WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Deep beneath the U.S. Capitol
is a red-carpeted room that recently reverberated to the sound
of Democrats and Republicans singing together, and then to
their angry exchanges over how to fix the U.S. budget.

Welcome to Congress’s “super committee” room.

This is where a dozen lawmakers lock themselves away to try
to strike a deal that, if reached, could prove a turning point
in one of the United States’ biggest challenges: shrinking its
huge budget deficits and containing its soaring debt burden.

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – The congressional “super
committee” charged with slashing the U.S. deficit have heard
from legions of lobbyists and lawmakers bent on influencing the
outcome. Now members are getting an earful from Republican and
Democratic leaders who want them to reach a deal and help
restore voters’ faith in Congress before the 2012 elections.

The panel’s six Republicans and six Democrats are under
pressure to avoid a deadlock that could further anger voters
fed up with the partisan gridlock that has plagued major
legislation since President Barack Obama took office in January
2009, according to aides, analysts, lawmakers and lobbyists.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Republicans and Democrats rejected each other’s economic stimulus bills on Thursday, underscoring their inability to craft a bipartisan solution on job creation before next year’s elections.

All 47 Senate Republicans, joined by two of President Barack Obama’s fellow Democrats and one independent, stopped a key piece of Obama’s $447 billion economic stimulus plan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration and the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to unveil new steps to help distressed homeowners in the next week or two, a senior congressional aide said on Thursday.

The aide commented on the plan after Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the Federal Reserve planned to send Congress “legislative recommendations” on housing.

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The Obama administration and
the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to
unveil new steps to help distressed homeowners in the next week
or two, a senior congressional aide said on Thursday.

The aide commented on the plan after Democratic Senator
Dianne Feinstein said the Federal Reserve planned to send
Congress “legislative recommendations” on housing.

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack
Obama’s fellow Democrats in the Senate proposed a bill on
Monday to enact into law a portion of his popular $447 billion
jobs program that Republicans blocked last week.

The Democrats’ bill would create or save, at a cost of $35
billion, 300,000 education jobs and another 100,000 jobs for
firefighters, police officers and other first-responders, said
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Republicans, having rejected President Barack Obama’s jobs bill, offered a sweeping and largely repackaged plan of their own on Thursday.

Their “Jobs Through Growth Act” features a fresh call for tax reform and cuts as well as a number of components previously proposed, but stalled in the Democratic-led Senate.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four years ago, Senator Claire McCaskill was one of Barack Obama’s biggest boosters in his presidential campaign. But when he recently visited her state of Missouri, she did not have time to join him.

Many of McCaskill’s fellow Democrats in Congress may also decide they are too busy to be with Obama, whose approval rating of about 40 percent as the economy struggles threatens to be a drag on their own reelection chances next year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats and Republicans have fired opening shots in a populist battle over corporate America’s power, with the political impact as uncertain as trading on Wall Street.

In a speech on Friday, House of Representatives Republican Leader Eric Cantor assailed anti-Wall Street protesters as “growing mobs” that are trying to divide the country.