Washington (CNN) - An envelope that tested positive for the deadly poison ricin was intercepted Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. Capitol’s off-site mail facility in Washington, congressional and law enforcement sources tell CNN.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was told the letter was addressed to the office of Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi. After the envelope tested positive in a first routine test, it was retested two more times, each time coming up positive, the law enforcement source said. The package was then sent to a Maryland lab for further testing.
Congressional mail is currently prevented from being sent as a result of the incident.
Update: Rep. Steve Cohen pretended to be “hot” for Cyndi Lauper just to draw attention to Memphis music. “It was all a ruse. I knew by deleting it they would run it, it would give it news, give it life. That was the hook.” Congratulations, buddy. You made the media give a quarter of a crap about a scooplet.
Gotta hand it to Slate. They certainly know how to pitch something nobody else would think to pitch …
White House Petition of the Day: Make Legislators Wear Logos of Corporate Backers
The latest brilliant idea to come out of We The People website is this petition suggesting that lawmakers should be required to be more transparent about their financial backers by wearing logos of their corporate “sponsors,” just like the NASCAR drivers do. As of Thursday evening, it has accrued more than 9,000 of the 100,000 signatures it needs to be formally addressed by the White House. GOOD magazine previously explored this idea with photoshopped mockups of New York Senator Charles Schumer and Florida Senator Marco Rubio donning logo patches of their contributors on their suits.
Hat tip goes to Dangerous Minds.
Not likely to go anywhere (just like NASCAR drivers, who drive in circles), but sort of amazing.
Congress wants Postal Service to keep Saturday delivery
(Photo: David Goldman / AP)
WASHINGTON - The financially beleaguered U.S. Postal Service suffered a setback in its plan to end Saturday delivery of first-class mail as Congress on Thursday passed legislation requiring six-day delivery.
“The Postal Service could run out of money by October if Congress does not provide legislative relief, some experts have estimated.”
The Senate on Wednesday approved legislation that prevents a government shutdown and allows the upper chamber to begin work on passing a budget.
In a 73-26 vote, the Senate approved a $984 billion continuing resolution that keeps the government funded through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The House is expected to approve the bill before adjourning on Thursday.
More than 20 Republicans and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) voted against the measure.
We don’t know about you guys, but we’ll believe that Congress is ready to stop using potential government shutdowns as a negotiating chip every 4-6 weeks if/when it actually happens. That said, the thought of hearing about something other than the government spending bills for a few weeks is certainly a nice one.
We don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. In fact, for the next ten years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place. The question is, can we do it smarter, can we do it better? And– you know, what I’m saying to them is I am prepared to do some tough stuff. Neither side’s gonna get 100%….But ultimately, it may be that– the differences are just– too wide. It may be that ideologically, if their position is ‘We can’t do any revenue’ or ‘We can only do revenue if we gut Medicare or gut Social Security or gut Medicaid,’ then we’re probably not gonna be able to get a deal.President Barack Obama • Speaking with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulus about the chances of Congressional Democrats and Republicans reaching any sort of compromise on Washington’s latest (semi-manufactured) budget crisis. source
President Barack Obama will meet with top congressional leaders on Friday to discuss the deep, automatic U.S. government spending cuts slated to go into effect that day, congressional and White House officials said on Wednesday.
Obama is set to meet with Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader.
The meeting would be the first between the leaders this year, despite weeks of haggling over whether and how Washington could avoid the cuts known as the “sequester,” which the White House has warned will cause damage to U.S. economic growth.
Considering he has yet to meet with Congressional leaders this year, and scheduled a post-sequester meeting two days before the cuts are triggered, does this seem like a gamble by the President to lay blame for the sequestration at the feet of Republicans to anybody else?
Congress punts on debt ceiling: The House of Representatives passed a bill today that extends the nation’s debt limit until May 18th, effectively tabling the issue for another couple of months. This time, the GOP majority didn’t ask for spending cuts in exchange for the increase; rather, it simply demanded that both houses of congress pass a budget before April 15th. Otherwise, per the bill, all members of both bodies will have their salaries withheld (there’s some debate over whether or not this provision is constitutional). Also, while the majority of Republicans did vote for the bill, enough defected that John Boehner had to rally up a couple of Democrats to get it passed. Harry Reid says it’ll fly through the Senate without issue. (Photo credit: AP) source
![“[W]e believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without Congressional approval, if necessary.” So reads a letter sent to the president today by top Senate Democrats. It’s not every day that members of congress explicitly voice their willingness to be circumvented by the president, but Harry Reid and company clearly believe that the threat of default is a real possibility. Later on in the letter, the Democrats call for “a broad, bipartisan agreement” to reduce the long-term deficit - but only one that puts “the entire budget on the table,” as opposed to policy that only cuts “earned benefits for seniors and middle-class families.” (Photo credit: AP) source](http://24.media.tumblr.com/57435ab51f07e2b184fbf35fee819b29/tumblr_mghnz8UOyU1qas8z9o1_500.jpg)
“[W]e believe you must be willing to take any lawful steps to ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis — without Congressional approval, if necessary.” So reads a letter sent to the president today by top Senate Democrats. It’s not every day that members of congress explicitly voice their willingness to be circumvented by the president, but Harry Reid and company clearly believe that the threat of default is a real possibility. Later on in the letter, the Democrats call for “a broad, bipartisan agreement” to reduce the long-term deficit - but only one that puts “the entire budget on the table,” as opposed to policy that only cuts “earned benefits for seniors and middle-class families.” (Photo credit: AP) source
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Recently, Public Policy Polling sought to discover just how low the public’s opinion of Congress had fallen, testing the popularity of the U.S. Congress against twenty-six different, typically unpopular things. We all know that the American people have a less-than-favorable opinion of Congress (9% favorable and 85% unfavorable), but damn. The results weren’t pretty.
Here’s the outcome of PPP’s survey, in a handy illustrated form, from most to least popular thing:
#1:
vs.
When presented with a choice between Congress or Brussels sprouts, respondents gave a higher favorable rating to Brussels sprouts (69%) versus Congress (23%). [more]
Be sure to check out Meg’s full list, which is freaking awesome.
I need this job like I need a hole in the head.House Speaker John Boehner - WSJ (via brooklynmutt)
10:45 p.m.: The House passes the Fiscal Cliff bill, after a solid day of hand-wringing
11:25 p.m.: Obama wearily speaks to reporters regarding the deal made, after signing the bill.
11:32 p.m.: Obama plots his trip back to Hawaii. “My work is done here,” he was probably saying to himself as he boarded Air Force One.
House is currently voting on Fiscal Cliff legislation. It’s like watching grass grow. It’s mesmerizing. (In case you’re wondering, though there were some rumbles of changing things earlier, it’s a straight vote on the Senate legislation.)
UPDATE: The bill passed. Image has been updated to show the moment where it hit a majority.
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