Rep. Joe Baca has achieved near celebrity status in his suburban Los Angeles district, as much for his record of giveaways — Thanksgiving turkeys, college scholarships, spare boots for firefighters — as for anything he has done in Congress.

Just eight weeks before the midterm elections, President Barack Obama will unveil a new set of tax breaks today that would allow businesses to write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011, a plan that will likely draw scrutiny from Republicans who wonder about the timing of such a proposal.

In yesterday’s New York Times , Eric Lipton described how some members of Congress are able to “run something akin to a permanent political campaign,” giving back to their communities through charities that they set up but that local companies and major corporations largely fund.

A federal jobs bill approved last month was supposed to create jobs by giving millions to local school districts to rehire laid-off teachers, but many districts have already brought teachers back and say the federal leftovers likely won't be used until next year.

What does it mean to be a citizen? As the immigration debate heated up this summer, some Republican lawmakers proposed denying babies born of undocumented parents their birthright citizenship, a dangerous idea considering what it could mean for the civil liberties of all Americans.