Tamara Keith

House Leadership Crashes Into Outside Hurdles On Bills

Tamara Keith — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:19:09 +0000

The House was set to vote this week on a bill modifying the president's health care law. The Republican bill was supported by the leadership, but ran into trouble and was pulled from the floor before the scheduled vote.

It's an example of the kind of obstacles Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, faces in getting legislation through the House. In many recent cases, his problem hasn't been the Democrats as much as members of his own party, backed by proudly conservative outside groups.

The health care bill was supposed to show the softer side of House Republicans.

The Boehner Rule? Speaker Bucks House GOP For Some Legislation

Tamara Keith — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:03:17 +0000

House Speaker John Boehner held a news conference the day after the November election.

"The American people have spoken," he said. "They've re-elected President Obama. And they've again re-elected a Republican majority in the House of Representatives."

But last Thursday, when the House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act, it did it without a majority of Republicans. Only 87 voted for the bill; 138 voted against it. The rest of the yes votes came from Democrats.

What Happens If We Fall Off The 'Fiscal Cliff'?

Tamara Keith — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:25:47 +0000

Lines of communication remain open in an effort to avert the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff," according to the White House and House Speaker John Boehner.

If no deal is reached between now and the end of the year, would the consequences be that drastic?

To answer that question, let's imagine it's January and the nation has gone off the "fiscal cliff." You don't really feel any different and things don't look different, either.

Fiscal Cliff Compromise: Devil Is In The Definition Of Revenue

Tamara Keith — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:16:30 +0000

A grand bargain, a compromise to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, could all come down to one word: revenue. It's now widely agreed that steering away from the cliff — the combination of spending cuts and tax increases set to hit at the start of the year — will require some combination of revenue increases and spending cuts.

Fiscal Cliff Would Only Dent The Deficit

Tamara Keith — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:42:35 +0000

Virtually everyone agrees that allowing the nation to fall off the fiscal cliff would be a bad thing.

Government programs would be cut, taxes would rise significantly on a majority of Americans, and according to the Congressional Budget Office, the economy would fall back into recession.

But get this: Even if all of those things happen, there would still be a budget deficit.

When it comes to describing the fiscal cliff — that combination of tax increases and spending cuts that would automatically begin in January unless Congress and the president step in — federal budget guru Stan Collen