House Republicans

- House Republicans will gather at an Inner Harbor hotel this evening for an annual retreat that will feature an appearance Friday by President Barack Obama. The president's midday speech, to be followed by a private question-and-answer session with the Republican lawmakers, is an election-year attempt at bipartisan outreach to a group that has been extremely hostile to his agenda. Obama met with House Republicans at the Capitol last January, shortly after taking office, but failed to gain any of their votes for his $787 billion stimulus plan a few days later.

There's a tendency among some to shorthand the ongoing federal budget debate as between Republicans who want to reduce government spending and Democrats who don't. This isn't really the case, as recent actions in the House have demonstrated. On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee took a close look at President Barack Obama's proposed $525.4 billion defense spending plan and decided that simply wasn't enough. The GOP-controlled committee voted to authorize nearly $4 billion more than what the Pentagon had requested for 2013.

Officially, House Republicans retreated to Baltimore this week to hash out their legislative agenda: repealing health care reform, cutting government spending and fulfilling the other campaign promises that helped to sweep them into the majority. But they still had to eat, and their first two meals Friday provided much food for thought for the 2012 presidential race. Breakfast served up former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, while lunch was a buffet of GOP governors: Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Rick Perry of Texas and Bob McDonnell of Virginia.

When U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican, recently called the House transportation bill the worst such measure he's seen in 35 years of public service, he was being kind. Surely, it's among the worst, most cynically partisan bills to ever threaten U.S. highway and transit infrastructure in all of recorded history. That's because the serious business of building and maintaining roads, bridges, rail systems and other vital transportation assets is usually among the most bipartisan of Congressional actions.

WASHINGTON -- Congress began an ambitious effort yesterday to rewrite immigration policy as House Republicans offered legislation to reduce the numbers of aliens -- legal and illegal -- who settle in the United States.The chief sponsor of the bill, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, said at a news conference that generations of immigrants had contributed "work, creativity and vibrancy" to the nation. But it is time to "put the interests of America first -- the interests of the American worker, the American taxpayer and the American family," he said.

WASHINGTON -- The House Republicans have passed a give-away-the-store tax bill that they know full well is going to be drastically cut back by the Senate. But in political terms, whatever happens in the Senate is essentially irrelevant.The opinion polls regularly show that the voters would prefer a serious attempt to reduce the federal deficit rather than tax reduction. They seem to recognize the long-term economic reality that this is precisely the wrong time to be reducing taxes and adding to that debt.

WASHINGTON -- Rank-and-file House Republicans, who have already sanded some of the rough edges off their welfare reform proposal, are planning further efforts to soften the bill when it goes to the House floor tomorrow.Republicans have asked to introduce dozens of amendments, many of which would take some of the sting out of the sweeping proposal to overhaul programs for the poor. The House Rules Committee, which is controlled by the Republican leadership, plans to determine today which amendments will be in order.

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans are renewing their push to construct nearly 700 miles of two-layer reinforced fences along the U.S.-Mexico border in the first installment in a series of border security initiatives they hope to send to President Bush in the closing weeks of Congress. The fence proposal is identical to one that was included in an immigration enforcement bill passed by the House of Representatives in December. But with that measure sidelined in a stalemate with the Senate, House leaders plan to resurrect the $2.2 billion barrier in a single-shot bill that House members are expected to pass Thursday.

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans today will consider a move to release the names of all lawmakers who bounced checks at the House bank, setting up a political fight with Democrats who support a limited disclosure that includes the most serious offenders.Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, chairman of the Republican Conference, will ask fellow GOP lawmakers to approve his measure, which would reveal the names of all 296 current members who bounced at least one check."I think our members lean in the direction of full disclosure," said Mr. Lewis, following a meeting with House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois and other Republican leaders.

WASHINGTON -- Republicans plan to begin today redeeming their pledge to sharply curtail the power of the federal bureaucracy as the House opens debate on a measure that would put thousands of federal health, safety and environmental regulations in limbo."

