budget 2009

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:40:12 -0600

Congress spends a good chunk of its year on Capitol Hill slogging through the 9-month process of creating and passing a budget. The president kicks off the marathon with a budget proposal in early February and - on the rarest of years - a final budget is passed by October 1 when the next fiscal year begins (more often, the process gets dragged out to December - or Congress gives up on the effort entirely).

issue guide: Global Warming

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:16:46 -0500

The Skinny

What's Up

It could be the greatest threat to our way of life – or just a lot of hot air. Scientists warn that global warming – caused partly by human activities – will radically alter weather patterns and sea levels in the not so distant future. Some skeptics say the forecasts of gloom and doom are overstated; for others, the jury’s out on how much humans have an impact on temperature rises and how much we can do to slow or stop the trend. They warn instead that cutting back on carbon emissions, the prime cause of warming according to environmentalists, will end up severely hurting our economy without making a dent in the weather.

issue guide: Clear Skies Act

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:41:49 -0500

The Skinny

What's Up

Clear Skies was introduced in Congress in 2003 as the latest update to the Clean Air Act, the decades-old federal law for regulating air pollution. The new act would remove complex regulations in the law and instead encourage industry to curb pollution through caps and market-driven incentives. Opponents claim Clear Skies would weaken the long-established goals of the Clean Air Act and push its timelines farther into the future. Although Clear Skies was batted around committees in 2004 and 2005, it ultimately languished.

Now, with Democrats at the healm on Capitol Hill, congressional leaders are likely to take an entirely different tack on pollution regulation - so Clear Skies may have seen its final sunset.

health bills 2007

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:45:41 -0500

Bills in Brief

It took over a decade for health care reform to lose its Clinton-era-induced taboo status - but while health care policy is coming back in vogue, America will likely have to wait until 2009 before any major reforms become ripe for passage.

In the meantime, in 2007 Congress set out to pass a series of mini health care inititiatives - which citizenJoe kept track of here:

SCHIP. The State Children's Health Insurance Program, which covers low income children who aren't low income enough to qualify for Medicaid, was up for renewal this year - and Dems (with the help of moderate Republicans) locked horns with president to try to double the scope of the act. In late September, the House and Senate passed a bill that would increase spending on SCHIP to $60b over five years (up from $25b), paid for by a 61cent tax on ciggies.

the diff: Health Care

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:06:18 -0600

diff by diff

what a prez does primer

health care diff

energy & environment diff

economy diff

the education, national security, immigration and courts diff

smoking USA

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:28:15 -0500

Facts

It's hard to imagine a killer could be so cool, but for decades few dirty habits were as sophisticated and sexy as "taking a drag off death." No longer - Surgeon General reports, lawsuits, state laws and a successful anti-smoking movement have made smoking only slightly less despised than halitosis. Still millions of Americans smoke. Advocates would bring down the number of smokers even further, while a scant number of libertarians think the war on smokers has gone far enough.

how many of us are smoking

44.5 million adults CDC

over the years - % of high school seniors and adults who smoke

source: CDC (copied and pasted)

death and disease

Smoking kills:

read more

Policy On The Rocks LA

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:30:59 -0500

Start: 07/16/2008 - 7:00pm

End: 07/16/2008 - 9:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

Citizen Joe Presents- POLICY ON THE ROCKS LA a Political evening to get

people thinking and talking....

FEATURING: Jonathan Schneider writer/director/producer of the documentary

"Mr. Schneider Goes to Washington"

http://www.letsgoape.com/movie

frustrated by Washington and his apathy towards it, Mr. Schneider finally shook off his comfortable couch and was compelled to storm to the capital of the world’s only superpower to find out what is going on with his government.

And a special appearance by HBO Def Poet Joe Hernandez-Kolski and spinning by DJ Popcorn

civics 101

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:45:22 -0500

A Special Joe Primer

We know you learned all about how the government works in 6th grade, but if you're like us you probably forgot it all in 7th. Here's a primer to jog the memory.

States and DC

When we think of the "United States of America," we tend to forget that our country is exactly that - a federation, or uniting, of states. If you look at the constitution - or listen to states' rights advocates - you'll be reminded that the states have a lot of powers that were given them when the country was founded. In fact, according to the constitution the states are the default power; all the powers that are listed in the Constitution (creating a post office, assembling an army, etc.) are powers that are given to the federal government and anything that is not listed in the Constitution is automatically a power of the states. As the nation grew, however, the federal government had a tendency to grow its powers too, so much so that today it sometimes seems like the states don't play much of a role at all. Yet they still do. Here's a rough breakdown of who has what power:

Should Catholics be Democrat or Republican?

