tagged w/ Senate Finance Committee
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Ron Paul will not head up the House’s monetary policy subcommittee if John Boehner has anything to say about it.
“Five GOP leadership aides, speaking anonymously because a decision isn’t final, say incoming House Speaker John Boehner has discussed ways to prevent Paul from becoming chairman or to keep him on a tight leash if he does,” reports Bloomberg. “If Boehner, who will help determine who gets to chair subcommittees as early as Dec. 8, rejects Paul, he may have to contend with thousands of grassroots supporters and dozens of younger lawmakers who see Paul as a hero.”
Boehner and the establishment Republicans rode to victory last month on the shoulders of the Tea Party movement. Prior to the election, Tea Party activists in Maine, Colorado, and Utah focused on abolishing the Federal Reserve.
Some predicted that if Republicans were to sweep the House they would become much more confrontational with the Federal Reserve. “The popularity of Tea Party candidates in U.S. elections could spell renewed efforts to curtail the power and independence of the Federal Reserve, which has been cast as an emblem of big government overreach,” Reuters reported in late October.
Many establishment Republicans agree with senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina who insists the Tea Party and its vision of less government has no long-term vision or prospects for political viability.
Instead of dismantling the Federal Reserve, establishment Republicans have called for reforming the private bankster cartel masquerading as a government agency supposedly answerable to the American people.
On Tuesday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. called for Congress to change the Fed’s “dual mandate” now requiring it to promote both price stability and full employment and instead focus on keeping inflation low and not worrying about reducing unemployment.
“It is time that we work to clarify the mandate of the Federal Reserve,” said Corker, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, in a statement announcing his support for the change. “Providing our central bank with a clear and explicit focus on keeping inflation low will serve America better than the broader mandate approach we have today,” the National Journal reports.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/republicans-move-to-block-ron-paul-from-monetary-policy-subcommittee-chair.html
Corker and Pence proffered their milquetoast bill after it was revealed the Fed gave a big chunk of its multi-trillion dollar Wall Street bailout to foreign banksters and transnational corporations.
“We now know that the Fed loaned trillions of dollars at zero or near-zero interest rates not only to the largest financial institutions in the country, but also to many of our largest corporations — including GE, McDonalds and Verizon,” said an outraged Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont.
“Perhaps most surprising is the huge sum that went to bail out foreign private banks and corporations, including two European megabanks — Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse,” he said. “As a result of this disclosure, other members of Congress and I will be taking a very extensive look at all aspects of how the Federal Reserve functions.”
Bernie Sanders and Ron Paul may take a serious look at the Fed. But we shouldn’t expect the rest of Congress to support an effort to cut out the cancer that plagues the economy.
In July, Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act that would have eliminated restrictions on GAO audits of the Fed and open its operations to congressional oversight was defeated.
“Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has always operated in the shadows, without sufficient scrutiny or oversight, while Congress has kept its hands off and its eyes closed,” Ron Paul wrote after language from his bill failed to make it into a conference report on the so-called financial reform bill (that ultimately gave the Fed more power, not less). “The Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar. Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Transparency Act would achieve much-needed transparency of the Federal Reserve System.”
Now that Republicans are in charge of the House, they join the Democrats and make sure the Federal Reserve continues to operate in the shadows and remains unanswerable to the American people. The globalist financial train wreck will continue until it accomplishes its goal of pauperizing the American people and preparing the country to be merged into their world government scheme.
“The current Globalist Financial Crisis is a Financial False Flag operation,” writes Alfred Lambremont Webre. “It is a controlled collapse of the globalist economic system, engineered by an international war crimes racketeering organization…. The Financial False Flag [is] designed to accelerate the deterioration of First World economies, democracies, and prosperity, in aid of a larger program of global depopulation. The same powers who control the Federal Reserve Bank are intent on depopulating between 1/3 and 2/3 of the current human population, in service to a grotesque covert elite plan.”
Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, and a handful of other House and Senate renegades who are not reading from the bankster script like John Boehner and the establishment Republicans will not be allowed to hold the Federal Reserve to account.
It will take the collective outrage of grassroots supporters of Paul’s End the Fed movement to force Congress to reconsider moving against the banksters and their cartel.Ron Paul will not head up the House’s monetary policy subcommittee if John... more
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The photos tell the story: Greene walking the beach in St. Tropez with his pal Mike Tyson and a bevy of women in bikinis.The photos tell the story: Greene walking the beach in St. Tropez with his pal Mike... more
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looks like Rep. Charlie Rangel will finally get his day in court.
A House panel said Thursday that its investigative subcommittee charged the Harlem Democrat with multiple ethics violations, and it will form an "adjudicatory subcommittee" to weigh the matter.
"I am pleased that, at long last, sunshine will pierce the cloud of serious allegations that have been raised against me in the media," Rangel said in a statement.
"I will be glad to respond to the allegations at such time as the Ethics Committee makes them public."
The charges - though not immediately specified - are a serious blow to the former Ways and Means chairman and an election-year headache for Democrats.
Rangel's critics say this could be the blow that forces him out of office. "I think he’ll have to resign," said Melanie Sloan, head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, whose group has already called for Rangel's resignation.
"If he doesn’t, things could get ugly, Sloan said. "It’s like an indictment, and now he goes through a trial." The subcommittee, which includes no members from the investigative team, will meet next Thursday in an open "organizational meeting."
The group ultimately will "determine whether any counts in the statement of alleged violation have been proved by clear and convincing evidence and to make findings of fact."
Rangel has been under fire for nearly two years over his failure to report rental income, his fund-raising activities for a CUNY center named for him, and the use of four rent-controlled apartments.
He was forced to step down as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee earlier this year after the ethics panel found he took a pair of Caribbean trips that he should have known were sponsored by corporations, and therefore not allowed.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/22/2010-07-22_house_panel_charges_new_york_rep_charles_rangel_with_ethics_misdeeds.html#ixzz0uSMAhNQ9looks like Rep. Charlie Rangel will finally get his day in court.
A House panel... more
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WASHINGTON — President Obama, making a muscular show of his executive authority just one day after Congress left for spring recess, said Saturday that he would bypass the Senate and install 15 appointees, including a union lawyer whose nomination to the National Labor Relations Board was blocked last month with the help of two Democrats.
Coming on the heels of Mr. Obama’s big victory on health care legislation, Saturday’s move suggests a newly emboldened president who is unafraid to provoke a confrontation with the minority party.
Just two days ago, all 41 Senate Republicans sent Mr. Obama a letter urging him not to appoint the union lawyer, Craig Becker, during the recess. Mr. Obama’s action, in defiance of the Republicans, was hailed by union leaders, but it also seemed certain to intensify the partisan rancor that has enveloped Washington.
“The United States Senate has the responsibility to approve or disprove of my nominees,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “But if, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”
It was the first time the president has used his constitutional authority to fill vacant federal positions by making recess appointments, thus avoiding the requirement for the advice and consent of the Senate. Mr. Obama, who currently has 217 nominees pending and 77 awaiting action on the Senate floor, said Republicans had given him little choice.
“At a time of economic emergency, two top appointees to the Department of Treasury have been held up for nearly six months,” Mr. Obama said. “I simply cannot allow partisan politics to stand in the way of the basic functioning of government.”
With lawmakers back in their home states and Mr. Obama spending a quiet family weekend at Camp David, the White House issued the statement announcing the president’s intent to appoint Mr. Becker, and 14 others, mostly to fill positions on his economic and homeland security teams.
The White House said the 15 nominees had been waiting, on average, seven months to be confirmed. They are expected to begin work over the next week; the president’s action will enable them to serve without Senate confirmation until the chamber adjourns at the end of 2011.
