This episode examines three bills that passed Congress in July and have since become law. The first new law will give veterans quicker access to health care. The second new law is designed to provide job training to poor people, but a hidden provision will likely take us one step closer to 1984. The third new law is another glaring example of this Congress failing to do its job. Also, Jen tells you her plans for Congressional Dish's future. July Bills that Became Law Veterans Access, Choice, and...
Oct 11, 2014•38 min•Ep. 80
This episode highlights the laws and bills that passed the House of Representatives in June. Most of the bills this month were dedicated to cutting corporate taxes and keeping us hooked on fossil fuels. Laws : WWII Memorial Prayer Act The bill originated in the Senate, where it passed unanimously; it passed the House on June 23 by 370-12 and was signed into law a week later. A will be installed at the Washington D.C. World War II memorial that says that President Roosevelt prayed on the morning ...
Sep 23, 2014•43 min•Ep. 79
In this bonus episode, details and analysis of the authorization to create a new military in Syria which is speeding towards becoming law. Information Presented in This Episode Clips in this episode are from the with testimony from and . that was attached to the Continuing Resolution which will authorize the creating of a military in Syria. Congress plans to move forward with an Authorization for Military Force (AUMF) .
Sep 18, 2014•22 min•Ep. 78
In this episode, we look at a bill that furthers the "new normal" in Africa, a bill that sanctions Venezuela, a banking bill, a charter school bill, some silly bills that won't become law, and a few Presidential declarations. Presidential Declarations : Withdrew Russia as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences program Russia loses duty-free treatment. On what? says: Products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP include: most manufactured items; many type...
Aug 30, 2014•45 min•Ep. 77
A look at the funding for foreign militaries that might become law as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that passed the House of Representatives in May. Included is a look at the US funding for Israel's military, the funding for the "drug war" in Columbia, the "new normal" in Africa, the continuation of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the brewing war with Russia. Congress has passed a National Defense Authorization Act for Money for Israel After the holocaust, Jewi...
Aug 16, 2014•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 76
This episode highlights the bills that passed the House of Representatives in April including a bill that makes it tougher for wage slaves to get health insurance, a bill that gives away weapons to other countries, a bill written for the banks that lets them gamble with risky financial products, and more. Bills Highlighted in This Episode Passed on April 8, 2014 by Changes the way the budget baseline is calculated by not factoring inflation. Congressional committees will be able to do the report...
Jul 23, 2014•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 75
This episode highlights the bills that passed the House of Representatives in March, including a bill that allows toxic mountaintop removal waste to be dumped in streams, a bill that skips environmental reviews for new nuclear power plants, a bill that wasn't meant to become law but could screw over every government employee if it did, a bill that prevents the government from managing water rights, multiple bills to chip away at ObamaCare, and more. Bills Presented in This Episode Every one of t...
Jul 04, 2014•53 min•Ep. 74
In this bonus episode, we look into the state of passenger rail service in the United States by examining the history and current condition of , the only choice for passenger rail service in the nation. The United States has a third world passenger rail transportation system. There's no denying it. There is only one company, Amtrak, that operates nationwide. Amtrak train cars are decades old, the employees are over-worked, and it's incredibly unreliable. But why is that the case? How can we do b...
Jun 24, 2014•53 min•Ep. 73
Catching up the the bills that passed the House of Representatives in February, this episode details a bill designed to keep campaign donors secret, a bill to make all regulations more difficult to enact, a bill that makes unlocking your cell phone legal, a bill that prohibits states from seizing your land for another private interest's gain, a bill that sets up the defunding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau... and more. Introduced by of Missouri Advertisements and/or information prov...
Jun 03, 2014•51 min•Ep. 72
In this episode, we look at all the important bills that become laws since the start of 2014, including a law that might cost you thousands of dollars per year, a law that ends public financing of political party nominating conventions, and a law that President Obama openly intends to ignore. We also discuss the resignation of Rep. Rob Andrews of New Jersey from the House of Representatives. Laws Discussed in This Episode Introduced by This law has nothing to do with the South Utah Valley Electr...
May 17, 2014•44 min•Ep. 71
In March, the President signed into a law some changes to our flood policy law. What is our flood policy law in the United States? How did we change it? Are the changes good? In the United States, we have a nationalized flood insurance industry. The question becomes then, does our flood insurance system have protections in place to make sure that our tax money is protected? Does is make the people in flood zones pay enough to cover the replacement of their homes? Do the rules make sense? Unfortu...
