<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>SwamplandCategory: Congress &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
	<atom:link href="http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
	<description>Political insight from the Beltway and beyond</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 22:39:55 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='swampland.time.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/11d9978cfec7d5a71822113fdc067df5?s=96&#038;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>SwamplandCategory: Congress &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://swampland.time.com/osd.xml" title="Swampland" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://swampland.time.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>Caramel Apple</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/22/caramel-apple/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/22/caramel-apple/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 May 2013 09:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96225</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was a lovefest. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, was welcomed  to Washington Tuesday like a conquering corporate hero, not the boss of a firm that has found all sorts of ways to dodge the US Tax Code. According to a Senate investigation released the night before Cook’s testimony, Apple paid in between 0% and .06% in taxes on $104 billion in income earned outside of the Americas over the past four years. While Apple claims to pay around a 30% effective tax rate, the Senate found that its effective tax rate for U.S. corporate income taxes is 20.1%. Overall, it is believed that the Cupertino, California company has stashed around $100 billion overseas to avoid paying the 35% US corporate tax rate. Ranking Republican in the subcommittee John McCain of Arizona called Cook an “outstanding” CEO. He emphasized that Apple had not engaged in “wrongdoing” but that “Apple’s tax department has given new meaning to the company’s old slogan, quote: ‘think different.’” He said that Apple was an “egregious” tax offender, but ended on a light-hearted note: “What I really wanted to ask was why the hell do I have to keep updating the apps on my iPhone all the time?” Cook laughed, then responded, “Sir we’re trying to make them better all the time.” Other senators bobbed for Apple. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), according to the Atlantic, met Cook during a hearing break, and opened with, “So nice to meet you. I have an iPad.” During the hearing, Ayotte asked Apple what Congress should do to fix the tax code. Cook said it would be “materially better” to have permanent comprehensive tax reform than a one-off repatriation tax holiday, which Congress passed in 2004 to attract jobs, but instead only boosted stock prices. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) agreed, arguing that Apple would have a better shot against its Korean rival Samsung if the country supported some of his comprehensive tax reform proposals. “Your investment options are a lot more limited,” Portman told Cook, because “you can’t bring the money home.” Portman then expressed his wish for a 25% corporate<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96225&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/22/caramel-apple/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Senate</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/senate/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/cook.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/cook.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/cook.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Apple CEO Cook laughs during Senate homeland security and governmental affairs investigations subcommittee hearing in Washington</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Immigration Bill Navigates Early Obstacles</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/immigration-bill-navigates-early-obstacles/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/immigration-bill-navigates-early-obstacles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 20:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=96073</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Slow but sure seems to be working for the supporters of the Senate&#8217;s immigration bill. With Washington distracted by scandals large and small, the Senate Judiciary Committee continued to chew its way through amendments to the bipartisan measure on Monday. With 10 Democratic supporters and two Republican authors of the bill on the 18-member panel, the committee has parried dozens of attempts to undermine the measure during the first four days of debate, such as a Republican proposal on Monday that would have allowed profiling of immigrants based on their country of origin. Working through the first half of the 300 amendments (the full list, with available results, can be viewed here) has been a laborious process, but in many respects a model one. The transparent method adopted by the committee, led by Democratic chairman Patrick Leahy, has led to civil debate and minimal demagoguery. Some two dozen amendments filed by Republicans have been adopted. Many of them address conservatives&#8217; concerns about border security, including a Monday proposal from Utah Republican Orrin Hatch — seen as a swing vote on the bill — that would create a new biometric ID system at the 30 most trafficked U.S. airports. Democrats like New York&#8217;s Chuck Schumer supported Hatch&#8217;s amendment as part of an effort to ease concerns about the bill&#8217;s enforcement provisions, as well as insulate it from charges of partisanship. But the Senators trying to pass the first major overhaul of U.S. immigration law in a generation have slogged only through the easy part. The committee has yet to consider several amendments whose passage could unravel fragile alliances. One of these is Hatch&#8217;s effort to boost the allotted number of high-skilled visas. The idea, championed by a contingent of Silicon Valley tech companies, is opposed by labor groups, who say it would threaten the job prospects of American workers. The panel may also take up Leahy&#8217;s amendment to allow gays to sponsor their foreign partners for green cards. If adopted, that change could create fissures within the so far sturdy Gang of Eight, whose Republican members ardently<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=96073&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/20/immigration-bill-navigates-early-obstacles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ap54056683738.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ap54056683738.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/ap54056683738.