Conservatives are rallying in support of a balanced-budget amendment in the run-up to a Friday vote, warning fellow lawmakers that it's just about the only way to ensure Congress follows through on vows to cut spending.

The debate comes the same week the national debt crossed the $15 trillion mark. The milestone was a timely reminder of Washington's hard-to-break habit of spending way more than it takes in.

As a bipartisan committee remains stuck on how to cut $1.2 trillion from the 10-year deficit, lawmakers skeptical about the government's fiscal track record pushed Thursday for the amendment.

"We need a fiscal fix that will last for generations," Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said. "If we want to make lasting cuts to federal spending, a constitutional amendment is the only solution.

In his first negative TV ad of his presidential campaign, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is using the "s" word against President Obama-socialism.

"Obama's socialist policies are bankrupting America. We must stop him now," says Perry in his fourth ad of his presidential campaign. The spot, airing in Iowa and on FOX News, is the first Perry commercial to do more that introduce Perry, or his flat tax economic plan.

Perry also goes after Obama for the president's remarks suggesting Americans have become "lazy" asking, "Can you believe that? That's what our president thinks is wrong with America? That Americans are lazy? That's pathetic. It's time to clean house in Washington."

Perry is referring to a comment Obama made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii this weekend when talking about America's slipping status in global economic competition. "We've been a bit lazy over the last couple of decades.

Congress has punted on doing the kind of scrutiny of federal agencies that’s required to prevent waste and keep the government running smoothly, according to a new report by Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who serves as the institution’s unofficial watchdog.

Mr. Coburn said the drop in oversight comes even as Congress is contemplating significant cuts to the Government Accountability Office, which is the investigative arm of Congress and is the one agency that’s kept up its pace of scrutiny.

“Long-term trends show a sharp decline in congressional oversight,” Mr Coburn said. “The problem, however, has not been a lack of funds to get it done.

WASHINGTON – House Speaker John Boehner publicly blessed a Republican deficit-reduction plan Tuesday that would raise $300 billion in additional tax revenue while overhauling the IRS code, bucking opposition by some GOP presidential hopefuls and colleagues wary of violating a longstanding point of party orthodoxy.

Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, spoke as time grew perilously short for agreement by the deficit-fighting "Super Committee." The panel has until a week from Wednesday to vote on any compromise, but several officials said that in reality, perhaps as little as 48 or 72 hours are available to the six Republicans and six Democrats.

While Boehner's voice is important, his endorsement does not mean all Republicans will follow him or that a deal is in sight.

The Supreme Court’s announcement Monday that it will hear challenges to President Obama’s health care law put a spotlight on Justice Elena Kagan, who worked in the administration while the law was being written and, conservatives argue, helped craft its legal defense.

“Before the Supreme Court case is heard, we need to know if Justice Elena Kagan helped the Obama administration prepare its defense for Obamacare when she was solicitor general. The Justice Department must answer serious questions about whether Justice Kagan has an inherent conflict of interest, which would demand that she recuse herself from the Obamacare case,” said Rep.

As elected officials in Congress, we take seriously our oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the liberties and rights afforded to American citizens. This includes the Second Amendment, and we believe the bureaucratic, piecemeal right-to-carry reciprocity system in our nation threatens the ability of law-abiding American citizens to exercise this vital constitutional right.

The National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, H.R. 822, provides a bipartisan, common-sense solution to this problematic system. We are proud to be sponsors of this legislation, which has overwhelming support in the House, with 245 bipartisan co-sponsors and counting. The intent of our bill is simple: If you can legally carry a concealed weapon in one state, you can legally carry a concealed weapon in all states.

H.R. 822 would allow any person with a valid state-issued concealed-firearm carrying permit or license to carry a concealed weapon in any other state.

Capitol Hill Republicans say the GOP members of a deficit "Super Committee" are showing flexibility on revenue hikes as the panel heads closer to its Thanksgiving deadline.

GOP aides said Tuesday that among the options floated by Republicans is one that would place limits on the total amount of tax deductions and credits that individuals could claim, in exchange for lower income tax rates. The tradeoff could net hundreds of billions of dollars for the Treasury over the coming decade.

The idea, discussed by Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Pat Toomey in talks with Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, is but one of many options on the table.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a controversial requirement for Americans to purchase health insurance, becoming the sixth appeals court to rule on challenges to President Obama’s health care law that are likely headed to the Supreme Court next year.

In a split opinion, a three-judge panel for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the centerpiece of the health care law — a mandate for individuals to buy health insurance or pay a fine — was an encroachment on individual liberty, but no more so than requiring businesses to serve all customers regardless of race.

“The right to be free from federal regulation is not absolute, and yields to the imperative that Congress be free to forge national solutions to national problems, no matter how local — or seemingly passive — their individual origins,” wrote Judge Laurence H.

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her traveling companions embark on the Yellow Brick Road in search of the great and powerful Oz. Dorothy believes she can't return to Kansas without the help of the wizard who resides in the Emerald City.

"I am Oz!" the wizard bellows when Dorothy finally gains an audience with him. But the gig is up once Toto reveals that the wizard is simply a man barking into a microphone and pulling a bunch of levers. That creates the illusion of an intimidating and all-powerful wizard.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" the man implores.

To no avail.

"You're a very bad man," Dorothy scolds.

"Oh, no my dear. I'm a very good man," the man pleads. "Just a very bad wizard."

Turns out, he wasn't a wizard at all. Just Oscar Diggs of Omaha, NE. With no special powers to brag of.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A moment of dénouement is a signature of all good films, plays and literature.

Lawmakers on Thursday put off a much-anticipated debate on a bill to repeal the law that forbids recognition of gay marriage at the federal level.

Iowa Sen. Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the committee to “hold over” the Respect for Marriage Act to allow for more study, as is the committee’s tradition for new bills.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, agreed to the delay, and suggested that the bill to repeal the 15-year-old Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) be brought up again Nov. 10.

Mr. Leahy and other Democrats used Thursday’s session to express their convictions that DOMA would soon be repealed. The law, which defines marriage in federal law as the union of one man and one woman and gives states the right not to recognize out-of-state gay unions, is the subject of numerous lawsuits as well as Democrat-led repeal efforts in Congress...