Topic: Chris Van Hollen
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Paul Ryan and Chris Van Hollen: the fiscal bellwethers
The two House members – longtime ideological foes – will play a central role in bringing their respective party members along if Congress is ever to cut a grand fiscal deal.
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Cover Story How dealmaking gets done on Capitol Hill
In the new politics of Congress, deals are no longer fashioned by moderates, who vanished long ago, but by a few lawmakers on the left and right who have the respect, clout, and just enough pragmatism to surmount the culture of division.
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Obama launches 'charm offensive' on Capitol Hill. Does it have a chance? (+video)
President Obama begins meetings with lawmakers Tuesday to discuss everything from deficits to guns. He is not known for cultivating working relationships on the Hill, and at the same time, GOP congressional leadership has been locked in opposition.
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Paul Ryan's new budget whittles spending faster, still guts 'Obamacare'
Rep. Paul Ryan, GOP budget meister, unveils his latest budget blueprint Tuesday. It's not much different from his plan in prior years, but it accelerates the time frame for achieving a balanced budget.
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Congress opens first budget debate in four years
Congress this week takes up the parties' sharply different views on taxes and spending. Just laying down political markers on next year's budget could help advance a 'grand bargain' on deficits and entitlements, some say.
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Are Congress and Obama moving toward a budget deal?
As the public's patience with partisan politics wears thin, signs in Washington indicate possible movement toward bipartisan budget decision-making. The House passed a bill which would fund government programs through this fiscal year on Wednesday. The Senate is expected to pass a similar measure soon. Also on Wednesday, President Barack Obama invited Republican Senators to dinner.
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Obama urges a budget without brinkmanship. But can Congress stop the insanity?
In his State of the Union address, Obama calls on Congress to reject manufactured crises as a way of doing its budgetary business. But with fiscal flash points looming, the temptations are powerful.
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Boehner's 'Plan B' vote delayed
House Speaker John Boehner postponed the vote on his 'fiscal cliff' plan Thursday evening as he worked to round up the votes needed for final passage.
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Will GOP's 'Plan B' push Obama closer to 'fiscal cliff' deal?
House Republican leaders hope to pass their own 'fiscal cliff' bill Thursday. But Obama and Senate Democrats are solidly against the plan, which could leave the sides no nearer a deal.
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How 'fiscal cliff' is already hitting defense industry
Although lawmakers have been moderating dire predictions, some small businesses are talking about layoffs if no deal on the fiscal cliff is reached. And some have already lost contracts.
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Would a 'fiscal cliff' deal imperil John Boehner's tenure as House speaker?
Resolving the fiscal cliff this year may require Speaker John Boehner to take to the House floor a deal that a majority of Republicans will reject – a move that could risk his speakership in the next Congress, says the Democrats' Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
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Cover Story Five reasons America won't fall off the 'fiscal cliff'
The political and economic ramifications are too big for Washington to let the large tax increases and spending cuts take effect. But this doesn't necessarily mean lawmakers will craft a decisive solution to the nation's fiscal woes.
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'Fiscal cliff' meets debt ceiling: Should Washington tackle both now?
Some analysts say moves to avoid the 'fiscal cliff,' looming as of Jan. 1, should be resolved alongside the need to again address the national debt ceiling, which could hit its limit as soon as February. Others say that's a bridge too far.
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Everything you need to know about budget 'sequestration' – except the consequences
The White House has reported on the $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts that are part of last year's debt ceiling deal. But how the cuts will impact individual programs remains unclear.
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Automatic budget cuts would be 'deeply destructive'
Automatic budget cuts would hit Pentagon with 9 percent reduction, hurting military readiness, and 8 percent cuts in nondefense programs from the FBI to the Border Patrol to air controllers, a new White House report says.
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How Democrats keep gate-crashing the GOP convention
Once upon a time, convention week was a chance for the opposing candidate to rest up. That began to change in 2008 – Obama and the Democrats are now running full tilt during the GOP convention.
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Paul Ryan paradox: Voters like him, just not his ideas (+video)
Paul Ryan is generally seen as more likeable than not, polls say. But his Medicare reforms? Not so much. Wednesday's speech to the GOP convention is a chance to change that dynamic.
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For a moment, at least, presidential campaigns get back to issues
On the Sunday TV talk shows, presidential campaign surrogates of both parties zeroed in on Medicare. But inevitably, Mitt Romney's so-far unreleased tax returns came up too.
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Is Ryan the 'Coke Zero' of the Romney campaign? (+video)
One political analyst suggests that presidential contender Mitt Romney would like 'All the bold taste, but none of the calories of a detailed policy discussion' from his running mate Congressman Paul Ryan. This may be particularly true in discussions of healthcare.
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Paul Ryan's record: huge role in debt debate but few legislative wins
Rep. Paul Ryan's grasp of federal spending has given him an outsized role in defining the GOP position on deficits and debt, but he has a lower profile in driving the bipartisan compromises needed to pass laws.
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What’s that you say about Paul Ryan? Political combatants weigh in
Within seconds, partisans on both sides were commenting on Mitt Romney’s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate. Here’s some of the reaction.
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Democrats renew bid to require big campaign donors to disclose
DISCLOSE Act would require corporations, labor unions, and other groups to disclose campaign donations of more than $10,000, but it faces a GOP filibuster in the Senate.
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Focus Is Congress to blame for a downshifting US economy?
Evidence is mounting that the economy is taking a hit because Congress can't – or won't – deal with the 'fiscal cliff' looming at year's end. The fight on Capitol Hill last summer over the national debt limit also took an economic toll.
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Fight brewing in Congress over budget, taxes
Last year, Congress put off hard decisions on the country's finances, but they are coming due in an election-year showdown.
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Decoder Wire Democrats return fire after John Boehner's opening debt-ceiling salvo (+video)
Democrats charge that John Boehner's renewed call for spending cuts as a condition to raise the debt ceiling is 'dangerous,' recalling the standoff last summer that drove consumer confidence – and Congress's approval rating – sharply down.
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