Defense Spending

The GOP's Plan To Avoid Defense Cuts Without Raising Taxes

Brian Beutler | February 2, 2012, 12:00PM

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) walks from his office to a policy lunch with fellow GOP members on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on September 7, 2011.

Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal Thursday to avoid or delay looming, automatic cuts to defense and security programs by reducing the federal work force by five percent and freezing federal pay for two and a half years.

In a bid to recruit Democratic support for their legislation, the authors of the plan say it saves enough money to forestall automatic cuts to domestic programs, also set to kick in on January 2013. But they continue to oppose using any new tax revenues to offset any of these costs -- and in so doing they exposed a contradiction at the heart of their fiscal policy. They oppose tax increases, they say, because of their impact on economic growth -- yet their plan to avoid tax increases involves deliberately shrinking demand for jobs.

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Mitt Romney

CHART: How Romney's Tax Rate Stacks Up To Recent Presidential Candidates'

Brian Beutler | January 30, 2012, 5:27AM

Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.

When Mitt Romney tries to avoid scrutiny for his exceptionally low effective tax rate by noting that, in absolute terms, he's paying "a lot" in taxes, he won't be fooling most of his political colleagues. It takes a special kind of affluence to reduce one's tax burden so dramatically. And despite their significant wealth most recent Presidential candidates have paid significantly more in taxes as a percentage of their incomes in the year (or two) before their campaign.

The exception is John Kerry. Though Kerry himself had a modest income (for a politician) his wife, Teresa Heinz, comes from great wealth and, like Romney, made millions in investment income in 2003 -- the year she and he both released their tax returns. Together, their effective tax rate was a bit lower than Mitt and Ann Romney paid in 2010.

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Super Committee

McCain Says He Might Just Ignore Super Committee Defense Cuts

Brian Fung | October 13, 2011, 5:55PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he's so committed to defense spending, he'd overturn key provisions of the debt ceiling deal to protect it.

In a Capitol press conference Thursday, McCain told reporters he'd be "among the first" to suggest ignoring any cuts to defense that would take place if the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction (the so-called "Super Committee") fails to produce a plan by Nov. 23.

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John McCain

Senate Republicans Plan To Unveil A 'Real' American Jobs Bill

Brian Fung | October 13, 2011, 11:07AM

In an apparent answer to the White House's jobs proposal, Senate Republicans are planning to unveil what they call the "Real American Jobs Act."

The bill lays out a distinctly conservative vision for the U.S. economy that would lower tax rates for individuals and businesses, pursue free trade, and roll back environmental regulations while expanding domestic energy production. To top it off, Republicans would seek to pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, Politico reports.

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Libya

McCain And Graham Say US Should Have Pushed Harder For Fall Of Qaddafi

Thomas Lane | August 22, 2011, 9:42AM

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator John McCain (R-AZ)

Since the beginning of the Libyan conflict, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been on the side of the hawks. They kept that stance Sunday night, issuing a joint statement that celebrated "the end of the Qaddafi regime" but bemoaning how long it took.

It's useful to recall the background to this conflict. After much diplomatic wrangling to win a UN resolution authorizing air strikes for the "protection of civilians," NATO forces including the US began military operations on March 19, 2011. Just over five months later the 42 year-long rule of Qaddafi is basically at an end.

But that wasn't enough for McCain and Graham. From their statement:

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Defense Spending

Senate GOP Deeply Divided on Cuts To Military

Susan Crabtree | August 1, 2011, 3:21PM

Some of the Senate's most committed hawks are parting company over the debt deal's prospects for broad defense cuts if Congress gridlocks on entitlement or tax reform.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is supporting the debt deal despite its potential for severe defense cuts while his usually likeminded colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he's a solid no in large part because of the threatened reductions in military spending.

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Debt ceiling

Nerd Alert: GOP Drops Star Wars, Tolkien References In Debt Fight

Benjy Sarlin | July 29, 2011, 5:50AM

Maybe it's the epic scale of Congress' debt limit fight or just politicians' natural geekiness coming out, but the last week is producing more fantasy and science fiction references than a Kevin Smith movie.

The Wall Street Journal got the ball rolling with a Lord Of The Rings themed editorial comparing Tea Partiers to Frodo and the gang:

"The idea seems to be that if the House GOP refuses to raise the debt ceiling, a default crisis or gradual government shutdown will ensue, and the public will turn en masse against . . . Barack Obama. The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the Tea Party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor."

