All posts tagged "Congressional Research Service"

Wire fraud. Tax evasion. Money laundering. Sexual abuse. Child pornography. Since 1980, more than two dozen members of Congress have been indicted for such crimes, some spending years in prison.

But because of a series of legal loopholes, not a single former federal lawmaker who has applied for retirement benefits has ever lost their taxpayer-funded congressional pension, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management told Raw Story.

Pensions for congressional felons have cost taxpayers about $3.7 million between 2007 and 2022, according to research from the nonpartisan taxpayer research organization, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats want tax hikes to be the first item negotiated in "super committee" deficit-reduction talks, trying to force Republicans to confront an issue at the heart of this year's budget fights, sources told Reuters.

A plan to reduce the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan means that the Pentagon's war budget can be cut by $42 billion in fiscal year 2012.

A new survey commissioned by the Afghanistan Study Group reveals that conservatives and tea party voters are growing concerned about the sustainability of US operations in Afghanistan.