Lisa Mascaro

Washington Coorespondent

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Story Archive

Senators demand action: Obama, Clinton, Kennedy, Reid and others sign letter to federal labor secretary; Thursday, July 24, 2008; High-profile senators including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Edward M. Kennedy have urged the Bush administration to enforce safety regulations that could prevent construction deaths similar to those that have occurred on the Las Vegas Strip.
Nevada delegation supports housing relief plan: Wednesday, July 23, 2008; WASHINGTON -- Nevada’s three House members voted late this afternoon for a housing relief package that includes the Bush administration’s plan to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, helping to pass the legislation despite opposition from Republican leaders and some fiscal conservatives.
Citing Las Vegas construction deaths, Senators demand protection for workers: Wednesday, July 23, 2008; Concerned about construction deaths on the Las Vegas Strip, Democratic Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and others are demanding that the Labor Department take immediate steps to require safety netting or flooring beneath high-rise construction workers nationwide.
Heller: Conservation, more drilling key to gas price crunch: Tuesday, July 22, 2008; In trying to lessen the pain of $4-a-gallon gas, Rep. Dean Heller has developed a strategy similar to his attitude toward gold mining in his mostly northern Nevada district.
To the left or right? Gas prices swaying tottering voters: In Washington, political fortunes at stake as the parties jockey for energy supremacy; Tuesday, July 22, 2008; Polls show an inverse relationship has formed this summer between Americans’ pain at the pump and their objection to drilling, and Republicans are hammering the message that gas prices are high because Democrats won’t drill.
Political theater offering up a multitude of second acts: Sunday, July 20, 2008; In politics, as in our own lives, sometimes the second acts are the most memorable.
GOP abuzz after Heller stirs nest: Friday, July 18, 2008; Nevada Republican Rep. Dean Heller’s comments to a newspaper nudged him into national headlines recently, sending him careening from impolitic freshman to party oracle in a matter of days.
Berkley’s 9 minutes of defiance on Yucca: House panel gathers for update on stalled plans for waste dump; Wednesday, July 16, 2008; The lineup was as lopsided as they get. One side included all the big-time supporters of Yucca Mountain. On the other side: Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley, the lone opponent of the proposed nuclear waste dump.
Porter energizes colleagues to press for U.S. tourism fund: Sunday, July 13, 2008; Caucuses on the Hill operate sort of like extracurricular clubs in college. They are made up of lawmakers with like-minded interests, from the Out of Iraq Caucus to the Frozen Food Caucus.
At critical political time, Reid called on a lion: Persuasive Nevadan had a plan to securely block Medicare cut; Friday, July 11, 2008; The day before the Fourth of July, when he was back in Nevada, Sen. Harry Reid was counting votes for the Medicare bill. He hatched a plan that would stop even hardened hearts in this town.
Was Reid’s slur on coal an impolitic truth?: Senator’s sound bite has right wing buzzing, others shrugging; Thursday, July 10, 2008; Sen. Harry Reid has a knack for blurting out the one thing nagging in the back of some people’s minds — the thing few people of his stature dare to say, for fear of looking off kilter. Last week the majority leader did it again when he told Fox Business News that “coal makes us sick.”
Partisan fight over Medicare could render seniors victims: Wednesday, July 9, 2008; Doctors across Nevada are weighing whether to continue accepting new Medicare patients if Congress fails to stop a 10 percent pay cut to Medicare providers scheduled to take hold next week.
Measures linked, going nowhere: His amendment stalls a bill to provide relief to beleaguered owners of homes in foreclosure; Monday, July 7, 2008; When Sen. John Ensign successfully halted a popular mortgage relief bill to push an amendment extending renewable energy tax credits, he essentially raised an uncomfortable question: What’s more important, green energy or housing help?
Count on these Nevadans to defend gun owners’ rights: Sunday, July 6, 2008; Rep. Dean Heller once explained that as proud as he was to have bagged the giant elk whose head is displayed at his home in Carson City, his greatest hunting prize has been persuading his wife, a one-time USC song leader, to go shooting with him.
Sun shines on solar again: Caving to public, political pressure, BLM lifts moratorium; Thursday, July 3, 2008; The Bureau of Land Management clearly had no idea what kind of blowback it would receive when, a month ago, it closed the door on applications to build solar plants on federal land in Nevada and five other Southwest states to buy time to study their environmental consequences.
Nevada trio help kill Michigan casino plan: MGM Mirage a player in aggressive opposition; Wednesday, July 2, 2008; Rep. Shelley Berkley was poised by a main door to the House chamber last week as representatives began filing in for a vote on a Michigan gaming bill, handing out pink fliers as if she were running for student body president.
