by Jason Harward | Dec 20, 2021 | Politics
WASHINGTON — The news cycle surrounding the constantly shapeshifting Build Back Better Act brought one local figure to the forefront of national politics — Mark Pocan, the Madison congressman now serving his fifth term in Congress. Pocan, the former two-term chair of...
by Jason Harward | Dec 7, 2021 | Education, Topics
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is pushing to fund universal preschool nationwide in the Build Back Better bill, but the program’s success will hinge on whether states agree to implement it. Advocates say the program, touted as universal pre-K because it...
by Jason Harward | Dec 3, 2021 | Health & Science
WASHINGTON — Protesters gathered outside the Department of Justice Friday demanding the Attorney General’s Office pursue a criminal lawsuit against the Sackler family, owners of the billion-dollar pharmaceutical company that manufactures the prescription drug...
by Jason Harward | Nov 23, 2021 | Politics
WASHINGTON — With a global supply chain embroiled in pandemic lags, the Federal Trade Commission Thursday tabled until next Wednesday its decision on whether to study how large retailers have contributed to the supply shortages, especially among small...
by Jason Harward | Oct 30, 2021 | Politics
WASHINGTON – The White House released a pared-down, $1.75 trillion framework laying out the president’s domestic agenda Thursday, a total half the amount proposed last month by Democratic congressional leadership. To cut the package’s overall spending so...
by Jason Harward | Oct 14, 2021 | Politics
WASHINGTON — The latest consumer price report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed an increase in costs of 5.4% over the past year, the highest annualized inflation rate in more than a decade. The post-pandemic inflation presents a political dilemma for...
by Jason Harward | Oct 7, 2021 | Featured, Politics
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted late Thursday to raise the public debt limit by $480 billion, punting the political fight over the debt ceiling into early December. Although the bill itself passed on a 50-48 party-line vote, 11 Senate Republicans — a coalition...
by Jason Harward | Oct 5, 2021 | Featured, Politics
WASHINGTON — Staring down a possible default on the federal debt in less than two weeks, congressional leaders Tuesday remained firm in their positions on how to raise the debt ceiling, with Senate Republicans refusing to give Democrats any avenue to address the debt...
by Jason Harward | Sep 30, 2021 | Featured, Politics, Topics
WASHINGTON — Congress passed a stopgap spending bill Thursday, averting a government shutdown and maintaining the federal government’s budget at current levels for the next two months. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern...
by Jason Harward | Sep 29, 2021 | Featured, Politics
WASHINGTON – A group of Republican senators Wednesday signaled their support for a temporary spending bill to avoid a government shutdown Thursday at midnight when the 2022 federal fiscal year begins. But their support was conditioned on removing language that would...
