Congress

Washington (CNSNews.com) – Business advocates are hoping Congress scraps a tax provision in the health care overhaul law that they say is overly burdensome to smaller companies.

So far, Senate and House Republicans have pushed for repeal of this specific provision of the health care bill. Even Democrats asked that the Internal Revenue Service move cautiously in enforcement of the provision.

Currently, businesses and other entities are required to report on Form 1099 any service-related transactions over $600 involving an unincorporated business, such as a solo proprietor, partnership and LLC...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll finds Republican voters are more excited about the upcoming November congressional elections than are Democrats. That enthusiasm gap has produced victories for pro-life candidates already in off-year elections and it could result in more victories and potentially retaking one or both houses of Congress.

The new national survey from the Public Policy Polling Institute, which leans Democratic, finds "enthusiasm gap is still out there and certainly a problem Democrats are going to have to contend with this fall."

The survey found 66% of Republicans 'very excited' about voting this fall to only 51% of Democrats, for a 15 point gap...

The Tea Party just got an official voice in Washington, thanks to a leading Republican representative who recently filed the necessary paperwork to create a Tea Party Caucus for the grassroots group.

Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) says her newly formed House Tea Party Caucus was approved Monday, so she plans to invite everyday Americans to talk to members about Tea Party issues. She filed the necessary paperwork last week and requested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) approve the caucus.

"The purpose is to listen," Bachmann reports. "Congress will not be driving the Tea Party. We are not a voice for the Tea Party, nor are we vouching for the Tea Party. We are simply listening because the main thing we've heard from people is that Congress is not listening to the people"....

Voters will go to the polls this November with control of Congress at stake. Yet most voters say when they pull that lever, they will be sending a message to the White House, according to a Fox News poll.

The poll, released Friday, finds that 41 percent of voters will cast their ballots to register opposition to President Obama's policies. A third (33 percent) will vote to express their support. The policies of the administration will not be a factor for 20 percent of voters.

Most Republicans — 72 percent — describe their midterm vote as expressing opposition to the Obama administration. That's a bit higher than the 64 percent of Democrats who say their vote will express support. One in 10 Democrats will vote to express opposition to the president (11 percent)...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll commissioned by ABC News and the Washington Post finds Americans are increasingly disenchanted with pro-abortion President Barack Obama. The new survey finds, by an 8 percent margin, voters want Republicans to control Congress to keep Obama's agenda in check.

Some 51 percent in the new ABC News/Washington Post poll would rather have the Republicans run Congress "to act as a check on Obama's policies."

That compares with 43 percent who want Obama's pro-abortion allies to remain in charge of Congress to further push his agenda...

The nation's debt leapt $166 billion in a single day last week, the third-largest increase in U.S. history, and it comes at a time when Congress is balking over higher spending and debt has become a key policy battleground.

The one-day increase for June 30 totaled $165,931,038,264.30 - bigger than the entire annual deficit for fiscal year 2007 and larger than the $140 billion in savings the new health care bill will produce over its first 10 years. The figure works out to nearly $1,500 for every U.S. household, or more than 10 times the median daily household income.

Daily debt calculations jump and fall, and big shifts are common. But all three of the biggest one-day debt increases have occurred under the tenure of President Obama, and all of the top six have been in the past two years - an indication of just how quickly the pace of deficit spending has risen under Mr. Obama and President George W. Bush...

Members of Congress have received requested information from the General Accounting Office on how abortion organizations spend federal tax dollars.

Former Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, who is now a spokesperson for the Susan B. Anthony List, takes a look at the pro-abortion groups.

"These individuals from these organizations say that they give choice to women," she remarks, "but when you look at these agencies that advocate for abortion or provide abortion, they received almost a billion dollars [in federal funds] from 2002 through 2009...."

Musgrave focuses on just one year of Planned Parenthood's spending of the money...

With the midterm election just five months away, American voters are angry at incumbents, distrustful of the federal government, dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country and feeling gloomy on the economy.

A Fox News poll released Friday shows voters are angry at everyone in Washington. When chatting about the election, 32 percent of voters say their friends and neighbors are most angry with all members of Congress. Ten percent say people are mostly angry with Republicans and 9 percent say mostly with Democrats. Another 19 percent say their neighbors are angry with President Obama. Only 9 percent say their friends aren't angry at all.

Before the 2006 midterms, 44 percent said their friends and neighbors were angry at President Bush, and 20 percent said all incumbents (26-27 September 2006)...

A conservative military watchdog says the supposed "compromise" worked out between President Obama and the Pentagon to repeal the law banning homosexuals serving in the military is nothing more than an attempt to pay back radical homosexual political supporters.

Associated Press reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is reluctantly supporting a White House-backed proposal in Congress that would immediately repeal the 1993 law that bans homosexuals from serving in the military.

Gates will back the measure because Congress has left it up to him when to implement the changes. The proposal was considered a compromise with some Democrats, who want an immediate repeal of the law...

In a breakthrough in the effort to overhaul the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, Congress is set to vote as early as this week on a proposal to repeal the rule barring gays from serving openly in the military.

The plan would have Congress vote on repeal long before the Pentagon completes its review of how to implement the policy -- something the White House said it hoped would happen first.

But the Obama administration nevertheless backed the plan, saying the proposed amendment would still allow the Department of Defense to finish its work before implementing any changes...