Congress Returns To Work To Do The Bare Minimum

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/congress-returns-to-work

AP Photo / J. David Ake

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress gets back to work Monday after a two-week vacation, and it's looking like lawmakers will do what they do best: the bare minimum.

Forget immigration, a tax overhaul, stiffer gun checks. They're all DOA.

Raising the minimum wage or restoring lost unemployment benefits? Not going to happen. Forcing government approval of the Keystone XL pipeline? Veto bait.

The only things likely to become law in a Congress bitterly divided between House Republicans and the Democratic-led Senate are those that simply have to pass, such as a measure to avoid a government shutdown.

That's a short, short list.

It gets even shorter if you leave off things that can wait until a post election lame-duck session.

Atop the list is a short-term spending bill to keep the government running past the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year. Votes on the bill aren't needed until September.

so on the short list the only thing they will vote on is keeping the gov't running IMO so they can continue getting paid for nothing there is not a scheduled vote for anything that concerns "we the people" and we know who controls what gets voted on and who get's kicked to the curb.

Much more difficult, however, is the second main item of must-do business: finding more money for the Highway Trust Fund to keep road and bridge construction projects afloat. The fund is running critically low on cash. The administration says that could mean a slowdown in construction projects this summer and fall when lawmakers are back home asking voters to return them to Washington for another term. The current highway bill expires at the end of September.

for five years Pres. has bent over backwards to get infrastructure his jobs act includes that and now they want to consider it with 6 months before election what is different now oh i said it they want your vote, can't wait to see how they spin this in their favor.  there's a lot more read the article pleaase.