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Christmas Tree Bill
In the United States Congress, a Christmas tree bill is a political term referring to a bill that attracts many, often unrelated, floor Bill (proposed law), amendments. A Christmas tree bill consists of many rider (legislation), riders. The amendments which adorn the bill may provide special benefits to various groups or interests. The term refers to the proposed legislation being subject to having each member of Congress hang their own amendment on it. Definition The traditional Christmas tree bill begins as a minor bill that passes the House. Senators are not limited by the wikt:germane, germaneness rule present in the House and are able to add unrelated amendments to the House bill to provide benefits to special interest groups and campaign contributors. Usually the amendments provide tax benefits or favorable trade treatments. Many Christmas tree bills are enacted in the crush of legislation as Congress prepares to adjourn for the Christmas holidays. These bills usually have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members. The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 establishes that there be 435 representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1986 Tax Reform Act
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 22, 1986. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 was the top domestic priority of President Reagan's second term. The act lowered federal income tax rates, decreasing the number of tax brackets and reducing the top tax rate from 50 percent to 28 percent. The act also expanded the earned income tax credit, the standard deduction, and the personal exemption, removing approximately six million lower-income Americans from the tax base. Offsetting these cuts, the act increased the alternative minimum tax and eliminated many tax deductions, including deductions for rental housing, individual retirement accounts, and depreciation. Although the tax reform was projected to be revenue-neutral, it was popularly referred to as the second round of Reagan tax cuts (following the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981). The bill passed with majority support in both the House ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Political Terminology Of The United States
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science. It may be used positively in the context of a "political solution" which is compromising and nonviolent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but also often carries a negative connotation.. The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or limitedly, empirically or normatively, and on whether conflict or co-operation is more essential to it. A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising internal and external force, including w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omnibus Bill
An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers a number of diverse or unrelated topics. ''Omnibus'' is derived from Latin and means "to, for, by, with or from everything". An omnibus bill is a single document that is accepted in a single vote by a legislature but packages together several measures into one or combines diverse subjects. Because of their large size and scope, omnibus bills limit opportunities for debate and scrutiny. Historically, omnibus bills have sometimes been used to pass controversial amendments. For this reason, some consider omnibus bills to be anti-democratic. United States In the United States, omnibus bills are sometimes known as "Big Ugly" bills. Examples include reconciliation bills, combined appropriations bills, and private relief and claims bills. Appropriations legislation Omnibus legislation is routinely used by the United States Congress to group together the budgets of all departments in one year in an omnibus spending bill. For example, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rider (legislation)
In legislative procedure, a rider is an additional provision added to a bill or other measure under the consideration by a legislature, having little connection with the subject matter of the bill. Some scholars identify riders as a specific form of logrolling,Philip L. Dubois, ''Lawmaking by Initiative: Issues, Options and Comparisons'' (Algora, 1998), p. 126. or as implicit logrolling. Others distinguish riders from logrolling.Michael D. GilbertSingle Subject Rules and the Legislative Process 67 ''University of Pittsburgh Law Review'' 803. Adding riders to legislation is not permitted in legislatures bound by a single-subject rule. United States Federal legislation In the U.S. Congress, riders have been a traditional method for members of Congress to advance controversial measures without building coalitions specifically in support of them, allowing the measure to move through the legislative process: "By combining measures, the legislative leadership can force members to acc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Downsize DC Foundation
The Downsize DC Foundation, formerly known as the American Liberty Foundation, is a policy advocacy organization which aims to limit the size of government in the United States through awareness and petitioning. Though it claims to be non-partisan, it does have strong political ties to the libertarian movement. It was founded by two-time Libertarian presidential candidate Harry Browne, his former campaign staff members Perry Willis and Jim Babka, and former National Chair of the Libertarian Party Steve Dasbach. It is split into two organizations, the Downsize DC Foundation and DownsizeDC.org, for tax purposes. The chair of the Downsize DC Foundation is Jim Babka. Gary Nolan (Chair) and Rick Wiggins also serve on the Board of Directors. DownsizeDC.org focuses both on preventing what it considers "bad" legislation – generally, legislation that grows government – from passing through Congress and on pushing for legislation that would reduce the size of or constrain the growth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line-item Veto In The United States