May 03, 2014•46 min•Ep. 70
In February, the House passed a package of ten bills that give away or sell Federal land, most of them so that private interests can use our land for profit. To contribute to Congressional Dish, please use the PayPal link below. Thank you. :" Let's be clear: we are talking here about Federal property, that is, property owned by all Americans. The land in question in Escambia County, Florida; Anchorage, Alaska; Fernley, Nevada; Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; Yellowstone and Grand Teton and the la...
Apr 18, 2014•36 min•Ep. 69
We have a new law! President Obama signed a bill loaning a billion dollars and giving another $150 million to Ukraine. In this episode, we find out exactly what's in it and why we are giving money to Ukraine - and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. that was signed into law by President Obama: Key Sections: Section 3: Lists seventeen aspects of United States policy toward Ukraine. Section 5: The Secretary of State will assist the new Ukraine government, the European Union, and "other ...
Apr 05, 2014•39 min•Ep. 68
The United States appears prepared to restart the Cold War and loan at least $1 billion of our tax money to Ukraine through the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Why? In this episode, we look at what we're asking for in Ukraine in return for our generosity. Executive Producer: Anonymous * For an excellent perspective on the Russian invasion of Crimea, listen to : Poking the Bear and : Cashing the Doomsday Cheque of . The (IMF) loans struggling countries money but in return the IMF demands that ...
Mar 28, 2014•30 min•Ep. 67
In early February, the House passed a package of eight bills that are supposed to appeal to hunters and fisherman. For this episode, Jen is joined by Cody Herman, host of and owner of , who helps Jen understand the bills and discusses whether or not the changes are good. Passed the House of Representatives on February 5, 2014 by 268-154. H.R. 3590 is a collection of eight bills, two of which never went through the committee process. The bill in its entirely also never went through committee. TIT...
Mar 22, 2014•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 66
On February 5, the House of Representatives passed a bill that takes away California's right to divide its dwindling water supply. The bill forces California to take water away from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta and give it to Agribusiness in the San Joaquin Valley, voiding a bunch of State and environmental laws in the process. Summary of the Bill This is the second time the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has passed this bill. . TITLE I: Eff The Fish [caption id="" align=...
Mar 09, 2014•41 min•Ep. 65
In this episode, we catch up on all the bills that passed the House of Representatives in January, including a bill to protect chemical storage companies from having to pay for their messes, a few bills to damage ObamaCare, and a bill to make sure private health insurance companies can't pay for abortions. Information Presented in This Episode Mel Watt Resigns On January 7, of North Carolina's 12th district resigned to become Director of the after being appointed to the position by President Oba...
Feb 24, 2014•48 min•Ep. 64
In this episode, Jen and Joe recap all the bills that passed the House of Representatives and were covered on Congressional Dish in 2013. Also, an update on the debt ceiling. Music in This Episode: Intro and Exit Music: by , by , Debt Ceiling See how your representative voted on until March 16, 2015, which passed the House on February 11 and the Senate on February 12. If we don't suspend the debt ceiling, we probably will not default on our debt as . However, the only way that we would avoid a d...
Feb 15, 2014•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 63
On February 7, President Obama signed the Farm Bill into law, which will govern our food policy for the next five years. In the new law are cuts to food stamps, an expansion of an extremely generous crop insurance program, bailouts for livestock producers, a big favor for chemical companies, and much more. Music in This Episode: Intro and Exit Music: by , by by Farming in the United States We often hear that most United States farms are "family farms", which is true; in 2011, 96 percent of U.S. ...
Feb 09, 2014•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 62
This episode is a mash-up of the State of the Union and the 2014 budget. We compare the impression President Obama gave us about what to expect for this upcoming year with the reality of what was funded in the last-minute and little-examined budget which he signed into law just two weeks before the speech. Information Presented in this Episode The following quotes are from the . Let's compare them to what was in the budget which he recently signed into law: The 2014 Budget () "Last month, thanks...
