Congress stuck in the mud when it comes to spending!

Congress found itself mostly tied up in knots this week as both the Senate and the House chambers tried to find votes for passage of bills that have huge price tags, and have no offsets or spending cuts to pay the cost of the bills. The first is the $115B tax extender bill that this writer has discussed in previous Washington Week pieces. This bill extends as many as 50 expired tax provisions many of which are popular with state Governors, teachers, doctors and the unemployed. This bill has languished in the Senate for the second week and at one point had a price tag of $140B, with about $70B offset by cuts. The Senate conducted two vital votes on the main substitute amendment offered by Sen. Baucus (D-MO) which required 60 votes. The first attempt to adopt the $140B substitute failed to reach the 60 vote threshold by 15 votes. The vote (Link to vote: http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00190) was 45 to 52. This woefully short final vote tally sent the Senate Democrats back to the drawing board and they shrunk the price tag of the bill considerably. The next time the vote occurred on the substitute amendment, now modified, the vote (link to vote: http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00194) was 56 to 40. In between these votes, GOP Senators offered amendments to cut the cost and help pay the price tag associated with the bill. Sen. Lemieux (R-FL) offered an amendment (link to amendment text: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2010_record&page=S5082&position=all) that would allow the government to return to the spending levels from 2007, just before the recession. Sen. LeMieux said during the debate: "So if we go back to 2007 level spending at $2.729 trillion, by 2013 we would balance the budget, and by 2020, instead of having a $25.7 trillion national debt, we would cut the current national debt in half, and it would be somewhere around $6 trillion, and we would save America." The LeMieux amendment did not get a vote prior to the Senate leaving for the week, but it is expected to be voted on early next week in the Senate. On Friday, in an effort to take some of the pressure off of the Senate as a result of failing to pass the extenders bill, the Senate passed a quickly cobbled together bill to help doctors who see Medicare patients. Without this quickly passed bill, doctors who see Medicare patients would be cut 21% when the submit their bills for reimbursement by the Federal Government. This postpones that cut in their pay until the end of November. Senate watchers this week clearly needed ointment for their neck aches after watching the tax extender bill and it's roller coaster price tag. The House tried to garner votes for the war supplemental appropriations bill that the POTUS requested in March to pay for our war efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the replenish FEMA. The bill originally was costing us $33B and after the Senate got through with it, the price was $60B. The House wants to add more, making the total $84B. None of this is paid for or offset so getting enough votes to pass this in the House is getting harder and harder for the Speaker. Since she didn't have the votes to pass the supplemental this week, she instead had the House consider small business lending and tax relief legislation. This bill has a price tag of approx. $30B and it is paid for and offset....sort of. You see, the offset comes from 2015 taxes. Yes, you read that correctly, the House legislation requires large corporations to pay their 2015, 3rd quarter estimated taxes, now. This bring the U.S. Treasury a pot of money to pay the small business lending and tax relief bill. The bill gives small businesses tax write-offs for upstart costs from $5,000 to $20,000. Technically, a member of Congress can say that he/she voted for the small business bill because it was fully offset. However, any 8th grader can figure out that when the Federal Government goes to collect the 3rd quarter taxes in 2015, the bill collector will get zero. So when you hear about Congress passing a fully paid- for small business tax relief and lending bill, you can chuckle under your breath about the smoke and mirrors that Congress uses to "pay for" things in Washington, DC. Maybe Sen. LeMieux has it right, going back to spending levels from 2007 is clearly better than paying for things by collecting taxes from 2015.Stay tuned

The U.S. Senate tried to end the EPA's action on Cap 'N Trade

Congress is back from their week long Memorial Day break trying to spend more money without paying the bills. The Senate debated the $115B tax extenders bill most of the week. About 1/2 of the tab associated with the bill is paid for and efforts to pay the entire tab are being offered by the GOP in the Senate. On Thursday, the Senate paused the consideration of the tax extenders bill to debate a resolution offered by Sen. Murkowski (R-AK). The resolution would put a stop to the EPA RULE issued in December of last year that basically is the groundwork for the agency to implement a Cap 'N Trade initiative. She needed 51 Senators to join in the effort. The final vote was 47 to 53. The Senate GOP are at 41 in numbers so Sen. Murkowski was able to get 6 Democratic Senators to help in her cause. But she needed 10 Democrats to join her to get it passed. This means that the EPA will continue to write regulations re: greenhouse gases and recording their levels and ultimately taxing them. The 6 Democratic Senators that joined her effort were:
Lincoln (D-AR), Landrieu (D-LA), Bayh (D-IN), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR) and Rockefeller (D-WVA)
The House of Representatives is working to get the votes to pass the Senate passed War supplemental approps. bill aimed at funding the war efforts in Iraq & Afghanistan. The original request by the POTUS had a price tag of $33B. By the time the Senate passed the bill, it reached a total cost of $60B. The House is hoping to pass it next week, with a total price of $80B. Because the original "shell" bill was to fund Wars, the POTUS was able to deem the bill an emergency and thus it doesn't have to be paid for or offset by spending cuts. Therefore, the total bill, whatever the final number, will be added directly to our debt.
Keep your GRADES and letters coming on GradeGov.com. Because Congress is hearing you, they are at least struggling to get the votes to pass these big bills adding to our debate. Let your voice be heard on GradeGov.com.