That’s some of the information gleaned today from senators’ annual personal financial disclosure forms.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, reported assets of between $2.8 million and $6.3 million, including mining claims in Searchlight valued from $100,000 to $250,000. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, had assets of between $9.2 million and $36.5 million.

On the other other side of the financial spectrum,  Rubio, a Florida Republican, reported a negative net worth, with assets of between $259,000 and $860,000 and liabilities of between $450,000 and $1 million.

He did receive $800,000 in royalties from Penguin Group USA Inc. for his 2012 memoir, “An American Son,” and paid off his remaining student loan debt of  between $100,000 and $250,000.

“When I finished school, I owed over $100,000 in student loans, a debt I paid off just a few months ago,” Rubio said in February as he delivered the official Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

Read the full story at Bloomberg.com.

Original post is Senators’ Finances Run from Debt to Millions by Political Capital.

“Does my colleague from Florida believe that the House of Representatives, dominated by Republicans, are going to raise the debt limit?” McCain asked Rubio.

The Senate and House have each passed a budget resolution. Now the chambers must agree to go to conference to bridge the gaps between the Democrat and Republican fiscal plans. Democratic leaders in the Senate must ask for unanimous consent to appoint conferees to the budget.

The list of Senators who have objected to these requests reads like a Tea-Party all-star lineup: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sens. Cruz of Texas, Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky have all objected to allowing conferees to the budget unless Democrats guarantee not to raise the debt limit or increase taxes.

“We’re talking about a minority within a minority,” McCain said today about his Tea Party-affiliated colleagues. In a rare moment of bipartisanship, he joined Democrats in lamenting that “we can’t go to conference unless we agree not to raise the debt limit.”

McCain ceded the floor after informing the chamber that “the majority of my colleagues on this side of the aisle” want to complete work on the budget.

“What we’re saying here on this side of the aisle is we don’t trust our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol who are in the majority,” he said.

Cruz responded quickly by saying, “Let me be clear: I don’t trust the Republicans and I don’t trust the Democrats,” in regards to handling the raising of the debt ceiling.

Rubio echoed Cruz, pointing out that America’s fiscal well-being “is not a trivial matter.” Republicans’ request to Democrats is not “some ridiculous thing,” he said.

“I’m not asking that the key lime pie be made the official pie of the United States,” Rubio said.

Only one Democratic senator added his voice to the floor fray: Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin interrupted to observe that members of the minority party “seem to be at odds.”

Original post is McCain, Tea Party Senators Squabble Over Budget Procedure by Political Capital.

Kirk said he and Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, will introduce Pritzker at her confirmation hearing in the Senate tomorrow.

“I met with Ms. Pritzker and found her to be someone who is willing to take on special interests, and I am confident her successful private-sector record and close ties to the business community will be beneficial to all of Illinois,” Kirk said in a statement.

Kirk told the Chicago Tribune on Monday that he hadn’t decided whether to back Pritzker. He made his Tuesday announcement after receiving a phone call from Mark Koulogeorge, a Republican and venture capitalist in Northbrook, Ill., who advocated for Pritzker, the Tribune reported today.

Koulogeorge has donated $18,700 to Kirk since 2000, according to Federal Election Commission records. He also donated $2,000 to Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign and $2,300 to his 2008 presidential campaign.

Pritzker, who led record fundraising for Obama’s first presidential campaign, is likely to face  tough questions about her business history and personal finances at tomorrow’s hearing. Expected topics include a suburban Chicago bank that failed after Pritzker and her family expanded subprime lending there and did pioneering work with mortgage-backed securitization, as detailed by the Treasury Department in 2002, Bloomberg’s John McCormick reports.

Senators also could ask how Pritzker inadvertently understated a portion of her income by at least $80 million in a disclosure form for her nomination. She amended the document last night, Bloomberg’s Brian Wingfield reports

Original post is Kirk Backs Pritzker After Call From Donor by Political Capital.

Photograph by Pete Marovich/Bloomberg

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, questions a witness during a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2013. Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook defended his company’s use of offshore tax shelters before U.S. senators who castigated the most-valuable technology company for avoiding $9 billion and more in payments.

A small corner of hell may be freezing over.

Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and fierce Obama administration critic, today opposed a bill to provide arms to Syrian rebels with an argument that could have come straight from the White House. Officials there have resisted greater involvement in the two-year-old civil war between rebel groups and President Bashar al-Assad.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, asked about arming rebels on May 9, said the administration doesn’t want to “make decisions that inadvertently cause more chaos or more violence in Syria.”

