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Chris Frates

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GOP Not Backing Down on Border Security in Immigration Bill

June 14, 2013 Despite publicly rallying around an aggressive plan from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to secure the border, Republicans are privately conceding that staunch Democratic opposition means it likely doesn’t have the votes to pass. But that doesn’t mean the issue goes down too. Conservatives still want border-security improvements and are warning ...

The Republicans' Plan to Take Down the Consumer Protection Agency Chief

June 6, 2013 If Harry Reid goes nuclear, Senate Republicans plan to make the fight personal—and their first target will be the man sitting atop the still-controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Democrats are eyeing the so-called nuclear option to blow up Senate rules that allow Republicans to block the confirmation of President Obama’s ...

Don't Expect Any Backroom Deals on Sequester -- For Now

March 1, 2013 There’s been so much talk about relationships in Washington recently that opening a newspaper can feel a bit like reading Cosmo. House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama don’t get along, what with the speaker saying the president doesn’t have “the guts” to cut spending. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell ...

Once unthinkable, severe spending cuts now seem plausible

January 24, 2013 Republicans and Democrats in the Senate appear to be coming to the same conclusion on spending, namely that once unthinkable, draconian cuts designed to force a more reasonable compromise may be much harder to undo than anyone ever imagined. For Republicans, the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts are an increasingly palatable ...

Senate likely to pass 'No Budget No Pay' debt limit fix

January 23, 2013 Senate Democrats are likely to pass a House Republican bill to suspend the debt ceiling until May, ensuring that the government can pay its bills while lawmakers attempt to solve yet another raft of tricky fiscal issues this spring, Democratic aides said Tuesday. The House is expected to vote on ...

House GOP seeing sequester, not debt ceiling, as fight to pick

January 18, 2013 WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Republicans appear to be willing to avoid a showdown over the debt limit and instead use the sequester as their main negotiating lever in upcoming fiscal fights with the White House and Senate Democrats. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republicans at a closed-door retreat ...

Here's what's in the fiscal cliff deal

January 1, 2013 At around 2 a.m. on New Year's Day, the Senate passed a measure aimed at pulling the country back from the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. The measure, hammered out by Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, still needs approval by ...

Cliff deal would extend tax cuts for households up to $450,000

December 31, 2012 Talks between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden have resulted in key tax provisions as the two worked to finish a compromise that would avert the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and drastic spending cuts poised to hit economy starting Jan. 1: Income tax rates would ...

COLA calculation is at the center of latest fiscal cliff standoff

December 30, 2012 With fiscal cliff negotiations stalled, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has called his old dance partner Vice President Joe Biden in from the sidelines. "I have also placed a call to the vice president to see if he could help jump start the negotiations on his side," McConnell said on ...

Fiscal cliff negotiations: A slow-motion car wreck?

December 28, 2012 Washington’s fiscal cliff negotiations have taken on the feel of a slow-motion car wreck that could be avoided if only someone would take the wheel. But instead, President Obama and congressional leaders in both parties spent Thursday engaged in what amounted to a staring contest where neither side blinked. House ...