President Barack Obama owes congressional Republicans at least a thank-you card for their efforts to block Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That GOP leaders continue to howl over Mr. Obama's decision on Wednesday to elevate Mr. Cordray to the post as a recess appointment shows theirs is the gift that keeps on giving. Only in the Bizarro World that is Washington these days is the fight over the Cordray appointment understandable. Republicans claim to be holding it up because they want to see the 18-month-old consumer watchdog agency reorganized (that is, weakened)

Unless House Republicans come to their senses, it now seems likely that about 160 million Americans are about to get a tax increase that amounts to $1,000 for the average household and could knock down U.S. projected economic growth next year (already expected to be modest) by 25 percent. How absolutely insane is that? If the GOP devised a plan to make themselves look more irresponsible or more disinterested in the plight of average Americans and their thought-process more disordered, they could scarcely have devised anything more nefariously effective than what has happened in recent days to the proposed extension of the payroll tax break.

There's really no excuse for Congress not to pass the American Jobs Act. The unwillingness of the House majority leader and his "can't think for themselves" crew is downright ludicrous! This is not a time to present more foolishness into this country, it is time for some serious thought to rescue this country from a financial downturn. The world is watching the strongest country in the world indulge in petty and childish acts of self-destruction. Believe me when I say others are just waiting and biding their time to overtake and rule this country.

I read recently that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor not only declared President Obama's American Jobs Act dead, he refuses to even take a vote on it. My question: If Mr. Cantor believes the bill doesn't stand a chance of passing, why doesn't he have the House vote on it so its members can publicly declare where they stand? Actions speak louder than words, and I'd like to see exactly which House Republicans are against this bill. The American Jobs Act would create jobs and put Americans back to work while helping those who need it most: teachers, veterans, young people and the long-term unemployed.

The Sun's recent editorial regarding the debt ceiling vote ("Debt ceiling: Republicans stand by their ultimatums," June 5) compares Republicans to terrorists, criminals and lunatics for refusing to raise the debt ceiling without spending concessions from the Democrats. I find that humorous. While few people would associate the Democrats or their media minions with an understanding of personal accountability, the fact is that the actions of the Republican leaders are less like those of a terrorist or lunatic and more like a normal parent.

It is hard to know whether to be comforted, amused or alarmed by the latest attempt by House Republicans to set the nation on a course toward defaulting on its debt. Tuesday's vote by the House killing a proposed increase in the debt ceiling — a proposal Republicans put on the table just to kill it, like some sacrificial totem — was bizarre enough to justify all three reactions. Democrats labeled it a political stunt, and it would be difficult to argue the point. It was not unlike the firing of a warning shot during a hostage taking.

WASHINGTON - House Republicans could consider changing party rules today to allow Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas to keep his job as majority leader even if he is indicted. Rep. Henry Bonilla, also of Texas, has proposed eliminating the rule that requires House Republicans who are indicted by a state grand jury to step down from their leadership positions. A Texas grand jury that has indicted three fund-raisers with ties to DeLay still is investigating the allegedly illegal funneling of corporate campaign funds to state GOP candidates in Texas.

If you thought last month's battle over a budget deal was scary, just wait for what could be coming this summer as the nation creeps closer to reaching its self-imposed limit on government-issued debt. In a speech on Wall Street this week, House Speaker John Boehner said that while failing to raise the nation's debt limit would be unacceptable, he also doesn't believe there is any hard deadline to do so, and that he will require trillions of dollars in spending cuts as part of the bargain.

There's always a great temptation after a political tussle like last week's federal budget showdown to immediately declare a winner and a loser. House Republicans can claim victory by setting the budget-trimming agenda in Washington, while Senate Democrats can claim they successfully defended against an ideological assault on women's health, Head Start, public broadcasting and other popular programs. The reality is that both won, but only in the sense that they were saved from themselves.