Networking Sites, Chat Rooms Face Banishment

Staff / Truthdig Jul 28, 2006 In an effort to combat sexual predators' use of social networking websites, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would effectively make sites like Amazon and MySpace inaccessible at public spaces. This is well-intentioned but horribly executed. Let's hope the worse-than-"Do Nothing" Senate can keep this one from becoming law. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Election Protection

Staff / Truthdig Jul 21, 2006 What good is a democracy without fair and clean elections? In this piece for Tom Paine, Art Levine looks ahead to the November vote, and explains ways concerned Americans can protect it. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Marie Cocco: Your Papers, Please

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 13, 2006 The current push to require voters to supply proof of citizenship at the voting booth has very little to do with preventing illegal voting and much more to do with keeping away from the polls those most likely to vote for Democrats. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

House Votes to Cut Estate Taxes

Staff / Truthdig Jun 23, 2006 After the GOP-controlled Congress rejected an increase in the minimum wage, House lawmakers have now voted to exempt the heirs of millionaires from having to pay taxes on their inherited wealth. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Senate Rejects Calls for Iraq Troop Withdrawal

Staff / Truthdig Jun 22, 2006 The stricter of the two bills being voted on--a measure that would have mandated a pullout by 2007--went down 86-13 The bill that didn't have a timetable was defeated 60-39, with all but one Republican and six Democrats voting against the measure UPDATE: The Senate is weighing a modest troop reduction in the coming months . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

House Delays Renewal of Voting Rights Act

Staff / Truthdig Jun 22, 2006 House Republicans canceled a vote to extend the historic act because some said it unfairly singled out Southern states. The "rebellion" was "a significant embarrassment for the party leadership," according to the N.Y. Times. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Fecal Matter in Soldiers’ Water? Sure, Says Senate

Staff / Truthdig Jun 21, 2006 Senate Republicans shot down a measure that would have enacted oversight on the practices of private contractors in Iraq. As a result, companies like Halliburton are free to continue doing things like exposing U.S. soldiers in Iraq to water contaminated with fecal matter. The Nation has the details. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

GOP Engineers Sham Vote on Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2006 The fierce debate on the Iraq war that began in Congress on Thursday will culminate on Friday with a nonbinding resolution that includes: labeling the Iraq war as part of the war on terror, and opposition to setting an "arbitrary" withdrawal date. Democrats decried the vote as an election-year sham. Video: Dems rip GOP lawmakers during Thursday's debate. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Rolling Stone Asks: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Staff / Truthdig Jun 2, 2006 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. revisits the 2004 election and finds evidence of massive electoral fraud. Kennedy writes: "After carefully examining the evidence, I've become convinced that the president's party mounted a massive, coordinated campaign to subvert the will of the people in 2004." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

The End of the Electoral College as We Know it?

Staff / Truthdig Jun 1, 2006 The California Assembly passed a measure to pledge the state's Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote (as opposed to giving its Electoral College votes to the winner of the California popular vote). This would come into effect only if enough other states passed similar measures. But if it happens, it will mean the end of the electoral college as we know it. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Net Neutrality Gets Boost From House Panel

Staff / Truthdig May 26, 2006 The panel recommended a version of the Net neutrality bill that would bar telecom companies from charging premium fees for Web companies that sell video and other content. This is far from a full victory, but it's a step in that direction. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Senate Panel Backs Hayden Confirmation

Staff / Truthdig May 24, 2006 It's the blackest of all comedy: The man who engineered the NSA's domestic wiretapping program appears to be sailing toward confirmation as the nation's next CIA chief. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )