Easy access to congressional voting records does wonders for accountability, but it often leads to impressive acts of rhetorical contortion by lawmakers. Last month, the 238 House Republicans and 7 Democrats approved the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2012 (H.R.3581).  The bill  “revise[s] the budgetary treatment of federal direct loans and loan guarantees to [...]

As the Senate debates the deceptively named Violence Against Women Act of 2011 (VAWA) (S.1925), one of the bill’s co-sponsors is speaking out.  Yesterday, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said her Democrat colleagues are using the legislation to “drive a wedge between Republican and women voters” and that she was “offended by the blatant politics being [...]

Washington is a funny place.  Yesterday, House Republicans “deemed” the House-passed Ryan Budget to be the official budget of the House.  The Rules Committee released a statement explaining the procedural maneuver: Last month the House voted to approve a responsible budget blueprint that would reduce our deficit, spur economic growth, and reform critical government programs.  [...]

The back-and-forth on highway and transit funding continues.  Today, House Republicans announced they would seek a 90-day extension of current law.  CQ (sub. req’d) has the details: House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John L. Mica, R-Fla., said the short-term extension will allow the GOP conference time to work out differences on a longer-term bill that [...]

Representative Tom Graves (R-GA) introduced the Transportation Empowerment Act (H.R.3264), which would turn back control of transportation spending to the states. Currently, Americans pay 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline to the federal government. That tax is funneled into the federal Highway Trust Fund, and then doled back to the states via complex congressional formulas. This dynamic creates [...]