Debate shifts from war funding: GI bill for returning vets, which Congress has passed but Bush and the Pentagon oppose, puts focus on the future; Sunday, June 29, 2008; Here in the capital, as it must be in military towns across the country, it’s easy to remember there is a war going on.
Safety has gotten attention — slowly: Lawmakers, unions, Nevada OSHA increasingly regard it as essential issue; Thursday, June 26, 2008; More than a month ago, a sister of Harold Billingsley, the construction worker whose death was highlighted in a congressional hearing this week, e-mailed her three Nevada representatives in Washington to remind them about regulatory issues surrounding the fatality. The response was less than enthusiastic.
No sparks, but a few smoldering embers between Ensign, Reid: Thursday, June 26, 2008; The famous nonaggression pact in which Nevada’s two senators pledge not to criticize each other has been challenged ever since the two rose to leadership positions in Congress. But it has yet to crack, not even on Wednesday when it survived another dramatic test.
Retired ironworker, federal OSHA chief respond to lawmakers: Wednesday, June 25, 2008; The following are excerpts from two exchanges between lawmakers and witnesses at Tuesday’s hearing. They have been edited for space and clarity.
OSHA oversight in question: House committee testimony ‘raises very, very serious’ concern at state, federal levels; Wednesday, June 25, 2008; Witnesses and lawmakers at a House hearing delivered a blistering portrayal Tuesday of construction safety oversight on the Las Vegas Strip.
Constitutional rights face tough tests in time of war: Sunday, June 22, 2008; Just a few steps away from the Capitol, among the shops on Pennsylvania Avenue, is a bookstore that sells pocket-size copies of the U.S. Constitution.
Worker injuries being suppressed, report finds: House committee will turn its attention to spate of deaths on Las Vegas Strip; Friday, June 20, 2008; A report released Thursday by the House Labor Committee shows nearly 70 percent of work-related illnesses and injuries may be going unreported, calling into question federal regulators’ claims that workplace problems are declining.
Partisan ploys keep political progress at bay: Sunday, June 15, 2008; Congress is so paralyzed with partisan warfare that even public fury over $4 a gallon gas has been unable to bring a truce — a situation unlikely to get any better because standoffs like this tend only to intensify in presidential election years.
Porter, Heller vote to extend unemployment benefits: Despite show of Republican support, bill unlikely to survive Bush’s expected veto; Thursday, June 12, 2008; In a sign of pocketbook issues overpowering partisan politics, Nevada’s two Republicans in the House crossed party lines Wednesday to vote for legislation that would extend unemployment benefits to those out of work.
The indefatigable Harry Reid’s ‘difficult day’: Sunday, June 8, 2008; It was a busy week for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, even before Wednesday hit.
Ensign fielding lackluster lineup: Top-notch Senate candidates sitting out; Friday, June 6, 2008; John Ensign has a terrible job, and it got worse this week.
Republicans stall climate change bill to punish Reid: Thursday, June 5, 2008; When Sen. Harry Reid rose to become the majority leader in 2007, many believed he had met his match in the Republicans’ new Senate leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Back and forth on Yucca dump: With the application filed, here’s a look at the likely arguments, responses; Wednesday, June 4, 2008; In a legal proceeding like none the country has ever seen, Nevada and the federal government are about to begin what could be a four-year battle over whether Yucca Mountain should become the nation’s first nuclear waste dump.
Yucca license application is next round in 20-year battle: Sunday, June 1, 2008; On the brink of what should be a milestone for the Yucca Mountain project, prospects for the nuclear waste dump outside of Las Vegas have never been more in doubt.
Group backed by Adelson picks Berkley as a target: Sunday, June 1, 2008; As inspired and intrepid as her challengers may be, Rep. Shelley Berkley’s race is not one to watch this fall. That’s why it was surprising to learn the conservative group Freedom’s Watch is spending its resources targeting the Las Vegas congresswoman in its latest offensive against Democrats over Iraq war funding.
Vegas vet’s death spurs VA reform legislation: Bill contains measure by Berkley on medication monitoring at VA centers; Monday, May 26, 2008; An Iraq war veteran from Las Vegas will, in death, play a role ensuring his fellow soldiers and Marines are better treated by the Veterans Affairs Department.
Kennedy among gallant fighters: No one’s counting Senate lion out; Sunday, May 25, 2008; A standard strategy for interviewing members of Congress is to troll the halls around the House or Senate to try to catch them walking by.
