Congress News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Obama on the defensive on spending, debt

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:25 -0400

Government spending and debt are emerging as a campaign tug-of-war, with Mitt Romney blaming President Barack Obama for a "prairie fire of debt" and Obama calling the charge a "cowpie of distortion." House Speaker John Boehner is talking about a debt ceiling that is still more than eight months away.

Putin puts Medvedev in charge of Russia's ruling party

Sat, 26 May 2012 14:27:47 -0400

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin steered Dmitry Medvedev into the chairmanship of Russia's ruling party on Saturday and demanded reforms to the flagging organization he will rely on to keep his grip on the country's far-flung regions. At Putin's behest, delegates at a United Russia congress elected Medvedev chairman with a unanimous show of hands, the final step in a choreographed role reversal the longtime leader hopes will preserve his rule against growing opposition. After four years of playing No. ...

House experience a minus for some Senate hopefuls

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:49:12 -0400

U.S. House members who are trying to make the step up to the Senate this year are finding themselves on the defensive about Washington experience that traditionally has been a big asset.

Senate panel reins in Pentagon on clean energy

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:35:25 -0400

The Pentagon's investment in green energy requires too much green paper for some in Congress.A sharply divided Senate Armed Services Committee voted this week to prohibit the military from spending money ...

Senate panel reins in Pentagon on clean energy

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:35:25 -0400

The Pentagon's investment in green energy requires too much green paper for some in Congress.

House to vote on tax cuts before August break

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:14:25 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on renewing historically low individual tax rates before its August recess, a top Republican said on Friday, in what will be the opening gambit of a months-long, pivotal fight over tax policy. Low income tax rates enjoyed by nearly every American are set to expire at year's end. Tackling the issue will be a major challenge for a fractured Congress that disagrees on whether the tax cuts for the wealthiest should be allowed to lapse. ...

Congress to spend more on tanks than US military wants

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:30:13 -0400

The US Congress is poised to approve more funds for modernizing the US Army's main battle tank despite objections from the military that it puts the Pentagon's overall strategy in jeopardy.

US says China's yuan undervalued, not manipulated

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:26:10 -0400

The Obama administration on Friday rejected calls from Congress to brand China a currency manipulator, but said its "significantly undervalued" currency was a key brake on global growth.

Obama's Former Top Economic Adviser Hits Pace of Wall St. Reforms

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:52:38 -0400

CHICAGO–In the summer of 2010 President Obama heralded the passage by Congress of a sweeping Wall Street reform bill that he claimed would reshape the financial sector and prevent another economic crisis like the one that rocked the country in 2008, but many of those...

Congress approves visas for Israeli investors

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:34:48 -0400

Congress has passed legislation adding Israel to the list of more than 75 countries eligible for temporary visas given to foreign nationals who invest in U.S.-based businesses.The Senate approved the measure ...

Congress approves visas for Israeli investors

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:34:48 -0400

Congress has passed legislation adding Israel to the list of more than 75 countries eligible for temporary visas given to foreign nationals who invest in U.S.-based businesses.

Military Spending Cuts Looming, Republican Rediscover Keynesianism

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:44:38 -0400

Senator Harry Reid's threat to slash Pentagon spending has sparked a red hot streak of Republican Keynesianism. The economic theory advocating short-term public spending in a recession followed by boom time debt reduction is heretical in modern Republican parlance, but GOP lawmakers are making an exception when defense spending is at stake.

Lesotho heads for tense, open election

Fri, 25 May 2012 03:04:46 -0400

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Voters in the highland African kingdom of Lesotho go to the polls on Saturday in a wide-open election that analysts say could end up without a clear result, as happened in 1998 when South Africa had to send in troops to quell major civil unrest. Campaigning has been peaceful but a lack of opinion polls, and Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's decision in February to quit the ruling party and go it alone under the banner of the new Democratic Congress (DC) party, have kept the landlocked nation's two million people on tenterhooks. ...

