Sen. Mike Lee, one of the first-term budget hawks who rode a wave of tea party support into Washington last fall, on Wednesday dismissed Democrats’ budget proposals as “insulting.”

The Utah Republican, appearing on “America's Morning News” radio program, said, “To cut around the edges just a little bit, to say, OK, let’s lop off a percentage point or two, it isn’t enough, it isn’t nearly enough.”

“Because within the next 15 to 20 years, just the interest we’re paying on the national debt is going to eclipse almost every federal program in size,” he told hosts John McCaslin and Amy Holmes...

WASHINGTON -- In a demonstration of official Washington's often curious logic, the Senate is expected to vote down both a slashing GOP budget bill and a less painful Democratic plan to demonstrate progress instead of gridlock.

The idea is to show both sides that they need to move toward each other to break a bitter stalemate over how much to cut spending as Congress wraps up last year's unfinished budget work. The combatants are facing a March 18 deadline that already has Republicans in the House drafting another stopgap spending measure to make sure the government doesn't shut down if a broader agreement isn't reached by then.

Democrats on Wednesday are poised to kill the House-passed GOP plan, saying it cuts too deeply into programs like education, college aid, housing subsidies and a food program for low-income pregnant women and their babies.

The co-chair of the bipartisan Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform told Senators Tuesday that Americans are way ahead of them when it comes to understanding the need for Washington to cut spending.

In a Senate Appropriations hearing, former Rep. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., said Congress needs to get serious about spending cuts.

"People in America are way ahead of all of you," Simpson said. "They know what's going on"...

The Planned Parenthood abortion business has launched an all-out assault on the U.S. Senate to lobby senators to oppose any attempt to add an amendment to any government funding bill that would yank its taxpayer funding.

The House has already approved the Pence Amendment and pro-life groups are putting pressure on senators to follow suit by adding a similar amendment to the long-term continuing resolution that would fund the federal government to the latter part of the year.

In a new email sent to its members and supporters, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards claims that, since the February 18 vote in the House for the Pence Amendment, “more than 700,000 women and men have signed an open letter to stand with Planned Parenthood” that has gone to members of the Senate...

HONOLULU -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii says he won't run for re-election next year.

The 86-year-old announced Wednesday that he'll finish his term and step down after 22 years in the Senate.

Akaka said in a statement that "the end of this Congress is the right time for me to step aside." He didn't expand on his reasons for not running again...

WASHINGTON -- In an early victory for Republicans, the Democratic Senate is voting to send President Obama a GOP-drafted measure that cuts $4 billion in spending as the price for keeping the government open for an additional two weeks.

Sweeping bipartisan support is expected Wednesday for the measure, which passed the House on Tuesday by a 335-91 tally. More than 100 Democrats broke with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California to support it.

"The president is encouraged by the progress Congress is making towards a short-term agreement," White House press secretary Jay Carney said after the House vote. "Moving forward, the focus needs to be on both sides finding common ground in order to reach a long-term solution that removes the kind of uncertainty that can hurt the economy and job creation"...

In a new interview, Speaker John Boehner talked about the upcoming strategy behind the next steps in the battle to de-fund Planned Parenthood and he urged pro-life advocates to be patient.

The House of Representatives approved an amendment Congressman Mike Pence offered to the continuing resolution bill to keep the federal government running. The amendment ensures the Planned Parenthood abortion business and its affiliates are not eligible for any federal taxpayer dollars across any federal programs or departments.

Although the House voted on a strong margin to de-fund Planned Parenthood, the next steps are more tenuous. The battle to yank federal funding is complicated by the fact that Senate Leader Harry Reid and his pro-abortion Democratic colleagues control the Senate agenda and pro-abortion President Barack Obama occupies the White House.

A stunning reversal from Senate leaders last week on a Republican plan to keep the government running beyond Friday’s deadline reveals the growing understanding among Democrats that a government shutdown could be politically disastrous for them.

That’s also reflected in a new poll on a potential shutdown conducted for The Hill that shows voters would blame Democrats over Republicans 29 percent to 25 percent. That compares to the two-to-one margin by which voters blamed Republicans ahead of the 1995 shutdown.

While many voters remain undecided about who to blame, part of the Democratic problem has been on messaging. While House Speaker John Boehner has been insistent that he does not want a shut down, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid had been using amped-up rhetoric and seemed to be almost daring Republicans to force a shutdown...

With the House of Representatives having approved a budget amendment to revoke all taxpayer funding from the Planned Parenthood abortion business, the pro-life push now turns to the Senate — where the battle will be more difficult.

The Pence amendment to de-fund Planned Parenthood was part of a House Republican designed continuing resolution that funds the federal government but it’s a funding bill the Senate will not likely approve, at least in its current form.

The current continuing resolution expires on March 4 and lawmakers in both parties are eager to avoid a government shutdown — and lawmakers may have to resort to a temporary continuing resolution to keep the federal government running until the House and Senate can negotiate a long-term funding bill...

Democratic officials say Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico intends to retire next year rather than seek a new term.

Bingaman would be the latest in a string of departures to hit Democrats as they look ahead to the 2012 election season...