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John McCain

John McCain Tells Michele Bachmann To Stop Acting Like Obama In Debt Ceiling Fight

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 14, 2011, 1:11PM

Michele Bachmann and John McCain

The Republican party's last presidential nominee is warning one of its rising 2012 presidential stars that her rhetoric over the debt ceiling is starting to sound a little familiar. And that could blow it for the GOP next year.

"There are Republicans who are committed, like Michele Bachmann, to vote against raising the debt limit under any circumstances," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told the National Review's Robert Costa.

"Bachmann, [McCain] warns, is acting 'sort of like Senator Obama did.'"

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Debt

Leave 'Em Alone! Republicans Explain How The Rich Can Contribute To Debt Reduction

Brian Beutler | July 7, 2011, 6:00AM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Boehner (R-OH), and Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Whether the country pays its bills on time or not rests for now on the answer to a key question: Which, if either, party will cave first on the question of tax revenues? At best, Republicans say they're willing to look at new Dem-proposed revenue sources...but only if they can give that money right back to stakeholders in the form of additional tax cuts.

"If the President wants to talk loopholes, we'll be glad to talk loopholes," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters at a Wednesday Capitol briefing. "But, listen, we are not for any proposal that increases taxes, and any type of discussion should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else."

So rigid are Republicans on this score that Senate Democrats plan to force a symbolic vote Thursday, asking whether wealthier Americans should have to contribute to deficit reduction at all, in any way. The so-called "sense-of-the-Senate" resolution is a clever gambit -- a theatrical bid to illustrate the point that Republicans don't really want shared sacrifice if "shared" includes rich people.

But the outcome won't clarify whether Republicans do in fact see other ways for well-off Americans to help reduce the national debt short of increasing their tax burden. So we put that question to several high-profile Republican senators. Their answers are best summed up in the form of another question: What more do you want them to do?

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Debt Ceiling

Top Economist: Even Brief Default Will Cause New Recession And Blow Recovery 'Out Of The Water'

Brian Beutler | June 28, 2011, 11:39AM

Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi

How big are the stakes on Capitol Hill right now? According to one of the most influential economists in federal policy making, the next four weeks will make the difference between a slow glide toward economic recovery, and a severe tumble into a new recession.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: More Than Just Forms: Tax Day Tea Party-Style]

Moody's chief economist, and former McCain economic adviser Mark Zandi is forecasting GDP growth of 4 percent by the end of the year and into next. But in response to a question from TPM, he told reporters at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Christian Science Monitor that his forecast would be "blown out of the water," if Congress fails to "reasonably gracefully" raise the national borrowing limit.

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Afghanistan

Obama's Afghan Plan With Will Be Major 2012 Foreign Policy Test

Susan Crabtree | June 22, 2011, 5:45AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama is facing one of the most difficult political challenges of his two and a half years in office in making the case to a skeptical American public and an impatient Congress that the longest war in U.S. history is still worth fighting and funding while he incrementally withdraws troops.

Obama is scheduled to outline his plans for a Afghanistan troop drawdown in a primetime address on Wednesday. The following day he will travel to Fort Drum in upstate New York to begin selling the proposal to the American people, the same day Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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Libya

McCain: Tying Obama's Hands On Libya Will Come Back To Haunt GOP

Susan Crabtree | June 21, 2011, 12:17PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pleaded with GOP colleagues Tuesday not to tie President Obama's hands when it comes to U.S. military action in Libya, reminding them it could come back to haunt future Republican presidents.

"We are all entitled to our opinions about Libya policy, but here are the facts: [Libyan leader Muammar] Qaddafi is going to fall. It is just a matter of time. So I would ask my colleagues: Is this the time for Congress to turn against this policy?" he said in a lengthy statement on the Senate floor. "Is this the time to ride to the rescue of a failing tyrant when the writing is on the wall that he will collapse?"

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John McCain

John McCain Blames Illegal Immigrants For Arizona Fires

Benjy Sarlin | June 20, 2011, 2:52PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

John McCain is pushing back against accusations of fearmongering after blaming illegal immigrants for starting fires in Arizona.

"There is substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," Sen. McCain (R-AZ) told reporters on Saturday at a press conference. "The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border."'

