by Sylvan Lane | Mar 18, 2014 | Immigration, Politics
WASHINGTON — It’s not that the House Republicans don’t want to pass immigration reform, they say. It’s just that they can’t right now. If you ask GOP lawmakers, they’ll tell you the time just isn’t right. The midterm elections are fast approaching. They don’t trust...
by Sylvan Lane | Mar 16, 2014 | Immigration, Living
WASHINGTON—Habtom Haile nervously tugs at the collar of his sweatshirts as he stares off into the distance. The 29-year-old refugee reflects on his lonely journey to the United States from Eritrea, a former colony on the horn of Africa locked in a long-running...
by Sylvan Lane | Mar 12, 2014 | Immigration
WASHINGTON—A group of House Republicans said they’re eager to get cracking on immigration reform, and that deal could be done in early 2015 before the presidential campaign season kicks into gear. Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said in an interview Wednesday that many...
by Sylvan Lane | Mar 11, 2014 | Politics
WASHINGTON—The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee said Tuesday that the GOP is honing in on seven House Democratic seats that the majority party hopes to flip in this year’s midterm elections. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., told reporters that...
by Sylvan Lane | Mar 4, 2014 | Health & Science
WASHINGTON—The House Subcommittee on Government Operations took its best shot Tuesday at untangling mixed messages stemming from the White House’s policy that marijuana should remain illegal and some states’ decisions to legalize it. But in the end, the subcommittee...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 26, 2014 | Living
WASHINGTON – A Justice Department program may save states billions of dollars and reduce their prison populations by promoting reforms aimed at making the criminal justice system more efficient, according to a report by the Urban Institute. However, the promising...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 24, 2014 | Education, Immigration
WASHINGTON — Dayana Torres doesn’t like preaching to the choir. The 19-year-old president of Dreamers of Virginia, Torres is one of the leaders of an effort to allow undocumented immigrants who live in Virginia to pay in-state tuition at the state’s public...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 18, 2014 | Business
WASHINGTON – Detroit’s attempt to restructure municipal workers’ pension plans may have far-reaching implications for other American cities dealing with similar issues. The question of whether a state constitutional ban on diminishing or changing pensions applies to...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 12, 2014 | Business, Living
WASHINGTON—Five years after the Great Recession stalled the American economy, senior citizen entrepreneurship might be what the United States needs to kick the slow recovery into another gear. Now, the Senate is trying to figure out what needs to be done help “encore...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 10, 2014 | Politics
WASHINGTON — They’ve been branded as the “party of no” — a group of ultra-conservative obstructionists catapulted into Congress with a mission to block anything Democrats, especially President Barack Obama, put forward. And after being blamed for last fall’s...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 6, 2014 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON — The Senate was one vote short of allowing debate on the unemployment insurance extension bill Thursday afternoon, effectively killing the bill and leaving Democrats furious at their Republican counterparts. The final vote – to end debate, and cut...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 6, 2014 | Politics
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Montana Senator Max Baucus’s appointment as ambassador of China on Thursday on a 96-0 vote. Baucus “is an extremely smart person, and certainly versed in what goes on here in the Congress of the United States,” said Senate...
