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President Obama began his direct involvement in budget negotiations Monday by meeting separately with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The White House called for a “balanced” approach that would include some additional revenue from…

WASHINGTON -- New long-term projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) underscore the critical need for the President and Congress to produce a broad, bipartisan budget agreement to put the nation on a more responsible path. (more…)

After a week-long recess, the House continued last week to make progress on FY 2012 appropriations bills. The second and third bills to clear the House were for Military Construction/ Veterans Affairs and Agriculture.The House Appropriations Committee completed action on…

Contradictory reports last week created confusion over the AARP’s stance on possible changes in Social Security. Although the program is now spending more money than it takes in and will face even greater strains as more baby boomers retire, the…

In an encouraging vote last week, a bipartisan Senate majority approved a repeal of the ethanol tax credit. Although the repeal is not expected to become law, the 73-27 vote raised the possibility of further bipartisan agreement on the elimination…

With Congress increasingly concerned about military spending in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Leon Panetta signaled last week that as the next secretary of defense he would carefully rein in spending. The former director of the Office of Management and Budget said…

Much of the political debate over health care costs continues to focus on who should pay them rather than how to curb their growth. Republicans want private insurers and individuals to pay while Democrats want the government to be the…

Congress and the White House are accelerating their budget and debt limit negotiations amid growing concerns about the economic recovery and the possibility that a political stalemate could trigger turmoil in the financial markets.After only one meeting so far this…