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Patrick Leahy, Chuck Grassley, Chuck Schumer</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Groundhog Day in the House: A Gift to Republican Freshmen, and Possibly Democrats Too</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/groundhog-day-in-the-house-a-gift-to-republican-freshmen-and-possibly-democrats-too/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/groundhog-day-in-the-house-a-gift-to-republican-freshmen-and-possibly-democrats-too/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 22:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The House of Representatives voted Thursday to repeal Barack Obama&#8216;s health-care reform law. You have read that sentence before. It was the 37th time Republicans have voted to repeal or defund all or part of the President&#8217;s signature legislative achievement since taking control of the House in 2011. Democrats still hold the Senate, and Obama was re-elected, so the bill is doomed to die. Republicans are well aware of this. &#8220;Obamacare is the law of the land,&#8221; Speaker John Boehner conceded after the President won a second term. So why bother to go through the rigamarole of passing a bill that has zero chance of becoming law? As a sop to House GOP freshmen, mainly. Unlike the rest of the GOP majority, the three-dozen Republican rookies had yet to register a vote against the law. Nearly all of them blistered the health-care bill on their way to Washington, and they wanted an opportunity to live up to the rhetoric. The 112th Congress may have spent dozens of hours litigating the point, &#8220;but this is my first time,&#8221; said Tom Rice, a Republican freshman from South Carolina. &#8220;The constituents who sent me here want my vote recorded.&#8221; Republican leaders decided to throw him a bone. Many conservatives also expect the issue to be a boon on the campaign trail during the 2014 midterm elections, particularly if the law&#8217;s implementation is bumpy. Democrats view it as a gift as well. They&#8217;ve spent the week slamming their opponents for squandering time and money on symbolic votes, noting the opportunity cost of devoting valuable time on the floor to a purely symbolic measure. &#8220;You can repeal it 37 more times, and it’ll be just as dead when it gets to the Senate,&#8221; scoffed Democratic Congressman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania. &#8220;This is a waste of time…you should be ashamed of yourself.&#8221; Just as Republicans believe they benefit from going on the record against a controversial law, Democrats are convinced the effort will boost their image with the very people the GOP are vying to court.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95912&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/16/groundhog-day-in-the-house-a-gift-to-republican-freshmen-and-possibly-democrats-too/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168874407.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168874407.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/168874407.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Speaker of the House John Boehner at a news conference on Capitol Hill with a printed version of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2013.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>House Panel Set to OK Cut in Food Stamp Program</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/15/house-panel-set-to-ok-cut-in-food-stamp-program/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/15/house-panel-set-to-ok-cut-in-food-stamp-program/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 15:56:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Mary Clare Jalonick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95699</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The House Agriculture Committee has begun work on a five-year farm bill that would make small cuts to the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program. The panel is making the cuts to appease conservatives who say the food aid has become too expensive. The legislation would cut about $2.5 billion a year, or 3 percent, to the program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The legislation would achieve the cuts partly by eliminating &#8220;broad-based categorical eligibility,&#8221; or automatic food stamp benefits when people sign up for other programs. The farm bill costs almost $100 billion annually and would set policy for farm subsidies, rural programs and the food aid. The House panel is considering the legislation Wednesday, one day after the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its version. MORE:  The Problem with Food-Stamp Challenges<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95699&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/15/house-panel-set-to-ok-cut-in-food-stamp-program/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timemilitary.wordpress.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">More...</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Senate Begins Work on Massive Farm Bill</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/senate-begins-work-on-massive-farm-bill/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/senate-begins-work-on-massive-farm-bill/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 16:02:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Mary Clare Jalonick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95617</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The Senate has begun laying the groundwork on a massive farm bill that would cut spending while also creating new subsidies for farmers. The legislation the Senate Agriculture Committee is considering Tuesday makes concessions to Southern rice and peanut farmers, thanks to a new top Republican on the committee, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran. The bill eliminates $5 billion in annual subsidies called direct payments that are important to those Southern farmers but makes it easier for them to receive alternate subsidies if prices dip. The Senate bill calls for a total of roughly $2.4 billion a year in cuts, while a House version to be considered Wednesday would save $4 billion out of about $100 billion annually. Those cuts include more than $600 million in yearly savings from across-the-board cuts that took effect this year. (MORE:   Creamed by Congress: Farm Bill Inaction May Mean Higher Dairy Prices) Much of the savings in the House and Senate bills comes from eliminating the direct payments, which aren&#8217;t tied to production or crop prices. Part of that savings would go toward deficit reduction, but the rest of the money would create new programs and raise subsidies for some crops while business is booming in the agricultural sector. Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, the top Republican on the committee in the last session of Congress, criticized the higher subsidies for Southern farmers, which are essentially a lower threshold for rice and peanut subsidies to kick in. Roberts said the new policy could guarantee that those farmers profits are average or above average. &#8220;I simply don&#8217;t know how to justify a program that pays producers more than the cost of production and essentially becomes nothing more than another income transfer program, not a risk management tool,&#8221; Roberts said. Under the House bill, authored by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., those subsidies for rice and peanut farmers could kick in even sooner. These &#8220;target price&#8221; programs allow farmers to receive subsidies if prices fall below a certain threshold. The bill includes generous protections for<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95617&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/senate-begins-work-on-massive-farm-bill/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The IRS Scandal Means More Washington Gridlock</title>
