By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler is a 34-year-old Washington state Republican beginning her second term in Congress. The youngest female representative in Congress, she won't be old enough to run for president until November. But the people she relies on to carry out the day-to-day work of legislating make her look like an old hand.
As Mitt Romney has emerged as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Republicans in Congress are increasingly taking their cues from him — even if it causes heartburn and grumbling among conservatives unhappy about having to beat a tactical retreat.
The House on Thursday passed a bill banning Congress and executive branch officials from insider trading, but it brushed aside a provision aimed at reining in those who pry financial information from Congress and sell it to investment firms.
Congress closed out its legislative year on Friday the same way it began: with a divided House and Senate agreeing to a short-term extension, in this case renewing the payroll tax holiday for two more months, but leaving the bigger work for later.
The United States is going deeper and deeper into debt, and no one in Washington can agree on what to do about it. For over a year now, the federal government has operated off a series of continuing resolutions instead of a long-term, binding budget. Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, wants to repair this broken process.
"Some folks in an election year would say you need to take tough issues off the table," said Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga. "Other folks in an election year say you need to bring your best solutions to the toughest issues, and I'm in that latter camp."
Rep. Rob Woodall, a Georgia Republican who voted against the proposal, said any money Congress can free up right now should be used to reduce the deficit, not to fund new spending.
