When it comes to cutting deficits, don't play small ball.
Tucked in among the controversial spending cuts proposed by President Obama's debt commission Wednesday, was a little piece of stimulus -- a tax break that could benefit workers.
The Republicans' midterm surge has given the federal debt-reduction commission -- whose recommendations are due Dec. 1 -- a chance to stand up and be counted. The panel is bipartisan, but as long as Democrats were able to have their way ultimately in both houses of Congress, Republican members had little clout. Now that the balance of power has shifted, the ideas of the panel's deficit hawks, such as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), may get a bit more respect. Co-chairs Erskine Bowles (chief of staff for Bill Clinton) and Alan Simpson (former GOP senator from Wyoming) have offered a proposal, but it's only a draft. We'll know the commission blew its opportunity ...
Most policymakers in Washington agree the economy needs help.
"This committee doesn't function well on a partisan basis, and in the 22 months that I've been chairman of it we've never acted that way." That was Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd speaking in December of 2008, when American voters had the audacity to believe a new President's promise to rise above the short-sightedness of partisan Washington and unite most Americans around solving big problems.
Tax reform. For years, economists, tax experts and lawmakers have pushed for it, to no avail.
The mortgage-interest deduction is America's favorite tax break -- and it's also the costliest.
Sen. Judd Gregg and OMB director Peter Orszag get in a heated exchange over one of President Obama's budget proposals.
When President Obama presented his budget for the upcoming fiscal year, he demanded that lawmakers forgo "the same old grandstanding when the cameras are on and the same irresponsible budget policies when the cameras are off."
The Senate on Thursday voted to raise the cap on how much the government can borrow to a record level.
The Senate on Tuesday is likely to vote on a proposal that would create a bipartisan commission charged with reining in the country's debt.
Left to their own devices, lawmakers won't successfully deal with the country's spiraling debt situation. That's the opinion of some key members agitating for a special commission to force the hand of Congress.
The push to address the United States' long-term fiscal problems, and to remove the debate from the partisanship in Congress, took a step forward Wednesday.
President Obama is seriously considering an executive order to create a bipartisan commission that could weigh sweeping tax increases and spending cuts to try to slash the soaring federal deficit, CNN has learned.
As Democrats put together the framework for sweeping health care legislation, lawmakers are running into competing demands within their own party.
Sen. Judd Gregg, (R) New Hampshire, discusses the budget cuts the White House announced Thursday.
Republican congressional leaders tore into President Obama's proposed 2010 budget Thursday, arguing that his spending cuts will do little to stem a rising tide of red ink.
Throughout our history, each generation made sacrifices to better the lives of the next generation. Part of the American dream has included passing on to your children hope for the future and the possibility of prosperity.
A tightened version of President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget moved through a key Senate committee Thursday night.
GOP leaders say they are rolling out an alternative to the Obama budget that includes 'lower taxes and lower spending.'
President Obama huddled with Senate Democrats on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the White House fought to save major domestic priorities in its record $3.6 trillion budget from the congressional budget ax.
The fight on Capitol Hill over next year's federal budget begins in earnest on Wednesday, when the Senate and House Budget Committees will debate just how much they want to spend and tax in 2010.
Hours before President Obama was to hold a prime time news conference -- in part to boost his $3.6 trillion budget plan -- a key Democratic senator Tuesday unveiled a scaled-down budget proposal.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the big-asset plan "balances public and private risks."
The U.S. budget deficit in 2009 is projected to spike to between $1.67 trillion and $1.85 trillion, according to estimates released Friday by the Congressional Budget Office.
The Senate is taking up a controversial bill that would impose a hefty tax on bonuses paid out by companies propped up by taxpayer money.
President Barack Obama's pick for commerce secretary is likely to be former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, two administration sources told CNN Monday.
Barack Obama is smarter than the average president, but he still has a lot to learn, according to comedian Bill Maher.
Larry talks with Bill Maher about several issues now in the news including how he feels President Obama is doing so far.
President Obama got his stimulus bill on time. But it wasn't pretty.
Anderson Cooper talks with his panel about Senator Judd Gregg pulling out of his nomination as Commerce Secretary.
President Obama is vowing the loss of a Republican in his Cabinet will not stop his efforts to bridge the partisan divide.
Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama's commerce secretary Thursday, citing "irresolvable conflicts" over the administration's stimulus bill and the upcoming 2010 census.
