ReadTheBill.org is a commonsense solution – we want Congress to post all bills online for 72 hours before they are debated. That gives members of Congress – and you – three days to read legislation and consider how it could potentially affect each of us in our daily lives. A 72 hour rule would also give you a chance to let your senators and representative in Congress know what you like, or don’t like, about a bill before they vote.

If no one is taking the time to read these crucial pieces of legislation, then no one knows what’s in them before they are passed.

Let’s make sure Congress takes the time to Read the Bill. Sign our petition now.

Wikileaks has released nearly a billion dollars worth of quasi-secret reports commissioned by the United States Congress.

The 6,780 reports, current as of this month, comprise over 127,000 pages of material on some of the most contentious issues in the nation, from the U.S. relationship with Israel to the financial collapse. Nearly 2,300 of the reports were updated in the last 12 months, while the oldest report goes back to 1990. The release represents the total output of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) electronically available to Congressional offices. The CRS is Congress’s analytical agency and has a budget in excess of $100M per year.

Open government lawmakers such as Senators John McCain (R-Arizona) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vermont) have fought for years to make the reports public, with bills being introduced–and rejected–almost every year since 1998. The CRS, as a branch of Congress, is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

CRS reports are highly regarded as non-partisan, in-depth, and timely. The reports top the list of the “10 Most-Wanted Government Documents” compiled by the Washington based Center for Democracy and Technology. The Federation of American Scientists, in pushing for the reports to be made public, stated that the “CRS is Congress’ Brain and it’s useful for the public to be plugged into it,”. While Wired magazine called their concealment “The biggest Congressional scandal of the digital age”.

Although all CRS reports are legally in the public domain, they are quasi-secret because the CRS, as a matter of policy, makes the reports available only to members of Congress, Congressional committees and select sister agencies such as the GAO.

Members of Congress are free to selectively release CRS reports to the public but are only motivated to do so when they feel the results would assist them politically. Universally embarrassing reports are kept quiet. Read the rest…

Journalists, start your skepticism.

In covering the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street don’t repeat the failed lapdog practices that so damaged our reputations in the rush to war in Iraq and the adoption of the Patriot Act. Don’t assume that Congress must act instantly, as so many news stories state as if it was an immutable fact. Don’t assume there is a case just because officials say there is.

The coverage of the Paulson plan focuses on the edges, on the details. The focus should be on the premise. And be skeptical of what gullible Congressional leaders, most of them up before the voters in a few weeks, say after being given a closed-door meeting on supposed horrors.

The Administration has scared the markets and some key legislative leaders, but it has not laid out a coherent, specific and compelling need for this enormous proposal, which is the equivalent of a one-time 55 percent income tax surcharge. (Instead the money will be borrowed, so ask from whom and how this much can be raised so quickly if the credit markets are nearly seized up with fear.)

Ask this question — are the credit markets really about to seize up?

Read the rest at Dear Journalists, Don’t Be Suckers About This Bailout | Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace | AlterNet

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:

As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:

1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses. Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.

2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.

3) Its long-term effects. If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, Americas dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.

For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.

Signed,

(For signers after 10:00am CT on Sept 24, 2008 click here.)

