By Peter Rocco
May 21, 2012 – 8:37 p.m.
Editor’s Note: The House is in recess this week.
Recent Senate Votes
Paul Budget Resolution - Vote Rejected (16-83, 1 Not Voting), Roll Call No. 100
This budget resolution from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., would set new FY 2013 budget authority at $3.084 trillion. According to the Senator, his resolution would balance the budget in five years and cut the national deficit by $2 trillion over ten years. It introduces means-testing requirements to Social Security and raises the retirement age to 70 by 2032. It would also means-test Medicare and raise the age of eligibility to 70 over a 20-year window. Senior citizens would be permitted to enroll in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan used by congressional Members and staff. The resolution would set a flat tax rate of 17 percent for all individuals and businesses and eliminate all credits and deductions except the child credit and mortgage interest deduction.
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By Ryan Teague Beckwith
May 21, 2012 – 5:08 p.m.
Archives
Earmark requests sit in a file cabinet in a House committee office in this 2010 file photo. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
The earmark ban has made it hard to run for re-election.
In years past, many lawmakers talked about earmarks as a way to show their concern about local problems, Roll Call’s Meredith Shiner reports.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell represents a case study of just how far Republicans have shifted on this issue.
The Kentucky Republican, once a champion of earmarks, ran for re-election with 2008 on a series of 30-second television spots tailored to six media markets and the projects he supported in those areas.
Dubbed “Future,” each ad showed the Republican leader speaking directly to the camera and then providing voice-overs for different shots of the Bluegrass State. In Northern Kentucky, he bragged about the regional airport. In Central Kentucky and Louisville, he talked about the University of Kentucky and Louisville University, respectively. He talked about riverfront development in Paducah, Owensboro and Bowling Green.
From fiscal years 2008 to 2010, McConnell sponsored $458 million worth of earmarks.
Read the full story on RollCall.com.
By Ryan Teague Beckwith
May 21, 2012 – 4:48 p.m.
Bill Clark
Former Gov. Mitt Romney addresses the CPAC conference in 2010. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
The war in Afghanistan is not getting much attention in the presidential campaign.
Although tens of thousands of U.S. troops are still deployed there, the subject has not come up much from the campaigns of either GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney or President Barack Obama, CQ’s Emily Cadei reports.
U.S. policy on Afghanistan has also increasingly confounded traditional partisan divisions on defense and foreign policy, making it virtually impossible for members of or aspirants to Congress to brandish their usual go-to attack lines — that Democrats are weak on national defense and Republicans are warmongers.
With little of political value to be gained by raising the issue, candidates on both sides of the aisle are staying with tried-and-true domestic themes. With all likelihood, they’ll be able to stick to that script through November.
Still, the issue could come up again, quickly, if violence breaks out, especially after the September deadline to remove surge troops.
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By Ryan Teague Beckwith
May 21, 2012 – 4:19 p.m.
Bill Clark
Rep. Phil Roe holds up an iPad during a press conference. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
When is an iPhone app a medical device?
The Food and Drug Administration is trying to determine which smartphone apps fall under its oversight and which don’t, CQ’s Emily Ethridge reports.
But its draft guidance published in July 2011 caused consternation among software developers, many of whom have never had to work with the agency before and are used to the fast-paced, fairly unregulated world of the Internet.
Now the House and Senate have included provisions to slow the FDA’s regulation of the apps in legislation to reauthorize the agency’s ability to collect user fees to fund its review of drugs and devices. The bills, which will be considered on the two floors this month, contain very different language on the apps — setting up a potential fight for the conference committee.
A legislative provision by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) would require the FDA to create a “working group” to look into the issue. The agency would then have to report back to Congress.
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Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the requirements in the Bennet-Hatch provision.
By David Hawkings
May 21, 2012 – 11:45 a.m.
Chris Maddaloni
Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps; Gen. Raymond Odierno, chief of staff of the Army; and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, prepare for a Senate Armed Services committee hearing. To buy this photo, go to: http://roll.cl/cqrcpix
By the end of the week, defense contractors and people in uniform should have a better idea about whether or not their fall will be marked by uncertainty. It probably will be.
Tomorrow, Senate Armed Services starts putting together its version of a half-trillion-dollar military policy and weapons acquisition package for the coming year.
The measure will be much more similar to the bill the House passed last week than it will be different — because, in the end, the views that Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the Capitol have about national defense priorities are much more in sync than the deeply dysfunctional state of affairs in Washington would suggest.
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