WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) – The top U.S. Senate Democrat
said on Tuesday that he wants increased tax revenues to help
replace the automatic spending cuts looming on March 1, a demand
that could reignite partisan budget tensions.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats are working
on alternatives to the $85 billion in delayed, across-the-board
spending cuts, known as the sequester. They will seek to end
some tax credits and close loopholes – possibly some for oil
companies – to find revenues to help replace the cuts, he said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reflecting the growing influence of Hispanics in American politics, a group of Republican and Democratic U.S. senators on Monday said they will move quickly with legislation giving 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens.

That new political reality, and a change in public opinion on immigration, makes this effort at comprehensive reform more likely to succeed than those of the past, they said, acknowledging that it still won’t be easy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of senators who have agreed on an immigration reform plan said on Monday they hope to move quickly with legislation giving 11 million illegal immigrants a chance to eventually become American citizens.

The four Democrats and four Republicans released the outline of a comprehensive immigration reform effort – one with plenty of details missing – that still must be turned into legislation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has agreed on an immigration reform plan that would provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States but only after borders are better secured.

The plan, unveiled a day before President Barack Obama is to give a policy speech on immigration in Nevada, tackles the most explosive issue – how to deal with the millions of foreigners living in the United States illegally.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Previous budget dramas in Washington produced bargains that made it look like Congress was making great strides, without actually doing so.

Wednesday’s vote by the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to extend the government’s borrowing power until May 19 was no different.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Previous budget dramas in Washington produced bargains that made it look like Congress was making great strides, without actually doing so.

Wednesday’s vote by the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to extend the government’s borrowing power until May 19 was no different.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top Democratic senators urged President Barack Obama on Friday to be ready to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval in order to avert a damaging debt default.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his leadership team said Obama should use “any lawful steps” under his authority to “ensure that America does not break its promises and trigger a global economic crisis.”

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) – Democratic Senator Jay
Rockefeller announced on Friday that he will not seek a sixth
term in 2014 to represent his home state of West Virginia, which
has been trending more Republican in recent years.

President Barack Obama, a Democrat, failed to win West
Virginia in either of his two races in 2008 and 2010.
Rockefeller, 75, could have faced a spirited race next year,
especially if Republican Representative Shelley Moore Capito
decided to challenge him, as expected.

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) – As Republicans in the U.S.
Congress struggle to find a strategy for forcing big spending
cuts on President Barack Obama, some conservative voices are
warning against taking the country to the brink of a debt
default as the strategy for winning the budget wars.

“We would encourage the administration and the Congress of
the United States, first and foremost, don’t default. That’s a
bad idea,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice
President Bruce Josten on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Chamber of Commerce on Thursday declared federal deficit reduction its top goal for 2013 and questioned whether Washington politicians were brave enough to take the steps necessary to rein in a fast-growing national debt.

“Do we have leaders with the courage to put the country first – ahead of their own careers, politics, ideologies and egos?” asked Thomas Donohue, president of the country’s largest business group.