Paul warned of the same danger during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting to mark-up the bill.

“I’m concerned with the slippery slope to war,” Paul told fellow senators before the bill passed with a bipartisan boost, 15-3. It now goes to the Senate for a vote.

Paul wasn’t alone in his objections. Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Tom Udall of New Mexico also raised concerns.

“By arming, are we making the situation better?” Udall asked his colleagues.

Paul said U.S. officials don’t know enough about the opposition fighting the “murky” war. The bill would allow the U.S. to arm “people associated with al Qaeda” who are fighting against Assad, and U.S. weapons could also reach Islamists who target Christians, he suggested.

Either way, he said, there’s no way to be sure that any U.S. weapons reach “good, liberty-loving Jeffersonian democrats.”

Original post is Paul Echoes White House in Opposition to Arming Syrians by Political Capital.

Photograph by Rich Clement/Bloomberg

Supporters for passage of a new agriculture law rally near the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 12, 2012.

From Bloomberg Government’s CongressTracker

Though it’s only Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can see the end of the week from here.

During today’s session-opening floor remarks, Reid said that the chairwoman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow, had expressed optimism about finishing work on the farm bill, S. 954.

“I spoke to Chairman Stabenow last night; she indicated that she believes that there’s an opportunity to finish the bill even this week,” Reid said. “I certainly hope that’s the case.”

Original post is Reid: Farm Bill Can Be Finished This Week by Political Capital.

A bill that cleared the Alabama legislature yesterday stands as the latest illustration of the direction taken by parts of the country on the issue.

At the national level, the bottom-line has been status quo. An aggressive agenda of new gun control measures pushed by President Barack Obama in the wake of the school shooting quickly got pared down in Congress. It then lost all steam five weeks ago when the Senate sidetracked what seemed the least controversial step — an expansion of background checks for firearm purchases.

State lawmakers, though, have been busy making changes to their statutes.

Several states — mostly those that are part of the Democratic base in presidential elections — have significantly strengthened their gun control laws. These include New York, Maryland and Connecticut, the state directly affected by Adam Lanza’s murderous rampage with a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

Other states — more in number and generally solidly Republican in presidential races — have expanded gun rights. In joining that list, Alabama legislators have sent to Gov. Robert Bentley for his expected signature a measure that will let workers keep firearms in their vehicles while on the job while shielding businesses from being sued for amy harm stemming from use of the weapons.

Under the bill, according to the Associated Press, loaded guns could be carried in cars by anyone with the proper permit, while any driver could tote around an unloaded weapon, as long as it is out of reach.

The bill “keeps the prohibition on carrying weapons in many government buildings and in any public buildings where government bodies like city councils or county commissions are meeting,” according to the AP.

One of the bill’s main backers, state Sen. Scott Beason, told the wire service he remained disappointed with that exemption. But, he said, “I couldn’t get that through the Legislature.”

That would be one of those entities covered by the limited ban on “open carry” of a firearm.

Original post is Alabama Joins States Pursuing Differing Paths on Gun Control by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), speaks during a news conference on April 10, 2013.

That’s how much President Barack Obama’s budget proposal would trim federal budget deficits over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Obama’s budget would produce deficits of $5.2 trillion between fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2023, compared with $6.3 trillion under the CBO’s baseline projections, the nonpartisan budget agency said in a report May 17.

Obama’s proposals would increase the deficit in this fiscal year and in the next two, relative to the amounts the CBO projects in its baseline. The deficits would be smaller than the baseline figures between 2016 to 2023, ranging between 0.1 percent and 1.4 percent of gross domestic product.

The CBO last week projected a fiscal 2013 deficit of $642 billion, or 4 percent of GDP, the smallest shortfall in five years. The deficit was 10.1 percent of GDP in fiscal 2009.

The policy changes in Obama’s budget would increase revenues by $974 billion and reduce outlays by $172 billion, according to the CBO report. The biggest policy changes include reducing military spending in Afghanistan, limiting deductions that lower taxpayers’ income tax liability, and changing the way some benefit programs are indexed for inflation by adopting a “chained” consumer price index.

Original post is Bloomberg by the Numbers: $1.1 Trillion by Political Capital.

The FEC announced today that Ensign and his committees will pay $32,000, while the parents owe $22,000.

At issue has been whether $96,000 paid by Ensign’s parents, Michael and Sharon Ensign, to Cindy and Doug Hampton and two of their children was a campaign contribution in excess of legal limits.  Cindy was the former campaign worker that Ensign had the affair with while her husband, Doug, worked for the senator.