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:15:34 -0500

Start: 04/14/2008 - 6:10pm

End: 04/14/2008 - 8:30pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

1 out of 4 Americans are Catholic.
55% of voting Catholics are Democrat and 44% Republican. We are the ultimate swing vote. So, do we belong to the religious right or are we the religious left? Do you dare sit down and chat about religion and politics at the same seating? Heck, why not? Sound's like a good time to me!

Special Performance
National Anthem by
gospel singer Angela Tirado

Monday, April 14th
6:00pm Dinner, Drinks & Mingling
7:00pm Speaker Begins

the diff: The Economy

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:00:52 -0500

diff by diff

what a prez does primer

health care diff

energy & environment diff

economy diff

the education, national security, immigration and courts diff

PATRIOT Act

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:54:49 -0500

Bill in Brief

Passed in the wake of 9/11, the PATRIOT Act quickly became a target for civil libertarians who said the new law went too far in increasing the government's spying powers. Civil libertarians had a chance to tweak some of the Act's provisions in 2005, when many of its sections were slated to expire, but they won few concessions in the end when the law was finally renewed in March, 2006. (WP)

From the get go, the House and Senate's 2005 debates agreed that Patriot's more controversial parts - on "sneak & peaks," library records and "National Security Letters" - had to be changed up, but the Senate was slightly more aggressive in pushing for more civil libertarian safeguards. See the chart below on the - mostly subtle - differences between the draft bills from each chamber.

illegal drugs

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:53:10 -0500

Facts

Every year millions of dollars in illegal drugs enter the United States. Although the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been fighting a “War on Drugs” for years, drug use and related crimes still remain high - as do their costs to society as a whole. From the lawmaker's perspective, the big question is how best to combat drugs: by cutting
off demand through education and treatment or by cutting off the supply through going after drug makers and dealers?

what's up

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:51:06 -0600

at Joe

the diff: What a Prez Does

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:16:33 -0600

diff by diff

what a prez does primer

health care diff

energy & environment diff

economy diff

the education, national security, immigration and courts diff

on to 2008

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:53:38 -0600

Election years are notoriously bad times to get any legislation done, especially when you have a lame duck executive - the president has virtually no political capital to push any bills, and both parties are happy to avoid controversial issues that could create awkward sound-bites during campaign season.

While real issues get ignored, what you can expect to see are must-pass bills (like the budget) as well as dead-end votes that earn easy political points even though they never make it past a veto (like a time-line for withdrawal from Iraq or funding for stem-cell research).

With that said, Dems as well as the GOP know they can't go home with nothing done, so they may try to find easy issues where they can look useful. An economic stimulus plan and measures to prop up the sagging mortgage market are two good bets.

prisons

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 08:08:47 -0500

Facts

The prison population in the United States keeps on growing. A good thing, say those who note crime keeps coming down at the same time. Others wonder if the costs of locking up 2 million prisoners are too much – and if, perhaps there are better ways to “correct” criminals so fewer return to jail once they've been released.

Number of criminals:

In prison: 1.4 million (2005) DOJ (pdf)

read more

dollar-o-meter

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 18:47:32 -0500

A Joe Primer

Because most of us don't have first hand knowledge of how much, say, $177 billion or $12 trillion really buys a government, citizenJoe offers our readers this dollar-o-meter (suggestions for better names welcome) to help put all the numbers on this site in perspective.

Important note: these numbers are very rounded off to make them easier on the eyes. 2005 numbers are also usually estimates to start off with. To get the actual numbers, just click on the source links.

$1 billion - 0.04% of the budget (4 pennies out of 100 dollars)

$1 billion - federal funding for Amtrak (WP)
$5 billion - federal funding for community development in 2005 (OMB)

read more

back at 2007

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:37:10 -0600

Democrats rolled into DC last January with the verve of any party that's been waiting to get back in power for a decade.

But their hopes to kick some legislative butt got bogged down by Ground Hog Day head-butting over Iraq and a weak majority in the Senate (where a record 62 bills were filibusterd). A couple of chances of passing major bipartisan legislation - for example on immigration reform - were handicapped by the president's increasingly faltering political capital.

Even so, not nothing got done. Here cJ recaps the low-to-moderate amount of work Congress accomplished in '07.

Education.

As part of its kick-off campaign, Dems kept true to their promise to throw more support to families struggling with college tuition. With less fanfare, Congress also renewed the Head Start bill, HR 1429, continuing support for pre-school programs for low income kids.