Arizona is in the midst of battling a pair of huge blazes, the Horseshoe 2 fire and the more recent Wallow fire. Spokesmen for the forest service and for the federal group managing the disaster both told ABC News that while the ongoing Wallow fire was "human" caused, there was no evidence illegal immigrants were involved. The cause of the Horseshoe 2 fire is listed as "human," but that's as specific as it gets.

Immigrant rights groups jumped on McCain's remarks, saying that the Senator was whipping up nativist sentiment with his response.

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Afghanistan

Panetta Sidesteps Barrage Of Questions On Afghan Drawdown

Susan Crabtree | June 9, 2011, 12:06PM

Leon Panetta, tapped by President Obama to succeed Robert Gates as defense secretary, attempted to dodge the most critical question facing the military and the administration right now during his nomination hearing Thursday.

Panetta faced a barrage of questions about the upcoming drawdown of troops in Afghanistan after signaling that he backed the President's call for a "significant" reduction of U.S. troops beginning in July.

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Rick Santorum

Santorum Backtracks On McCain Comments: I Respect His Service But Torture Still Works

Jillian Rayfield | May 18, 2011, 12:31PM

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Rick Santorum backtracked on his comments that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) may not "understand how enhanced interrogation works" if he doesn't believe it led to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.

Santorum said in a statement Wednesday that he disagrees with McCain's view that torture doesn't work, but "for anyone to infer my disagreement with Senator McCain's policy position lessens my respect for his service to our country and all he had to endure is outrageous and unfortunate."

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Rick Santorum

Santorum Says McCain (Who Was Tortured) Doesn't Understand How Torture Works

Jillian Rayfield | May 17, 2011, 1:20PM

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum doesn't think former POW and torture survivor John McCain quite understands how torture works.

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John McCain

McCain Denounces Torture: 'The Very Idea Of America' Is At Stake (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | May 12, 2011, 11:39AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took to the Senate floor Thursday to condemn waterboarding and other torture techniques, saying that the debate over these techniques is ultimately "about morality. What is at stake here it the very idea of America."

"The America," he continued, "whose values have inspired the world and instilled in the hearts of its citizens the certainty that no matter how hard we fight, no matter how dangerous our adversary, in the course of vanquishing our enemies we do not compromise our deepest vlaues."

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John McCain

Poll: Only One-Third Of Arizonans Approve Of McCain's Job Performance

Jon Terbush | May 6, 2011, 11:38AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

According to a PPP poll released Friday, only one-third of Arizona's registered voters approve of Sen. John McCain's (R) job performance, thus earning McCain the ignoble distinction of the nation's third least popular Senator based on PPP's data.

In the poll, 34% of voters said they approve of McCain's job performance, compared to 53% who disapprove.

Only Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) -- the erstwhile Democrat who has almost completely alienated his former party -- and Sen. John Ensign -- who stepped down this week after a protracted sex scandal -- have polled worse in PPP surveys in the past year. In March, PPP found that just 29% of Connecticut voters approved of Lieberman's job performance, while 58% disapproved. Just 29% of Nevadans gave Ensign positive marks in an April PPP poll, while 55% said the opposite.

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Osama Bin Laden

FLASHBACK 2008: McCain, Clinton Slam Obama For Saying He'd Go Get Bin Laden In Pakistan (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | May 3, 2011, 5:55PM

Remember back during the 2008 election when John McCain -- and Hillary Clinton -- pummeled Barack Obama for saying he would go into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden if the Pakistani government wouldn't?

We do...

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Osama Bin Laden

Pakistan Under Harsh Scrutiny In Wake Of Raid On Bin Laden Compound

Benjy Sarlin | May 3, 2011, 10:12AM

A successful attack on Osama Bin Laden may mark a satisfying end to one chapter of America's War on Terror, but the circumstances of the operation raise disturbing new questions about the nation's already troubled relationship with Pakistan. On Monday, high-ranking lawmakers and officials openly aired their suspicions that forces within the crucial ally's government deliberately withheld information on the terrorist leader's location.

"They've got a lot of explaining to do," Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters Monday.

TPM SLIDESHOW: Osama Bin Laden: 9/11 Mastermind, Longtime U.S. Enemy Killed In Pakistan

Intelligence officials have long suspected that Pakistan's weak and fractured government may be host to rogue elements either disinterested in catching -- or actively sympathetic to -- anti-Western terrorists. But the presence of Bin Laden's heavily fortified compound in a garrison town near Islamabad magnified concerns that Al Qaeda had help from the inside in concealing its leader's location.

