Tag Archives: Harry Reid
Nevada Cattle Rancher Standoff Far More Complex than Simple Lawbreaking
Cliven Bundy claims that he inherited “pre-emptive grazing rights’ on federal land because his ancestors kept cattle in the Virgin Valley since 1877, before the Department of the Interior was created. However, by continuing to graze his livestock on federal land for over 20 years after he stopped paying fees in 1993, Bundy may have acquired “prescriptive rights;”
Ending the Filibuster
On November 21, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid followed through on threats to use the so-called nuclear option to overcome Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s nominees to executive and judicial positions. Fifty-two Senate Democrats and independents voted to repeal the traditional filibuster powers of the Senate minority party for executive and judicial nominees.
Protecting rural Texans’ water or feeding urban developers’ pet projects?
Have you ever had a kid ask for seconds during a meal before he’s even finished what’s on his plate? Well, that’s what the Texas legislature is asking of voters on November 5. Lawmakers want Texans to pass a constitutional amendment, Proposition 6, to approve more funding for water projects. A similar measure narrowly passed in November 2011 for a $6 billion revolving fund to loan money to local government entities for water infrastructure, outside constitutional debt limitations.
Back to Yucca Mountain?
In a suit brought by the states of Washington and South Carolina against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), a panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decided 2-1 to grant a writ of mandamus against the NRC for the agency’s failure to obey 1987 amendments to the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (the Act). The Department of Energy had submitted its 8,600 page Yucca license application to the NRC in June 2008, but the incoming Obama Administration, in league with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), worked to zero-out money for the program. Then, a former Reid staffer, Gregory Jaczko, even became NRC chairman, and unilaterally froze the agency staff’s evaluation of DOE’s application.
Biometrics, Visas and Immigration Reform
Last week, the “Gang of Eight” scored their first win in their drive to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws. Three weeks of hearings and debates finally produced, on May 21, a vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve an immigration reform bill that has riled conservatives and yet stands likely to win approval from the full Senate.
Continuing Resolutions Splitting Conservatives
As Congress fails year after year to agree upon an annual budget, the government is kept limping along through temporary Continuing Resolutions (CRs). The budget is supposed to be adopted each year by October 1st, the beginning of the fiscal year. Instead, Congress has been passing multiple stopgap funding measures each year.
