Will Dems Block Costly EPA Regs Today And Opt To Shut Down The Government?

By Bob Gorrell

Today in Washington, D.C. - April 6, 2011:
The Senate Democrats continue to refuse the House Republican's Continuing Resolution which would forestall a need for a government shutdown. At this moment, government agencies are sorting out which employees are essential and which ones are non- essential employees (people). It is amazing the number of "non-essential" people that the government employs. Maybe we should start cutting some of these "non-essential" positions from the government payroll. We definitely could cut funding for non-essential White House staff members. Take a look at the White House payroll and positions. How about all those non-confirmed czars? Unfortunately, the President is considered essential and will get paid while those military fighting in harms-way may have their pay delayed. The Senate Democrats are willing to shut down the government because they can't do without their pet projects like spending your money to support Planned Parenthood "abortion clinics."

As reported yesterday, "the Senate passed 87-12 House Bill H.R. 4 without the Menendez amendment which was rejected 41-58 which would have simply studied the way to pay for repealing the 1099 provision.. H.R. 4 repeals the onerous 1099 reporting requirement imposed on small businesses by the Democrats and hidden in the massive health care law." The bill would have forced businesses (even self-employed individuals) to file tax forms for every vendor selling them more than $600 in goods each year, starting in 2012. All 12 Senators who voted against the repeal were Democrats. Today, we note that Roll Call adds, "Senate Republican leaders seized on Tuesday’s overwhelming vote as an indication that there would be bipartisan support for other efforts to chip away at the law. ‘A bunch of Democrats voted for this repeal, so there will be other efforts,” Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.’” Other Sources are reporting that Republicans are hopeful that this repeal effort is just the first of many actions to dismantle the entire health care law, aka Obamacare.

The Senate also voted 90-10 to table a motion offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have expressed the sense of the Senate on the president’s authority to authorize a military attack.

Today, he Senate resumed consideration of S. 493, the bill reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. At 4 PM, the Senate will begin a series of 7 roll call votes on amendments. All will need 60 votes to be adopted. The first 3 amendments, from Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), will be Democrat alternatives to actually blocking the EPA from costly regulations of greenhouse gases.

After those, the Senate will vote on the McConnell-Inhofe amendment, which would prohibit the EPA from implementing greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act, an action that would be very costly to job creators. Following that vote, there will be votes on amendments from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to cut unemployment benefit payments for millionaires and to eliminate duplicative government programs. There will also be a vote on an alternative amendment concerning government programs offered by Sen. Dan Inouye (D-HI).

Today, senators will have another opportunity to protect job creators from burdensome regulations and ordinary Americans from higher energy prices by voting for an amendment offered by Leader McConnell and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The McConnell-Inhofe amendment would stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases as pollutants under the Clean Air Act, something that law was never intended for, which could result in a back-door national energy tax.

As Leader McConnell said this morning, “Later today, the Senate will vote on an amendment that one leading newspaper described last week as one of the best proposals for growth and job creation to make it onto the Senate docket in years. More specifically, this amendment, which is based on legislation proposed by Senator Inhofe, would prevent unelected bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing a new national energy tax on American job creators. Everyone knows that this attempt to handcuff American businesses with new costs and regulations is the last thing these job-creators need right now. . . . So once again, I want to thank Senator Inhofe for his strong leadership on this issue. He’s led the way in protecting American jobs from this burdensome proposal with determination and common sense. He deserves the credit.”

Will Democrat senators who voted to repeal the burdensome 1099 requirements from their health care law and protect job creators do the same by voting to block EPA regulations being pushed by the Obama administration? Democrat West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin said Friday, “I believe there’ll be 13 to 15 Democrats that will vote for it.” Hopefully, Sen. Manchin will be proven correct, since passing the McConnell-Inhofe amendment would be another positive development for American businesses that create jobs.

---

Tags: Washington, D.C, US Senate, Us House, 1099, government shutdown, EPA To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!