Today in Washington D. C. - Oct 3, 2008
The Senate is in recess until Monday at 3 PM. The Senate is expected to remain in recess, holding a series of pro forma sessions, until November 17th. The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate’s version of the economic rescue package later today. There has been a bit of confusion, though, about the tax extenders package that the Senate attached to the rescue bill.
From Senate & News Sources: The tax extenders bill was passed in the Senate last week by a vote of 93-2 and included all the tax provisions that are now in the economic rescue bill. There’s been some speculation as to whether the tax bill was added to make the whole package more attractive to House members. In fact, it is the tax package that is riding on the economic bill in order to get through the House. Democrats in that chamber, led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Ways and Means Chair Charlie Rangel (D-NY), had been preventing the tax extenders bill, which prevents $20 million Americans from getting hit with the AMT, from moving through the House because they wanted to see tax increases attached to it. Combining the tax extenders bill with the economic rescue bill is a way to get $100 billion in tax relief through the House.
Still, there have been concerns about some of the provisions in the tax extenders bill. Fox News’ Jim Angle did an excellent job explaining these provisions in a Special Report last night. Angle noted, “The vast majority of these tax revisions have been in the law for years and repeatedly approved by members of both parties.” Americans for Tax Reform further clarified that many of the specific provisions that have been reported elsewhere as “earmarks” are in fact tax cuts.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate have continued to demonstrate their troubling knack for unguarded rhetoric. On Wednesday, following a caucus luncheon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid informed reporters, “One of the individuals in the caucus today talked about a major insurance company -- a major insurance company -- one with a name that everyone knows that's on the verge of going bankrupt.” Clearly, Reid did not consider the impact his remarks would have.
The Los Angeles Times reports, “Shares of MetLife Inc., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. all fell by double-digit percentages Thursday after Reid said Wednesday that the financial-system bailout plan was crucial because a large insurer was at risk of failing.” The LA Times notes this isn’t the first time something like this has happened: “In late June, Democrat [Chuck] Schumer made public a letter he had sent to federal bank regulators, expressing concern that Pasadena-based IndyMac Bancorp was on the brink of failure. When regulators seized the company's IndyMac Bank unit in mid-July, they accused Schumer of fomenting a panic run on deposits that made the bank's collapse inevitable.”
Tags: financial system bailout, tax extenders bill, earmarks, Chuck Schumer, IndyMac Bank, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
From Senate & News Sources: The tax extenders bill was passed in the Senate last week by a vote of 93-2 and included all the tax provisions that are now in the economic rescue bill. There’s been some speculation as to whether the tax bill was added to make the whole package more attractive to House members. In fact, it is the tax package that is riding on the economic bill in order to get through the House. Democrats in that chamber, led by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Ways and Means Chair Charlie Rangel (D-NY), had been preventing the tax extenders bill, which prevents $20 million Americans from getting hit with the AMT, from moving through the House because they wanted to see tax increases attached to it. Combining the tax extenders bill with the economic rescue bill is a way to get $100 billion in tax relief through the House.
Still, there have been concerns about some of the provisions in the tax extenders bill. Fox News’ Jim Angle did an excellent job explaining these provisions in a Special Report last night. Angle noted, “The vast majority of these tax revisions have been in the law for years and repeatedly approved by members of both parties.” Americans for Tax Reform further clarified that many of the specific provisions that have been reported elsewhere as “earmarks” are in fact tax cuts.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate have continued to demonstrate their troubling knack for unguarded rhetoric. On Wednesday, following a caucus luncheon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid informed reporters, “One of the individuals in the caucus today talked about a major insurance company -- a major insurance company -- one with a name that everyone knows that's on the verge of going bankrupt.” Clearly, Reid did not consider the impact his remarks would have.
The Los Angeles Times reports, “Shares of MetLife Inc., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. all fell by double-digit percentages Thursday after Reid said Wednesday that the financial-system bailout plan was crucial because a large insurer was at risk of failing.” The LA Times notes this isn’t the first time something like this has happened: “In late June, Democrat [Chuck] Schumer made public a letter he had sent to federal bank regulators, expressing concern that Pasadena-based IndyMac Bancorp was on the brink of failure. When regulators seized the company's IndyMac Bank unit in mid-July, they accused Schumer of fomenting a panic run on deposits that made the bank's collapse inevitable.”
Tags: financial system bailout, tax extenders bill, earmarks, Chuck Schumer, IndyMac Bank, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 10:00 AM - Post Link
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