Topic - Ways And Means Committee

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  MILLER: Help the unemployed off the rolls

  When it comes to job creation, President Obama has no clue. Under his leadership, the average amount of time spent in the unemployment lines more than doubled from four to nine months. Rather than push those down on their luck toward new opportunities, Mr. Obama wants to make sure they stay on the government dole for 99 weeks.

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  Obama seeks power to streamline government

  President Obama's request for greater power to shrink the size of the federal government is getting mixed reviews in Congress, with even some prominent Democrats opposed to parts of the plan and others warning against handing the executive branch too much power.

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  GOP Rep. Jerry Lewis to retire

  Rep. Jerry Lewis, a Republican stalwart who formerly was chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, said Thursday he won't seek an 18th term in office this year.

• California redistricting seen influencing five in House not to run

  While the majority party typically hangs on as long as it can in Congress, in California, where redistricting has significantly altered the congressional map, two senior Republican House members in recent days said they're calling it quits, with more reportedly mulling the option.

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  Partisan acrimony looms over talks on payroll-tax cut

  Congress will begin its work in 2012 right where it left off in 2011 — locked in a partisan, bicameral struggle to hammer out an extension of the expiring payroll-tax holiday.

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  McDonnell's funds cut for Potomac panel challenged

  A Virginia appointee to a multistate commission charged with cleaning and maintaining the Potomac River has released a scathing letter refuting the McDonnell administration's justification for cutting funds to the 71-year-old compact.

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  Bid afoot in Maryland to raise tax on cigars and more

  The price of cigars in Maryland could go up soon if one of the state's most prominent health advocates has his way.

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  Bush tax cut debate dooms deal to cut deficit

  A long-running war between Democrats and Republicans over Bush-era tax cuts doomed the debt supercommittee's chances of reaching a deal. Efforts to overhaul the tax code may await the same fate as both parties gear up to make taxes a central issue in 2012 elections.

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  Congress gives OK to small portion of Obama's jobs bill

  It took two months, but a sliver of President Obama's jobs-stimulus plan is finally on its way to his desk after the House gave a final sign-off Wednesday to new tax credits to promote hiring of veterans and a repeal of the so-called "withholding tax" that was set to bite government contractors in 2013.

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  BIRNBAUM: Tax reform fever

  With Gov. Rick Perry's new tax plan, on top of Mitt Romney's, Newt Gingrich's, Ron Paul's and, of course, Herman Cain's, it's now clear that Republicans - and probably Democrats, too - think that an overhaul of the federal income tax should accompany a reform of government itself.

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  MILLER: Super opportunity for job growth

  America needs to lower its corporate tax rate. Having the developed world's second most punishing levy just tells job creators that they're better off doing business in one of the 60 countries that have reduced their own taxes in the past few years. Capitol Hill is finally paying attention to this problem.

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  Bottom-line issues stall GOP efforts to pull back health law

  Republicans scored historic gains in last year's elections in part on their pledge to scrap the new health care law — but their passion for repeal has dimmed in the face of a split Congress and the difficulties of untangling the complex legislation.

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  MILLER: Bring home $1 trillion

  More than a trillion dollars in U.S. corporate profit sits around the globe, just waiting for a good reason to come home. With the most anti-business tax system in the developed world, the United States encourages companies doing business offshore to leave their profits overseas. The money would easily flow back into our economy if Washington shifted to a territorial tax system and lowered the corporate tax rate. The time to move on this is now.

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  Obama ends long delay on free-trade agreements

  President Obama on Monday finally sent Congress long-delayed free-trade agreements with Panama, South Korea and Colombia, breaking a deadlock that extends back to the George W. Bush administration and setting up a showdown on Capitol Hill.

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  New poverty numbers reflect post-recession blues

  In the first full calendar year after the Great Recession, the U.S. poverty rate jumped past 15 percent, the highest in 17 years, as a new historical high of 46.2 million Americans fell below the official poverty line, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

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