25,000 previously issued but unused immigrant visas for qualified registered nurses and another 15,000 for physicians.

Key Points: 
  • The Senate bill, which boasts an impressive 14 original cosponsors, would recapture 25,000 previously issued but unused immigrant visas for qualified registered nurses and another 15,000 for physicians.
  • "The HWRA is one of the most urgently needed healthcare proposals I've ever seen in thirty years of staffing patient bedsides.
  • The HWRA would address this catastrophic visa freeze by recapturing and reallocating unused green cards from fiscal years when employment-based immigration was lower.
  • This approach would not create any additional green cards, nor would the nurses whose lawful immigration it enables displace any American worker because the nursing shortage is so severe.

Ballotpedia Announces One Certain Outcome of Next Week's Elections

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 2, 2023

"Off-cycle elections routinely see less than a 25% voter turnout," said Cory Eucalitto, Ballotpedia's Managing Editor.

Key Points: 
  • "Off-cycle elections routinely see less than a 25% voter turnout," said Cory Eucalitto, Ballotpedia's Managing Editor.
  • "These elections don't receive as much media coverage as national contests, and for many voters they aren't as compelling."
  • Off-cycle elections are those held on a date other than Tuesday after the first Monday in November during even-numbered years at the same time as federal elections.
  • Often viewed as an early predictor of upcoming even-year elections, they include everything from battleground gubernatorial elections to close state legislative chamber races.

How U.S. House Members Voted on 100 Top Issues Since 2021, from Climate to Guns to Book Banning

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 30, 2023

(1) Biden-McCarthy Budget Deal (2) Student Loan Forgiveness (3) "ESG" Retirement Investments (4) Expanding Child Tax Credit (5) Passing Federal Budget (5) Inflation Reduction, Climate Investments and other issues.

Key Points: 
  • (1) Biden-McCarthy Budget Deal (2) Student Loan Forgiveness (3) "ESG" Retirement Investments (4) Expanding Child Tax Credit (5) Passing Federal Budget (5) Inflation Reduction, Climate Investments and other issues.
  • (1) Biden-McCarthy Budget Deal (2) Republican Budget Plan (3) Clean Extension of Debt Limit and other issues.
  • (1) Undermining Affordable Care Act (2) Ending Vaccine Mandate for Foreign Travelers (3) Ending Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers and other issues.
  • (1) Arbitration in Sexual Abuse Cases (2) Nullifying Non-Disclosure Clauses (3) Labor's Right to Organize and other issues.

Money20/20 USA Features the Biggest Names in Regulation

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, October 19, 2023

Recent events have increased the amount of regulatory involvement and scrutiny of the fintech space.

Key Points: 
  • Recent events have increased the amount of regulatory involvement and scrutiny of the fintech space.
  • “I came to Congress to get things done, and on the Financial Services Committee we’ve made significant progress in achieving bipartisan results.
  • Other notable speakers include Hester M. Peirce, Securities and Exchange Commissioner on cryptocurrency regulation and market structure, and Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency.
  • This year’s full agenda has been designed to inspire, address the challenges facing consumers and drive the news that evolves the industry – from AI, digital assets to regulation and market structure.

16 House Republicans Take a Bite out of the Hinson-Marshall EATS Act

Retrieved on: 
Friday, October 6, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Late Thursday, 16 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives pushed back against the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Late Thursday, 16 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives pushed back against the so-called Ending Agriculture Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, H.R.
  • Leaders of the EATS Act, Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, have positioned the bill as a regulatory solution by reverting to federal overreach.
  • Senators submitted a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leadership opposing the EATS Act, and a coalition of over 170 U.S.
  • With the growing outrage over the EATS Act, the bill faces an uphill battle to be included in the Farm Bill.

STATEMENT ON ALABAMA FEDERAL COURT RULING FROM THE 100 BLACK MEN OF AMERICA, INC.

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 16, 2023

The Republican controlled Alabama legislature previously drew district boundaries that violated the Voting Rights Act, according to the three judge federal panel, based in Atlanta, GA.

Key Points: 
  • The Republican controlled Alabama legislature previously drew district boundaries that violated the Voting Rights Act, according to the three judge federal panel, based in Atlanta, GA.
  • The judges noted that the plan from the state of Alabama created one majority Black district in a state that has nearly 30% of its population officially counted as African American.
  • The 100 Black Men of America, Inc. recognizes the gerrymandered districts submitted in the summer of 2023 as an attempt to mute voices from citizens of color.
  • The 100 Black Men of America opposes any laws that limit that right," said Milton Jones, Jr., the newly elected chair for the organization.