Acemoglu Daron (Massachussets Institute of Technology)
Adler Michael (Columbia University)
Admati Anat R. (Stanford University)
Alvarez Fernando (University of Chicago)
Andersen Torben (Northwestern University)
Barankay Iwan (University of Pennsylvania)
Barry Brian (University of Chicago)
Beim David (Columbia University)
Berk Jonathan (Stanford University)
Bisin Alberto (New York University)
Bittlingmayer George (University of Kansas)
Boldrin Michele (Washington University)
Brooks Taggert J. (University of Wisconsin)
Brynjolfsson Erik (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Buera Francisco J.(UCLA)
Carroll Christopher (Johns Hopkins University)
Cassar Gavin (University of Pennsylvania)
Chaney Thomas (University of Chicago)
Chari Varadarajan V. (University of Minnesota)
Chauvin Keith W. (University of Kansas)
Chintagunta Pradeep K. (University of Chicago)
Christiano Lawrence J. (Northwestern University)
Cochrane John (University of Chicago)
Coleman John (Duke University)
Constantinides George M. (University of Chicago)
Crain Robert (UC Berkeley)
Culp Christopher (University of Chicago)
De Marzo Peter (Stanford University)
Dubé Jean-Pierre H. (University of Chicago)
Edlin Aaron (UC Berkeley)
Eichenbaum Martin (Northwestern University)
Ely Jeffrey (Northwestern University)
Eraslan Hülya K. K.(Johns Hopkins University)
Faulhaber Gerald (University of Pennsylvania)
Feldmann Sven (University of Melbourne)
Fernandez-Villaverde Jesus (University of Pennsylvania)
Fox Jeremy T. (University of Chicago)
Frank Murray Z.(University of Minnesota)
Fuchs William (University of Chicago)
Fudenberg Drew (Harvard University)
Gabaix Xavier (New York University)
Gao Paul (Notre Dame University)
Garicano Luis (University of Chicago)
Gerakos Joseph J. (University of Chicago)
Gibbs Michael (University of Chicago)
Goettler Ron (University of Chicago)
Goldin Claudia (Harvard University)
Gordon Robert J. (Northwestern University)
Guadalupe Maria (Columbia University)
Hagerty Kathleen (Northwestern University)
Hamada Robert S. (University of Chicago)
Hansen Lars (University of Chicago)
Harris Milton (University of Chicago)
Hart Oliver (Harvard University)
Hazlett Thomas W. (George Mason University)
Heaton John (University of Chicago)
Heckman James (University of Chicago – Nobel Laureate)
Henderson David R. (Hoover Institution)
Henisz, Witold (University of Pennsylvania)
Hertzberg Andrew (Columbia University)
Hite Gailen (Columbia University)
Hitsch Günter J. (University of Chicago)
Hodrick Robert J. (Columbia University)
Hopenhayn Hugo (UCLA)
Hurst Erik (University of Chicago)
Imrohoroglu Ayse (University of Southern California)
Israel Ronen (London Business School)
Jaffee Dwight M. (UC Berkeley)
Jagannathan Ravi (Northwestern University)
Jenter Dirk (Stanford University)
Jones Charles M. (Columbia Business School)
Kaboski Joseph P. (Ohio State University)
Kaplan Ethan (Stockholm University)
Karolyi, Andrew (Ohio State University)
Kashyap Anil (University of Chicago)
Keim Donald B (University of Pennsylvania)
Ketkar Suhas L (Vanderbilt University)
Kiesling Lynne (Northwestern University)
Klenow Pete (Stanford University)
Koch Paul (University of Kansas)
Kocherlakota Narayana (University of Minnesota)
Koijen Ralph S.J. (University of Chicago)
Kondo Jiro (Northwestern University)
Korteweg Arthur (Stanford University)
Kortum Samuel (University of Chicago)
Krueger Dirk (University of Pennsylvania)
Ledesma Patricia (Northwestern University)
Lee Lung-fei (Ohio State University)
Leuz Christian (University of Chicago)
Levine David I.(UC Berkeley)
Levine David K.(Washington University)
Linnainmaa Juhani (University of Chicago)
Lucas Robert (University of Chicago – Nobel Laureate)
Luttmer Erzo G.J. (University of Minnesota)
Manski Charles F. (Northwestern University)
Martin Ian (Stanford University)
Mayer Christopher (Columbia University)
Mazzeo Michael (Northwestern University)
McDonald Robert (Northwestern University)
Meadow Scott F. (University of Chicago)
Mehra Rajnish (UC Santa Barbara)
Mian Atif (University of Chicago)
Middlebrook Art (University of Chicago)
Miguel Edward (UC Berkeley)
Miravete Eugenio J. (University of Texas at Austin)
Miron Jeffrey (Harvard University)
Moretti Enrico (UC Berkeley)
Moriguchi Chiaki (Northwestern University)
Moro Andrea (Vanderbilt University)
Morse Adair (University of Chicago)
Mortensen Dale T. (Northwestern University)
Mortimer Julie Holland (Harvard University)
Muralidharan Karthik (UC San Diego)
Nevo Aviv (Northwestern University)
Ohanian Lee (UCLA)
Pagliari Joseph (University of Chicago)
Papanikolaou Dimitris (Northwestern University)
Paul Evans (Ohio State University)
Peltzman Sam (University of Chicago)
Perri Fabrizio (University of Minnesota)
Phelan Christopher (University of Minnesota)
Piazzesi Monika (Stanford University)
Piskorski Tomasz (Columbia University)
Rampini Adriano (Duke University)
Reagan Patricia (Ohio State University)
Reich Michael (UC Berkeley)
Reuben Ernesto (Northwestern University)
Roberts Michael (University of Pennsylvania)
Rogers Michele (Northwestern University)
Rotella Elyce (Indiana University)
Ruud Paul (Vassar College)
Safford Sean (University of Chicago)
Sandbu Martin E. (University of Pennsylvania)
Sapienza Paola (Northwestern University)
Savor Pavel (University of Pennsylvania)
Scharfstein David (Harvard University)
Seim Katja (University of Pennsylvania)
Shang-Jin Wei (Columbia University)
Shimer Robert (University of Chicago)
Shore Stephen H. (Johns Hopkins University)
Siegel Ron (Northwestern University)
Smith David C. (University of Virginia)
Smith Vernon L.(Chapman University- Nobel Laureate)
Sorensen Morten (Columbia University)
Spiegel Matthew (Yale University)
Stevenson Betsey (University of Pennsylvania)
Stokey Nancy (University of Chicago)
Strahan Philip (Boston College)
Strebulaev Ilya (Stanford University)
Sufi Amir (University of Chicago)
Tabarrok Alex (George Mason University)
Taylor Alan M. (UC Davis)
Thompson Tim (Northwestern University)
Tschoegl Adrian E. (University of Pennsylvania)
Uhlig Harald (University of Chicago)
Ulrich, Maxim (Columbia University)
Van Buskirk Andrew (University of Chicago)
Veronesi Pietro (University of Chicago)
Vissing-Jorgensen Annette (Northwestern University)
Wacziarg Romain (UCLA)
Weill Pierre-Olivier (UCLA)
Williamson Samuel H. (Miami University)
Witte Mark (Northwestern University)
Wolfers Justin (University of Pennsylvania)
Woutersen Tiemen (Johns Hopkins University)
Zingales Luigi (University of Chicago)

