Washington — Sam Gejdenson, who for 20 years represented eastern Connecticut in Congress, is now looking for “bad actors” around the world. The former Democratic congressman was named by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to be the newest member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan, independent government body that monitors — […]
Ana Radelat
Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.
Posted inNews
Once again, Connecticut’s Senate seat one of the most expensive in the country
Washington — Big money is already being spent in the race for retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s seat, but this is just the beginning of the expected blowout. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, only one state, Florida, spent more money on a Senate race in 2010, when Republican Linda McMahon ran against former Connecticut […]
Posted inNews
Blumenthal trying to keep Facebook passwords from bosses
Most job applicants know employers are not allowed to ask their age; if they are married; have children; or about their religious beliefs. But what about an employer who asks for your Facebook password? Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and several other Democrats, want to make sure it’s illegal for employers to coerce job applicants or […]
Posted inNews
Senate falters on student loan vote
Washington — With federal student loan interest rates set to double, the Senate failed Tuesday to move forward on a bill that would extend low 3.4 percent rates for another year. The student loan bill failed to win 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster and move it forward. The party line vote was […]
Posted inNews
State activists hound Romney with PACK, errr, PAC
Washington — In one of the most creative attacks on a presidential candidate, at least in recent history, a couple of Connecticut political activists are trying to raise political cash from dog lovers who are howling mad at how Mitt Romney years ago treated his dog. To hound the presumptive GOP nominee, Martin Dunleavy, a former New […]
Posted inNews
As part of a trend, Colt protesting loss of $84 million Army contract
Washington — West Hartford-based Colt Defense LLC has lost an $84 million Army contract to a competitor and, like an increasing number of federal contractors, it’s not taking rejection sitting down. In awarding the lucrative contract for 70,000 to 100,000 rifles, the Army Contracting Command preferred the bid of Remington in Ilion, N.Y. That prompted […]
Posted inPolitics
McMahon continues to self-fund campaign
Linda McMahon, a Republican candidate for retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s seat, poured another $600,000 of her own money into her campaign this week, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. McMahon, who aired the first television commercial in the Senate race this week, had loaned her campaign nearly $4 million as of March 31. […]
Posted inNews
Himes has strong challengers, but still favored
Washington –– How political winds can change. Two years ago, Jim Himes, D-4th District, was on CNN’s Top Hundred list of vulnerable House members, targeted by the Republican national party and given even odds by political pundits of keeping his seat. The Fairfield County-based district is home to more Republicans than any other congressional district […]
Posted inNews
Lieberman asks for new moratorium on postal closings
With the clock ticking toward a shutdown of hundreds of postal facilities across the nation — and about a dozen post offices and two processing centers in Connecticut — Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., insists that Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe hold off on closure plans. Lieberman and three other senators, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Scott Brown, R-Mass., […]
Posted inNews
Lieberman asks Secret Service for information about agent misconduct
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has asked the Secret Service to turn over a mass of information about the behavior of its agents in the past five years. The scope of the requests for information indicates that Lieberman plans a wide-ranging probe of the Secret Service, whose agents got into trouble in Cartagena, Colombia, last month […]
Posted inNews
Lieberman demands five years of behavioral records from Secret Service
Senator Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has asked the Secret Service to turn over a mass of information about the behavior of its agents in the past five years. The scope of the requests for information indicate Lieberman plans a wide-ranging probe of the Secret Service, whose agents got into trouble in Cartagena, Colombia last month with […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Courtney, other Connecticut Democrats, slam GOP on student loan vote
Washington — Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, has for months been trying to win approval for a bill that would avoid a doubling of the interest rate on a popular, federally subsidized student loan. But when the House finally approved legislation Friday that would prevent interest rates on Stafford loans from doubling to 6.8 percent […]
Posted inNews
Courtney moves to increase sub production
Washington — In defiance of President Obama, who wants to slow the production of submarines to save money, a House Armed Services panel voted Thursday to require the Navy to buy one more submarine than the Pentagon wants. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, inserted that provision into a bill that would authorize defense spending in […]
Posted inMoney
Larson helps roll out new program to help Connecticut vets find jobs
Washington — Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, is helping implement a new type of meet up for Connecticut’s veterans. It’s all about matching the right unemployed veteran with the right job, he said. “Veterans’ job fairs are good, but the feedback we get is that they are not focused,” said Larson. The Veterans Job Match […]
Posted inNews
Congress looks into New England power outages
Washington — Although lawmakers wanted information on what is wrong with New England’s aging electric power grid, they heard from a Connecticut utility Thursday about what that utility is doing right. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he called for the hearing because of the electricity outages […]