House Democratic "Super PAC" raised $1 million since March

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:28:21 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Majority PAC, a "Super PAC" aimed at helping elect Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives, raised $1.1 million in the past six weeks, according to disclosure documents released on Thursday. The "super" political action committee had $1.9 million left in cash on hand by May 16, the filing with the Federal Election Commission showed. The group reports its financials once every quarter but the latest filing was required because of its activity in California, which has a primary on June 5. In the first three months of the year, House Majority PAC raised $1. ...

Obama calls for Congress to enact 'green' tax credits

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:53:15 -0400

President Barack Obama urged Congress on Thursday to extend tax credits for clean energy companies the White House says are responsible for some 37,000 jobs.

President Obama Touts Clean Energy Agenda in Iowa

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:33:38 -0400

NEWTON, Iowa — Visiting the critical battleground state of Iowa today, President Obama touted his election-year energy agenda and urged Republican lawmakers to put politics aside and back his proposals to boost the economy. “Too many of my Republican friends in Congress are standing in...

Sen. Murkowski's fresh energy plan to look beyond 2012

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:57:25 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Frustrated by the gridlock that has stalled Congress leading into the 2012 presidential elections in November, the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee is drafting what she hopes is a fresh look at the big-picture energy policy. Details are still under wraps, but Senator Lisa Murkowski plans to unveil this summer a long-term vision with affordable energy at its core, a plan she has been working on with her staff for the past eight months. "I want to get out front early next year and move on some energy issues. ...

SEC unlikely to file charges in Lehman case: memo

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:01:49 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation into Lehman Brothers Holdings and will not likely recommend charges, according to the excerpt of a memo sent to Reuters. The excerpt, which was not dated, was sent along with an anonymous letter to Congress alleging that SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro made inaccurate statements about the agency's Lehman probe during a hearing last month. Schapiro told a House Financial Services panel on April 25 that Lehman "remains under investigation" and "is still under review. ...

SC congressional candidate arrested for drunk driving with co-ed in the car

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:22:05 -0400

Here’s how to ruin your chances at winning a U.S. congressional seat:

Sen. Warner: ‘You can’t cut and tax your way’ out of debt [VIDEO]

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:17:09 -0400

In his speech on the Startup Act 2.0, Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said Congress cannot “cut and tax” it’s way out of debt, calling the situation a “fiscal cliff.”

Obesity A National Security Issue, Experts Agree

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:33 -0400

Improving school lunches and nutrition education are a key way to get Americans healthy enough to join the military, and a badly divided Congress might be amenable to cooperating on this one issue, obesity policy experts said said Wednesday.

Obama's Choice to Lead Nuclear Agency Delights Senate Democratic Leader

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:16:15 -0400

In a bow to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., the White House said on Thursday that President Obama plans to nominate Allison Macfarlane, an associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University, to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Where Is Congress With Appropriations?

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:25:31 -0400

Both the House and the Senate appropriations committees are off to strong starts in the appropriations process for fiscal 2013. Will both chambers pass all 12 major bills before the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30? Probably not. In most years, many key bills are passed well after the start of the new fiscal year, necessitating continuing resolutions to keep the government funded.

Obama speaks in Iowa about the economy, Romney speaks in Pennsylvania about education, plus more to watch for Thursday in politics

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:24:54 -0400

President Barack Obama visits a wind energy manufacturer Thursday in Newton, Iowa, in his ongoing effort to get Congress to act on his "To Do List," which includes a clean-energy provision. Obama also has campaign stops scheduled in Des Moines and Palo Alto, Calif. It is worth noting that Iowa is a general election battleground [...]

In Iowa, Obama to tout election-year energy plan

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:18:09 -0400

President Barack Obama is returning to Iowa, seeking support for an election-year agenda to spur renewable energy along with a more immediate prize: the state's up-for-grab voters.Obama is pressing Congress ...