Congress Votes to Boost Own Budget

Tentative deal emerges in House-Senate talks

(AP) - House-Senate talks on renewing a payroll tax cut that delivers about $20 a week to the average worker yielded a tentative agreement today, with lawmakers hopeful of unveiling the pact tomorrow and sending the measure to President Obama as early as this week. Under the outlines of the emerging agreement, a 2-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax would be extended through the end of the year, with the nearly $100 billion cost added to the deficit. More»

Boehner and Co. say they'll accept tax cut without paying for it elsewhere

(NEWSER) - House Republican leaders have surprised and angered rank-and-file lawmakers by abruptly backing down from demands that a 10-month extension of the payroll tax cut be paid for with cuts elsewhere. GOP leaders are wary of holding up a tax cut for 160 million Americans in an election year, Politico notes, but John Boehner's raucous caucus will likely chafe at the move, which will add around $100 billion to the deficit. Still, the measure will now likely pass; even Nancy Pelosi hasn't signaled opposition. More»

Medicaid, state jobs, infrastructure hit

(NEWSER) - The final three months of 2011 saw states, cities, and school districts making their biggest spending cuts in a decade, USA Today reports. Spending dropped 1.6% from the same period the year before, plummeting by $26 billion. The result: States are seeing their smallest shortfalls in years, and in some cases they're even seeing surpluses. The cuts' biggest targets were Medicaid; public-sector jobs, which were cut by 3.4% since August 2008; and infrastructure spending, which dropped 4% in 2010 and 2011. More»

Budget would institute 'Buffett Rule,' boost infrastructure

(NEWSER) - President Obama officially unveiled his $3.8 trillion budget today, and as expected it draws a 2012 battle line, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy combined with spending measures intended to bolster the economy, the AP reports. "We built this budget around the idea that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules," Obama said, according to CNN . "This is not about class warfare. This is about the nation's welfare." More»

Just 10% approve of work on Hill, according to latest Gallup poll

(NEWSER) - A Gallup poll released Wednesday finds that Americans' approval of Congress has hit yet another record low: 10%. There aren't many institutions Americans have liked less over the last 50-or-so years, according to Gallup: Only Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and OJ Simpson detective Mark Fuhrman have ever scored lower. ABC News takes a look at some very unpopular things that still manage to rank above Congress:

• According to an August poll, Paris Hilton is America's least-favorite celeb. But her 60% disapproval rating is still better than Congress's 86% disapproval rating.