“I ran on a government that did less,” said Representative Reid Ribble, Republican of Wisconsin. “I felt the government was overreaching, and the citizens that sent me didn’t want me to be overaggressive in writing new laws. The Affordable Care Act launch is actually demonstrating the ineptitude of the federal government in handling these big programs.” The 113th Congress has passed all of 55 laws so far this year, seven fewer at this point than the 112th Congress — the least productive Congress ever. House and Senate negotiators will meet on Wednesday to try to come to terms on a farm bill, but they remain far apart, especially on food-stamp cuts that the House is demanding. The leaders of the House and Senate budget committees will also meet this week, and they appear to be closing in on a modest deal that would set spending levels for the next two years while relieving some of the pain from the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. In the meantime, the House is set to pass legislation on Tuesday to mandate that loose change left at airport security checkpoints be given to airport “places of rest and recuperation” for members of the armed forces. The real action will be off the House floor — four different hearings in four different committees on the Affordable Care Act.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 11:50:12 +0000
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