Congress defies fiscal discipline
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On the campaign trail, members of Congress often promise to eliminate pork-barrel spending. After all, the federal deficit is now up to $413 billion, and the US is waging an expensive war in Iraq.
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The House of Representatives defied the White House yesterday by refusing to make an expiring surveillance law permanent, prompting a harsh exchange between Republicans and Democrats as they prepared for an extended, election-year battle over national security.
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The big kahuna of tax is the federal return, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the state return.
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As the election approaches, Congress abandons all pretense of fiscal responsibility, voting tax cuts that would drive 10-year deficits past $3 trillion.
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Congress will try to wrap up spending bills and raise the national debt limit to more than $8 trillion.
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Lawmakers defied President George W. Bush on Thursday and gave final congressional approval to legislation to expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research.
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WASHINGTON - The Congressional Budget Office projected Tuesday that this election-year's federal deficit will hit a record $422 billion, a shortfall that would be smaller than analysts predicted earlier this year.    The estimate by Congress' nonpartisan budget experts immediately provided political fodder for both parties in the final two-month stretch of the presidential and congressional campaigns...
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In his new budget, the president has requested money for thousands of items similar to the pet projects of Congress.
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With the new fiscal year just a week away, President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress are far from an agreement on the proper level of spending for myriad federal programs.
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The US Senate authorises more spending for the Iraq war, without tying the bill to a troop withdrawal timetable.
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The U.S. House of Representatives broke a four-month deadlock with President George W. Bush on Thursday and approved $100 billion in new funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without a timetable for withdrawing combat troops.
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Bowing to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled Congress grudgingly approved fresh billions for the Iraq war Thursday night, minus the troop withdrawal timeline that drew his earlier veto.
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2.007 was not exactly a barn-burner on Capitol Hill. It was notable mostly for its record number of delaying tactics in the Senate, which helped stymie almost every attempt at major legislation.
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Back in control of the purse strings after more than a decade, congressional Democrats are pursuing billions in new domestic spending, setting up another clash with President Bush, who has threatened to veto any measures that exceed his budget.
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Congress returned this week to a lengthy list of unfinished business and a late election-season opportunity to build on its meager record.
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President Bush ruled out raising  payroll taxes to help pay for Social Security reform on  Thursday, leaving him few options other than a sharp increase  in government borrowing to bankroll transition costs estimated  at up to $2 trillion.
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Democratic lawmakers vow to come roaring out of the blocks when they assume control of the next Congress, passing several top-priority bills in the first 100 hours. Absent from that list, however, are the knottiest problems that bedeviled the outgoing Congress, including immigration, domestic surveillance and the war in Iraq....