		<link>http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2379058500001_2143325,00.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2379058500001_2143325,00.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 15:41:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>TIME Staff</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95613&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2379058500001_2143325,00.html/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-14-at-11-39-36-am.png?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-14-at-11-39-36-am.png?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/screen-shot-2013-05-14-at-11-39-36-am.png?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Joe Klein</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3cb61b88047e46fa55ea7dd6bf87ec1c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeadmin</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Top White House Aide Has A Secret Beer With Rep. Paul Ryan</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/09/top-white-house-aide-has-a-secret-beer-with-rep-paul-ryan/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/09/top-white-house-aide-has-a-secret-beer-with-rep-paul-ryan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 09:30:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Scherer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On April 10, the day President Obama released his 2014 budget, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough held a secret meeting with House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan at a K Street restaurant, Brasserie Beck, to talk, among other things, about possible resolutions to the deficit reduction standoff. As I report in this week’s TIME magazine, an article that is only available to magazine or tablet subscribers online, the meeting was productive, even if it produced no breakthroughs. &#8220;He’s a Minnesota Irish Catholic guy, and I’m a Wisconsin Irish Catholic guy,&#8221; Ryan told me, after the conversation. &#8220;It quickly dawned on me that we can work together.&#8221; &#8220;It was the first time I have had a candid conversation or a substantial conversation with a member of the Obama administration since they came into power,&#8221; Ryan added. The discussion, over beer, included talk about spending levels and paths to reaching a deal, but was not intended as a negotiating session. Rather it was part of a large scale outreach effort by the White House, coordinated by McDonough to increase communication between the White House and Congress, and between Democrats and Republicans. The Belgian restaurant lists 115 beers on its menu, but not Miller Lite, Ryan’s beer of choice. &#8220;I ended up getting some lager I’d never heard of,&#8221; said Ryan, who mistook the place for a French joint. But it turned out McDonough had done his homework in other ways. He knew that Ryan had graduated from Miami University in Ohio the same year as his own wife Kari. Both men hailed from former frontier towns in the upper Midwest, and both had been drawn to Washington as young congressional aides. They were nerds, in the best sense of the word, and they were fierce competitors. At the same time McDonough and Ryan met, President Obama hosted a dinner at the White House for a dozen Republican Senators. Since then the outreach effort has continued, both in public and private. The President golfed Monday with two Republican Senators, and McDonough<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95177&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/09/top-white-house-aide-has-a-secret-beer-with-rep-paul-ryan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Magazine</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/magazine/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/1500_wmcdonough_0520.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/1500_wmcdonough_0520.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/1500_wmcdonough_0520.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Denis McDonough Obama</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a467a0981ef8e059913a0aa44ba7df1b?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelscherer</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Senators Discuss Changing Background Checks Bill</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/08/senators-discuss-changing-background-checks-bill/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/08/senators-discuss-changing-background-checks-bill/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 12:58:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Alan Fram</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=95105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Senators backing gun control are discussing ways to revise the defeated Senate background check bill in order to help win the votes they need to resuscitate the measure. Among the changes they might consider are limiting the fees buyers would pay at gun shows, adding provisions dealing with the mentally ill and altering language extending the background check requirement to all online sales, senators said Tuesday. Supporters fell five votes short when the Senate defeated legislation last month that would have extended required federal background checks to more buyers. (MORE:  The Battle Over Gun Control Follows Key Senators Back Home) That vote, four months after the massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators at a school in Newtown, Conn., was a defeat for President Barack Obama and gun control advocates. