Congress expended a lot of energy debating how to solve the energy crisis before running off for summer recess for five weeks. It ended up accomplishing nothing. Now Congress is back and seemingly ready for more of the same. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will present an energy bill next week that would expand offshore drilling. But Republicans rejected the legislation on the basis of the outlines Pelosi released Tuesday. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will hold hearings today with an eye to bringing energy bills to a vote sometime next week. But don't expect anything to happen. ...more

September 15, 2008

U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis and Adam Putnam, who represent parts of Brandon, Valrico, Riverview, Lithia, Plant City and Seffner, hoped to vote to rescind the congressional ban on offshore oil drilling. The area Republicans will have to wait, however, until the House returns from its summer recess. ...more

August 20, 2008

Iraqi lawmakers failed Wednesday to agree on a provincial election law and adjourned for the month, casting doubt whether U.S.-backed balloting can be held this year in the country's 18 provinces. ...more

August 7, 2008

In a possible breakthrough on energy, a bipartisan group of senators Friday unveiled a compromise that would preserve the oil drilling ban off the West Coast while easing restrictions on exploration off the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. ...more

August 2, 2008

The games go on at Seminole casinos as lawyers, lawmakers and tribal officials deliberate the arcane world of gaming law and Indian sovereignty in the wake of a court ruling that voided an agreement between the state and the tribe. ...more

July 21, 2008