This Week in the People's House

This Week in the People's House
6/20/2010
By Bobby Frederick
Happy Father's Day!

Another light week on the legislative front as House Democrat leadership cancelled Friday's session for a second week in a row. Convening at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, June 14th (first votes at 6:32 p.m.) and adjourning at 7:33 p.m. on Thursday, June 17th (last vote at 2:03 p.m.), the House registered 21 votes for the week. The House was in session for a total of 33 hours and 2 minutes.

The House completed two pieces of legislation geared towards assisting small businesses, however this week was most notable for what the House did NOT get done. On Thursday, after a three-hour-and-twenty minute recess, Democrat leadership sent members home for the week when it became clear they did not have the votes for their campaign finance bill (H.R. 5175), AND that the long-stalled tax extenders bill (H.R. 4213) would not be sent back from the Senate.

Current Balance of the House : 255 Democrats, 178 Republicans and 2 vacancies (NY-29 & IN-3). Tom Graves (R-GA-9) was sworn in on Monday June 14th.

Rule Bills

6/16/2010

H.R. 5486, the Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act of 2010, introduced by Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI).

Summary: Among the 6 tax provisions in this bill is a 22-month 100% exclusion on the capital gains tax from selling small business stock (held for a minimum of five years).

H.R. 5486 also increases - from $5,000 to $20,000 - the start-up expenses that small businesses can deduct in 2010 and 2011.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, these tax incentives will cost $3.6 billion over 10 years. To offset these costs, the authors altered the tax code for estate planning by requiring a ten year term for "grantor retained annuity trusts", and made tall crude oil ineligible for the Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Credit. The JCT ruled that these provisions would increase government revenue by $7.1 billion through FY 2020 for a net gain of $3.5 billion (which will be used to offset the cost of H.R. 5297).

Arguments: Proponents of the legislation argued that it would create jobs for small business while opponents argued the tax relief did not go far enough and that the $3.5 billion surplus would be used to fund another bailout type program.

Motion to Recommit (MTR): Using their final opportunity to amend the bill, Republicans offered an MTR that would repeal the section of the health care bill that requires a person to purchase health insurance (aka the individual mandate). The Motion failed 187-230 (Voting Yes- 21 D's & 166 R's : Voting No- 229 D's & 1 R).

H.R. 5486 passed by a vote of 247-170 (Voting Yes- 242 D's & 5 R's : Voting No- 8 D's & 162 R's).


6/17/2010

H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA).
Summary: Would authorize the Treasury Department to administer a $30 billion fund to invest in eligible financial institutions in an effort to encourage banks to lend to small businesses. H.R. 5297 also authorizes $1 billion in financing for "early stage" businesses.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) put the cost of this bill at $3.3 billion through FY 2015. This would be covered by the aforementioned surplus from H.R. 5486.

Arguments: Supporters maintained that this bill would increase lending to small businesses and ultimately "make a profit" for taxpayers. Opponents countered by likening the bill to another version of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and arguing that the bill would not guarantee that banks lend to small businesses.

H.R. 5297 passed by a vote of 241-182 (Voting Yes- 238 D's & 3 R's : Voting No 13 D's & 169 R's).

Next Step: Pursuant to the terms of the rule for H.R. 5297, both H.R. 5297 and H.R. 5486, after being passed individually, will be combined into one bill and sent to the Senate.


YouCUT
For the 4th week, Republican leadership sought the counsel of citizens in an effort aimed at reducing the deficit. People vote via text-message on a spending cut and then Republicans offer it on the House Floor (usually through a parliamentary method known as Ordering the Previous Question).

This week, Congressman Jason Chafettz (R-UT) offered a cut that could save up to $15 billion by speeding up the process for selling excess federal property

This effort failed 241-179 (Voting Yes- 241 D's & 0 R's : Voting No- 7 D's & 172 R's).

Suspensions

The House suspended the rules to pass 10 pieces of legislation this past week. Measures include supporting National Dairy Month, American Eagle Day, a gift card measure, honoring FFA advisor Larry Case, recognizing father's day, honoring 20th anniversary of the Albert Einstein fellowship program and honoring the NAACP, Department of Justice, Flag Day and the Urban Prep Charter Academy. Click here for vote tallies (roll call vote 355-58, 361-62, 364-67 & 370). H.R. 4855, the Work-Life Balance Act failed on suspension (roll call vote 360).

Other Big News : Gulf Oil Spill & Afghanistan

President Obama used his first oval office speech to address the nation on the oil spill crisis in the Gulf. His remarks were criticized by some on the left.

Lawmakers' anger spills out at BP CEO Tony Hayward as he testifies on Capitol Hill. By the end of the week, he had gotten "his life back".

As we head in to Day 62 of the spill (Monday June 21st), BP's own worst case scenario estimates a possible leak of 100,000 barrels of oil a day.

Ranking Member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) had to apologize for his apology to BP in order to keep his spot on the panel.

A United Nations report claims that coordinated attacks and assassinations are increasing at an alarming rate in Afghanistan. This comes ahead of the summer surge of 30,000 U.S. troops.

The People's House Political Extra (135 Days until the 2010 Midterm Elections)

Paraphrased quote of the week: "The bad news for Democrats is that we're low in the polls. The good news is that the Republicans are right down there with us. They (American voters) don't like any of us." Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

Hoyer might be on to something. Democrats have surely seen better days as this NPR poll shows. Using data from 60 Democratic incumbent districts and 10 Republican incumbent districts, NPR found that 56% of those in Democratic districts said they would not vote to re-elect their Congressman, compared to 39% in GOP districts. Meanwhile, Republicans hold a 49%-41% advantage on a generic ballot question.

However, not all the news is good for Republicans as this Rasmussen Reports poll shows. Seventy-two percent of Republican voters say that Republican members of Congress are out of touch with the party base.

Five months outside of the election where they are expected to lose seats in both the House and Senate, Democrats are employing $50 million into the risky strategy of trying to tap back in to those first-time voters who helped put President Obama in office in 2008.

Upcoming Action in The People's House

Democrats hope that the third time is the charm after shelving H.R. 5175, the Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, for the past two weeks. The National Rifle Association was successful in getting an exemption from the provisions of this bill (including having to physically appear in ads they sponsor and disclose their contributions). This move, designed to secure the votes of Blue Dog Democrats, ended up upsetting liberal democrats and other interest groups, putting the status of the bill in limbo.

The House MAY consider an $84.3 billion war supplemental funding bill. $33 billion would go to defense efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan while the rest would fund states, Pell Grants, disaster assistance in Haiti and border enforcement.

Finally, this week Democrat leadership announced it was cancelling session the week of August 2nd, which means there are now 39 days left on the Legislative Calendar for the year.