WASHINGTON, D.C. — Legislation aimed at easing government regulation on start-up companies cleared the House  today with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. It comes as the Senate announced it could come forward with a “similar” but separate bill next week. Dubbed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act,...

Political writer Shira Toeplitz of Roll Call talks with Melissa Block about how turnover in the House this year could change the shape of Congress.

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Over at the Huffington Post, Rabbi Daniel Brenner recently published an interesting piece about contraception and the Jewish tradition. Daniel wonders why Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, who had testified against the contraception mandate before Congress, and had written two columns on the subject, “never once mentioned the Jewish position on contraception.” 

The reason he didn’t is that the Jewish position on contraception, like the Catholic one, is immaterial to the mandate controversy. The real issue here implicates the very basis of our social contract.      

Keep reading this post . . .

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the nation's top military leader delivered a sober assessment Wednesday of Syria's sophisticated air defenses and its extensive stockpile of chemical weapons in a strategic reality check to the demand for U.S. military action to end President Bashar Assad's deadly crackdown on his people.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic U.S. senator offered a proposal to ban exports of oil from the Keystone XL crude pipeline from Canada and require American iron and steel be used to build it, part of an effort to derail a Republican plan that would fast-track the project. Senator Ron Wyden filed the draft amendment to the Senate's highway funding bill to counter a Republican amendment that would see Congress approve TransCanada's $7 billion pipeline. President Barack Obama has delayed the pipeline, insisting it needs more environmental review. ...

A Member of Congress is denying that he tried to buy out his primary opponent in Florida. The primary challenger, county courts clerk James Jett, claimed to a group of Republicans at a country club that the congressman, Republican Cliff Stearns, offered him money and...

Congressional Republicans and oil industry leaders called Wednesday for more U.S. gas production to combat rising prices, fast becoming an issue in the presidential campaign. Democrats focused on conservation and the role of Wall Street speculators in driving up prices

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Dennis Kucinich, a colorful liberal in Congress who tried to have former President George W. Bush impeached over the Iraq war, was defeated by a fellow Democratic incumbent on Tuesday in the first of 11 primary races this year pitting members of the U.S. House against each other. Kucinich, 65, lost to Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in Congress, who touted her influence as a senior member of the powerful committee that decides on government spending. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - It was supposed to be the crowning moment for Rahul Gandhi, the heir-apparent in India's ruling Congress party, but he was thrashed in this week's state election results and another young man thrust into the spotlight. Akhilesh Yadav has won national acclaim by helping return his father to power as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and politically key state where Gandhi had hoped to stage a revival for Congress as it prepares to contest national elections in 2014. ...

An Ohio plumber thrust into national politics during the 2008 presidential campaign has won the Republican nomination in his home state as he makes a bid for Congress.

More than two dozen Vermont towns have sent a message to Washington that they want Congress to begin the process of changing the U.S. Constitution to ensure that corporations are not treated the same as people.

Lawmakers will seek to levy sanctions on all Iranian banks, part of a sweeping effort to push the Obama administration to further squeeze the Islamic republic's economy and force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, an aide said Tuesday.

An exit poll of voters in the Georgia Republican presidential primary shows the victory there by Newt Gingrich, who represented the state in Congress for two decades, was propelled by people saying the former speaker's ties to the state were important.

TOLEDO, Ohio (Reuters) - He is a liberal gadfly who captured that national spotlight with his demands for the impeachment of President George W. Bush. She is the longest serving woman in Congress and a haymaker in the perennial federal budget process. On Tuesday, as most of the country's attention is focused on the Republican's "Super Tuesday" presidential primary in 10 states, voters in northern Ohio will decide which of these two Democrats -- Cleveland's Dennis Kucinich and Toledo's Marcy Kaptur -- will end a long congressional career. ...

(Reuters) - Representative Donald Payne, 77, New Jersey's first and only African-American congressman, died on Tuesday after battling colon cancer, his brother said. Payne, a Democrat elected in 1988 to represent northeastern New Jersey, died of complications of colon cancer early Tuesday morning at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, said William Payne, his brother and a former New Jersey Assemblyman. "His legacy in Congress will be that he served the small man," William Payne said. "Although he walked among kings, he never lost the common touch. ...

Here’s a roundup of this morning’s must-read budget and economic stories:

• The Financial Times says companies are scrambling to sell off “dollar-denominated debt.”

• Reuters looks at AIG’s efforts to find money to pay back taxpayers for the bailout the company received.

• CNBC says businesses are wary of a flat tax.

• Bloomberg takes a look at how wealthy “multinational” families are trying to reduce their tax burdens.

• The Wall Street Journal reports that some companies are asking Congress to reduce the amount they have to contribute to their pension programs.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Rahul Gandhi failed spectacularly to deliver a promised comeback for his Congress party in crucial state elections, casting fresh doubt on his capacity to become the next member of a storied dynasty to lead the country. The Congress party flop in India's most politically vital state was also a blow to the already-tottering government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reducing his scope to re-launch reforms and reverse a slowdown in economic growth. ...

Israel's prime minister didn't close ranks with President Barack Obama on how to deal with Iran's suspect nuclear program, but he can expect a warm reception to his tough talk when he visits Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Rahul Gandhi failed spectacularly to deliver a promised comeback for his Congress party in crucial state elections, casting fresh doubt on his capacity to become the next member of a storied dynasty to lead the country. The Congress party flop in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's most politically vital state, was also a blow to the already-tottering government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, reducing his scope to re-launch reforms and reverse a slowdown in economic growth. ...

The top U.S. commander in the Middle East is warning Congress on Tuesday against efforts to scale back the Navy's presence in the embattled region, saying threats from Iran and elsewhere will require more ships and maritime missile defense capabilities.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Congress party was trailing in Uttar Pradesh as counting of votes got under way on Tuesday, a stunning blow to Rahul Gandhi who had staked his political future on reviving his party's fortunes in the state. ...

3. Our Executive Director Weighs in on the Farm Bill

 

2. Barber’s of Congress, Wednesday Waste?

 

1. A look back at the Budget for Fiscal Year 2011BA

Daily Caller - Could Congress be persuaded to spend taxpayer money on a Museum of Government Waste?

AP - Ever eager to provoke, Rush Limbaugh has now succeeded into drawing the White House into a skirmish. The spark: Limbaugh telling his talk show fans that a law student was a "slut" for her testimony to Congress about the need for birth control coverage.