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to revisit the issue, perhaps by early summer. Gun control groups have stepped up advertising, attendance at lawmakers&#8217; town hall meetings and other forms of pressure in an effort to convince at least five senators that they risk electoral defeat unless they reverse themselves and back the effort. Once senators make that political calculation, many lawmakers and lobbyists believe the legislation would have to be changed so those senators could justify switching their earlier vote. &#8220;Clearly this bill is going to have to look differently to allow members to face their constituents and explain why they changed their mind,&#8221; said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. &#8220;This is a pretty common-sense bill. I don&#8217;t know how you make it any more common sense, except redefine some areas,&#8221; said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who wrote the measure with Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa. Several senators who voted no have said they would consider revised versions of the legislation. None have committed themselves to changing their vote, and several have said they won&#8217;t do so. &#8220;I&#8217;m not changing my vote. I think we ought to move on,&#8221; Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., one of the lawmakers gun control advocates have discussed trying to sway, said this<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=95105&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/08/senators-discuss-changing-background-checks-bill/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Internet Sales Tax Bill Faces Tough Sell in House</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/06/senate-passes-bill-letting-states-tax-online-sales/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/06/senate-passes-bill-letting-states-tax-online-sales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 23:12:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / STEPHEN OHLEMACHER</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94916</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Traditional retailers and cash-strapped states face a tough sell in the House as they lobby Congress to limit tax-free shopping on the Internet. The Senate voted 69 to 27 Monday to pass a bill that empowers states to collect sales taxes from Internet purchases. Under the bill, states could require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes when they sell products over the Internet, in catalogs, and through radio and TV ads. The sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives. Current law says states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the merchant has a physical presence in the state. That means big retailers with stores all over the country like Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target collect sales taxes when they sell goods over the Internet. But online retailers like eBay and Amazon don&#8217;t have to collect sales taxes, except in states where they have offices or distribution centers. &#8220;This bill is about fairness,&#8221; said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the bill&#8217;s main sponsor in the Senate. &#8220;It&#8217;s about leveling the playing field between the brick and mortar and online companies and it&#8217;s about collecting a tax that&#8217;s already due. It&#8217;s not about raising taxes.&#8221; The bill got bipartisan support in the Senate but faces opposition in the House, where some lawmakers regard it as a tax increase. Grover Norquist, the anti-tax advocate, and the conservative Heritage Foundation oppose the bill, and many Republicans have been wary of crossing them. Supporters say the bill is not a tax increase. In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales tax when they file their state tax returns. However, states complain that few taxpayers comply. &#8220;Obviously there&#8217;s a lot of consumers out there that have been accustomed to not having to pay any taxes, believing that they don&#8217;t have to pay any taxes,&#8221; said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., the bill&#8217;s main sponsor in the House. &#8220;I totally understand that, and I think a lot of our members understand that. There&#8217;s a lot of political<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94916&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/06/senate-passes-bill-letting-states-tax-online-sales/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Senate</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/senate/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/158697622.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/158697622.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/158697622.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">online tax amazon</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chuck Schumer: The Legislative Hurricane</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/03/chuck-schumer-eats-the-schumer-on-staten-island/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/03/chuck-schumer-eats-the-schumer-on-staten-island/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2013 09:30:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman / Staten Island</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94701</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Hurricane Sandy socked New York City, there was no more dangerous place to be than in Ocean Breeze, a low-lying neighborhood of modest homes nestled near Staten Island’s eastern shore. Water sloshed through the streets, 10 feet high in places, cresting the tops of houses and sending residents scurrying for higher ground. It was the start of a slow-moving nightmare. Six months later, 75% of houses near the intersection of Oceanside and Liberty Avenues remain uninhabited, and the patient community has grown fed up with the federal response. FEMA relief has slowed to a crawl. Insurers are remorseless. The residents, some still living in their cars, feel abandoned by the people in power. Most of them, anyway. One of the few fixtures in the months since Sandy, locals say, has been Chuck Schumer. Within hours of the storm, New York&#8217;s senior senator was in the neighborhood, a platoon of press in tow, drawing attention to the community&#8217;s plight. He’s been back enough since to have a favorite sandwich at the local Italian joint down the street. “The Schumer,” he calls it, rattling off the ingredients from behind a makeshift podium erected for a press conference in the middle of the scarred street. “He’s been fantastic,” says Frank Moszczynski, the chairman of the board of the local civic association. “He’s fighting all the time for us.” These days Schumer seems to be fighting, in big ways and small, for too many causes to count. With the Senate in recess, he spent Wednesday crisscrossing the New York area to tout a variety of steps he has taken to pump money into communities still rebuilding from the storm. In the morning, he held a press conference in Manhattan to publicize a push to make the feds boost their share of the tab for Sandy repairs from 75% to 90%. An hour later, he was repeating his plan to unlock $900 million in government funds for another bank of cameras at the edge of a harbor in Freeport, on Long Island’s South Shore. The<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94701&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/03/chuck-schumer-eats-the-schumer-on-staten-island/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/chuck.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/chuck.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/chuck.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Chuck Schumer</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Congress Bars Military from Determining How Many Surplus Bases It Has</title>
