Featured Topic - February 13th 2008 - U.S. Congress

[Ed: We're pleased to welcome Beth Wellington to the NewsTrust team. Beth is our new Community Developer, and will work with Tish Grier and others on our team to help grow our community. She's also a  host for our U.S. Congress topic on NewsTrust, having written a monthly column on Congressional legislation for llrx.com since March 2006.This week on NewsTrust, we're featuring the U.S. Congress from February 13-17.   We hope you'll submit new stories on this important topic.]

Hi everybody.  Beth, here.  To give you some ideas on where to look for stories about this week's featured topic, you might want to start with a review of Conor Kenny's detailed preview of Congressional action through February 15 over at Congresspedia.  Then, join in our hunt for quality journalism reflecting a variety of viewpoints and review our recommended stories on congressional issues.

So what's been happening in Congress? Yesterday, the Senate passed its version of a replacement for the Protect America Act, providing retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies, two topics I've written about previously.  The Senate acceded to the Administration’s request to shield telecom companies which conducted domestic surveillance without a warrant from the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court, while the House version allowed continued legal recourse for consumers.  Therefore, expect a conference committee, unless, as Wired reports today, Blue Dog Democrats and Republicans convince the House leadership to accept the the Senate version.

The New York Times weighed in with a story yesterday citing unnamed "officials " that "said it appeared that the House would ultimately be forced to accept some sort of legal protection for the phone carriers in negotiations between the two chambers this week ."   Meanwhile Infoworld reported that the Electric Frontier Foundation and others were highly critical of the Senate version and that "The EFF will push hard to have House negotiators keep the telecom immunity provisions out of the bill that goes to Bush ."  In the debate, The Captain's Quarter sides with the telecoms, while an older piece from Newsweek, allows Senator Feingold (D-WI) to explain his opposition the bill without amendments.

Another important measure before Congress will be the farm bill which has raised editorial criticism of subsidies recently.   The Environmental Working Group finds the Bush Administration’s approach more progressive than that of Congress, which has continued the subsidies sought by lobbyists.  For an example of local coverage, we've included a piece from the Des Moines Register.  We also have one from Politico.

A third  topic in the news this week is the Congressional reaction to President Bush's proposal for the FY 2009 budget. For two critiques, see the pieces by the Heritage Foundation and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

So, whether you submit new stories or review those already recommended by another member, you can help us make Newstrust  "your guide to good journalism." And be sure to check back with us here on Saturday, to see the results of our collective search for quality coverage of this topic.

Comments

[Juliet Sallette]

Welcome Beth...I enjoyed reading your articles on this week in Congress. You did a fantastic job in pulling interesting stories together.
I look forward to reading more of this type of information.
All the best in your role as a Community Developer for News Trust.
Juliet

[Sandy@DogCostume]

How often do new stories actually get used? I'm talking about newly submitted stories from brand new authors? Seems like maybe you guys have had your fill and aren't really accepting new submissions...?