Republicans, who have cast Mr. Becker as a pro-labor radical, issued a flurry of angry statements. They wasted little time in reminding reporters that when George W. Bush was president, then-Senator Obama had railed against the recess appointment of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, saying that Mr. Bolton would be “damaged goods” and lacked credibility without Senate confirmation.
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, called the president’s move “yet another episode of choosing a partisan path despite bipartisan opposition.”
Another Republican, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, said in an interview that he could understand Mr. Obama’s frustration; he said that most of the other nominees were noncontroversial and that his concern was centered primarily on Mr. Becker. “He has a precedent,” Mr. Coburn said of the president, “Others have done it, so I’m not critical of him doing it. But I am critical of the Becker appointment because he doesn’t have the votes.”
Recess appointments are a common tool for presidents frustrated by the confirmation process. Mr. Obama’s action puts him on a par with Mr. Bush, who had made 15 recess appointments by this point in his presidency. Mr. Bush had an especially intense tussle with Democrats over judicial appointees; during the course of his two terms in office, he made a total of 171 recess appointments, although 72 were to part-time positions, according to the Congressional Research Service. President Clinton made 139 recess appointments.
With the exception of Mr. Becker, the White House said most of the 15 nominees being installed by Mr. Obama have bipartisan support. Indeed, in a sign that Mr. Obama did not want to go too far in inflaming partisan passions, he resisted using his executive powers to install one of his most contentious candidates, Dawn Johnsen, an Indiana University law professor, to lead the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. Ms. Johnsen has drawn the ire of Republicans for her work as a lawyer for NARAL Pro-Choice America as well as her outspoken opposition to the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policies.
Saturday’s announcement is certain to cheer some of Mr. Obama’s strongest supporters, who have been arguing that the president should take on Republicans in a more forceful way. Gay rights advocates were elated to see Chai R. Feldblum, a Georgetown University Law professor who advocates on gay issues, claim a spot on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a result of Mr. Obama’s action.
But perhaps no group will be as heartened as union leaders.
For months they had complained that Mr. Obama was too timid in responding to Republican opposition to Mr. Becker, a former associate general counsel for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Service Employees International Union. Labor leaders were also unhappy that the labor relations board has been largely paralyzed since January 2008 because only two of its five seats have been filled since then. Mr. Obama also appointed Mark Pearce, a New York labor lawyer, on Saturday to fill a fourth seat on the board.
Last month, the Democrats fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster of a vote for Mr. Becker. Two Democrats, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, joined Republicans in the 52-to-33 vote.
In their letter to the president, Republicans wrote that Mr. Becker, a former law professor at U.C.L.A. and the University of Chicago, “could not be viewed as impartial, unbiased or objective” in labor board cases. A law review article he wrote, saying that employers should not have a voice in unionization elections, angered many businesses and Republicans. But in Congressional testimony, Mr. Becker said that those were his personal views and as a labor board member, he would follow the letter of the law.
Two other candidates who are getting recess appointments, Jeffrey Goldstein, the nominee for a high-level job at the Department of Treasury as under secretary for domestic finance, and Alan D. Bersin, the nominee for commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection division of the Department of Homeland Security, were still being vetted by the Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Obama’s decision to bypass the vetting drew criticism Saturday from the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa.
Mr. Grassley said Mr. Goldstein was still answering the panel’s questions about his work for a private equity firm, and Mr. Bersin was answering questions about “what appeared to be conflicting information about his documentation and disclosure” of household employees — questions that, the senator said, were “directly relevant” to the positions they will hold.WASHINGTON — President Obama, making a muscular show of his executive authority... more
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The long-awaiting Senate Finance Committee vote on the health care bill came today and guess what? They voted to send the bill to the Senate floor! The vote split down party lines with a much-mentioned yes vote from Republican Olympia Snowe. So that means we're done right? Not so fast. Next up: Plenty more political wrangling on Capitol Hill. Lots of it. Keep in mind, the Senate still has to vote, there will probably be further amendments to the bill, AND the House is still working on their version of the bill.
