Results tagged “congress”

Maxine Waters and Laura Richardson are the focus of separate investigations by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct , reports KPCC. Waters stands accused of arranging a meeting between Treasury officials and an association representing minority banks, one of which she owned stock in. Richardson may have "improperly profited" when she lost her Sacramento home to foreclosure, sold it to a third party and later reacquired it.

A warning, of sorts, came from a delegation of local members of congress today. Two mainstream media headlines begin to the tell the story. From this morning, the Pasadena Star News: 14 SoCal congressional leaders call for prioritizing Gold Line And this afternoon from the LA Times: Mayor's effort to fast-track Westside subway faces challenge

Last week, after a few rallies throughout the state, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger handed in a grant to the feds, asking for $4.8 billion in stimulus money for California's high speed rail project, which would take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in a few hours. Today, that grant drew support from both of California's U.S. Senators and 21 other congressional leaders, including many from Los Angeeles.

William Bratton, the soon-to-be retired Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, was in Washington D.C. today, urging members of congress to make a wireless public safety broadband network a reality nationwide. In his testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he talks how such a network could help the development of predictive policing:

Senator John McCain has his eye on several transit projects all over the nation that he is labeling "wasteful government spending," including two here in Los Angeles, explains StreetsblogLA. His target is the US Department of Transportation's 2010 spending bill, which comes up "for a vote this week in the upper chamber of Congress."

At around 10:40 a.m. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger held a press conference at Hansen Dam regarding the Station Fire, and other fires currently affecting the state. Just home to California following yesterday's funeral services for his wife's uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, Schwarzenegger spoke immediately of his wish to continue to work to ensure the safety of lives, property, and memories.

As expected, Judy Chu won California's 32nd Congressional Seat in yesterday's election. "With 173 of 209 precincts reporting Tuesday night, Chu had 14,115 votes, or 62 percent. She was trailed by her cousin by marriage, Republican Betty Chu, with 7,355 votes, or 32 percent," reported the Associated Press. "Most residents in the 32nd Congressional District are Hispanic, but Judy Chu assembled a diverse coalition and stressed her ability to work across racial and ethnic lines. Her supporters included Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, one of the nation's most recognized Latino politicians." The district stretches from East LA into the San Gabriel Valley, from Monterey Park to Azusa. NPR yesterday featured the race as a unique one because Chu faced off with Betty Chu, the Republican Monterey Park city councilmember and a cousin by marriage.

Well, some of us vote, at least. After the May 19th Special Election where no candidate garnered 50 percent of the vote needed to claim the 32nd seat in the U.S House--left open by Hilda Solis after she joined the Obama administration as the Labor Secretary--a run-off was set for today. Democrat and vice chair of the California Board of Equalization Judy Chu is the frontrunner and is expected to win. She faces off with Republican Monterey Park Councilwoman Betty Chu (no relation) and Libertarian businessman Christopher M. Agrella. Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. and to find out where to vote, plug your address into the county's Recorder-Registrar website. The 32nd Congressional District covers a portions of the San Gabriel Valley and other areas including East LA, Rosemead, El Monte, Monterey Park, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, Azusa, Covina and Walnut Valley.

As mentioned last week, a congressional subcommittee tomorrow will hold a hearing on the impact of climate change on National Parks in Twentynine Palms, CA. This is something that should be important to those living in the Los Angeles region because three major national parks units--Santa Monica Mountains, Channel Islands and Joshua Tree--are so close to millions of people.

On the heels of a state climate report that said California will have "less water and more frequent and intense wildfires, heat waves and bad-air days throughout this century," a congressional field hearing next week near Joshua Tree National Park will take on similar issues.

The Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act (get it? The FLAME Act) passed this morning in the House of Representatives. If passed and signed by the Senate and President Barack Obama, the measure would create a reserve account that the Forest Service and Department of Interior could tap if they exhaust their firefighting budgets. This would prevent the annual practice of taking money away from other vital programs, such as watershed restoration and global warming research, and services in order to fund wildfire suppression.

Congressional Representative Grace Napolitano, who represents various cities in LA County, is under fire today for personally earning over $200,000 in campaign donations because she has been charging an up to 18% interest rate on a loan she personally made in 1998, finds Bloomberg News:

The $819 billion stimulus package being worked on right now by congress could help California up and down the state. Projected to have $42 billion deficit later this year, the money wouldn't go to state coffers to fix the budget, but rather to counties and cities for ready-to-go infrastructure projects. For example, $4 billion could go to transportation projects alone. But the New York Times warns that California will be an indicator if this stimulus will be successful or not in other states: "There are political hazards, too. Not only is California needy, with high unemployment, the most foreclosures in the country and tax revenues so depressed that it will begin furloughing state workers, it is also politically unruly."