		<link>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/02/base-motives/#ixzz2S9ONqFq6</link>
		<comments>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/02/base-motives/#ixzz2S9ONqFq6#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2013 15:51:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark Thompson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94714</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94714&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://nation.time.com/2013/05/02/base-motives/#ixzz2S9ONqFq6/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/url.jpeg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/url.jpeg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/url.jpeg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">base</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>GOP Faces Senate Recruitment Woes in Key States</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/27/gop-faces-senate-recruitment-woes-in-key-states/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/27/gop-faces-senate-recruitment-woes-in-key-states/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:11:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Thomas Beaumont</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94243</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(DES MOINES, Iowa) — Republicans are struggling to recruit strong Senate candidates in states that present the party&#8217;s best opportunities to reclaim the majority, a sign that the GOP&#8216;s post-2012 soul-searching may end up creeping into the midterm congressional elections. It&#8217;s admittedly early, with more than 18 months before the November 2014 elections. But candidate recruitment efforts are well underway. And, so far, Republicans haven&#8217;t been able to field a top-tier candidate in Iowa or Michigan, swing-voting states where the GOP hopes to make a play for seats left open by the retirement of veteran Democratic senators. Also, the GOP is facing the prospect of contentious and expensive primary races in Georgia and perhaps West Virginia, two GOP-leaning states where sitting senators — one Republican, one Democrat — are retiring. (MORE: GOP Fights to Rebrand the Party of No) With President Barack Obama not on the top of the ticket, Republicans may have their best chance in years to try to retake the Senate, which would put a major crimp on the president&#8217;s efforts to enact his agenda and shape his legacy in the final two years of his presidency. Republicans need to gain six seats to win control of the Senate. Democrats will be defending 21 seats to Republicans&#8217; 14, meaning the GOP has more opportunity to try to win on Democratic turf. Only recently, Republicans were reveling in the fact that several veteran Democrats were retiring in states where the GOP had not had a chance to win in decades. Last week, Democrat Max Baucus of Montana became the latest to announce his retirement in a state that typically tilts Republican. But a combination of no-thank-yous from prospective Republican candidates in Iowa, slow movement among others in Michigan and lack of consensus elsewhere over a single contender have complicated the early goings of what historically would be the GOP&#8217;s moment to strike — the sixth year of a presidency, when the party out of power in the White House usually wins congressional seats. Despite that historical disadvantage, Democrats<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94243&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/27/gop-faces-senate-recruitment-woes-in-key-states/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Senate</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/senate/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hank Johnson: Imagine a World Without Balloons</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/26/hank-johnson-imagine-a-world-without-balloons/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/26/hank-johnson-imagine-a-world-without-balloons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:44:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Why God Created C-SPAN]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94213</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today the House voted 394 to 1* to keep alive the Federal Helium Program, which was designed in 1925 to counter Germany&#8217;s early advantage in the blimp warcraft trade. While some politicians, including former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, have decried the program as a symbol of Washington largesse, Rep. Hank Johnson on the House floor extolled its benefits, asking us to &#8220;imagine&#8230;a world without balloons.&#8221; He also asked us to consider that helium helps comedians get that &#8220;high-pitched voice that we all hold near and dear to our hearts.&#8221; But his real target was Republicans in Congress, who allowed the helium debate to take up so much time on the floor. &#8220;I’d like to float a simple idea: Stop wasting out time,&#8221; Johnson concluded. &#8220;Let’s get to the business that is meaningful for Americans.&#8221; This is not the first viral speech for Johnson. In recent years he has also asked the American public to consider giant vs. midget cagematches and Guam becoming so &#8220;overpopulated that it will tip over and capsize.&#8221; *Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) was the only member to vote nay.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94213&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/26/hank-johnson-imagine-a-world-without-balloons/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Why God Created C-SPAN</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/why-god-created-c-span/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-26-at-2-43-23-pm.png?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-26-at-2-43-23-pm.png?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-26-at-2-43-23-pm.png?