It’s a little scary that lawmakers vote for billions of dollars in budget increases without even knowing it.

This week I did a series of stories on an $8 billion budget shortfall in the US Highway Trust Fund. It’s a big deal. States stand to lose 30% of their federal highway money if it isn’t patched by October first, and the majority of lawmakers agree that US highways and bridges are in desperate need of the money.  read more »

July 17, 2008 -- This hasn’t been Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-NY) week. The Washington Post accused the Congressman of seeking donations from businesses with issues before his committee for a new public policy school that bears his name. Separately the New York Times alleges that Rangel, the Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has been paying cheaper rent than his neighbors.  read more »

While attempting to walk on water, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) ended up making a splash. Earlier in the day, on a conference call with reporters, Dodd denied knowing he was part of a special loan program within Country Wide Financial.  read more »

It is getting increasingly harder for Republicans to keep a straight face as the November elections creep up. But realism is setting in with some lawmakers. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) may have summed up party feeling best:

“I was in a meeting the other day and it was mentioned that Senator McCain was distancing himself from the White House and I suggested he might want to distance himself from republicans if he’s going to win the presidential race.”

Read on to listen to the audio clip. He said it not me.

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Possibly the hardest part about covering Congress is getting lawmakers off script. They have teams of staffers around, constantly feeding them “their” policy positions. They also attend weekly caucus meetings, where the leadership lays out the party’s stance and talking points on the week’s agenda.

That’s why retiring lawmakers are great.

Republicans in the House are growing increasingly angry with their leaders, but no members will talk about it on the record (off the record their staffers will, but that does little good for a radio reporter).  read more »