Today in Washington, D.C. - Sept 24, 2010 - Democrats Spend A Week On Political Show Votes, Then Punt On Taxes
The Senate reconvened and began a period of morning business. No votes are scheduled for today. Earlier this morning, Reid filed for cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 3816, a bill giving tax incentives to companies that hire workers in the U.S. for work done abroad. Yesterday, Democrats again failed to get 60 votes to advance their partisan Disclose Act, by a vote of 59-39. Several democrat senators facing losing their re-election still choose to vote in favor of the democrat partisan bill that would have limited free speech and is cloaking behind a euphemism - saying the bill is about transparency. A prior form of this bill had been overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States as unconstitutional.
However, the democrats keep trying to pass and implement this bill. One of the senators is Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas (D) who is also desperately raising funds not in Arkansas but in New York. Interesting enough is the fact that Lincoln, who represents Arkansas, lives almost exclusively in Virginia. It is Lincoln's liberal voting record on big spending, bailouts and limitation of free speech which have endangered her re-election as a Senator from Arkansas. However, politically she surmised the bill would be defeated if all the Republicans voted against the bill. Lincoln is gambling that no one in Arkansas will note a defeated bill attacking free speech and she desperately focused on getting campaign money from her liberal out of state sources.
Also yesterday, the Senate voted 43-56 against a motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 30, a resolution of disapproval offered by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) of a National Board of Medication decision on labor union regulations.
Responding to a comment from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell this morning, Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “There has been a lot of wasted time here in the Senate but it hasn't been because of the majority. We've had to answer to more than a hundred filibusters here in the Senate, which has eaten up weeks and weeks of our time, where we should have been talking about jobs for the American people.” Sen. Reid is certainly correct that the Senate “should have been talking about jobs for the American people.” But, it is Reid and the Democrat majority who set the schedule in the Senate, and while Americans are concerned about their jobs and the economy, the Senate was engaged in a Democrat "politics-only" week in the U.S. Senate.”
Indeed, on Tuesday, Democrats tried to bring the Defense Authorization bill to the floor, but they insisted on loading down the bill with controversial political items such as repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” and the DREAM Act. As The Hill noted, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is getting pushback from Democratic colleagues balking at the legislative agenda he set for the weeks before Election Day. Several Democratic senators have questioned the wisdom of voting on the military’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy and a scaled-down version of immigration reform, known as the DREAM Act. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said Democrats are worried about bringing up hot-button political issues that are likely to rev up the liberal base but could alienate more conservative swing voters.”
And then when the Senate wouldn’t take up a politicized Defense bill, Democrats delved even further into politics, bringing back the Disclose Act, which the Wall Street Journal called a “blatantly partisan effort to limit the free political speech of some Americans but not of others,” and which Roll Call noted was an “appeal to [his] Democratic base.” Sen. McConnell described the effort: “The only thing transparent here is the effort this exercise represents to secure an electoral advantage for Democrats. So this is a completely distasteful exercise. At a time when Americans are clamoring for us to do something about the economy, Democrats are not only turning a deaf ear, they’re spending two full days here working to silence the voices of even more people with a bill that picks and chooses who has a full right to political speech.”
Yet this whole time, the Senate could have been doing something to help the economy and prevent tax increases on all Americans next year. If Congress does not act, every taxpayer, including hundreds of thousands of small business owners, will face higher taxes in January. Sen. McConnell explained last week, “[T]he uncertainty that persists now while Washington decides what to do is paralyzing businesses from making the kinds of investments that would help turn our economy around. That’s why I recently proposed legislation in the U.S. Senate to definitively prevent these disastrous tax hikes. It would keep current income tax rates where they are now, giving small businesses the certainty they need to plan for the future.”
But according to The New York Times, “Senate Democrats said Thursday that they would postpone a highly contentious floor fight over what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts until after the November elections, a decision that spares some politically vulnerable incumbents from casting a potentially difficult vote to let taxes rise for the rich. . . . It also raised a political risk for Democrats that they would be seen as wavering on one of President Obama’s signature campaign promises and abandoning a fight that could have mobilized the party’s base ahead of the elections. A number of Democrats in the Senate and in the House have also called for a temporary extension of the tax breaks at all income levels and that was clearly a factor in the decision by party leaders to hold off.”
The Wall Street Journal summarizes it best: Congress Punts on Taxes: Democrats Put Off Showdown on Bush Cuts Until After November Election. "Democrats abandoned plans to vote before Election Day on extending Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class while eliminating them for better-off Americans, spooked by protests from vulnerable incumbents and bleak prospects for passage. With time running out to plan for 2011, the delay raises uncertainty for small businesses and individual taxpayers over their future liabilities. It also sets up a titanic battle over taxes after the election. If returning lawmakers don't pass legislation by Dec. 31, the expiration date of the cuts, tax rates would rise not only on income, but also on estates, capital gains and dividends. Important corporate tax credits and relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax also are up for renewal."
In other words, Democrats have punted on preventing job-killing tax hikes on Americans in what many consider to be a very painful recession. A recent CNBC poll found that “[a] majority of the respondents believe the Bush tax cuts should be extended, even for people making more than $250,000 a year. Fifty-five percent think increasing taxes on any Americans will slow the economy and kill jobs.” And a CNN survey of economists found that “extending the tax cuts for all taxpayers is the most important thing Congress can do to help the economy.”
