Sadly, there is not much new from Capitol Hill.The same old partisan gridlock has left the nation with no resolution to its continuing fiscal problems.The government’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, so again, as this column is written, we are two weeks from that date and no defense appropriations bills have been sent to the president nor has defense authorization legislation been sent to him.That of course means that federal agencies will be have to be funded through a continuing resolution until Congress finally gets off the dime (so to speak) and shows us the money!The continuing resolution will cover spending for an unspecified time until the Congress can get its act together and put the partisan baloney away and pass appropriations and authorization legislation.Further complicating matters is the issue of sequestration – that trillion dollar-plus set of automatic budget cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act passed by Congress in 2011 that will kick in again on Jan. 2 unless Congress finds another way to cut future budgets by that amount.Even though the Defense Department accounts for less than 20 percent of the overall federal budget, it will have to absorb 50 percent of the cuts.Strange math if you ask me.Oh, and the federal debt ceiling is about to be reached and Congress must authorize an increase in that ceiling or the government goes into default and can no longer pay its bills.That issue is also mired in partisan politics.In addition to the continuing resolution, sequestration and the debt ceiling, Congress, at the minimum, must address the following:Doc Fix: A 1997 deficit reduction law called for setting Medicare physician payment rates through a formula based on economic growth.The "sustainable growth rate" (SGR) worked for the first few years because Medicare expenditures did not exceed the target and doctors received modest pay increases.However, in 2002, physicians were scheduled to receive a 4.8 percent pay cut which resulted in a huge outcry.Because payment rates in the TRICARE program are tied to Medicare rates, this affects many military beneficiaries.Every year since, Congress has staved off the scheduled cuts by implementing a "fix."But each deferral just increases the size – and price tag – of the fix needed the next time.Finding a permanent solution to the annual cuts in reimbursement rates has proven to be next to impossible.The current fix expires on Dec. 31, and physicians will face about a 30 percent drop in reimbursement rates.By Congressional Budget Office estimations, it would cost about $300 billion to replace the current formula. Additionally, the uncertainty over reimbursement rates and the constant threat of payment cuts cause more and more physicians to opt out of treating Medicare and TRICARE patients.Fiscal 2014 Defense Authorization Bill: The House has already passed their version of the authorization bill while the Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced theirs. Failure to pass what used to be routine defense policy measure before the new fiscal year begins creates havoc for the Defense Department.So whether the Congress can address all of these major issues is open to debate.It looks like a tough slog from October to the end of December.Rather than me continuing to beat that horse, let’s turn to a more pleasant subject.The AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition is just around the corner.We expect enormous numbers of people interested in our Army to arrive in Washington to spend time attending professional development seminars, kicking tires on the exhibit floor, hearing inspirational and often gut-wrenching stories of war from the soldiers who lived them, and breaking bread in a reunion-like atmosphere.The Congressional Staff Breakfast is on track to break attendance records again, and AUSA’s resolutions – the legislative agenda for 2014 – will be completed as well.In the meantime your AUSA government affairs team will continue to advocate for passage of legislation that matters to our members and our Army.