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Next Bailout votes coming up - very long


Posted: Aug 9, 2010

There's one coming up Tomorow  and one scheduled for Aug. 17. I'm posting both (preety long)  but I'll not comment because ______ (fill in the blank).

#1: Stop Tuesday’s Bailout Vote, and the Lame Duck Session!

Stop Tuesday’s Bailout Vote AND the Lame Duck Session!

Nancy Pelosi Calls Congress Back from Recess to Vote on More Bailouts

Take Action!

Nancy Pelosi knows her days as Speaker of the House are numbered, so she took the drastic step of calling the entire House of Representatives, which had gone into recess last Friday, back to Washington, D.C. to vote on yet another bailout!

The August recess is a necessary time for Members of Congress to return to their districts to hear from their constituents. Many Democrats are already avoiding Town Hall meetings in August, because they know their constituents are angry with their votes on jobs-killing, big-spending legislation. Now, instead of spending time with the people they were elected to represent, they are running back to Washington to spend more taxpayer money and to grab more power for the federal government.

There is some good news about Congress coming back to D.C., however. Before recess, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) introduced a “No Lame Duck” resolution, urging Democrats to promise that they will not hold a “lame duck” legislative session after election day (when presumably many liberals will have lost their seats and will no longer be concerned about the consequences of their votes) for the purpose of passing hugely unpopular legislation like a national energy tax, more bailouts and the kickback to big labor known as “Card Check.”

Price, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, a Committee of the Conference’s most conservative members, issued this statement:

If the Democrat leadership is willing to bring lawmakers back to Washington in order to pass billions more in “stimulus” spending with tax hikes on job creators, the least they can do is tell the American people that they will not bring law makers back for a lame duck session to pass additional tax increases, deficit spending and special interest giveaways. This Lame Duck resolution will allow our Democrat colleagues to make it clear whether they plan to govern in accordance with the will of the American people or in spite of it.

We need you to call your Member of Congress today and urge them to send Speaker Pelosi a message by voting NO on the State Bailout Bill, H.R. 1586 and by voting YES on the “No Lame Duck” Resolution!

(Note: H.R.1586 was originally the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act, but the House-passed text of the FAA authorization was replaced in the Senate with an amendment sponsored by Sens. Reid (D-NV) and Murray (D-WA) to include the bailout.)

Here are a few facts about the State Bailout Bill, H.R. 1586:

  • It contains a total of $26.1 billion in temporary state bailouts.
  • The bill provides $10 billion that states are REQUIRED to use to pay teacher salaries. States who receive this money must agree to not reduce their budgets below 2009 levels. This all but guarantees that further taxpayer funded bailouts will be required, because even if states wanted to take responsible action to reduce their spending, they are prohibited from doing so.
  • This bill sets the stage for a nationalized education system by expanding federal government control over education and diminishing the role of parents, teachers and local communities.
  • Democrats claim this money is necessary spending on children’s education. In reality, this is a blatant payoff for teachers unions, a significant Democrat base, which keeps demanding more money from taxpayers without producing better results for children. The Wall Street Journal made this point in a July 14th editorial, “School districts have been adding to their payrolls for decades without regard to student enrollment and much to show in academic improvement. Total education spending grew by 32% between 1999 and 2009, while K-12 enrollment has grown by less than 1% each year over the same time period. The reality is that districts could economize and trim the bureaucracy without having to lay off as many teachers as they claim.” But, this legislation would prohibit such economizing!
  • The bill also increases Medicaid spending by $16.1 billion by extending the federal Medicaid matching rate of 6.2% to all states through December 2010, then phasing the matching rate increase down to 3.2% for the first three months of 2011, then to 1.2% for April through June 2011.
  • The legislation includes $9.7 billion in permanent tax increases on multinational companies. This will absolutely kill jobs and further diminish the United States’ ability to compete with foreign corporations.
  • The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that this bill will increase the deficit by $12.6 billion.

Call your Representatives and tell them to vote NO on H.R. 1586 and a YES vote on the “No Lame Duck” resolution.

http://www.themoralliberal.com/2010/08/09/stop-tuesdays-bailout-vote-and-the-lame-duck-session/

#2: An August Surprise from Obama?