Ensign sticks to principle on money for GI Bill, health scare: Senator’s nay on spending package ‘was an easy vote,’ he says, despite bipartisan support; Friday, May 23, 2008; On a day when Senate Republicans distanced themselves from an unpopular president to pass a big domestic spending bill that included expanded benefits for troops returning from war, Sen. John Ensign was having none of it.
Yucca father changes his tune: Ex-senator says site’s designation as temporary might have won support; Wednesday, May 21, 2008; The lawmaker perhaps most responsible for turning Yucca Mountain into the nation’s proposed nuclear waste dump said Tuesday the politically opposed project should never have been billed as a place to hold waste indefinitely.
No stopping history for tourists: Blithely they stride, taking in the past amid here, now; Sunday, May 18, 2008; Even on the worst days in Washington, when nothing seems to be going right, you can’t help but pick up some residual joy from the tourists in the Capitol.
Porter: OK tax for GI Bill I support? I’ll see: Thursday, May 15, 2008; Rep. Jon Porter faces a tough choice. Two provisions he crossed party lines to support are lumped together as an amendment to the Iraq war spending bill that President Bush has vowed to veto because it strays above the $108 billion he has requested.
Voters, pick your fix for gas prices: Two choices: GOP says supply is king; Dems want more energy options; Wednesday, May 14, 2008; So the next time you’re filling up the tank, here’s a pop quiz to consider as the dollars click by: What’s the best way to lower your gasoline bill?
Yucca foe fought till his death — and beyond: Tuesday, May 13, 2008; Even in death, Joe Egan plans to keep fighting Yucca Mountain. The attorney whose small law firm has led the state’s legal campaign against the proposed nuclear waste repository died last week of stomach cancer. He was 53.
After public misfire on polygamy, Reid acts to help those he blasted: Sunday, May 11, 2008; It wasn’t his appearance on “The Daily Show” last week that tripped up Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Keeping the heat on OSHA: U.S. House panel to review agency’s safety standards on industry; Sunday, May 11, 2008; Citing the deaths of 10 workers on the Las Vegas Strip, a House panel will hold a hearing to review construction safety standards and the conduct of government agencies responsible for overseeing workplace safety.
Nevada Republicans bolt party line, support housing package: Friday, May 9, 2008; In a sign of how the mortgage crisis is rippling through Nevada and across the national political landscape, the state’s two Republican House members broke ranks with their party Thursday and defied President Bush’s veto threat to vote for the main provisions of a Democratic housing rescue package.
Porter’s nudge greenward: The congressman, like other Republicans, is paying mind to environmental causes; Monday, May 5, 2008; Going green has never been more popular. Shop at a department store, get a reusable tote bag. Channel surf and see celebrities greening their mansions. Take a summer vacation, make it energy efficient. But for politicians, greening their environmental record can be a trickier feat. Case in point: Republican Rep. Jon Porter wants to turn the nation’s rental car fleet green. Trade in every tourist Taurus for a Prius on the Strip and suddenly you’ve halved the amount of greenhouse gases emitted each year.
Everywhere, they are talking politics: Cost of war is on people’s minds, senators and cabbies alike; Sunday, May 4, 2008; Even the transportation systems in this town can be venues for political discourse.
Congress goes extra mile for homeowners: State’s reps cross party lines on bills; Sunday, May 4, 2008; Even as $600 rebate checks to fend off a recession are landing in mailboxes, Congress knows they won’t be enough to halt the mortgage meltdown.
A GOOD STORY: AND IT PULLS NO PUNCHES; Sunday, April 27, 2008; We can better understand now what kind of a man Harry Reid is — the Senate majority leader who, leaving a contentious White House meeting on the Iraq war, made no effort to politely shake hands with the president of the United States. This is the same Harry Reid who, while courting the high school sweetheart who would become his wife, punched out his future father-in-law.
Parties bicker over blame for gas prices: Sunday, April 27, 2008; A partisan contest is taking place in Washington to see who can be blamed for skyrocketing gas prices.
It’s no joke: Reid to plug book on Comedy Central: Friday, April 25, 2008; It may sound unbelievable, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can be a wickedly funny man.
Sin City priest’s breakfast with the pope: Degree of difficulty only emboldens him to spread his faith in Las Vegas; Sunday, April 20, 2008; During his years growing up in Boulder City as a Catholic, then as a parish priest in Las Vegas, the Rev. Gregory W. Gordon never expected it would go like this.
He was sitting across the breakfast table from the pope.
With Berkley pushing it, revised GI Bill picks up steam: Sunday, April 20, 2008; Patrick Campbell, a former Iraq war combat medic, emerged in a happy spot late one evening last week. Campbell had hit the magic number in his quest to push a bill through Congress to beef up college benefits for the troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.