Energy & the Environment.

econ 101

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:00:17 -0500

A Special Joe Primer

If you get foggy at the mention of interest rates, or bleary-eyed while trying to wade through an article in the Wall Street Journal, we've written this page for you: a bare-bone primer on the major numbers economists throw around.

GDP

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the most common number used to show how large – and so how strong - a nation's economy is. It is the dollar value of all goods and services a nation produces, including those produced abroad. Sometimes you'll see GDP per capita – or person – to show how comparatively rich or poor a nation is. GDP growth tells how fast an economy is growing, which – for many economists – is the ultimate sign of a healthy economy.

GDP: $12.3 trillion (2005) CBO; $39,732 per person NationMaster (2004)

GDP growth over the years

immigration

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:42:53 -0500

Facts

The US is a nation of immigrants – and of ever changing immigration policy. Depending on where you stand, immigrants bring great diversity and a much needed labor force to our nation – or they take jobs from citizens and create poverty and a drain on social services. Illegal immigration – particularly from Mexico – presents the most pressing policy questions today with some politicians advocating an amnesty for Mexican workers, and others, including President Bush, proposing guest worker status as an alternative.

See also CJ's immigration bill brief for a glimpse of current immigration bills being debated in Congress.

General

Number of immigrants who arrive each year:

Legal immigrants:

1.1 million (2002) (BCIS)
750 thousand average over the past decade (PEW - pdf)

Illegal/undocumented immigrants:

enemy combatants & terrorist trials

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:13:52 -0500

Issue in Brief

what's up

The war on terror gave rise to a new kind of foe - the "enemy combatant." Not quite prisoners of war, but not run-of-the-mill criminals either, these "enemies" are being held in a legal limbo state - mostly at Guantanamo - that's causing strains in international relations and at-home politics.

The central debate of combatants is over the kind of trials and due process rights they are entitled too, but word of actions in Gitmo and at secret prisons have also kicked up a debate over torture.

Congress tried to smooth out the trial issue - by passing legislation in October 2006, but they left a trail of legal wrinkles in their wake. Not only were civil libertarians dissatisfied with the new rules for combatant tribunals, they also don't like the fuzzy line the administration drew between legit interrogation methods and torture - or that fact that enemy combatants lost their right to habeas corpus (that is, the right to go to court).

write for Joe

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:51:58 -0500

related stuff

style guide

editors' & writers' page

WMD

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:33:32 -0500

Facts

Americans once braced for nuclear war by hiding under desks, but even that thin sense of security doesn't get you far in today's world, where enemies transcend traditional boundaries and technology opens borders to a degree not even imaginable in the science fiction novels of the previous generation. (Scared yet?) Below is a brief outline of how much scary stuff is out there, how it would get delivered, and the treaties and organizations that aim to keep WMD in check.

issue guide: Global Warming

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:23:51 -0500

Links

Fairly nonpartisan sources

The US Environmental Protection Agency has been criticized by environmentalists as being too business-friendly, but recent statements from the agency on climate change suggest it's warming up to environmentalist views. The US Climate Change Science Program, a government agency, also seems to feel to speak its mind.
Pew is also as balanced as you'll get on global warming, although at the end of the day they lean more left than right.

read more
issue guide: Clear Skies Act

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 21:46:28 -0500

Links

See also the skinny, background & facts, pro & con

Government sources
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has backgrounders on Clear Skies, The Clean Air Act and everything else you'd want to know about air.
- On October 27, 2005 the EPA released a report comparing the costs and benefits of five versions of Clean Air and Clear Skies.
  
  read more

Recent posts for

budget 2009

issue guide: Global Warming

The Skinny

What's Up

issue guide: Clear Skies Act

The Skinny

What's Up

health bills 2007

Bills in Brief

the diff: Health Care

smoking USA

Facts

how many of us are smoking

over the years - % of high school seniors and adults who smoke

death and disease

Policy On The Rocks LA

civics 101

A Special Joe Primer

States and DC

Should Catholics be Democrat or Republican?

the diff: The Economy

PATRIOT Act

Bill in Brief

illegal drugs

Facts

what's up

at Joe

the diff: What a Prez Does

on to 2008

prisons

Facts

Number of criminals:

dollar-o-meter

A Joe Primer

back at 2007

econ 101

A Special Joe Primer

GDP

immigration

Facts

General

Number of immigrants who arrive each year:

enemy combatants & terrorist trials

Issue in Brief

what's up

write for Joe

WMD

Facts

issue guide: Global Warming

Links

Fairly nonpartisan sources

issue guide: Clear Skies Act

Links

Government sources