Dear Friend,

I am writing to update you on my recent efforts in Congress to help lower gas prices. At over $4 per gallon, there is no issue that I hear about more frequently than the price of gasoline. The rising price of gas is putting an undue economic burden on hardworking Americans. It is an issue that demands the full attention of the President and the U.S. Congress.

One way that we can lower prices is by increasing domestic oil production through additional drilling and exploration. Over the years, oil companies have been given the right to drill on 68 million acres federal land. While we are rightfully demanding more domestic oil production, oil companies have allowed these leases to remain idle. That is why on July 17, 2008 I voted for the Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands Act.

This common sense and bipartisan proposal would require oil companies to start using these leases or turn them over to someone else. And I believe that the record windfall profits the oil companies have seen in recent years make it clear they can afford to drill on this available land. This bill would also expedite leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, which holds 10.6 billion barrels of oil. These two actions would almost double the current U.S. oil production and bring much needed energy to the marketplace. Drilling alone is not a silver bullet that will end high oil prices. The reality is even if we started drilling right now it would be ten years before this oil made it to the market.

I believe the fact is the failed energy policies of the Bush administration along with increased demand for oil from nations like China and India have contributed to this crisis. It is very clear that we cannot drill ourselves out of an energy crisis – we have to innovate and lead the way toward new sources of domestic energy.

Over the past year, my Democratic colleagues and I have sought to create a new direction for our national energy policy. These new laws reduce oil consumption through improved efficiency and help our economy transition to sources of renewable energy. These include:

• The first increase of fuel efficiency standards in 32 years (The Energy Security and Independence Act, P.L. 110-140)
• The temporary suspension of oil deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act, P.L. 110-232)
• The expanded use of bio-fuels and improved ability of the federal government to detect energy price manipulation (The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, P.L. 110-234).

These new laws are changing the way that we do business in the United States. In the years ahead they will lessen our dependence on foreign oil. There is more that needs to be done and we are fighting to expand federal investment for passenger rail and mass transit, provide the Federal Trade Commission with the authority to investigate oil companies and how they gouge consumers at the pump, and provide tax incentives for the production and use of renewable energy, and policies to promote energy efficient technologies.

I want to assure you that energy remains an important priority for me and Congress. I will keep working to diversify our sources of energy, make energy more affordable, and our nation more energy independent.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with additional questions or concerns, or if my office can ever be of any assistance.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz

LISC helps resident-led, community-based development organizations transform distressed communities and neighborhoods into healthy ones – good places to live, do business, work and raise families. By providing capital, technical expertise, training and information, LISC supports the development of local leadership and the creation of affordable housing, commercial, industrial and community facilities, businesses and jobs.   LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help community-based organizations revitalize underserved neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised nearly $9 billion to build or rehabilitate more than 230,000 affordable homes and develop 32 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. For more information, visit www.lisc.org.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 will help stabilize disinvested neighborhoods, offer relief to families stung by the foreclosure crisis and attract new capital to affordable housing developments that address the needs of low-income renters and homeowners, according to Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the national nonprofit force behind comprehensive community development. LISC has raised nearly $9 billion to help revitalize distressed communities across the country.