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Hank Johnson Balloons</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Now for Sale: Congress&#8217;s Constitutional Authority</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/26/now-for-sale-congress-constitutional-authority/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/26/now-for-sale-congress-constitutional-authority/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:23:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Massimo Calabresi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94195</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first reaction to Congress’s FAA climbdown was that Democrats in general and the White House in particular caved. And there’s plenty of truth to that. From the start, the White House and Senate Democratic leaders have said they would not undo parts of the sequester without undoing all of it. &#8220;The President also made clear that he will not accept any measure that attempts to turn off part of the sequester,&#8221; said White House spokesman Jay Carney in November 2011. But last night, the Senate rushed through a bill by unanimous consent — without a single objection — that would authorize the FAA to spend up to $253 million of the funds Congress gave it in 2013 on keeping air-traffic controllers on the job and flights running on time. The House followed suit this morning, passing the bill with bipartisan support on a greater than 300-vote margin and in violation of the Republican majority&#8217;s policy of making all legislation available for review 72 hours before the vote. Enter the White House. “It will be good news for America’s traveling public if Congress spares them these unnecessary delays,” Carney said on Friday morning, but “we hope Congress will find the same sense of urgency and bipartisan cooperation to help the families who have had children kicked out of Head Start, the seniors who have lost access to Meals on Wheels, the hard-working employees who have been laid off due defense cuts, and the 750,000 Americans who have lost a job or won&#8217;t find one because of the sequester by acting on a balanced deficit-reduction plan like the one the President has proposed.&#8221; In other words, instead of vetoing the bill, Obama is going to “hope” that Congress will do all the things Obama previously said it had to do. So, yes, the White House caved. But in the larger picture, the sequester climbdown is just the latest in a continuing abdication of congressional power to the Executive Branch, a concession that Congress is so broken that it’s just going to let the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94195&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/26/now-for-sale-congress-constitutional-authority/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/485_biz_faa_0426.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/485_biz_faa_0426.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/485_biz_faa_0426.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Airport</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/afd9484b1bca74216e145d2c49c8af45?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">calabresim</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>House Debates Bill to End Airport Delays</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/senate-passes-bill-to-ease-faa-furloughs/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/senate-passes-bill-to-ease-faa-furloughs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / David Espo</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94157</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Democrats and Republicans traded accusations of blame Friday as the House debated a bill that would end furloughs of air traffic controllers and delays for millions of travelers that have caused a political headache in Washington. A day after the Senate approved the measure without even a roll call, the House began a vote on the measure. The bill would let the Federal Aviation Administration use up to $253 million from airport improvement and other accounts to end the furloughs for the controllers through the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year. Republicans accused the Obama administration of purposely furloughing the controllers to raise public pressure on Congress to lift the spending cuts. The FAA has resorted to the move as it swallows its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts — known as the sequester — that took effect last month at government agencies. &#8220;The administration has played shameful politics with the sequester at the cost of hard-working American families,&#8221; said Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa. (MORE: FAA Order Formally Lifts Boeing 787 Grounding) The White House and Democrats have argued that by law, the administration has little maneuverability in deciding where the cuts fall. Democrats said Friday that Congress should work on legislation lifting all of the cuts, which they noted have also caused reductions in Head Start pre-school programs, benefits for the long-term unemployed and medical research. &#8220;How can we sit there and say, &#8216;Four million Meals on Wheels for seniors, gone, but that&#8217;s not important. Over 70,000 children off Head Start, but that&#8217;s not important.&#8217; What is important is for Republicans to hold a hard line&#8221; on the budget, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, the available funds can be used for other FAA operations as well, including preventing the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA has said it will shut the facilities as it makes its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts — known as the sequester — that<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94157&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/senate-passes-bill-to-ease-faa-furloughs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Senate</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/senate/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/rtxyw2a.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/rtxyw2a.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/rtxyw2a.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">A Southwest airlines arrives to land at the San Diego International Airport in San Diego, California</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mitch McConnell, The Populist With Hollywood Production Values</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/mitch-mcconnell-the-populist-with-hollywood-production-values/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/mitch-mcconnell-the-populist-with-hollywood-production-values/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:35:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Scherer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mitch McConnell]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=94033</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Recent polls suggest that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is underwater in his home state of Kentucky about 18 months before his next election: One recent survey found that 36% approved of his performance, while 54% disapprove. One of his problems, Republicans in Congress, where he is a leader, tend to poll far worse, with about one in four Americans approving. How to solve this problem? Reintroduce McConnell to Kentucky with some fancy Hollywood production values as a populist fighting for the little guy. And who better for the job than Lucas Baiano, the wunderkind video producer who has produced similar videos for Chris Christie, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Perry. The video in all its flag-waving, Lady Liberty glory: Notably McConnell, who narrates the video, barely gets any screen time. But then that technique can be pretty standard for Baiano. Here is his video of Rick Perry: And Tim Pawlenty: Cue the fighter jet flyby. Republican activist Grover Norquist calls the new McConnell video a &#8220;GAMECHANGER.