"It's very difficult for me to understand how this huge compound could be built in a city just an hour north of the capital of Pakistan in a city that contained military installations, including the Pakistani military academy, and that it did not arouse tremendous suspicion," Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, said at a press conference on Monday.

"It was not like a normal house in New Jersey, I can tell you that," Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who has called for a new review of military and economic aid to Pakistan in light of the Bin Laden raid, told TPM.

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Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Holtz-Eakin: Congress Has To Raise The Debt Limit, Sooner Rather Than Later

Brian Beutler | April 26, 2011, 4:04PM

Former McCain campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin

The former director of the Congressional Budget Office, and chief economic policy adviser to John McCain during the 2008 presidential campaign, says Congress has to raise the debt limit, and soon.

"I think that ultimately Congress has to raise the debt limit," Doug Holtz-Eakin told me after moderating an event on Capitol Hill. "We have to be good stewards of the nation's credit rating [and] doing it sooner is better than later."

In an escalation of legislative brinksmanship over raising the debt limit, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told Politico Monday that he might not hold a vote on it at all, if he can't get buy-in from Democrats on serious spending cuts.

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112th Congress

Scott Brown Praises Paul Ryan, Says "Everything is on the Table" for Medicare

Benjy Sarlin | April 5, 2011, 1:53PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's plan to end Medicare and Medicaid as we know them might be slow to accrue supporters within his own party, but Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), a key swing vote in the Senate, indicated to TPM on Tuesday he was at least open to the idea.

"Listen, everything is on the table right now and the people understand everything is on the table," he said when asked by TPM if he had concerns about privatizing and cutting Medicare. "People recognize that we're in a financial emergency and as a result of that to say that something is not on the table is really irresponsible and I'm thankful that we have people like Congressman Ryan working and coming up with a plan."

Nonetheless, Brown suggested Republican leaders' efforts would be better spent preventing a government shutdown this week than debating new entitlement plans.

"I'm appreciative that they're finally taking debt and deficit and spending cuts seriously, but let's be real: we should be focusing on funding the government," he said. "It's great to talk about next year, but how about this week? How about getting the leadership together and just focusing on funding the government and doing what the American people expect us to do?"

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Barack Obama

Obama On Re-Elect: Lasting Change Doesn't Come 'Quickly Or Easily'

Susan Crabtree | April 4, 2011, 10:14AM

President Obama launched his reelection campaign in an unusually low-key fashion Monday -- with the simple posting of a video featuring level-headed endorsements from a cross-section of Americans, a far-cry from the adulation and soaring rhetoric that catapulted the junior senator from Illinois into the Oval Office three years ago.

Although understated, the video, titled "It Begins With Us," signals Obama's formal shift into campaign mode and marks the official beginning of a fundraising blitz Obama and his team hopes will dwarf his staggering record in 2008.

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Libya

Senate Hawks Berate Gates Over Handoff Of Libya To NATO

Susan Crabtree | March 31, 2011, 5:46PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates endured nearly six hours of grilling from Congress Thursday, with the most combative questioning coming from -- surprisingly -- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and a group of Senate hawks on the Armed Services Committee who support military intervention in Libya.

McCain expressed grave disappointment about the decision to have the U.S. military forces step aside and allow NATO to take control before Muammar Qaddafi has been toppled from power.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked why the U.S. couldn't simply bomb Qaddafi like President Reagan tried to do in 1986 when he sent cruise missiles into the Libyan leader's palace, killing one of his daughters, and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said rebel setbacks over the last two days have been "unsettling."

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Libya

GOP Senator: Are There Al Qaeda Elements Among Libyan Rebels?

Susan Crabtree | March 29, 2011, 12:07PM

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK)

Update: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton downplayed the likelihood of an al Qaeda contingency among the Libyan rebels, but she acknowledged "we are still getting to know those who are leading the transitional national council."

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) wants to know much more about the Libyan rebels the U.S. and NATO allies have been aiding with air strikes and humanitarian assistance for more than a week.

"There have been several reports about the presence of al Qaeda among the rebels," Inhofe said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday. "What do we know about this?"

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John Boehner

Strikes In Libya Divides GOP, Puts Boehner In A Bind

Susan Crabtree | March 21, 2011, 10:34AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

Freshmen House Republicans are already putting House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in a bind over the budget, with a contingent of Tea Party-backed fiscal conservatives refusing to vote for any more continuing resolutions. Now a group of libertarian-leaning Republicans are balking at President Obama's missile strikes in Libya.

Republican Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Ron Paul (R-TX) and Justin Amash (R-MI) over the weekend objected to the President's decision to use military force to contain Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, with some questioning the constitutionality of the operation and others opposing U.S military intervention in another Arab country because they aren't convinced that the U.S. has a clear national interest in the action.

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Lindsey Graham

Graham On No-Fly Zone: At Least Be As Bold As The French

Susan Crabtree | March 16, 2011, 1:21PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is pouring the pressure on the Obama administration to establish a no-fly zone or deal with the historical consequences.

"One test in foreign policy - at least be as bold as the French," Graham, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a release Wednesday. "Unfortunately, when it comes to Libya we're failing that test."

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John McCain

Barbour Brings On Former McCain '08 Campaign Advisor Mike Dennehy

Jillian Rayfield | March 16, 2011, 10:46AM

Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has hired Mike Dennehy, who served as John McCain's national political director and senior adviser in 2008, to be an adviser for his presidential campaign should he choose to run.

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David Petraeus

Petraeus on Afghan War: 'We Have To Remember Why We're There'

Susan Crabtree | March 15, 2011, 12:42PM

General David Petraeus

Gen. David Petraeus urged the American people to remember the reasons why U.S. forces continue to fight in Afghanistan in the face of a new poll showing the lowest level of American support for the longest war in U.S. history.

Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that he understands the level of American frustration with the Afghan war, but warned of the growth of al Qaeda in the country and region if the U.S. abandons its mission and allows the Taliban to regain control.

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'Obama's Wars'

McCain, Graham Lead Effort to Strip Holder of Detainee Authority

Susan Crabtree | March 10, 2011, 3:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Six senators, led by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), are pushing for sweeping changes to the nation's laws governing detainees and the war on terror, including one that would strip Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department as a whole of the power to make decisions about where to try suspected terrorists.

The group of senators, which includes Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Scott Brown (R-MA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), are working with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee on a bill that would usher in comprehensive detainee policy changes and would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detains at its discretion without the involvement of the Department of Justice or Holder.

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Senate Armed Services Committee

Counterfeit Electronic Parts Ending Up In DoD Weapons Systems

Susan Crabtree | March 9, 2011, 5:59PM

Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ)

Faulty counterfeit electronic parts are ending up in the Defense Department's weapons systems, and the problem poses a critical risk to national security, according to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), who chairs the panel, and John McCain (R-AZ), its ranking member, on Wednesday called the presence of counterfeit electronic parts in the DoD supply chain a "growing problem" and announced an investigation into just how they are ending up there.

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Guantanamo Bay

Republicans Move To Strip Detainee Authority From Holder And Future Attorneys General

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 6:47PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are teaming up with Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to write legislation that would take decisions about trying detainees out of the attorney general's hands and hand that power to the secretary of defense.

In the wake of the White House's new executive order allowing Guantanamo detainees to be held indefinitely, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) unveiled legislation that would, among other things, affirm the military's right to detain, hold and interrogate detainees at its discretion without Department of Justice or Attorney General Eric Holder involvement.

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Dianne Feinstein

Feinstein Slams Middle East Intelligence, Urges Caution On No-Fly Zone

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 4:06PM

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, harshly criticized the CIA and the rest of the intelligence community for failing to forecast the uprising in the Middle East and warned the White House not to intervene in Libya without international support.

"Our intelligence, and I see it all ... was woefully inadequate. [The unrest in] Tunisia was the only intelligence we got right," Feinstein told TPM Tuesday, adding that U.S. intelligence completely missed the instability in Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain.

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John McCain

While Talking Libya No-Fly Zone, McCain Says 9/11 Prompted Iraq War (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | March 8, 2011, 10:37AM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

On CBS's "The Early Show" Tuesday morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke about his support for a no-fly zone over Libya. And as part of his argument that a no-fly zone need not lead to a ground war, he appeared to say that it was 9/11 that prompted the invasion of Iraq.

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Libya

Pressure in Congress Mounts For No-Fly Zone In Libya

Susan Crabtree | March 8, 2011, 10:33AM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI)

As air attacks against Libyan rebels grow more violent, calls for attacking Muammar Qaddafi's Air Force are growing in Congress.

Britain and France are drafting a UN resolution establishing a no-fly zone, which will be considered at a NATO meeting Thursday.

But some in Congress believe time is of the essence and are urging Obama to act independently.

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