WASHINGTON (AP) — Count President Barack Obama, the Pentagon and new Speaker Paul Ryan as winners in the hard-fought budget deal between congressional leaders and the White House.

The losers are tea partyers and those with an aversion to budget gimmicks.

2. White House swings behind huge $1.1T spending bill - Friday, December 12, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders narrowly quelled a revolt among their conservatives Thursday, then worked to overcome Democratic opposition to legislation to provide $1.1 trillion in government spending and chart a new course for selected, highly shaky pension plans.

3. Time runs short for $1.1 trillion spending bill - Friday, December 5, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time running short, Republicans and Democrats reached for elusive agreement Tuesday on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to avoid a government shutdown and delay a politically-charged struggle over President Barack Obama's new immigration policy until the new year.

4. Republicans, Democrats embrace budget gimmick - Friday, July 11, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — If there's anything that can unite Democrats and Republicans in the partisan swamp of Capitol Hill, it's free money.

The latest example of free money in Washington is a retread proposal called "pension smoothing" that raises money but doesn't increase anyone's taxes. To some people's way of thinking, that's a win-win situation. But others say lose-lose is more like it, arguing that it's budget fakery at its worst and that it could undermine pension security for millions of workers.

5. Boehner questions Senate unemployment deal - Friday, March 14, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner questioned the feasibility of a bipartisan Senate deal to renew expired benefits for the long-term unemployed, a remark that seemed to suggest the agreement could be in trouble in the House.

6. Senators strike bipartisan jobless benefits deal - Friday, March 14, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chalk up one partisan election-year battle that senators seem likely to resolve when they return from recess later this month — the fight over renewing expired benefits for the long-term unemployed.

7. How higher rates touch consumers, firms, investors - Friday, June 21, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — All it took was speculation that the Federal Reserve could slow its bond buying months from now — and then a few words Wednesday from Chairman Ben Bernanke to confirm it.

The result is that record-low interest rates that have fueled economic growth, cheered the stock market, shrunk mortgage rates but punished savers are headed up.