Lew Confirmed as OMB Director as Landrieu Releases Hold

Jacob LewLast night Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) released her hold on Jack Lew's nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), allowing his nomination to come to the floor of the Senate for a vote. Landrieu first placed the hold almost two months ago, in an effort to force the Obama administration to end its deepwater drilling moratorium. However, after the administration gave in to her demands and ended the moratorium, Landrieu then said her hold was actually because the administration was not approving enough drilling permits in general. Lew's nomination has been in limbo ever since.

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Fiscal Commission Releases Draft Proposal, World Flips Out

Remember that Fiscal Commission (officially the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform) President Obama created back in February, which he tasked with balancing the budget by 2015? Turns out solving the nation’s fiscal crisis isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Yesterday, the Commission’s two co-chairs released a proposal of sorts, a draft of a plan that would bring down the deficit to 2 percent of GDP by 2014, and lower the national debt to 34 percent of GDP by 2040. The co-chairs trumpeted those figures, but the plan was greeted by almost universal ire, since it attacks sacred cows on both the left and the right. Anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist threatened that Republicans who supported the proposal would be breaking their “no tax” pledge. Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, said the plan “tells working Americans to ‘Drop Dead.’”

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News Organization Bemoans Public's Lack of Knowledge on Issue It Rarely Mentioned

"What if a president cut Americans' income taxes by $116 billion and nobody noticed?" That's the lede on a recent New York Times article, one talking about a tax cut called Making Work Pay (MWP). President Obama's staff was instrumental in crafting and passing the MWP, which was part of the Recovery Act. The tax cut is stealthy, in that its design spreads the benefits out in small amounts, in each paycheck, as opposed to a single, larger payout at tax time. It was so stealthy that, as the Times article notes, few people know that Obama signed into law a tax cut affecting 95 percent of taxpayers. In fact, the MWP was so stealthy the Times barely mentioned it until this week. So why is the Times surprised no one knows about the tax cut?

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Can Obama Install Lew as Acting OMB Director?

It seems Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has struck a nerve with her hold of President Obama’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget director, Jack Lew. Last week, the Washington Post launched a salvo against her, penning an editorial titled, “It's a terrible time to be without a budget office head,” lambasting the senator for her hold. The editorial is spot on, and brings some much needed media attention to Landrieu’s absurd actions, which are hurting OMB’s efforts at putting out the 2012 budget request. But what I found most interesting was one line towards the end.

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Congress Votes Through Continuing Resolution, Stalls on OMB Nomination, and Leaves for the Election

It can't get much closer than this. In the early hours of the last day of fiscal year 2010, and the last legislative day before it adjourned for the midterm elections, Congress passed a basic continuing resolution, temporarily funding the government through December 3. That gives lawmakers from November 15, when they're scheduled to return, though December 3 to pass the entire FY 2011 budget. If they fail, which is entirely likely considering it only gives them three weeks to work, Congress will have to pass another continuing resolution.

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Friday Appropriations Update: Continuing Resolution Vote Must Happen Next Week

It's been an exciting few weeks on the Hill, with President Obama's OMB director nominee sitting before two Senate hearings before being blocked by a Democrat, House Republicans released their Pledge to America, and an effort to extendthe Bush tax cuts failed to move in the Senate. With all this excitement, I guess congressional appropriators couldn't find much time to work on their appropriations bills. In fact, the House Appropriations Committee made exactly zero progress on the fiscal year 2011 budget, meaning we're still waiting on the full committee to vote on ten appropriations bills. The Senate hasn't been much better, with its appropriations committee only approving two bills, and no floor votes. Which, as recent congressional witness Stephen Colbert might say, brings us to today's word: continuing resolution.

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Lew's Nomination to OMB Director Hits Two Progressive Bumps in the Road

One would expect that a Democratic nominee for a cabinet-level position might face resistance from Senate Republicans. After all, that's how partisan politics works in this country. But today, Jack Lew, President Obama's nominee for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director, faced opposition from not one, but two liberal senators, while at the same time earning unanimous support from Republican senators.

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Lew, OMB Director Nominee, Passes First Committee Vote, Gets Hit Unfairly By the Huffington Post

President Obama talks with Jack Lew on the Colonnade of the White House, after he announced Lew's nomination to replace Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget.Earlier today, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee unanimously approved Jack Lew, Obama's nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Lew must now wait for the Senate Budget Committee, which has yet to schedule a vote on the nomination, before his nomination can proceed to a floor vote.

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Lew, Obama's OMB Pick, Faces Dual Hearings and Few Meaningful Questions

Jacob_LewYesterday, Jack Lew, President Obama's nominee to replace Peter Orszag as Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director, went to Capitol Hill for two nomination hearings. Both the Senate Budget Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) have jurisdiction over the nomination, necessitating the two hearings on Lew, who was also President Clinton's last OMB director. Too bad we learned little about the nominee during either hearing.

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Senate Committees to Hold Hearings on Orszag’s Replacement

Tomorrow at 9 AM, the Senate Budget Committee will be holding a hearing on Jack Lew, President Obama's nominee for Director of Office of Management and Budget, a position which has been open since Peter Orszag stepped down in late July. I'm expecting most of the questions posed to Lew will revolve around debt/deficit issues, since, during his time as President Clinton's last OMB director, he was the last director to oversee a budget surplus.

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