WASHINGTON (AP) — Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics said the bills would result in censorship and stifle Internet innovation. (more)
GQ compiled its list of the 50 most powerful people in Washington, with GOP leaders taking the top spots, with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden left off the list. (more)
Democratic Michigan Rep. Sander Levin told The Daily Caller that House Republicans are “blinded by a rigid ideology” and suggested that they “take the blinders off, come back here, see the light” and pass the Democratic-led Senate’s two-month payroll tax cut extension. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a two-month renewal of payroll tax cuts for 160 million workers and unemployment benefits for millions of jobless, giving President Barack Obama a resounding victory over Republicans who control the House. The Senate approved the bill earlier Friday. The measure was passed by voice vote in a virtually empty House chamber despite lingering grumbling from tea party Republicans. It buys time for negotiations early next year on how to cover the costs of a yearlong extension of the two percentage point payroll tax cut, the centerpiece of Obama’s fall jobs agenda. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House and Senate barreled toward a collision Monday over some of the chief ingredients of President Barack Obama’s recipe for reviving the economy, with tax increases and jobless benefit cuts awaiting millions of Americans on New Year’s Day if the dispute is not resolved. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed legislation Saturday extending a Social Security payroll tax cut and jobless benefits for just two months, handing President Barack Obama a partial victory while setting the stage for another fight in February. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats backed away from their demand for higher taxes on millionaires as part of legislation to extend Social Security tax cuts for most Americans on Wednesday as Congress struggled to clear critical year-end bills without triggering a partial government shutdown. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has wrapped itself into a partisan tangle over its year-end tax and spending business. (more)
Senate Republicans blocked the nomination Thursday of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A town hall meeting with Ben Bernanke and a group of military families discussing family finances wouldn’t normally draw much notice. (more)
Don’t you hate that awkward moment when you turn on CSPAN-2 and you can’t tell if you’re watching the Senate minority leader or a sea turtle? We know the feeling. (more)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday that the White House intentionally “designed” President Barack Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill to “fail” with the hopes of making Republicans appear “intransigent.” (more)
Aides to Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated Thursday evening that he wants the bipartisan deficit-reduction “super committee” to reach a major deal, The Hill reports. (more)
Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, has called for a congressional investigation into political interference in the NCAA’s conference-realignment process, following reports that West Virginia University’s acceptance into the Big 12 Conference, which was a near-certainty on Tuesday morning, is being held up following competitive lobbying from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — on behalf of his alma mater, the University of Louisville. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate vote to impose sanctions on China for its unfair currency practices was put off Thursday, delayed by the partisan divisions that have come to characterize this Congress. (more)
For all of President Obama’s insistence that Congress must “pass this bill now,” and Democrats’ assurances that they have the votes necessary to pass it, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was in no mood to vote on the president’s jobs-creation bill Tuesday afternoon. (more)
If you’re looking for information about the inner workings of Congress’ secretive debt-reduction “super committee,” you won’t find it in the newspaper or on cable news. But for a hefty fee, you can buy access in the form of a Capitol Hill staffer-turned-lobbyist. (more)
The national debate on the next generation of stimulus came to my backyard today as President Barack Obama held a political rally in my community to push for passage of his jobs package and used the replacement of an aging interstate bridge as his background visual. (more)
As both chambers prepare for debate this afternoon on debt deal reached by lawmakers Sunday evening, most of the attention will be focused on efforts to get conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats on board to vote yes. (more)
Finally some light at the end of the tunnel? (more)
