Congress

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Congress' Job Approval: Count It on One Hand

We have a new Mendoza line: 5%

(Newser) - This version of Congress hasn't been getting good marks from the public, but a new poll by Rasmussen Reports still has an eye-popping stat on just how deep the frustration goes. In a survey of likely voters, only 5% thought Congress had done a good or excellent job. Not...

Members of Congress With Lowest Net Worth

Alcee Hastings leads the way with a negative $4.7 million

(Newser) - Apparently, not everyone in Congress is rich . The Washington Post compiled a list of the 25 lawmakers with the lowest net worth, based on 2010 disclosures analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. Here are the "top" 5, all of whom are in the red. (There's no explanation...

Bad News for Dems? Ben Nelson Retiring

Nebraska seat could shift to Republicans in Senate

(Newser) - Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson won't seek reelection next year, potentially harming Democratic hopes to hold onto the Senate majority, Politico reports. Though Nelson's approval ratings had struggled, they were on the rise this year, thanks in part to $1 million in national Democratic Party advertising. Meanwhile, Republicans spent...

Ron Paul's House Record a Picture of Futility
 Paul's Record: Quiet Futility 
Dec 27, 2011 7:58 AM CST

Paul's Record: Quiet Futility

Only 0.2% of his bills have become law

(Newser) - Ron Paul has sponsored 620 measures in his 11-and-a-half terms in Congress, but only one of them has become a law—a bill allowing the sale of a Galveston customhouse to a historical society. That tells you much of what you need to know about Paul’s congressional record, which...

Congress Is Increasingly Richer Than You

Figures show widening wealth gap, and with it polarization

(Newser) - Before he ran for Congress in 1974, Gary Myers was a steel mill worker. His campaign set him back $33,000. Today, Myers’ seat is occupied by Mike Kelly, a wealthy car dealer who married into the Phillips oil fortune. His campaign cost $1.2 million. That contrast is emblematic...

House Expects to Clear Payroll Tax Cut Today

Though it's possible dissenting members could delay things

(Newser) - The payroll tax cut deal is expected to be ratified today, with congressional leaders planning voice votes that would require just a handful of members to be present, the Washington Post reports. Politico notes that the House will be using unanimous consent rules, however, meaning a dissenting member could force...

House Frosh May Balk at Payroll Deal

Angry Republicans could force House to reconvene

(Newser) - Most members of Congress have already headed home for the holidays, but a few freshmen Republicans in the House are so unhappy with the last-minute payroll tax deal that they might return to Washington to try to derail it. At least two freshmen legislators (Mo Brooks and Mike Kelly) have...

House GOP Agrees to Payroll Tax Cut Deal

John Boehner reluctantly agrees to two-month extension

(Newser) - Get ready for a lot of "Boehner blinks" headlines. House Republicans have agreed to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut after all, reports CNN . "Senator Reid and I have reached an agreement that will ensure taxes do not increase for working families on January 1,"...

Americans to Congress: Do Your Job

Public frustration over gridlock, politics hits new highs

(Newser) - Congress has been extremely unpopular for some time , but Washington's inability to pass a payroll tax cut extension before adjourning for the holidays appears to have people disgusted like never before, reports the AP . "It's just another smack in our face for the working public. We just...

Obama Calls Boehner to Press for Payroll Tax Deal

But neither he nor speaker budges

(Newser) - President Obama raised the pressure on John Boehner over the payroll tax standoff with a personal phone call today, reports the Hill . But, surprise, surprise, no magical breakthroughs resulted. From the official accounts, it sounds like the two just spouted talking points at each other—Obama telling Boehner to pass...

House Rejects Payroll Tax Deal

Republicans call for talks with Senate to hammer out longer deal

(Newser) - Congress finds itself in a familiar place this afternoon on a key piece of legislation: stuck in partisan gridlock. The House voted 229-193 to reject the two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that cleared the Senate , reports Politico . Instead, House Republicans called for a House-Senate conference to hammer out...

Boehner Cancels Payroll Vote
 Boehner Cancels Payroll Vote 
Dec 20, 2011 7:56 AM CST

Boehner Cancels Payroll Vote

House Republicans revolt, call for conference committee

(Newser) - House Republicans didn’t hold their expected vote on the Senate’s two-month payroll tax cut extension last night, a hairpin turn so abrupt that Politico ’s story on it is headlined, “Has John Boehner Lost Control?” The House had planned to vote down the Senate bill and...

Lawmakers Give Inside Info to Big Investors—Legally

Brokerage firms arrange meetings with legislators

(Newser) - Congressmen aren’t the only ones trading on their inside info . A lucrative practice has sprung up in Washington, in which hedge funds and other investors pay handsomely for private meetings with top lawmakers or their aides, who give them an early scoop on market-moving news, the Wall Street Journal...

House Won't Pass 2-Month Payroll Tax Cut: Boehner

Will instead call for quick talks on one-year extension

(Newser) - The House will reject a Senate-approved plan to extend the payroll tax cut for two months, John Boehner said at a news conference today. The House's plan: to call for immediate negotiations on a yearlong extension that could create "certainty for people who are trying to create jobs,...

Senate Easily Approves Payroll Tax Cut

It also passes $1T budget bill

(Newser) - No last-minute surprises in the Senate: The chamber easily passed legislation this morning that will keep the payroll tax cut in place for another two months, reports Politico . The framework of the deal, which also extends jobless benefits, had been ironed out last night . It sailed through today on a...

House Passes $1T Budget Bill
 House Passes $1T Budget Bill 
Dec 16, 2011 1:32 PM CST

House Passes $1T Budget Bill

In a 296-121 vote

(Newser) - The House has passed a $1 trillion-plus catchall spending bill paying for day-to-day budgets of 10 Cabinet departments, averting a government shutdown. The 296-121 vote to approve the measure represented a rare moment of bipartisanship in a polarized Capitol. The vote sends the measure to the Senate, which is expected...

Deal Averts Government Shutdown

Congress forges $1T spending deal

(Newser) - The spirit of Christmas, or at least the spirit of competence, appears to have reached Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have set aside their differences to forge a $1 trillion spending bill for federal agencies that will avert a government shutdown this weekend, the Washington Post reports. The bill—heralded by a...

Looks Like Congress Will Avoid That Shutdown

... at least based on the latest rhetoric

(Newser) - The gist of the articles coming out of Washington this evening suggests that lawmakers will manage to strike a spending deal before tomorrow's midnight deadline to avoid a shutdown. Also looking up are prospects for deals to extend the payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits, say the Washington Post...

Congress Passes Wrong Pipeline Bill

House sends along wrong version, Senate passes without noticing

(Newser) - It was a rare moment of bicameral, bipartisan compromise—and also a complete screw-up. The House and Senate hurriedly passed a pipeline safety bill on Tuesday, but not the one they thought they were passing, Politico reports. Thanks to a "clerical error," the House wound up passing an...

Dems Drop Millionaire Tax, GOP Unveils Spending Bill

House in a hurry to wrap things up for Christmas

(Newser) - In an effort to reach a compromise in one of the two year-end battles facing Congress, Democrats have decided to drop their demand for a surtax on millionaires to finance payroll tax cuts. Without a deal, 160 million workers will face an automatic Social Security tax increase on Jan. 1,...

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