DeMint Standoff Remains

Jul 17, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

According to CongressDaily ($$), Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) will continue to block a conference on lobbying and ethics reform until he receives a guarantee that his earmark disclosure language will not be changed during conference committee. This promise remains despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) offer to put him on the conference committee. "The majority leader is trying to be clever, but I wasn't born yesterday," DeMint said. "Everybody knows Democrats are going to control the conference, 4 to 3, and they will vote 4 to 3 to kill earmark reform.

read in full

WRTL Acts On Supreme Court Decision

Jul 17, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

From BNA Money and Politics ($$); After the Supreme Court ruling in the Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) case, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and members of Congress who intervened in the case came to an agreement late last week with WRTL attorney James Bopp. The agreement details the features of political ads sponsored by corporations and unions that all sides specify as permissible in future campaigns. Nevertheless, legal challenges to restrictions on ads may continue to be reviewed by the courts on a case-by-case basis.

read in full

A Galling Example of White House Regulatory Delay

Jul 17, 2007 by Matthew Madia

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is sitting on a rule which would set speed limits for large shipping vessels traveling along the eastern seaboard during the migration season of the North Atlantic right whale. The standard would reduce the number of whales killed in collisions with ships. Because the rule is considered "major," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) submitted the rule to OIRA for the standard review period prescribed by Executive Order 12866.

read in full

Ways and Means to Consider New Anti-Privatization Bill

Jul 17, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Tomorrow, the House Ways and Means Committee will consider a new "good government" bill to end the IRS private debt collection program. Check out the bill here. It includes virtually the same language as HR 695- Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen's (D-MD) bill to end the program. It also includes six other measures that tweak tax laws. Previous efforts to end the program have been caught up in procedural issues. At first blush, this new bill seems get around those problems- it has proper jurisdiction and probably wouldn't violate PAYGO.

read in full

A Virtuous Free Market? Lending Edition

Jul 17, 2007 by Matt Lewis

The free-marketeers say that not only is the market more efficient than government in almost every way, it makes everyone virtuous. People become dependent on the state when it intervenes; the market promotes self-reliance and rewards hard work and discipline.

read in full

Executive Earmarks Obscuring Executive Branch Goals?

Jul 16, 2007 by Dana Chasin

A story in The Hill today alleges that, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), "senators have not claimed responsibility for at least $7.5 billion worth of projects approved by the Appropriations Committee." Per The Hill, the Committee claims that TCS "misinterpreted a host of appropriations requirements as earmarks... $6.5 billion requested by the Pentagon for the base realignment and closure program was considered 'undisclosed earmarks'."

read in full

The Absurdly Wealthy Tell It Like It Is

Jul 16, 2007 by Matt Lewis

An interesting article from this weekend's New York Times that let's the wealthy share their views on why they're so rich. Other very wealthy men in the new Gilded Age talk of themselves as having a flair for business not unlike Derek Jeter's "unique talent" for baseball, as Leo J. Hindery Jr. put it. "I think there are people, including myself at certain times in my career," Mr. Hindery said, "who because of their uniqueness warrant whatever the market will bear."

read in full

JCT Issues Reports on SCHIP Financing

Jul 16, 2007 by Craig Jennings

To fully offset a $35 billion expansion of SCHIP, the Senate Finance Committee has proposed raising tobacco taxes to about $1 per pack. The Joint Committee on Taxation released reports on the proposed revenue changes on Friday.
  • Estimated Revenue Effects Of The Revenue Provisions Related To The State Children's Health Insurance Program
  • Description Of The Revenue Provisions For Markup Of The State Children's Health Insurance Program
The five-year revenue generation from the proposed tax would be $35.7 billion, with a ten-year total of $71.1 billion.

read in full

Bill Would Force EPA to Decide on State Petitions

Jul 16, 2007 by Matthew Madia

In December 2005, California petitioned EPA to allow the state to develop its own vehicle emissions regulations. Since then, EPA has obstinately refused to decide either way. Only recently did Administrator Stephen Johnson set a timetable, promising action by the end of the year.

read in full

Approps Update

Jul 16, 2007 by Craig Jennings

  • Senate and House Appropriations Committees begin work this week marking up Agriculture
  • House Appropriations Committee will also take up Defense this week
Our story so far...

read in full

Pages

  • ©2015 Center for Effective Government
  • All Rights Reserved.
  • This an archive site of the materials produced by the Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) and is maintained by the Project On Government Oversight.