Former "Law & Order" actor and presidential candidate Fred Thompson joined the League of American Voters on Tuesday to launch a national petition calling for the extension of all the Bush tax cuts.

Lawmakers will probably need to pass another extension to fund the Federal Aviation Administration as negotiations on a final bill stall out. 

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) told The Hill on Tuesday that an extension appeared inevitable because of disagreements over adding long-distance slots at Reagan National Airport. The latest extension on the measure runs through Aug. 1. 

House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) is expected to offer an extension on Wednesday but details weren't available on Tuesday night. 

Virginia Sens. Jim Webb (D) and Mark Warner (D) are opposed to adding any additional long-distance slots at the airport because of concerns that larger planes needed to fly coast-to-coast would create more noise. 

A House Democrat said Tuesday it might take a hurricane to generate momentum for a stalled bill he is pushing for.

Sen. John Kerry (D) said Tuesday he is planning to pay his home state of Massachusetts nearly $500,000 in sales tax for a yacht he bought and is docking in Rhode Island. 

Kerry had been dogged Monday by questions of tax evasion over his purchase earlier this year of a $7 million yacht he opted to dock in Rhode Island. He announced today that he will "promptly" pay the Massachusetts Department of Revenue taxes as if the boat were docked in his home state.

"We’ve reached out to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and made clear that, whether owed or not, we intend to pay the equivalent taxes as if the boat’s home-port were currently in Massachusetts," Kerry said in a statement released this afternoon. "That payment is being made promptly."

Senators appeared Tuesday to be nearing a deal allowing several Republican amendments to small business lending and tax bill, that could pave its way to passage. 

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is in talks with Republicans to provide floor time for several GOP amendments. The move will likely attract enough Republicans to the bill to ensure its passage. 

"It looks good, I'm currently very optimistic," she told The Hill today. "Looks as though we may actually have a great bill." 

Landrieu, who  said she expects two or three Republican amendments on the measure. 

"Because of the strong vote last week, the leadership on both sides was encouraged to find a way forward," she said. 

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is urging the Treasury Department to set measurable goals for a housing assistance program that government oversight groups argue has failed to address the foreclosure crisis.

Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Secretary Geithner on Friday calling on Treasury to establish specific benchmarks for its Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

“Treasury needs to comply with the recommendations of the oversight witnesses … by setting performance goals and measurable benchmarks,” Grassley wrote. “I urge the Department to stop ignoring this simple recommendation and immediately work to make the taxpayer investment in HAMP worthwhile. … You can be sure that I intend to keep a watchful eye over the Department until it is done.”

The risk of a debt crisis along the lines of the kind being experienced in Europe will increase as long as the debt increases, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Tuesday. 

The CBO said in a new report that while it was impossible to predict whether the United States would encounter a debt crisis like those plaguing some European nations, the longer debts and deficits go unaddressed, the greater the risk of a crisis.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to predict with any confidence whether and when such a crisis might occur in the United States; in particular, there is no identifiable tipping point of debt relative to GDP indicating that a crisis is likely or imminent.” a new CBO report said. “But all else being equal, the higher the debt, the greater the risk of such a crisis.”

The CBO’s warning comes less than 100 days before congressional elections in which the growing debt and deficits are a larger consideration for voters. A number of Republican lawmakers and candidates for office have warned of a second financial crisis spurred by debt, likening the situation in the U.S. to the situation facing Greece.

Those nations have had to embark on aggressive austerity packages to get their debt under control after several European Union members struggled with their debt levels, a development that weakened the Euro. 

The options in the U.S. to address such a crisis would be “limited and unattractive,” CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote. Those options include changing the terms of the debt, inflating the dollar and adopting an austerity package like those sought in Europe. 

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) endorsed on Tuesday the cuts sought by British Prime Minister David Cameron in that nation’s austerity package. 

“That’s the way that we need to do it,” McCain said of the British example on KFNN radio in Arizona. “Cut spending, cut the size of government.”

McCain did not address the tax increases that were part of Cameron’s package, though President Obama’s fiscal commission may do so when it issues its report in December. 

House and Senate leaders have promised an up-or-down vote on whatever recommendations the commission makes to address the long-term debt.

The risk of a debt crisis along the lines of the kind being experienced in Europe will increase as long as the debt increases, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Tuesday. 

The CBO said in a new report that while it was impossible to predict whether the United States would encounter a debt crisis like those plaguing some European nations, the longer debts and deficits go unaddressed, the greater the risk of a crisis.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to predict with any confidence whether and when such a crisis might occur in the United States; in particular, there is no identifiable tipping point of debt relative to GDP indicating that a crisis is likely or imminent.” a new CBO report said. “But all else being equal, the higher the debt, the greater the risk of such a crisis.”

The CBO’s warning comes less than 100 days before congressional elections in which the growing debt and deficits are a larger consideration for voters. A number of Republican lawmakers and candidates for office have warned of a second financial crisis spurred by debt, likening the situation in the U.S. to the situation facing Greece.

Those nations have had to embark on aggressive austerity packages to get their debt under control after several European Union members struggled with their debt levels, a development that weakened the Euro. 

The options in the U.S. to address such a crisis would be “limited and unattractive,” CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote. Those options include changing the terms of the debt, inflating the dollar and adopting an austerity package like those sought in Europe. 

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) endorsed on Tuesday the cuts sought by British Prime Minister David Cameron in that nation’s austerity package. 

“That’s the way that we need to do it,” McCain said of the British example on KFNN radio in Arizona. “Cut spending, cut the size of government.”

McCain did not address the tax increases that were part of Cameron’s package, though President Obama’s fiscal commission may do so when it issues its report in December. 

House and Senate leaders have promised an up-or-down vote on whatever recommendations the commission makes to address the long-term debt.

Cross-posted from Blog Briefing Room. 

Home prices increased 4.6% in May across 20 cities from the same time in 2009 because of a tax credit.