Feb 01, 2014•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 61
This week, a bill was introduced in both the House and the Senate that would hand Congress' power to negotiate trade deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, over to the President. We also look at the budget agreement to get an idea of what Congress is putting into their last-minute must-sign-by-next-week budget. Finally, thoughts on the golf swing. Information Presented in This Episode Fast Track for Trade Agreements On Thursday, January 9, , retiring Democrat in the Senate, and and , two ...
Jan 11, 2014•55 min•Ep. 60
Congress and President Obama worked together to fast-track a new & unexamined NDAA into law. The new law essentially makes NSA data collection legal, cuts military pensions, and spends an enormous amount of money making sure the United States is able to destroy the entire world at a moment's notice. Links to Information in This Episode *The title has been changed to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 since it was signed into law. Previously, "To authorize and request the President to...
Jan 04, 2014•34 min•Ep. 59
During the first week of December, the House of Representatives passed bills to extend an insurance program that provides taxpayer bailouts to private space exploration companies, made changes to TSA policies, tried (again) to deregulate Wall Street gamblers, and tried to shut down patent trolls. Executive Producer: Brandon K. Lewis Information Presented in this Episode Extends an existing government insurance program for private companies that launch vehicles into space through 2014. The progra...
Dec 21, 2013•36 min•Ep. 58
Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the , schools Jen on the DATA Act, the bill from . Turns out, the bill is not so bad; In fact, the bill could be really, really good. Links to Information Presented in This Episode with a detailed summary of the bill. of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA) Act is the website that would be improved by the DATA Act. Follow The DATA Act informational YouTube video by the Data Transparency Coalition Music Intro and Exit Music: by (found on )...
Dec 14, 2013•58 min•Ep. 57
Jen's husband loses his job; in this episode, the political situation that doomed his solar power company. Then we make a rough plan for the future, for ourselves and Congressional Dish. Joe Briney co-hosts. Links to Information in This Episode A solar farm seen from an airplane[/caption] *Correction: Jen said that the sun shines in Western Oregon; it does not. She meant Eastern Oregon. Representatives Discussed in This Episode - Oregon, Greg Walden's Legal Bribes Campaign Contributions [caption...
Dec 07, 2013•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 56
Before going home for Thanksgiving, the House passed three bills designed to fast-track permits for oil and natural gas drilling. This episode highlights the Congressmen who pushed these bills through the House. Bill Summaries passed the House of Representatives 228-192 on Wednesday, November 20, 2013. H.R. 1965 will not become law; TITLE I, Subtitle A: Speeds Up Oil and Gas Permitting ("Streamlining Permitting of American Energy Act of 2013") Introduced by The government will have 30 days to de...
Nov 28, 2013•50 min•Ep. 55
A bill marketed as for "transparency" appears to keep information secret from the public and gut an oversight board. Taxpayers treat a group of Representatives to an expensive Summer getaway. Cocaine. HR 2061: passed the House of Representatives 388-1 on Monday, November 12, 2013. Section 3: The following information would be published on the : A "pilot program" will "consolidate reports" that agencies and companies who receive Federal money must turn in: The agencies and companies allowed into ...
Nov 23, 2013•34 min•Ep. 54
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an international treaty being negotiated in almost total secrecy by the United States and eleven other nations. This week, Wikileaks published one of the twenty-nine chapters, . In this episode, we highlight the details of the patent and copyright laws contained in the leaked TPP chapter and then we quickly look at the bills that passed the House of Representatives this week. Music in This Episode Intro and Exit Music: by (found on ) The English and Japanes...
Nov 16, 2013•36 min•Ep. 53
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a secret international treaty designed to give corporations power over governments; it is labeled as a "free trade agreement". The TPP will likely allow corporate control of the Internet, endanger food safety, increase medicine costs, remove environmental laws, prohibit financial regulations, and almost certainly would force the United States to give tax money to private corporations if our democracy creates laws that interfere with corporate profits. The O...
Nov 09, 2013•49 min•Ep. 52
The House passed a bill this week that would expand the number of banks that will be eligible for government bailouts and eliminated rules to prevent the banks from making really risky bets with our money. New Information (Found Since this Podcast Episode Was Released) YouTube video: , Part 2 by Has additional information on the corrupt Congressmen who moved H.R. 992 through the House. Links to Information in This Episode Intro and Exit Music: by (found on ) Expands the eligibility of American f...
Nov 02, 2013•40 min•Ep. 51