In United States government, the line-item veto, or partial veto, is the power of an executive authority to nullify or cancel specific provisions of a bill, usually a budget appropriations bill, without vetoing the entire legislative package. The line-item vetoes are usually subject to the possibility of legislative override as are traditional vetoes. Governors Forty-four of the 50 U.S. states give their governors some form of line-item veto power; Indiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont are the exceptions. The Mayor of Washington, D.C., also has this power. Wisconsin The Governor of Wisconsin is empowered with a sweeping line-item veto. Wisconsin governors have the power to strike out words, numbers, and even entire sentences from appropriations bills.Apple, R.W., Jr"Line-Item Veto Would Begin Voyage Into a Vast Unknown" ''New York Times'', March 27, 1995. According to scholars, Wisconsin has used four types of extraordinary partial vetoes. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Packwood
Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon and a member of the Republican Party. He resigned from the United States Senate, under threat of expulsion, in 1995 after allegations of sexual harassment, abuse and assault of women emerged. Seen as a moderate-to-liberal Republican, Packwood served alongside Mark Hatfield for his entire tenure in the Senate. Early life and career Packwood was born in Portland, Oregon, graduated from Grant High School in 1950, and in 1954 graduated from Willamette University in Salem. Packwood is the great-grandson of William H. Packwood, the youngest member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention of 1857. Packwood had his great-grandfather's political bent from his early years. During his undergraduate years, he participated in Young Republican activities and worked on political campaigns, including later Governor and US Senator Mark Hatfield's first run for the Oregon House of Repres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tip O'Neill
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American politician who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, representing northern Boston, Massachusetts, as a Democrat from 1953 to 1987. The only Speaker to serve for five complete consecutive Congresses, he is the third longest-serving Speaker in American history after Sam Rayburn and Henry Clay in terms of total tenure and longest-serving in terms of continuous tenure (Rayburn and Clay served multiple terms in the Speakership). Born in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, O'Neill began campaigning at a young age, volunteering for Al Smith's campaign in the 1928 presidential election. After graduating from Boston College, O'Neill won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he became a strong advocate of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies. He became Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1949 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phillips Petroleum
Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the North Sea on December 23, 1969, at a position that was later named Ekofisk. On August 30, 2002, Conoco Inc. merged with Phillips Petroleum to form ConocoPhillips, becoming the third largest integrated energy company and second-largest refining company in the United States. The company moved its headquarters to Houston.Christopher J. Castaneda,"Phillips Petroleum Company." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.Accessed 04 February 2013. In 2012, ConocoPhillips split into two separate companies. The legacy company kept its name, and spun off the midstream and downstream portions of its business. The new company, which owns the refinery, chemical and pipeline assets formerly held in ConocoPhillips, is named Phillips 66, the bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Continuing Resolution
In the United States, a continuing resolution (often abbreviated to CR) is a type of appropriations legislation. An appropriations bill is a bill that appropriates (gives to, sets aside for) money to specific federal government departments, agencies, and programs. The money provides funding for operations, personnel, equipment, and activities. Regular appropriations bills are passed annually, with the funding they provide covering one fiscal year. The ''fiscal year'' is the accounting period of the federal government, which runs from October 1 to September 30 of the following year. When Congress and the president fail to agree on and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, a continuing resolution can be passed instead. A continuing resolution continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. Continuing resolutions typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill (proposed Law)
A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature as well as, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an '' act of the legislature'', or a ''statute''. Bills are introduced in the legislature and are discussed, debated and voted upon. Usage The word ''bill'' is primarily used in Anglophone United Kingdom and United States, the parts of a bill are known as ''clauses'', until it has become an act of parliament, from which time the parts of the law are known as ''sections''. In Napoleonic law nations (including France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal), a proposed law may be known as a "law project" (Fr. ''projet de loi''), which is a government-introduced bill, or a "law proposition" (Fr. ''proposition de loi''), a private member's bill. For example the Dutch parliamentary system does not make this terminological distinction (''wetsontwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