While we wait, here's a fun interactive feature from the NY Times: Health Care Conversations.
And also a Collective Journalism piece about one young woman's search for health insurance.
No Healthcare for Me (Video)
Also From Obama: The First Term on Current News
- When will Obama end Don't Ask Don't Tell?
- Obama’s Nobel Reactions: An albatross of expectation?
- Obama Remembers the GaysThe long-awaiting Senate Finance Committee vote on the health care bill came today and... more
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Washington lobbyists have been enjoying a multi-million-dollar sugar rush from the food industry.
Soft drink makers, supermarket companies, agriculture and the fast-food business have poured millions into campaigning against what they fear could be a burgeoning national movement to raise money for health care reform by taxing sweetened beverages.
During the first nine months of 2009, the industry groups stepped up their lobbying in Congress. They have spent more than $24 million on the issue of a national excise tax on sweetened beverages and on other legislative and regulatory issues, according to an examination of lobbying reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records. The review shows that 21 companies and organizations reported that they lobbied specifically on the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages - which among other things would include sodas, juice drinks and chocolate milk.
About $5 million of the money was spent on a national advertising campaign aimed at Capitol Hill lawmakers and promoting a newly formed coalition called Americans Against Food Taxes . The group bills itself on its website as a coalition of "responsible individuals, financially-strapped families, [and] small and large businesses" but its 400-plus membership list is dominated by industry heavyweights such as Burger King Corporation, Coca Cola, Pepsico and Domino's Pizza.
Many health officials and advocacy groups have argued for years that sugary drinks, particularly those with high-fructose corn syrup, have been key contributors to a rise in obesity rates in the United States, especially among children. Some argue that the time is right for a soda tax, which they say could not only cut consumption but also generate revenue to close state budget gaps and pay for new health care programs.
A proposal for a national excise tax on soft drinks surfaced in a May funding policy options paper during the Senate Finance Committee's deliberations on health care reform. Food lobbyists attacked then and continued their efforts in July when President Obama raised the possibility of a soda tax in an interview with Men's Health magazine. The proposal has not emerged in any of the health care reform bills still in play on Capitol Hill.
But the issue may be gaining traction in some key states. This week, California lawmakers are holding a high-profile hearing in Los Angeles to examine the link between childhood obesity and sugary drinks. In New York, Gov. David Paterson has revived the idea of a sugared beverage tax after a previous proposal was shot down by the legislature earlier this year in the face of industry opposition.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/soda-tax-mobilizes-food-l_n_345840.htmlWashington lobbyists have been enjoying a multi-million-dollar sugar rush from the... more
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Just hours before the Senate Finance Committee is set to vote (and likely pass) its version of health care reform legislation, the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org has announced a new television advertisement slamming the final product.
Narrated by former health insurance executive Wendell Potter, the spot accuses private insurance of trying to "kill health reform" and whacks the committee for not including a public option to keep the industry honest.
"Take it from me," Potter says, "the Senate Finance bill is a dream come true of the health insurance industry. If there is no public option insurance companies aren't going to change. The choice of a public health insurance option is the only way to keep insurance companies honest."Just hours before the Senate Finance Committee is set to vote (and likely pass) its... more
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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to remake the nation's health care system is about to take its biggest step yet toward becoming reality.
The pivotal Senate Finance Committee was poised to approve sweeping legislation Tuesday requiring nearly all Americans to purchase insurance and ushering in a host of other changes to the nation's $2.5 trillion medical system.
Much work would lie ahead before a bill could arrive on Obama's desk, but action by the Finance Committee would mark a significant advance, capping numerous delays as Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., held marathon negotiating sessions — ultimately unsuccessful — aimed at producing a bipartisan bill.
