In the News
Reps. Elijah Cummings, John Sarbanes and Dutch Ruppersberger and Sens.
Everyone knows that lobbyists and big-money donors have too much influence in Washington. As a result, economic policy is overly focused on boosting the stock market and maximizing corporate earnings, while the take home pay of most Americans continues to stagnate and retirement benefits are cut.
Dozens of people gathered Thursday night on the grounds of Catonsville's Immanuel United Church of Christ for a rally and prayer vigil to denounce hate groups and white supremacy…. U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Dist. 3, made an unscheduled appearance, taking the podium to declare: "There is no place for white supremacy in civilized society. Period."
Some residents of the Belair-Edison neighborhood are all smiles today. They're seeing a big drop in their utility bills because of the sun.... Solar energy has come to the community. Six weeks ago, Wade Watkins has 14 solar panels installed on his roof.... "My energy bill went from basically from a little over $200, down to maybe like $80," he tells WJZ. "So that's a great savings to me." ...
Democratic lawmakers have requested thousands of pages of documents pertaining to Jared Kushner's properties in Maryland.... U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, and U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes and Anthony Brown, sent a letter to Kushner Companies LLC, owned by President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, on Friday....
"This sense of frustration with government and elites and insiders now runs broad and deep across the American electorate, and there's no question it was a factor in Donald trump's election," says House Democrat John Sarbanes, of Maryland.
House Democrats this week are trying to hitch a slate of amendments to the appropriations minibus, all targeting the business, family members and scandals of President Donald Trump….
Also on Tuesday: Members of Maryland's Congressional delegation sent a letter to the Federal Transit Administration urging the agency to sign on to a funding agreement with the Maryland Transit Administration. The letter calls the 16-mile, 21-stop Purple Line a "shovel-ready project" and declared that a federal Court of Appeals decision July 19 cleared the way for construction....
In a largely party-line 231-190 vote this afternoon, the House passed a Congressional Review Act resolution that, if also adopted by the Senate and signed by the President, would overturn recently finalized rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…. Those rules seek to curb the use of "forced arbitration" in many consumers' financial contracts.
Last week, tech companies joined in a day of action that encouraged letter-writing to Congress, our sister site Technical.ly Philly reported. The FCC received 9 million comments in response to the proposed changes. That's a record, USA Today reports…. In Baltimore, the effort to spread the word is continuing with a public forum this week.