Aug 5, 2010 00:26 EDT

Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout. Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt of millions of Americans who owe more than what their homes are worth. An estimated 15 million U.S. mortgages – one in five – are underwater with negative equity of some $800 billion. Recall that on Christmas Eve 2009, the Treasury Department waived a $400 billion limit on financial assistance to Fannie and Freddie, pledging unlimited help. The actual vehicle for the bailout could be the Bush-era Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, a sister program to Obama’s loan modification effort. HARP was just extended through June 30, 2011.

The move, if it happens, would be a stunning political and economic bombshell less than 100 days before a midterm election in which Democrats are currently expected to suffer massive, if not historic losses. The key date to watch is August 17 when the Treasury Department holds a much-hyped meeting on the future of Fannie and Freddie. A few key points:

1) Republican leaders believe this is going to happen since GOPers and Democratic moderates in the Senate are unwilling to spend more taxpayer money on more stimulus. But such a housing plan would allow the White House to sidestep congressional objections and show voters it is doing something tangible about an economy that seems to be weakening.

2) Wall Street banks are alerting their clients privately to this possibility. Here is what some are cautiously saying publicly. This from Goldman Sachs:

GSE policies are one of a dwindling number of policy levers the administration has left to pull, so it is conceivable that changes could be made, though there is no sign that a policy change is imminent. The Treasury’s essentially unlimited ability to provide financial support to the GSEs creates an interesting situation over the next twelve months: the GSEs could potentially be used to provide additional support for the housing market and, to a lesser extent, the broader economy in 2H 2001.

And this from Mizuho Securities:

As policy makers ponder their next move the data suggests that they face not only a stalling recovery but a growing risk of deflation taking root in the economy. As a result, the Administration has turned back to industrial policies by approving the purchase of a sub-prime auto lender by GM as a means for pumping  up domestic sales, especially since the latest auto sales data indicates that consumers are still responsive to incentives. This precedent increases the risk that the government will use its control of Fannie and Freddie to increase consumer cash flow and juice the economy again.

Moreover, Morgan Stanley is pushing a mortgage relief plan directly to Congress. On August 3, a top Morgan Stanley economist recommended to the Senate Budget Committee that Fannie and Freddie ease their lending standards to allow millions of Americans to refinance their mortgages.

3) Keep in mind the political and economic context. The nascent recovery is already running out of steam. Wall Street economists just downgraded the government’s second-quarter GDP estimate of 2.4 percent to around 1.7 percent. And as even Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is warning, the unemployment rate may well begin to rise back toward the politically toxic 10 percent level given such sluggish growth. Many in the White House thought the unemployment rate would be dropping sharply by this point in the recovery.

But that is not happening. What is happening is that the president’s approval ratings are continuing to erode, as are Democratic election polls. Democrats are in real danger of losing the House and almost losing the Senate. The mortgage Hail Mary would be a last-gasp effort to prevent this from happening and to save the Obama agenda. The political calculation is that the number of grateful Americans would be greater than those offended that they — and their children and their grandchildren — would be paying for someone else’s mortgage woes.

4) And don’t think the White House is worried about financial market reaction. If they thought it would pass Congress, they would be submitting a $200 billion Stimulus  2.0  (3.0?, 4.0?) right now.

August is supposed to be a slow month for Washington politics. But maybe not this one.

http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2010/08/05/an-august-surprise-from-obama/

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You posted it, do you NEED to comment? - IMANMT2

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

This just passed. - Zville MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I didn't see the final vote, but apparently it wasn't even close.

Vote was 247-161 for $26B - Not only for teachers, - Backwards Typist

[ In Reply To ..]

but also included money for state bailouts, and border security.


 


House approves $26 billion jobs bill


Congress approved a final spurt of spending Tuesday to shore up the sluggish recovery, sending to the White House a $26 billion plan to save the jobs of thousands of teachers and other government workers.


The measure brings total direct federal spending on the economy to just over $1 trillion since the Great Recession began in late 2007.


With economic growth faltering and unemployment stuck at 9.5 percent, some economists are urging additional action. But senior Democrats and administration officials said the package of state aid approved Tuesday is likely to be the last significant effort at economic stimulus at least until after the November congressional elections.


