Tag - congress

 
 

CONGRESS

WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 5, 2013
Tea party rallies to thwart bipartisan education plan
Tea party groups over the past few weeks have suddenly and successfully pressured Republican governors to reassess their support for a rare bipartisan initiative backed by President Barack Obama to overhaul the nation's public schools.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2013
Naming Lautenberg's successor puts GOP's Christie in bind
In a state where political blood feuds have been a proud tradition, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, went to extremes trying to live up to the legend: They hated each other and made it known.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2013
Liberal hawks mum on U.S. intervention in Syria
For interests on both sides of Syria's civil war, the past two weeks have been the time to increase the pressure. Hezbollah sent reinforcements to the troops of President Bashar Assad, and Russia reiterated its intention to furnish the regime with weapons. At the same time, Republican Sen. John McCain secretly visited rebels and promised to push the administration of President Barack Obama to arm the retreating forces. The European Union allowed its weapons embargo to lapse as nations such as Britain and France appear increasingly eager to aid the opposition fighters.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2013
Obama to pick Bush official to head FBI
U.S. President Barack Obama plans to nominate James Comey, a former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, to replace Robert S. Mueller III as FBI director.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2013
What Bachmann meant to politics
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's surprise retirement announcement likely brings an end to an Icarus-like political career in which she rapidly rose to national prominence before falling hard.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2013
Record as Newark mayor weighs heavily on Booker Senate bid
Cory Booker has become one of the most famous mayors in the nation with the help of a careful political campaign that cast him as a unique talent willing to forgo better opportunities to save this crime-ridden and poverty-plagued city.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 22, 2013
Apple used 'complex web' to avoid taxes, Senate inquiry finds
Apple used a "complex web" of offshore entities — with no employees or physical offices — that allowed it to pay little or no taxes on tens of billions it earned overseas, according to a Senate investigation unveiled Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2013
Obama keeps fluid grip on levels of power
President Barack Obama's professed ignorance of the targeting of conservatives by one government agency and his support of tracking journalists' sources by another highlight one of the great paradoxes of his presidency: Sometimes he uses his office as aggressively as anyone who's held it; other times he seems unacquainted with the work of his own administration.
WORLD
May 19, 2013
Obama seeks over $1 trillion in new taxes
President Barack Obama's most recent budget request will reduce borrowing by $1.1 trillion over the next decade compared with current law — almost entirely through higher taxes on the rich, large estates and smokers, congressional budget analysts said Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2013
Obama renews vow to close Guantanamo
U.S. President Barack Obama vows to revive his push to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
WORLD
Apr 28, 2013
Air delays get swift action as House OKs funding bill
Sequestration became a reality to the broad public in airports across the the United States this past week, and on Friday both Congress and the White House caved in to pressure from tens of thousands of airline passengers angered by flight delays.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 26, 2013
Congress given 90 days to OK Japan TPP entry
The United States government on Wednesday notified Congress of its intent to include Japan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said, meaning Japan could enter as early as July.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 25, 2013
Baucus retirement sets stage for sweeping legislative changes
Montana Sen. Max Baucus, one of the most influential congressional figures of his era, announced his intention Tuesday to retire, a move that could produce sweeping changes in the political and legislative landscape over the next two years.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Apr 19, 2013
U.S. immigration proposal 'onerous'
Amid the initial elation from immigration advocates over a new proposal to overhaul U.S. border control laws was a sense of unease over the 844-page bill's core provision: a path to citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 18, 2013
Stronger U.S. gun law fails to pass in Senate
The Senate's rejection of a bipartisan bill to expand background checks for gun purchases reveals the difference in power between public opinion and a united minority.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 18, 2013
House Republicans fault FDA in meningitis probe
After reviewing 27,000 pages of documents from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Republicans and Democrats came to different conclusions about the agency's ability to prevent one of the worst public health crises in American history.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2013
GOP's Rubio throws weight behind U.S. immigration revamp
Millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. should be allowed to earn their citizenship because deporting them isn't realistic, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 14, 2013
Gun rights lobby pushes weaker bill
As the U.S. Senate prepares to begin debate this week on the biggest gun-control bill in nearly two decades, the gun rights lobby and its Senate allies are working on a series of amendments that have the potential to do the opposite — loosening many of the restrictions that exist in the current law.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2013
Prospects for deal on U.S. gun law improve
Prospects for a bipartisan deal to expand federal background checks for gun purchases are improving with the emergence of fresh Republican support, according to top Senate aides.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 3, 2013
As U.S. wallows in debt, bright ideas to save country billions go to waste
After President Barack Obama set up a national online suggestion box in 2009 asking federal workers for new ways to cut the budget, 86,000 ideas came in. Some, inevitably, were a little odd.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree