Senate Highway Deal Relies on Reduced Fed Payments to Banks
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) answers reporters' questions during a brief news conference outside the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol July 23, 2013 in Washington, DC. McConnell did not take any quesitons about the announcement by Tea Party activist Ted Blevin that he will challenge McConnell in the 2014 GOP primary in Kentucky.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesA bipartisan deal to fund U.S. highway construction for three years relies on proposals that will pull in money for a decade, including reduced dividends to banks from the Federal Reserve and sales of federally owned oil.
Most of the changes have nothing to do with highway policy, a reflection of the stalemate in Congress over how to cope with the erosion of the gas tax as a funding source for transportation. Instead, senators of both parties found money wherever they could -- from tax compliance, housing policy and Social Security payments to fugitive felons.