Democrat failure to save US speaker hands power to Republican right

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 4, 2023

California Republican Kevin McCarthy has become the first ever speaker of the US House of Representatives to be ejected from his position.

Key Points: 
  • California Republican Kevin McCarthy has become the first ever speaker of the US House of Representatives to be ejected from his position.
  • The “motion to vacate” the speakership, initiated by Florida Republican firebrand Matt Gaetz on October 3, has now plunged the house into civil war.
  • Supporting a bid to oust the speaker is what we’d expect from whichever party was in the minority.

Missed opportunity

    • But, by letting McCarthy lose his job, Democrats missed an opportunity to “go high”, if not for McCarthy personally, then for the integrity of Congress as an institution.
    • Yet that’s what Democrats did by voting with a tiny fraction of Republican rebels to topple McCarthy.
    • Of course, for many Democrats, McCarthy crossed a line by launching an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden in September.
    • Yet it’s Democrats who, since Trump took centre stage, have rightly complained about ultra-Maga types willing to light Washington on fire.
    • The relentless refrain from the White House is that you’re either with “us” (democracy), or with “them” (Trump’s authoritarianism).

Emboldening the radical right

    • Perhaps it’s too much to expect that the battle over the speakership would be defined by anything but raw, unadulterated politics.
    • Yet what Democrats have done by failing to rescue McCarthy is embolden an already too-bold radical right caucus.

THE KING CENTER ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF NEW BETTER TOGETHER FAITH INITIATIVE WITH KICK-OFF EVENT INCLUDING U.S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE MINORITY LEADER, HAKEEM JEFFRIES

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

King, CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, announced the launch of the national Better Together Faith Initiative.

Key Points: 
  • King, CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, announced the launch of the national Better Together Faith Initiative.
  • The Center will host a kick-off reception for faith leaders, followed by a forum on Faith and Democracy.
  • King.
  • The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center) is a 501(c) (3) organization established in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King.

America's leaders are older than they've ever been. Why didn't the founding fathers foresee this as a problem?

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 25, 2023

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell experienced two extended “freeze episodes” during press conferences.

Key Points: 
  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell experienced two extended “freeze episodes” during press conferences.
  • And several members of Congress mistook TikTok for the name of a breath mint (Tic Tac).
  • His leading rival in the 2024 presidential race, former President Donald Trump, is not far behind at 77.

How did we get to this ‘senior moment’?

    • Some of this may also be attributed to older Americans being far more likely to vote than their younger counterparts.
    • Yet lifespans have increased around the world and the ageing of US politicians still stands out compared to other developed nations.
    • Read more:
      Yes, Joe Biden is old and has low approval ratings, but this is why he's still confident of re-election

What did the founding fathers think about term limits?

    • The founding fathers fiercely debated term limits for both presidents and members of Congress and even included them for members of the Continental Congress in the first Articles of Confederation.
    • As much as Americans cherish the idea of the nation being founded on a constitution and laws instead of traditions and monarchy, the founding fathers ultimately did not legislate any term limits.
    • Instead, they largely assumed custom, tradition and democratic elections would dictate the terms of office.
    • While US presidents have faced term limits for most of the past century, members of Congress continue to serve as long as they like.

The price of elected office and who can afford it

    • The 2020 election was not only contentious, but it was also the most expensive in US history.
    • It cost more than US$14.4 billion (A$22.5 billion) for the presidential and congressional races – more than double what was spent in the 2016 elections.
    • The 2022 elections also broke a record for spending in a midterm election at US$8.9 billion (A$13.9 billion).
    • On an individual level, the average winner of a House of Representatives race in 1990 spent around US$400,000.
    • Those with the resources necessary to afford such expensive campaigns are more likely to be older than not.

ASSEMBLY 'ELECTION OUTLOOK' REPORT: 2024 CYCLE WILL BE THE MOST EXPENSIVE IN HISTORY

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 19, 2023

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global media agency Assembly is projecting a record $12 billion in political advertising spend in the 2024 U.S. Election cycle, with $3B expected in the presidential campaign alone. The estimates come from Assembly's 2024 Election Outlook report, released today by the agency's industry-leading Politics and Advocacy Practice, which handles planning, activation, and strategy for some of the most high-profile candidates and independent expenditure groups in the country.

Key Points: 
  • The Stagwell (STGW) agency projects a record $12 billion in political ad spend in new report for advertisers.
  • The report underscores the collision of commercial and political advertising in the 2024 cycle and offers leaders insights into how to prepare.
  • "In 2024, consumers are voters and voters are consumers," says Valerie Davis, North America CEO at Assembly.
  • Notably, in 2020, Assembly planned and activated the largest political media buy in history for the Mike Bloomberg for President Campaign.