SoCal Connected on KCET continues to impress us with their locally featured news content (this is definitely a show to subscribe to on TIVO). On Thursday night, they did a very nice feature on Congressman Henry Waxman and his powerful and long term career representing the Westside of Los Angeles.

With one day left until Inauguration Day, thousands of constituents fanned out among hundreds of congressional offices Monday to collect their prized Golden Ticket to today's swearing in.

It's hard times for everyone these days, and that doesn't exclude those whose paychecks rely on people, well, getting hard. Thanks to the "limp" economy, porn pioneer Larry Flynt and his modern-era incarnate Joe Francis (of "Girls Gone Wild" fame), have teamed up to take on Congress in the hopes the Fed can act as a sort of Viagra.

Tomorrow, Los Angeles's own Rep. Henry Waxman will begin his reign as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee when Congress inaugurates its 111th session.

US Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA 13) has turned down an offer to serve as United States Trade Representative in President-elect Barack Obama's new cabinet. According to ABC News blog The Note, Becerra "has come to the realization that trade is not a priority for the incoming Obama administration."

If you're willing to brave the chill of DC in January to see some warmth injected into the White House and to rep LA in the crowds, there's only one way to get tickets: Ask your local Congressional rep. LAist's sister site DCist explains the process via a press release:

Tickets to the 56th Inaugural Ceremonies will be provided free of charge and distributed through Members of the 111th Congress. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies does not provide tickets to the public. Members of the public interested in attending the Inaugural Ceremonies should contact their Member of Congress or U.S. Senators to request tickets.

LA City Councilman Richard Alarcon and representatives from over 20 organizations announced that they will be calling on new the President-elect and Congress to update the Federal Poverty Guidelines. They'll be making their way to Washington DC to lobby for the cause. From Alarcon's office:

Even though he is one of the big reasons there is no "subway to the sea" today, he's also one of the reasons we're finally working towards that very subway he helped stopped in the 80s. Nevertheless, Congressmen Henry Waxman (D), representing much of the Westside, earned major points with Esquire on their top 10 list:

Valley Congressman Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) stood his ground on Friday during the second House bailout vote that passed. He, along with the majority, voted no on Monday and he once again voted no on Friday, although that time in the minority. During a session of congress on the night before Friday's vote, he said proponents of the bailout were apparently saying martial law be put in place if the vote didn't go through. "That's what I call fear mongering," Sherman said.

The House voted Monday and didn't pass the bailout, but today was another day. Most Los Angeles area representatives didn't change their vote from Monday, but four democrats went from a no vote to a yes vote, ultimately helping the bailout plan pass today and sending the bill over to President Bush to sign it into law. Those who had a change of heart were Adam Schiff from Pasadena/SGV, Hilda Solis of El Monte/East LA, Diane Watson of Los Angeles, and Joe Baca of San Bernardino all switched from No to Yes today. And the rest of the list, thanks to ABC7, who has complete info on the reps:

The House rejected the bailout plan earlier today sending stocks down and worrying people across the nation. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is not happy with the idea of bailing out the "failed lenders and investors," is not satisfied with congress doing nothing. He tells Congress to get back to work in a statement released this afternoon. While it's obvious Congress still has a lot of work to do, Villaraigosa's statement emphasizes how all of this affects local services.

Despite the general consensus of constituents in their respective districts, three Democratic congressmen representing Los Angeles areas have voted to pass a controversial bill " that would offer retroactive immunity to telephone companies that cooperated with the federal government’s post-Sept. 11, 2001, domestic spying program and did so despite widespread opposition in their districts," reports the Glendale News Press.

After San Francisco Congressman Tom Lantos' death, San Fernando Valley congressman Howard Berman took the seat as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. That means he's in charge of the committee with "oversight over policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the globe's hotspots," according to an Associated Press profile of the politician.

#3 UCLA 77, #7 Stanford 67, OT - The Bruins clinched their third consecutive Pac-10 hoops crown with their victory over the Farm. It looked bleak for awhile, but they managed to come from behind. More from Jimmy later this morning.

Update 8:25am, 3/7: "Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said an individual was questioned there about the letters to Congress and "there is no evidence linking the letters, which contained no threat, to the bombing," according to ABC7.

Liquid Kitty's annual punk rock BBQs have been such a success, this Sunday they are hosting a special Winter BBQ. What better to chase away the rain than with colorful drinks and hard-core thrash? Some dogs on the grill? Done! And all for the low, low, price of FREE.

That's heavy stuff indeed. And like it or not, those days are gone.