Now, don't get me wrong--their coverage is often quite biased because they still look at things from the middle of the left/right perspective. The reality is that there are a great many more perspectives than simply the left, the right and the center. So, when I was perusing the latest C-SPAN schedule email I get from them every day I clicked through to read more about the Capitol Spotlight for that day and read some of the most unbiased reporting I've ever read. Of course, the writing isn't from C-SPAN.org--it's actually from CQ.com--Congressional Quarterly. You can check out the Capitol Spotlight page at the C-SPAN website.
Here's the bit that I read that seemed to be a nearly embelishment-free detailing of the specific story:
Unfunded Mandates Issue Snags Progress of Energy Bill April 21, 2005
by Congressional Quarterly
Republican hopes for quick and tidy House passage of an omnibus energy bill hit turbulence today as Democrats won a procedural battle that could force a vote and perhaps lengthy debate on the most contentious provision in the legislation. Lois Capps, D-Calif., succeeded in introducing an amendment to remove from the bill a liability waiver for companies threatened by water-contamination lawsuits over a fuel additive called methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Although Republicans had blocked an earlier effort, her new proposal was in order because the Rules Committee did not specifically protect the bill from amendments regarding the 1995 Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (PL 104-4), aides said. The Congressional Budget Office earlier this week said the liability waiver represents an unfunded mandate to local governments, which would have to pay for MTBE cleanups if the bill is enacted because they could no longer sue makers of the additive to recoup those costs. GOP leaders were huddling over options for dealing with the threat to the provision.
No comments:
Post a Comment