A Few Newsy Bits

Net Neutrality Update Matt Stoller at MyDD reports on yesterday's Senate Commerce Committee markup activity. So yesterday the Senate Commerce Committee had a markup of the Stevens bill. There are 214 amendments to get through, and they didn't really get through many of them. The Committee didn't vote on the net neutrality issue, or the big bill itself. The Senators will pick this up again on Tuesday. The Stevens bill is being rushed through the process; it's an extremely complicated piece of legislation with far reaching changes that extend beyond net neutrality. Typically, telecom bills take several Congressional cycles, because it's hard stuff to understand. The bill just doesn't need to get done this year, and the whispers that it won't get done are getting louder. In an election year, a lot of Senators don't want to have to vote on some of the more controversial provisions. The telecom lobbyists are leaning hard to push this through, and Ted Stevens, ever the appropriator and deal-cutter, wants this badly, so we'll see what happens. --- Fitzmas Update 6/23/06 AP reports "Cheney says he might testify in leak case." Cheney made the comment in a CNN interview, following last month's suggestion by prosecutors that the vice president would be a logical witness in the case of I. Lewis Libby, who is accused of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI. Libby is "one of the finest men I've ever known," Cheney said, then declined further comment. "I may be called as a witness." --- On Again/Off Again Arlen Reuters reports "Gonzales to be grilled on ignoring laws." 750 'signing statements' signal possible bypass of spying and torture rules. The Bush administration will have to explain why it thinks it can ignore or overrule laws passed by Congress in a hearing next week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said Wednesday. Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he hoped to force the Bush administration to reduce its use of "signing statements" -- memos that reserve the right to ignore laws if the president thinks they impinge on his authority. "Our legislation doesn't amount to anything if the president can say, 'My constitutional authority supersedes the statute.' And I think we've got to lay down the gauntlet and challenge him on it," Specter said in a telephone interview. --- Jon Stewart Comments On Congress' Rejecting The Minimum Wage Hike Norm at onegoodmove has the video.