&#8221; Of course, it never quite worked out that way for Pawlenty or Perry. But then their videos almost certainly didn&#8217;t hurt either. UPDATE: The McConnell camp emails to point out that the survey I note above is one of several public measures over the last year of the senator&#8217;s popularity in his home state. Others are less grim. A Courier-Journal Bluegrass poll from September of 2012 found that 51% of the state approved of McConnell, with 42% disapproving. And an October SurveyUSA poll found 50% approved.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=94033&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/25/mitch-mcconnell-the-populist-with-hollywood-production-values/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Mitch McConnell</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/mitch-mcconnell/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-25-at-1-33-09-pm.png?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-25-at-1-33-09-pm.png?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-25-at-1-33-09-pm.png?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">mitch mcconnell</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a467a0981ef8e059913a0aa44ba7df1b?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelscherer</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>White House &#8216;Open&#8217; to Flexibility in FAA Cuts</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/24/white-house-open-to-flexibility-in-faa-cuts/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/24/white-house-open-to-flexibility-in-faa-cuts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:13:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Jim Kuhnhenn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=93921</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — The White House now says it&#8217;s willing to consider legislation that would give the administration the budget-cutting flexibility to avoid furloughs of air traffic controllers. Those furloughs could result in widespread air traffic delays. White House spokesman Jay Carney says that if Congress wants to address the effect of automatic spending cuts on the Federal Aviation Administration, &#8220;we would be open to looking at that.&#8221; But he says that would be a &#8220;Band-Aid measure&#8221; that would not address other automatic cuts that kicked in March 1. Back in February, when those cuts were approaching, the White House threatened to veto legislation that would give Obama budget-cutting flexibility across all accounts. At the time, the White House said it couldn&#8217;t make dramatic cuts without affecting national security or hurting the economy.  MORE: Sequestration Begins To Bite &#160;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=93921&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/24/white-house-open-to-flexibility-in-faa-cuts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Budgets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/budgets/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Montana Democrat Baucus Rules Out 7th Senate term</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/24/montana-democrat-baucus-rules-out-7th-senate-term/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/24/montana-democrat-baucus-rules-out-7th-senate-term/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:58:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / David Espo and Matt Gouras</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Senate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=93866</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana announced plans Tuesday to retire at the end of his term after a career of enormous power and notable independence, producing both collaboration and conflict with fellow Democrats on major tax and health care legislation. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress,&#8221; the 71-year-old Baucus said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. He became the eighth senator to announce retirement plans for 2014, and the sixth Democrat. One public poll recently suggested he would have faced a difficult challenge if he had sought a seventh term. Republicans must gain six seats in 2014 to win a majority, and they said the retirement enhanced their prospects. Yet Democrats were cheered when former Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who recently stepped down after two terms, swiftly expressed interest in the race. In a brief statement, President Barack Obama said Baucus &#8220;has been a leader on a broad range of issues that touch the lives of Americans across the country.&#8221; Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and Baucus&#8217; frequent legislative partner, was complimentary, too. &#8220;We ran the Finance Committee for 10 years together, and every bill except for three or four was bipartisan,&#8221; he said in a statement. &#8220;The Senate will be worse off as a deliberative body when Senator Baucus leaves.&#8221; &#160; In a written statement, Baucus sketched an ambitious agenda for the rest of his term, topped by an overhaul of the tax code.&#8221;Our country and our state face enormous challenges &#8211; rising debt, a dysfunctional tax code, threats to our outdoor heritage and the need for more good-paying jobs,&#8221; he said, adding several Montana-specific priorities as well. Baucus, a fifth-generation Montanan, was elected to the Senate in 1978 after two terms in the House. He became the top Democrat on the Finance Committee in early 2001. He has held the position ever since on the panel — which has jurisdiction over taxes, Medicare, Medicaid, health care and trade — as<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=93866&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/24/montana-democrat-baucus-rules-out-7th-senate-term/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Senate</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/senate/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/max.