ON THE FLOOR
Welcome baaack
The Senate will reconvene at 2:30 p.m., and proceed to a one-hour period of morning business. The chamber will then proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Jane Stranch to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit. At 5:30 p.m., the chamber will vote on the Stranch nomination.
The House has adjourned and will reconvene on 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010.
Been Gone so long we hardly knew ya
Originally Congress was going to be in session starting today, September 13th, until October 8th. they would then be out October 11th to November 12th (week past Election Day.) With the Democrats more afraid of losing control of potentially both chambers of Congress House and Senate Democratic Leadership is now whispering they might not be in that first week of October – giving the Democrats mere days to push any part of their agenda.
They still plan on coming back for a lame duck session November 15th to the 19th, then leave for the week of Thanksgiving (November 22nd) only to return November 29th for one final week.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The body to keep your eyes on is the Senate, for they tend to move slower, in part because the Democrats in the House have such a strong majority (for now.) In fact, the House has sent the Senate more than 300 measures which the Senate has not acted on (may I say right here, right now, thank you gridlock!) First up on the Senate floor (beyond the above nomination) is the debate to fully repeal the 1099 filing burden on small businesses.
Shortly after the August recess I received this e-mail from the Hill:
Regarding the Small Business Bill, prior to recessing, Sen. Reid withdrew all pending motions and filed a new substitute: the Baucus-Landrieu substitute amendment #4594. He then filled the tree with the following:
- the Nelson (FL) first-degree amendment #4595 (regarding 1099s)
- the Johanns (1099s) second-degree amendment #4596 (to Nelson #4595) to H.R. 5297.
He then filed four cloture petitions on 1) the Johanns Amendment, 2) the Nelson Amendment, 3) the Baucus-Landrieu substitute and 4) the underlying bill.
On Tuesday, September 14 at 11am the Senate will proceed to vote on the Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Johanns amendment #4596 to the small business lending bill. A number of you have contacted us over the summer with questions about this specific issue and the two amendments regarding the paperwork nightmare. An important reminder: for those of you who plan to send up a letter in advance of next week’s votes please do so as soon as possible and be sure to copy our office. I’ve attached two documents on the comparisons between the Johanns Amendment and the Nelson Amendment. Should you need any more information on those amendments or anything else coming up in the next work period, please let me know.
Needless to say, the longer the Senate works on cleaning up issues they couldn’t finish in August, the least amount of damage they can do on newer issues.
And on those issues . . .
LEGISLATION
A Tax on Both Your Houses
On most people’s minds it would seem is the potential large tax increases in store for all Americans if Congress does not act before January 1, 2011. If nothing is done we will face a $3.8 trillion tax increase over the next decade. The Republicans want to extend tax cuts for all Americans, while many of the Democrats want to use the opportunity to raise taxes on some
Americans. A cowardly compromise of putting off the tax increases for all Americans for two more years (right in the middle of a Presidential election where no one in Congress will want to touch the issue again) is also being debated. The President has stated he will not compromise on the issue of raising taxes for some. A number of Democrats in both Chambers have asked the President and Democratic Leadership NOT to raise taxes on anyone during these economic times.
Likely scenario? Legislators find they can’t agree on anything and the Democrats move to do it during a lame duck session.
Stemming Cells
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has scheduled a hearing this Thursday, September 16th, on the issue of human embryonic stem cell experimentation in his Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. The hearing was originally scheduled to counter a judge’s decision upholding current ethical guidelines on the experiments, Dickey-Wicker, that both President Bush’s and Obama’s administrations violated. Now that a higher court has stayed that decision, meaning the unethical research can continue with taxpayer dollars, it is likely no other action will be taken until perhaps a lame duck session. It is still assumed the House will try to pass legislation overturning any reasonable guidelines.
Gays in the Military Not So Fabulous
An activist judge might have also given the Democrats a break on the issue of homosexuals actively serving in the military as well. Democrats had hoped to use this month’s to pass the billion defense authorization measure that contains a provision repealing the law as well as one that effectively turns military bases into abortion facilities. With the court ruling perhaps easing some of the protests homosexual groups have been doing to pressure Democrats to use the military to push their agenda the prospect of a big fight on abortion and the homosexual agenda and using the military as a social experiment right before an election becomes less of a possibility.
Internet Gambling a Taxing Dilemma
After Representative Barney Frank passed his effort to legalize Internet gambling, which would effectively overturn a majority of state laws on the topic, he made it very clear that the legislation would only go to the floor if it included legislation from Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) that would impose large taxes on the Internet for a questionable revenue amount. Despite sending a letter to Congress asking for passage of Rep. Frank’s bill a number of self described conservative fiscal groups have remained silent on their tacit approval of having the federal government tax the Internet. Congressman Frank made it very clear from the beginning that the two pieces, overturning the current laws on Internet gambling and taxing the Internet, are inseparable.