Political Catholic group seeks court ruling as defense against IRS

Catholic Answers, an information and advocacy group run by non-clergy members, last week asked the US Supreme Court to examine the way the Internal Revenue Service determines whether or not a nonprofit group has engaged in improper political activity. The group drew the attention of the IRS after criticizing Sen. John Kerry during his bid for president in 2004. To many, a case of this kind will seem long overdue, given the increasingly politicized nature of religious organizations in the United States over the last four decades.

Udall joins Senate group seeking to guard net neutrality from budget attack

No one loved the internet rules written by the Federal Communications Commission last year that sought to safeguard the free-flowing egalitarian quality of the internet, where communication-industry giants don’t get to decide which information streams to users and at what speed. One side thought the rules were overreaching socialism and the other thought they were riven with the kind of loopholes corporate interests could wiggle through when it came time to assert control. In the spring, Republicans in the House opposed to the rules voted to strip the FCC of the cash it would need to enforce the rules. On Wednesday, a small band of senators, including Colorado’s Mark Udall, sent a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) objecting to the House action and asking the committee to strip out the budget amendment that would hold back the FCC funds.

U.S. Senate once again attempting comprehensive immigration reform

U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Harry Reid, D-Nev., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., reintroduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill on Wednesday.

As events turn rapidly in Egypt, lawmakers weigh stripping Mubarak of U.S. aid

As the Obama Administration tentatively feels its way through the political crisis in Egypt, some key lawmakers on Capitol Hill are sending a strong message to embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, who chairs the subcommittee that approves foreign aid and who has voiced strong opinions about the official “thuggery” on display on the ground in Egypt directed at protesters and journalists, is proposing that Congress not release the more than a billion dollars in aid the U.S. sends to Egypt each year unless Mubarak steps down. Members of the Colorado delegation have yet to weigh in on Leahy’s proposal.

New Yorker story details Senate breakdown on climate bill

The New Yorker published a blockbuster story this weekend detailing the many failures of the White House and the Senate to pass climate change legislation.

The story, by Ryan Lizza, is nearly 10,000 words, but it’s definitely worth a read.…

Udall pushes new renewable standard as part of last-ditch climate bill

In a last-ditch effort to salvage climate change legislation before the end of the year, the emphasis now is on a utility-only carbon cap in the Senate, and Colorado Sen. Mark Udall has renewed his push for a national…

Kerry on McChrystal flap: Stop the ‘feeding frenzy’

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the people Gen. Stanley McChrystal dissed to Rolling Stone, issued this statement that you could read as neither supporting nor opposing McChrystal.

When General McChrystal

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Graham wiggles away from any near-term climate or energy bills

Well that just about does it for climate legislation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tells CongressDaily (subscription. req’d) that he’ll vote against the climate bill being developed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.):

“What I have withdrawn…

Will Dems push climate change bill next in wake of Gulf spill, new climate study?

So with what was supposed to be slam-dunk Wall Street reform finally off their plate the Senate will turn to critical climate change legislation next, right?

Comprehensive immigration reform could still jump to the front of the Obama…

Kerry-Lieberman climate bill calls for disclosure of fracking chemicals

The Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act – climate change legislation at long last introduced in the U.S. Senate Wednesday – calls on oil and gas service companies like Halliburton to divulge chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells.