Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee are finalizing their member assignments, with several subcommittee chairs from the last Congress expected to stay on as ranking members. 

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Economists are revising their forecasts upward based on recent economic indicators showing the U.S. is recovering from the downturn, according to a Reuters poll released on Wednesday.

The poll of around 80 economists estimated that the U.S. economy will expand by about 3 percent this year, up from 2.7 percent in a similar poll in December and 2.3 percent in November.

The median of forecasts for gross domestic product growth this year also increased to 2.9 percent from 2.8 percent in December. 

Improved economic data at the end of 2010, including a boost in retail sales and growth in the service sector, created a wave of revisions to fourth quarter growth forecasts, up to 3.4 percent from 2.5 percent in a December poll. 

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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has a new way of communicating its work to the public -- 140 characters at a time.

The CFTC announced Wednesday that it had launched a Twitter account, which is intended to keep the public informed about news and agency events.

Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee completed their member assignments on Wednesday, with ranking member selections still subject to the approval of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and the Democratic Caucus, the panel announced Wednesday.

Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash), who is the full committee's ranking member, also will take the lead on the Subcommittee on Defense, as long as the Democratic Caucus agrees. Dicks has said he would abide by the decision of his fellow Democrats. 

Dicks, who won his 18th term, has long been a friend of defense contractors and of Boeing in particular, which is has its headquarters in his district. He also can be expected to try to preserve Pentagon funding although Defense Secretary Robert Gates has announced a round of $78 billion in suggested cuts over five years in an effort to reduce the budget deficit and cut out wasteful spending.

Some lawmakers have argued against lawmakers holding two leadership spots on any one panel. Former Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), who didn't run for reelection, also served as chairman of the panel's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. 

The nation’s taxpayer advocate, a corporate executive and a conservative analyst are among the five witnesses scheduled to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee about tax reform on Thursday.

In its first hearing of the new Congress, the Ways and Means panel is set to hear from Nina Olson, the taxpayer advocate; Robert McDonald, chief executive of Procter & Gamble; Warren Hudak, whose Pennsylvania firm focuses on small-business accounting; Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute; and Martin Sullivan, a contributing editor to Tax Analysts. 

As the Treasury Department prepares to sell off up to $75 billion of shares in the American International Group (AIG) a group of eight Congressional Black Caucus members want to ensure that women and minorities are included in the dealmaking.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the group, led by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), urged government officials to ensure these groups are "fairly and fully included at all stages of this process.

"Minority- and women-owned businesses are frequently excluded from participation in ventures of this size," they wrote.

Lower mortgage rates led to a pick-up in loan applications last week boosted by an increase in refinancing activity.

The market index increased 5 percent for the week that ended Jan. 14 from a week earlier, while refinancings were up 7.7 percent, the third straight increase, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. 

The purchase index decreased slightly, by 1.9 percent from one week earlier, a signal that the housing market is still struggling to gain any traction in the improving economy. 

"Mortgage rates have moved somewhat lower since the beginning of the year, as mixed data on the job market continue to cloud the outlook for the economy," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "Refinance applications have picked up, as borrowers take advantage of lower rates, but purchase applications remain quite low, indicating that home sales are unlikely to pick up any time soon."
 

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wants to grill Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in his first hearing of the new Congress.

The committee, which has been closely watched to see how deeply it will delve into the administration, announced the hearing Wednesday. Invited to testify on Jan. 26 alongside Geithner is Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for TARP (SIGTARP).

The report faults the stimulus for not keeping unemployment lower while increasing spending.