But instead, Senate Democrats spent the week on political show votes that won’t create jobs or prevent tax increases. They could have been trying to foster an environment to create “jobs for the American people.” But Democrats apparently decided once again that politics trumped addressing the economy. No wonder Americans are fed up with this out-of-touch Congress.
Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, military appropriations act, Harry Reid, Blanche Lincoln, dream act, amnesty, don't ask, don't tell, military, raising taxes, jobs, polls To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
However, the democrats keep trying to pass and implement this bill. One of the senators is Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas (D) who is also desperately raising funds not in Arkansas but in New York. Interesting enough is the fact that Lincoln, who represents Arkansas, lives almost exclusively in Virginia. It is Lincoln's liberal voting record on big spending, bailouts and limitation of free speech which have endangered her re-election as a Senator from Arkansas. However, politically she surmised the bill would be defeated if all the Republicans voted against the bill. Lincoln is gambling that no one in Arkansas will note a defeated bill attacking free speech and she desperately focused on getting campaign money from her liberal out of state sources.
Also yesterday, the Senate voted 43-56 against a motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 30, a resolution of disapproval offered by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) of a National Board of Medication decision on labor union regulations.
Responding to a comment from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell this morning, Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “There has been a lot of wasted time here in the Senate but it hasn't been because of the majority. We've had to answer to more than a hundred filibusters here in the Senate, which has eaten up weeks and weeks of our time, where we should have been talking about jobs for the American people.” Sen. Reid is certainly correct that the Senate “should have been talking about jobs for the American people.” But, it is Reid and the Democrat majority who set the schedule in the Senate, and while Americans are concerned about their jobs and the economy, the Senate was engaged in a Democrat "politics-only" week in the U.S. Senate.”
Indeed, on Tuesday, Democrats tried to bring the Defense Authorization bill to the floor, but they insisted on loading down the bill with controversial political items such as repealing the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” and the DREAM Act. As The Hill noted, “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is getting pushback from Democratic colleagues balking at the legislative agenda he set for the weeks before Election Day. Several Democratic senators have questioned the wisdom of voting on the military’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy and a scaled-down version of immigration reform, known as the DREAM Act. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said Democrats are worried about bringing up hot-button political issues that are likely to rev up the liberal base but could alienate more conservative swing voters.”
And then when the Senate wouldn’t take up a politicized Defense bill, Democrats delved even further into politics, bringing back the Disclose Act, which the Wall Street Journal called a “blatantly partisan effort to limit the free political speech of some Americans but not of others,” and which Roll Call noted was an “appeal to [his] Democratic base.” Sen. McConnell described the effort: “The only thing transparent here is the effort this exercise represents to secure an electoral advantage for Democrats. So this is a completely distasteful exercise. At a time when Americans are clamoring for us to do something about the economy, Democrats are not only turning a deaf ear, they’re spending two full days here working to silence the voices of even more people with a bill that picks and chooses who has a full right to political speech.”
Yet this whole time, the Senate could have been doing something to help the economy and prevent tax increases on all Americans next year. If Congress does not act, every taxpayer, including hundreds of thousands of small business owners, will face higher taxes in January. Sen. McConnell explained last week, “[T]he uncertainty that persists now while Washington decides what to do is paralyzing businesses from making the kinds of investments that would help turn our economy around. That’s why I recently proposed legislation in the U.S. Senate to definitively prevent these disastrous tax hikes. It would keep current income tax rates where they are now, giving small businesses the certainty they need to plan for the future.”
But according to The New York Times, “Senate Democrats said Thursday that they would postpone a highly contentious floor fight over what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts until after the November elections, a decision that spares some politically vulnerable incumbents from casting a potentially difficult vote to let taxes rise for the rich. . . . It also raised a political risk for Democrats that they would be seen as wavering on one of President Obama’s signature campaign promises and abandoning a fight that could have mobilized the party’s base ahead of the elections. A number of Democrats in the Senate and in the House have also called for a temporary extension of the tax breaks at all income levels and that was clearly a factor in the decision by party leaders to hold off.”
| U.S. Senate vote on extending tax cuts scheduled to expire is now unlikely before the November elections. John McKinnon has the latest. |
In other words, Democrats have punted on preventing job-killing tax hikes on Americans in what many consider to be a very painful recession. A recent CNBC poll found that “[a] majority of the respondents believe the Bush tax cuts should be extended, even for people making more than $250,000 a year. Fifty-five percent think increasing taxes on any Americans will slow the economy and kill jobs.” And a CNN survey of economists found that “extending the tax cuts for all taxpayers is the most important thing Congress can do to help the economy.”
But instead, Senate Democrats spent the week on political show votes that won’t create jobs or prevent tax increases. They could have been trying to foster an environment to create “jobs for the American people.” But Democrats apparently decided once again that politics trumped addressing the economy. No wonder Americans are fed up with this out-of-touch Congress.
Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, military appropriations act, Harry Reid, Blanche Lincoln, dream act, amnesty, don't ask, don't tell, military, raising taxes, jobs, polls To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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