Sen. Judd Gregg explains why he chose to withdraw his name as Commerce Secretary nominee.
Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination as President Barack Obama's commerce secretary Thursday, citing "irresolvable conflicts" over the administration's stimulus bill and the upcoming 2010 census.
CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser has the latest on the stimulus deal.
President Obama took his economic stimulus proposal back on the road Thursday, urging final congressional passage of the now-$789 billion bill during a visit to a Caterpillar plant in the state that launched his political career.
Since the election last November, five vacant Senate seats have been filled by appointments. Awkwardly.
President Obama has nominated Sen. Judd Gregg as secretary of the Commerce Department.
President Obama extended a political olive branch to the GOP on Tuesday, nominating Sen. Judd Gregg, R-New Hampshire, to head the Commerce Department.
U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg won't take the job of commerce secretary in the Obama administration if his appointment would tip the Senate balance of power in favor of Democrats, the chamber's Republican leader said Sunday.
The federal government's $700 billion financial rescue plan will get its first official review Tuesday.
Congressional leaders this weekend reached an agreement on the government's $700 billion bailout proposal, but questions remain over what role the presidential candidates played in negotiations.
Lawmakers and the Bush administration must settle the details on a rescue intended to keep credit flowing and avert a recession.
Billionaire Warren Buffett told congressional negotiators that if they can't agree on a proposed financial bailout, the nation will face "its biggest financial meltdown in American history," two sources familiar with the talks said.
Top lawmakers in Washington disagreed Sunday about the role Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama played in reaching an agreement on the government's $700 billion bailout proposal.
Congressional leaders and the Bush administration have reached a tentative deal on a bailout of imperiled financial markets
Panelists react to the stalled talks over the bailout package.
Rep. Barney Frank, a high-ranking Democrat, said he is convinced that by Sunday, lawmakers will reach a deal on the proposed $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial system.
Congressional leaders say they are near an agreement on a $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street, but many Republican members of Congress are still balking at the deal.
Critics fear the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will adopt a rule in the waning days of the Bush administration that will make it easier to build coal-fired power plants near national parks
Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked efforts to give bankruptcy courts more power to stave off home foreclosures, a move the chamber's Democratic leader called "a big mistake."
CNN's Christine Romans reports on a problem that could impact 30% of all mortgages by year's end.
He may be down in national polls, but Mitt Romney is on a roll in the two states that kick off presidential voting.
1986 Amnestyupdated: Wed Jun 06 2007 10:40:00
These are some facts from tonight's show that you might find interesting.
Senate Republicans used a procedural maneuver Monday to keep Democratic leaders from moving forward with a nonbinding resolution opposing President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq.
In a 367-45 vote, the House on Friday afternoon passed tax legislation that would renew for two years a host of expired business tax credits and popular individual tax breaks, and introduce a new, one-year itemized deduction for mortgage insurance premiums.
FSB: Uncushioned Blowupdated: Fri Dec 01 2006 00:01:00
IN FEBRUARY WE WROTE ABOUT BOSTON Billows, a Nashua, N.H., maker of nursing pillows ("Total Recall"). In 2004 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission arbitrarily deemed the company's flagship p...
Because this broadcast focuses intensely on the issues that matter most to working and middle-class men and women, I am often critical of both political parties and both houses of Congress and this administration.
Both Republican and Democratic senators took aim Tuesday at the president's proposed 2007 homeland security budget in a hearing, saying it fails to live up to Bush's strong warnings about the threat of terrorist attack.
Sen. Judd Gregg won $853,492 from the Powerball lottery after matching five of six numbers in Wednesday's drawing, adding to his already sizable wealth.
The cost of caring for victims of Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding the areas it wiped out could cost the federal government up to $200 billion, much higher than previous estimates, a newspaper report said Wednesday.
Senators on Tuesday pressed Health and Human Services nominee Mike Leavitt for a permanent commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, which has been without one for nearly a year amid rising concerns about the safety of drugs on the market.
CNNMoney: Poverty spreadsupdated: Thu Aug 26 2004 10:46:00
The number of Americans living in poverty jumped to 35.9 million last year, up by 1.3 million, while the number of those without health care insurance rose to 45 million from 43.6 million in 2002, the U.S. government said in a report Thursday.
Don't believe what I saw A hundred million bottles Washed up on the shore --Police, "Message in a Bottle"
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