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/max.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/max.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Sen. Max Baucus, (D-MT) is questioned by media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Officials: Democratic Sen. Max Baucus to Retire</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/23/officials-democratic-sen-max-baucus-to-retire/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/23/officials-democratic-sen-max-baucus-to-retire/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:32:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>AP / Donna Cassata</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=93796</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee who steered President Barack Obama&#8217;s health care overhaul into law but recently broke with his party on gun control legislation, has decided to retire, Democratic officials said Tuesday. Baucus, 72, has been a fixture in the Senate since 1979 and has been the top Democrat on the Finance panel since 1981. A Democrat with an independent streak, Baucus supported the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and Obama&#8217;s signature 2010 health care law. He broke with his party this year to oppose both the Senate Democratic budget blueprint and a hotly fought effort to beef up background checks for gun purchases. (MORE:  Payroll-Tax-Cut Compromise: Washington Is Talking Again) The officials spoke about his retirement decision on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose the senator&#8217;s intentions. Baucus&#8217; retirement opens up an opportunity for Republicans to claim a Senate seat in a state where GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney easily defeated Obama by 12 percentage points last year. But Democrats have proved resilient in Montana, with Sen. Jon Tester winning re-election last year. The election of Steve Bullock last year is the third term in a row in which Democrats have held the governorship. Former two-term Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer would be a top candidate should he choose to run to replace Baucus. (MORE:  The McKinsey Study Controversy: Max Baucus Jumps In) Democrats in the Senate will be defending 21 seats next year to Republicans 14, with several Democrats running for re-election in GOP-leaning states that Romney won handily. Among the Democrats facing tough challenges next year are Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. Democrats also have more retirements than the GOP. Five Democrats have announced they will not seek another term: Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Carl Levin of Michigan and Tim Johnson of South Dakota. Among Republicans, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=93796&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/23/officials-democratic-sen-max-baucus-to-retire/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Congress</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ppotw_gallery01.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ppotw_gallery01.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ppotw_gallery01.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">ppotw_gallery01</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/cbef58d71daefb9ddab6c6b20018290c?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timeassociatedpress</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Full Rubio: A Politician Above Politics Hits A Record Seven Sunday Shows</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/15/the-full-rubio-a-politician-above-politics-hits-a-record-seven-sunday-shows/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/15/the-full-rubio-a-politician-above-politics-hits-a-record-seven-sunday-shows/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Scherer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=92847</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To paraphrase Bill Burroughs, the late junkie novelist, beware of salesmen who don&#8217;t want money. What they mean is they want more money. Much more. It&#8217;s a line to hold in mind while watching the Sunday political talk shows, a medium that requires a false humility from many of its guests, especially when those guests are preparing campaigns for higher office. The interviews are high-profile campaign stops. But by tradition, the candidates or would-be candidates must pretend political calculation has no place in their thinking. And so we come to Marco Rubio, a junior Senator from Florida, who broke a record on Sunday by appearing on seven Sunday network shows to sell this week&#8217;s Senate proposal to reform the nation&#8217;s immigration rules. Running the table like this was once called the &#8220;Full Ginsburg,&#8221; after William H. Ginsburg who first showed the feat was possible in 1998, when he appeared as the attorney to Monica Lewinsky on all five network Sunday shows—ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News and CNN. Since then, Wikipedia says that 16 officials have done the Full Ginsburg. But none before had ever done the basic five and both Spanish-language networks, Univision and Telemundo. Rubio did all that, and he did the two Spanish networks in Spanish. A Full Rubio. The ostensible topic this Sunday was immigration reform, for which Rubio has become the flag bearer of a bipartisan solution. But as he repeated his soundbites over and over again, delivering the same lines in two languages on gun control, Jay-Z in Cuba and why a path to citizenship is not the &#8220;amnesty&#8221; his critics say it is, it became clear that the real topic was Marco Rubio, an emerging poster child for a possible future of the Republican Party, Spanish speaking, post-&#8221;self-deportation,&#8221; populist, empathetic, potentially transformational in 2016. &#8220;We are not the party of the people who made it,&#8221; said Rubio on Meet The Press, in one of his several ear-catching refrains. In the tradition of many before him, however, Rubio refused to admit the obvious. Politics? What<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=92847&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/15/the-full-rubio-a-politician-above-politics-hits-a-record-seven-sunday-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Marco Rubio</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/congress/marco-rubio/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-14-at-11-32-25-pm.png?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-14-at-11-32-25-pm.png?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/screen-shot-2013-04-14-at-11-32-25-pm.png?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">rubio</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a467a0981ef8e059913a0aa44ba7df1b?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelscherer</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>