Four other congressional committees acted before August to pass health legislation, so for months all eyes have been on the Finance Committee, the remaining one. It's also the panel whose moderate makeup most closely resembles the Senate as a whole. And the committee's centrist legislation is seen as the best building block for a compromise plan that could find favor on the Senate floor.
With Democrats holding a 13-10 majority on the committee the outcome of Tuesday's vote is not in doubt. The big question mark is whether moderate Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine will become the first Republican to support a health overhaul bill. The legislation that passed the other House and Senate committees did so without a single Republican vote. On Monday, Snowe still wasn't saying.WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to remake the nation's... more
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President Barack Obama's plan to remake the nation's health care system is about to take its biggest step yet toward becoming reality.President Barack Obama's plan to remake the nation's health care system is... more
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Democrats need 60 votes to block a Republican filibuster and they are currently short of that number.Democrats need 60 votes to block a Republican filibuster and they are currently short... more
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The Senate Finance Committee narrowly passed an amendment Thursday from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that moves the conservative panel as close as it will likely get to a public health insurance option.
The amendment creates a "federally funded, non-Medicaid, state plan which combines the innovation and quality of private sector competition with the purchasing power of the states," according to an overview.
It would be available to people with incomes above Medicaid eligibility but below 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- a very narrow window. However, Republicans fear -- and progressives hope -- that once the plan becomes law there will be pressure to expand it.
The plan would not be free. It is based on Washington state's Basic Health plan, which costs roughly 60 dollars a month, with the remainder of the premium subsidized by the state.
Private insurers would be eligible to participate in the plan, as would HMOs or other networks of health care providers.
The amendment has been gathering steam all week and was the subject of an extended private session of the finance committee Thursday afternoon before the vote, chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/01/senate-committee-passes-q_n_306831.htmlThe Senate Finance Committee narrowly passed an amendment Thursday from Sen. Maria... more
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Stephen Colbert had a brilliant idea last night on his show. Max Baucus says that he wants a healthcare bill and that is why he's voting against the public option. So Colbert's logic is simple, if Max want's a bill than send him yours. Send him your unpaid or outrageously expensive health care bills so that he can use his health company contributions which now number above three million just from the last year and a half since healthcare began debate in the the Kennedy H.E.L.P. committee so long ago. Well steven didn't include fax information or mailing information for Max on his show so I felt obligated to provide it for you right here. Here is his website, email, faxes for his offices, and the mailing addresses. As well as phone numbers for all of them.
After all Max says on his own website about getting grants for constituent problems.
"Although I am unable to influence the awarding of grant money, I can provide some resources you can use to find the funds you seek. I can also provide a letter of support, in most cases, which you can include in your grant application."
Well I'd say that any of us faxing in could use exactly that a letter of Max's support. On his own Bill once it makes it to the Senate floor for a vote, when it is given the public option existing in the other two Senate bills. Until then I'd love to hear what "resources we can use to find the funds we seek." other than Max's healthcare company campaign funds.
http://baucus.senate.gov/
Billings
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(202) 224-1998 (TDD)Stephen Colbert had a brilliant idea last night on his show. Max Baucus says that he... more
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The messages communicated in Boetcker’s The Ten Cannots are most appropriate for today, even 93 years after the original publication.The messages communicated in Boetcker’s The Ten Cannots are most appropriate for... more
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We've all heard about the major disappointment of yesterday's Senate Finance Committee meeting. But the defeat of the public option wasn't the senators' only poor decision of the day. As the Associated Press reports, the committee spent the evening approving a measure to restore $50 million of federal funding to abstinence-only sex education. That's right, folks: These 23 senators think it's more important to devote several million dollars to teaching your children lies than to provide a realistic public alternative to a healthcare hell created by private insurance companies. Are you pissed off yet?
more at link...We've all heard about the major disappointment of yesterday's Senate Finance... more
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Rep. Honda and his allies want to allow illegal immigrants to pay for insurance, even if it comes through a government-established exchange.Rep. Honda and his allies want to allow illegal immigrants to pay for insurance, even... more
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A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its health-care bill that has given rise to fears of government "death panels" in recent days, with one lawmaker suggesting that the proposal was just confusing.