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), determined to show angry voters a commitment to improving the economy, summoned lawmakers back from their August break for an unusual one-day session to vote on the package, saying it would help governors facing their own budget problems avoid laying off more than 300,000 workers.


Republicans derided the measure as a transparent handout to teachers' unions, a key Democratic political constituency, and argued that it would be no more successful at restoring the nation's economic health than was the massive stimulus package President Obama signed soon after taking office last January.


"This is a bailout. This is another bailout. . . . Let's not do this!" yelled Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.). "We're facing almost a $1.5 trillion budget deficit. America, please, please, wake up. And remember in November."


In a midafternoon vote, the House approved the measure 247 to 161, with most Republicans voting no. The Senate has already signed off on the package, and Obama plans to sign the bill into law as soon as Tuesday, administration officials said, speeding the cash into state coffers.


The measure would provide governors with an additional six months of federal assistance: $10 billion in education aid and about $16 billion to fill gaps opened in state Medicaid budgets by increasing demand on the health program for the poor. The sum is only about half what Obama requested. Faced with bipartisan anxiety about soaring budget deficits, Democratic leaders were forced not only to scale back the package, but also to cover its cost by increasing taxes on multinational corporations and rescinding an increase in the food stamp program that was enacted in the 2009 stimulus package. The cut would not take effect, however, until 2014.


Obama on Tuesday urged lawmakers to approve the package, calling it essential to avoiding a new round of layoffs.


"We can't stand by and do nothing while pink slips are given to the men and women who educate our children and keep our communities safe," Obama said at a Rose Garden news conference, where he was flanked by Education Secretary Arne Duncan and two public school teachers.


Despite the fresh aid, many states will still face fiscal troubles. The package represents less than a quarter of what the National Governors Association estimates will be a cumulative shortfall of $116 billion in state budgets over the next two years.


"This isn't plugging the hole," said David Quam, NGA director of federal relations. "This is helping to transition."


Locally, the bill would provide about $70 million for the District, $450 million for Maryland and $540 million for Virginia, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.


Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D), who lobbied hard for the money, said his state's share of about $1 billion would prevent as many as 10,000 layoffs and bolster efforts to improve public schools. Failure to pass the bill, he said, would have undercut his state's nascent economic recovery.


"That would have been a body blow," he said. "It would have cut our momentum off at the pass."


South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), whose state would receive more than $280 million, called such arguments "mistaken." He said federal and state governments alike should learn to live within their means, much as families and businesses have done. In South Carolina, he said, "we'll have to deal with some cutbacks, but they're relatively mild in the grand scheme of things. The danger of the stimulus and other things like it, is that we're hurting the engine that creates the revenue for the rest of the government."


Sanford also said that new federal relief would choke off efforts to overhaul schools and other public services. "All the air gets sucked out of the chance to make any reform," he said, "because nobody wants to make changes if they don't have to in politics."


Many states had been counting on the $16 billion in additional federal Medicaid support, but the $10 billion targeted for education jobs came as something of a surprise when the Senate voted to approve it last week. In the spring, estimates of the layoff threat in schools ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, but as of this month it remained unclear exactly how many personnel have been let go.


(Schools around U.S. brace for layoffs)


With the start of school just a few weeks away, most school systems were not counting on increased federal aid this summer as they set their staffing plans in motion. Across the country, class sizes have been on the rise, school bus routes have been cut and a plethora of programs, including summer school, arts and physical education and health and counseling services, have been cut back. Some school systems even trimmed the length of the school year to make ends meet.


Now, the budget calculus changes. In California, for instance, where an estimated 15,000 educators were laid off, teachers union officials hope many will be rehired.


Dennis Van Roekel, president of the 3.2-million-member National Education Association, said teachers sent more than 300,000 emails, made 100,000 phone calls and mailed 42,000 postcards urging Congress to approve the measure.


"The people on the outside can say they're doing it in their self interest -- and they're wrong," Van Roekel said. "They're doing it because of the impact on their students."


In addition to the state aid package, House members addressed another issue that ranks high in voters' minds, passing by voice vote a $600 million bill to shore up surveillance and security along the troubled U.S.-Mexican border.


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