Members of Congress get the same choices as the rest of us

Back in 2012, amid "intense pressure from Obama" including an appeal for its passage in his 2012 State of the Union address, Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act (with 96-3 theatrical votes in the Senate, and 417-2 even more theatrical votes in the House) - a bill prohibiting the use of non-public information for private profit, including insider trading by members of Congress and other government employees.

You cannot make this stuff up. From Politico (hat tip MR): Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.

The word of the day is "convergence." That -- and that alone -- is the definitive message of the conservative health reform alternative developed by Sens. Tom Coburn (Okla.) and Richard Burr (N.C.), as well as Rep. Paul Ryan (Wisc.). For now, some of the key provisions are about as clear as mud. The plan's changes to the tax code, in particular, are impossible to discern. So I'll do another post when I can get some clarity on those issues. The politics, however, are perfectly straightforward.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It seems like a simple proposition: give employees who work more than 40 hours a week the option of taking paid time off instead of overtime pay.

Just when you thought the seemingly endless rabbit hole of Wall Street-Washington corruption, cronyism, co-option, crime and kickbacks may have finally come to an end, here comes the House Ethic Committee to pronounce that no ethics breaches were found among House members in its investigation involving the scandal surrounding Countrywide "VIP loans" and the "Friends of Angelo." And in just doing so, the House effectively cleared itself of any wrongdoing and that's it, case closed - move along... Move along.

What people normally do when they get a job located in Seattle is move to the Seattle area. And when people get a job located in Chicago, they typically move to the Chicago area. And when people get a job located in Washington, they typically move to the Washington area. It’s common sense. But over the past few decades, a weird tradition has developed whereby people who get jobs as members of the US Congress don’t move to Washington and instead awkwardly commute back and forth between DC and their homes.

The "No Budget, No Pay" bill that passed the House of Representatives Wednesday is designed to stop all pay to members of Congress until they pass a budget. 

WASHINGTON/HONOLULU – President Barack Obama is due back in Washington early Thursday for a final effort to negotiate a deal with Congress to avert or at least postpone the “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and government spending cuts set to begin next week. No specific bill dealing with the cliff was on the schedule of either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, which are expected to return on Thursday after the holiday break. Investors are closely watching the talks, concerned that going over the cliff could throw the economy into recession.