“This is undoubtedly the single most important piece of housing legislation we have seen in many years,” commented Michael Rubinger, LISC president and CEO. “At a time when so many communities are struggling, the Congress has created new vehicles to return foreclosed and vacant homes to stable occupancy, save homeowners threatened by foreclosures, and support affordable housing development. It has given critical new authority to FHA, and both strengthened Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and updated their affordable housing missions,” he added. “The magnitude of this legislation is really remarkable. The nearly 700 pages in this bill will have a significant, lasting impact on the quality of life in communities across the country,” he added.

Among the bill’s most notable features is its $3.9 billion neighborhood stabilization fund. It will operate through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and will fund the purchase and rehab of foreclosed homes. CDBG funds are disbursed through states and localities that can set their own priorities on how they are used, based on local need.

“There is no greater threat to the stability of any community than the escalating impact of boarded up, vacant properties,” noted Rubinger. “And for lower income communities that is all the more true. The neighborhood stabilization fund will help ensure that those places hardest hit by the housing crisis don’t slide into severe decline. It will help mitigate the danger that foreclosed properties become a source of blight and crime that compromises the standard of living for everyone in that community,” he said.

The bill also includes changes to the low-income housing tax credit that should encourage investors who have left that marketplace over the last year to return. Tax credits have underpinned the construction and preservation of some 1.9 million units of affordable rental housing over the last two decades. But the escalating housing crisis has battered some of the industry’s top investors and prompted a significant pullback that has drained capital and stalled development efforts.

“This bill will boost our ability to attract investors back to the market and to raise more flexible capital that supports a broader range of affordable housing,” noted Joe Hagan, president and CEO of National Equity Fund, Inc., LISC’s nonprofit tax credit syndication subsidiary. “The fact that the bill also deals with how to help fill funding gaps that these projects face and clarifies confusion over their ability to serve targeted populations-like homeless veterans-is all the better. This is a tremendous piece of legislation.”

The Capital Magnet Fund and Housing Trust Fund are also critical, according to LISC. Both will target the needs of low-income residents through affordable housing and related economic development activities. Changes to the oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-particularly the new direction for them to purchase affordable housing mortgages and support rural housing, housing preservation and manufactured housing-will also expand the housing opportunities for thousands of families that would otherwise be left stranded on the economic fringes.

This Act is designed to address the problems faced by workers of both sexes when pay discrimination is ongoing and incremental. Lilly Ledbetter’s lawsuit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber was ruled in favor of Goodyear by the US Supreme Court (by a 5 to 4 decision) because Ms. Ledbetter did not file suit within 180 days of when the discriminatory pay rate was initiated. The fact that Ledbetter did not know that she was being paid less for the same work was irrelevant to the court’s majority.

The minority statement from the court contends that unlike a firing when timing is easy to establish, pay discrimination re-occurs each time the company in question cuts a new paycheck and therefore pay discrimination lawsuits must be filed within 180 days of the most recent paycheck and not 180 days from when the discrimination first began.

The bill is summarized as:

To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes.

In opposing this legislation, Senator John McCain said that if women want better-paying jobs, they just need more “education and training.” Then, he didn’t even show up for the vote.

Explaining his position, McCain said:

“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else, and it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.”

Last time I looked, women in management and supervisory roles tend to have at least as good of an education and training as their male counterparts. Perhaps his statement would have made sense even 15 or 20 years ago. The graph on the right, based on U.S. Census Bureau data, shows that since 1991, the proportion of young women enrolled in college has exceeded the enrollment rate for young men, and the gap has widened over time.

“Since 1991, the proportion of young women enrolled in college has exceeded the enrollment rate for young men, and the gap has widened over time. In 2005, about 43 percent of women ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college, compared with 35 percent of young men. This represents a major shift in the gender balance at U.S. colleges and universities. Between 1970 and 2005, the gender composition has shifted to the extent that women now make up the majority – 54 percent – of the 10.8 million young adults enrolled in college.” – The Crossover in Female-Male College Enrollment Rates by Mark Mather and Dia Adams.

Lilly Ledbetter’s Case’s Background. “In 1979 Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff, began work at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in its Gadsden, Alabama location. During her years at the factory, raises were given and denied based on evaluations and recommendations regarding worker performance. In March 1998, Ledbetter inquired into the possible sexual discrimination of the Goodyear Tire Company. In July she filed formal charges with the EEOC. In November 1998, after early retirement, Ledbetter sued claiming pay discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.”

I know the campaign season is a busy time for the remaining candidates, but both Obama and Clinton managed to get their votes in to allow this Act to proceed to a vote by the full Senate. Sen. McCain and fellow Republican Senator Hagel of Nebraska were the only two Senators to not vote Yay or Nay on this Act.

If you would like to let Senator McCain know how you feel on this issue, you can take action here.

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