Ensign disclosed the affair in June 2009. His lawyer, Paul Coggins, said a month later that the payment was made “out of concern for the well-being of long-time family friends during a difficult time.”

Ensign resigned his Senate seat in May 2011 after the chamber’s Ethics Committee announced it was hiring an outside counsel for the investigation into the payment, which could have resulted in public hearings.

In announcing his resignation on his website, Ensign said that “while I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings. For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great.”

Ensign had won his Senate seat in 2000. It is now held by Republican Dean Heller.

Original post is Ensign to Join Parents in Paying FEC Fines Totaling $54,000 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) speaks during a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on May 17, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Rep. Mike Kelly came to politics late and, only in his second term at 65 years of age, the actuarial tables don’t favor him rising to become a Capitol Hill kingpin. He could retire tomorrow, though, and know that he made the most of one moment in the spotlight.

As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that held a hearing today on the the IRS political scandal, the Pennsylvania Republican did more than just join in the expected bipartisan grilling of outgoing agency boss Steven Miller — he scorched him, and in the process earned a prolonged standing ovation from spectators.

As you can see here, Kelly starts out in fairly routine fashion but then gets to the bottom line that most citizens can relate to — IRS chieftains can offer all the excuses they want about a poorly managed agency being the root cause for the untoward scrutiny given Tea Party groups, but John Q. Public doesn’t get cut that type of slack when its audit time.

Addressing a clearly chagrined and morose Miller, Kelly noted: “If you think it’s uncomfortable sitting over there, you ought to be a private individual when the IRS is across from you questioning.”

At the risk of causing his own immediate family to perhaps squirm a bit, Kelly later used a personal anecdote to speak truth to bureaucrats: “I have a grandson who’s afraid to get out of bed at night because he thinks there’s somebody under the bed that’s going to grab him. And I think most Americans feel that way about the IRS. I mean, you get a letter from you folks, or a phone call, it’s with terror that you look at it.”

Gaining a head of steam, he drove his point home with gusto: “You talked about — you’re a horribly run organization. If you’re on the other side of the fence, you’re not given that excuse.” When a taxpayer deals with the IRS, he continued, “You’re not allowed to be shoddy, you’re not allowed to be run horribly, you’re not allowed to make mistakes, you’re not allowed to do one damn thing that doesn’t come in compliance. If you do, you’re held responsible right then.”

The Mediaite website headline sums it up: “GOP Rep. Mike Kelly Delivers Brutal Takedown of IRS to Audience’s Applause.”

Kelly came to Congress as part of the 2010 Republican tsunami, knocking off a one-term Democratic incumbent in a district in Pennyslvania’s northwest corner. Owner of a Chevrolet-Cadillac deadlership he took over from his father, Kelly’s previous political experience consisted of four years on the city council in Butler, a Pittsburgh suburb.

The one time he had strayed from his Keystone State roots was to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he was recruited to play football. He got his degree there, though his athletic career was quickly sidetracked by a knee injury his freshman year.

Today, he got the ball and ran with it.

and look who was watching:

Must watch! RT @caintv: Rep. Mike Kelly levels blistering attack at IRS Comm. Steven Miller bit.ly/Z1QJu0

— Herman Cain (@THEHermanCain) May 17, 2013

Original post is Mike Kelly’s IRS Spotlight for John Q. Public: Standing Ovation by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Steven Miller

Speaking of the truth vs. the whole truth, House Republicans did some selective editing of an inspector general’s report during today’s hearing on the Internal Revenue Service.

Steven Miller, the acting — and outgoing — commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, denied today that the agency had targeted small-government groups for tougher scrutiny of their applications for tax-exempt status.

Republicans at a Ways and Means Committee hearing pushed back on that, noting that the inspector general’s report used the word “target” 16 times.

“It’s a common understanding of the word,” said Rep. Peter Roskam, an Illinois Republican. “And so I would just suggest that it’s a well-settled doctrine and we not waste a lot of time parsing on it.”

The count of 16 mentions is true — on a simple word search.

Each of those 16 references describes the allegations the inspector general researched, which themselves came from congressional Republicans.

None of the uses of the word “target” in the report describes the inspector general’s findings.

What did the report say? That the IRS used “inappropriate criteria” to screen applications.

Original post is IRS: Republicans’ Own Selective Examination: ‘Targets’ by Political Capital.