WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Merkley circulated details of his filibuster reform proposal to Senate colleagues on Wednesday, a copy of which was provided to The Huffington Post. In it, Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, lays out his vision for reform, which he calls “the talking filibuster.” Under current Senate rules, senators
In May, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, was furious at yet another obstructionist filibuster by Senate Republicans. He admitted then that he was wrong in 2011 not to change the Senate’s rules when he had a chance. “These two young, fine senators said it was time to change the
WASHINGTON — Rural post offices in Oregon threatened with closure gained protection Wednesday, but the battle is far from over. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley succeeded in attaching an amendment to a postal service reform bill that would impose a one-year moratorium on the closure of most rural post offices. After that,
Big banks are formulating a host of arguments —wild, off the mark arguments — aimed at dismantling the Volcker Rule firewall between loan-making, customer-serving banks and high-risk hedge funds.That firewall is essential for a stable banking system. When hedge funds blow up, and they regularly do, one doesn’t want them taking
WASHINGTON — Tiller, an unincorporated Oregon community pressed against the western boundary of the Umpqua National Forest, is not the first place that comes to mind when discussing an impending throw-down in Congress. Nor for that matter is Cascadia, Juntura or Helix, or any of 16 other difficult to find
Three years ago we experienced the greatest financial implosion since 1929. High stakes gambling and risky bets gone bad on Wall Street left our financial system near collapse and our economy in shambles. This crisis had many causes–all man-made. And it affected every last one of us, not just the
You cannot talk about the federal deficit without mentioning the war in Afghanistan. Sen. Jeff Merkley did both during his talk to the Columbia Forum last Wednesday night. Sen. Merkley took the annual spending on the Afghanistan war – $120 billion – and broke that into jobs that could be
WASHINGTON — After fighting for months against a plan to close scores of Oregon’s rural post offices, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., announced Thursday that 20 are being removed from the list and will remain open for business.The U.S. Postal Service wrote in a letter that it had reached the decision
WASHINGTON – Sen. Jeff Merkley urged the Department of Labor and the White House Thursday to toughen regulations and oversight of a visa program that allowed foreign nationals to be hired for forest jobs in Oregon intended for unemployed Oregonians. Merkley made the demand in a letter to Labor Secretary
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