OVERNIGHT MONEY: Budget marathon begins on Tuesday

TUESDAY'S BIG STORY: 

Budget marathon: Tuesday begins three days of budget debate on Capitol Hill. 

The House Rules Committee meets on the GOP budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), which would cut $5.3 trillion in spending over 10 years — which isn't enough for some conservatives. 

On Tuesday, the Republican Study Committee will unveil a budget that makes enough cuts to balance the budget in five years. Ryan's budget would reach balance in 2040. 

Democratic leadership will introduce their budget alternative, authored by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), ranking member on the House Budget panel. 

That plan is expected to track more closely to President Obama’s fiscal 2013 proposal — the vote will likely be a test for the White House.

Ryan's budget is a week old and has already been through the wringer — it lowers the discretionary spending cap set in the August debt-limit agreement from $1.047 trillion to $1.028 trillion. 

The move has angered Democrats and the Obama administration — they argue it renegs on the agreement and doesn't bode well for any future deals. 

Meanwhile, House Republican leaders are trying to keep their party unified behind the budget outline. 

The Ryan budget is expected to hit the House floor Wednesday, with votes to come Thursday. 

The Congressional Black Caucus will also offer a budget alternative.

On Monday, liberal House Democrats released their 2013 budget that increases taxes by $4.7 trillion more than the White House proposed in his own budget last month.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus said the taxes are necessary to fund $2.9 trillion in new stimulus spending to “put Americans back to work” and “rebuild the middle classes” while reducing the deficit. This new spending includes canceling the cuts in last August’s debt-ceiling deal between Congress and the White House. 

Before plunging headlong into the budget depths — where it's easy to get lost in swirling billions and trillions — the House will vote on the Senate version of JOBS Act which eases initial public offerings for small companies. Senate Democrats were unable to attach an Export-Import Bank reauthorization to the bill last week but did make minor tweaks that are acceptable to House GOP leaders.

The House is expected to sign off on the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, then send it to the White House.

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR 

FED up: Lawmakers will continue their string of hearings on the Federal Reserve's efforts to help the eurozone steer through its debt crisis — this one chaired, for the first time, by noted Fed critic Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). The presidential candidate will devote his House Financial Services subcommittee on Monetary Policy to what the Fed's European efforts mean for the American dollar. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has assured lawmakers that its efforts — lowering the rate it charges other central banks to borrow in dollars, which are then used to lend to private banks — don't put taxpayer funds at risk. Paul will get the chance to grill William Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, on what other risks that policy might pose.

Speaking of Bernanke & Co., the Joint Economic Committee will be getting into the monetary policy conversation with its own hearing on the dollar and its relative soundness. The vice chairman of that panel, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), is the author of a bill that would give the Fed a major overhaul, including trimming its mandate so it no longer needs to maximize employment, but just keep inflation under control.

Tim talking: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner just can't get enough of Congress, it seems. A regular presence at hearing tables across Capitol Hill lately, he'll be back on Tuesday for a session before a House Appropriations subcommittee. While he's been tasked with defending the president's budget, he has a slimmer itinerary Tuesday — he'll take on questions about the Treasury's budget request for fiscal 2013.

Good choice: A Senate Banking subcommittee on Tuesday will be talking about the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. The Housing and Urban Development program is aimed at fixing up distressed neighborhoods and housing projects, relying heavily on local and community input to get it done.

Vying for better visas: The Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss a partisan push to streamline a slew of visa rules to boost international travel to the United States as a way to create jobs and bolster economic growth. 

The package of bills is designed to bolster the economic recovery by reducing costs, speeding up visa times and easing restrictions for visitors interested in traveling to the United States. 

Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Roger Dow, head of the U.S. Travel Association; and Rebecca Gambler, director of Homeland Security and Justice at the at Government Accountability Office, will chat with lawmakers. 

Going postal: Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is scheduled to discuss his Postal Service's own plan to lop off billions of dollars in annual costs in the next few years with a House Oversight subcommittee on Tuesday.

Donahoe is expected to concentrate especially on his cash-strapped agency's push to run its own healthcare plan and opt out of a federal benefits program. The postmaster general's scheduled appearance comes the same week that the Senate is expected to at least hold a procedural vote on a measure to overhaul postal operations. 

More chatting about budgets: The budget hearings continue on both sides of the Capitol on Tuesday with Defense Department and Army budgets before Senate Appropriations. On the House side, General Services Administration Administrator Martha Johnson will talk about her agency's budget, and Chief Administrative Officer Dan Strodel will testify about the budget for the House of Representatives.

BREAKING NEWS

We'll take your tax cut and raise you: Senate Democrats on Monday introduced a $25 billion tax cut to spur hiring among small businesses that is intended to counter a different offer by House Republicans.

The two-pronged proposal will give small businesses a 10 percent tax cut in exchange for hiring new workers or raising employee pay, and will allow businesses to fully deduct the cost of significant investments made this year.

On Monday afternoon, the House Ways and Means Committee said the panel would mark up the House's $20 billion proposal on Wednesday.

LOOSE CHANGE

Start spreading the news: Former International Monetary Fund boss Dominque Strauss-Kahn was handed preliminary charges Monday alleging he was involved in a French prostitution ring. The former International Monetary Fund chief is denying wrongdoing.

It was a stunning blow on the home front for Strauss-Kahn, a onetime French presidential hopeful whose sexual behavior has been in the international spotlight over the past year.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS 

S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city Index: Home prices have been relatively flat the past few months but that could be a sign that the housing market is finally stabilizing. 

Consumer Confidence: The Conference Board's monthly report should reflect whether the strengthening labor market made up for uncertainty in rising gas prices in March. The report is helpful in predicting shifts in consumer spending.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Oil industry launches full-court press against Senate bill repealing tax breaks
— Bernanke: Job market 'quite weak'
— Obama suspends Argentina from trade program, adds South Sudan
— Pending home sales dip as the housing market slowly recovers

Catch us on Twitter: @VickoftheHill, @peteschroeder, @elwasson and @berniebecker3

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