The Senate Finance Committee is taking the idea of "end-of-life care consultations" with doctors off the table as it works to craft its version of health-care legislation, a Democratic committee aide said yesterday.
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"End-of-life care consultants" gets turned into Death Panels. These "consultants" were your doctors and health care specialists, not government bureaucrats . Is she the one thats ignorant or is it just that the American people are so easily manipulated and frightened?A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its health-care bill that has given... more
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Are you wondering what the mainstream media is hiding about US health-care reform? "Beyond Sicko" discusses what's wrong with the current US health-care system and concrete ideas on how to fix it.This four-part series was recorded at the Manhattan Neighborhood Network in mid-July 09. Part 2 looks at preventive medicine, the power of US pharmaceutical companies and questionable choices of the Obama administration and the Senate Finance Committee. Host: Heather Wokusch, Guest: Beth Hart, Producer/Director: Gloria Messer.Are you wondering what the mainstream media is hiding about US health-care reform?... more
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"As Congress stumbles toward Christmas, President Bush is scoring victory after victory over his Democratic adversaries. He has beaten back domestic spending increases, thwarted an expansion of children's health insurance coverage, defeated tax hikes, won funding for the war in Iraq and pushed Democrats toward shattering their pledge not to add to the federal deficit with new tax cuts or rises in mandatory spending.
But the cost of those wins could be high, both for the federal debt and for the president's own priorities.
Bush's steadfast stand against Democratic spending, coupled with his equally resolute opposition to tax increases, could raise the federal debt this fiscal year by nearly $240 billion. As Democrats struggle to meet his demands, they are jettisoning renewable-energy and conservation incentives that Bush championed, and they may ax some of his most cherished programs.
Even some Republicans bristle at the president's inflexibility. Bush has pledged never to sign bills with tax increases, even tax increases that he once supported.
"I see the president trying to play catch-up in two years for not vetoing anything in the first six years, and probably regretting that he treated the Republican Congress with softer gloves than he did a Democrat Congress," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), the conservative ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "He's kind of waking up to the necessity of having a certain policy that ought to be consistently followed, even if it's irrational."
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That Grassley, always with the tax and spend agenda! He'll get his!
The article points out that Bush accepted spending increases averaging 7 percent per year from the Republican Congress, but is shooting for 4 percent per year now. This has led him to the bizarre positions I referred to earlier.
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Bush's victory against much of the Democrats' energy bill also came at a price. A comprehensive bill will be signed into law, but the president defeated $21 billion in revenue increases that would have paid for tax incentives to support renewable energy, conservation and other programs that he has vocally supported.
"It's ridiculous," Grassley fumed. "He has compromised his own position."
The biggest revenue-raiser would have done away with a tax incentive that the five largest oil companies have enjoyed for three years. That break came about as Congress was considering tax incentives to spur manufacturing exports; the oil companies -- among the largest importers in the country -- successfully lobbied to be declared manufacturers, making them eligible for a new tax break.
At the time, Bush opposed more tax incentives. "I will tell you, with $55 oil, we don't need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore," he told a gathering of newspaper editors. "There are plenty of incentives." Grassley said Bush personally reiterated that position to him in 2006, during a private White House session on taxes.
This time around, Bush and Republican leaders declared that a repeal of such incentives would amount to a "massive" tax increase.
"What is clear is that raising taxes on oil producers will not lower the price of gasoline," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "And raising the price of gasoline is not what Americans need today. . . . We do not need a tax increase."
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Mind-bogglingly bad decision-making. And this is the guy who ran as a uniter? More like an untier.
"As Congress stumbles toward Christmas, President Bush is scoring victory after... more
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