Dems and GOP deadlocked as adjournment draws near

Denny Crane · Dec 12, 2007

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-a...2007-12-12.html

Dems and GOP deadlocked as adjournment draws near
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<td width="70%" valign="top" align="left" colspan="2"> By Alexander Bolton </td>
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Congress has been brought to a grinding halt by hardening Democratic and Republican stances on taxes and spending just days before lawmakers begin leaving Washington for Christmas and New Year’s.

The two sides are, in some cases, refusing even to speak to each other about the massive omnibus and an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) bill.
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Senate Republicans refused to meet Democrats Tuesday on spending and House Democrats rejected the Senate’s AMT “patch,” preparing a new version paid for with corporate tax increases.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered the majority’s plans with a proposal that would require Democrats to accept virtually all of President Bush’s demands on spending.

McConnell demanded that Democrats also provide $70 billion for the war with no strings attached.

Frustration boiled over in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Bush “is impossible — and has been for seven years — to deal with.”

Reid sought to portray senior White House adviser Ed Gillespie as an incarnation of Karl Rove and a mastermind of intransigence.

The majority leader disdained McConnell’s proposal, noting that an earlier Republican effort to increase war funding without restrictions failed to pass. Reid was not ready to accept an across-the-board funding cut to pare the omnibus to Bush’s ceiling.

Senate Republicans rejected in advance a proposal from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) to raise taxes to pay the $50 billion cost of the AMT patch. Rangel sought a higher tax rate on offshore deferred compensation. The Senate rejected a Rangel plan this year that paid for the patch by raising taxes on private equity and hedge funds.

When asked if Senate Republicans could accept AMT relief accompanied by tax increases, Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the Republican whip-elect, replied simply: “No.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said there was “zero” chance of the Senate passing an AMT bill that included tax increases.

Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), a Democratic member of the Finance Committee, said it would be difficult to pass a package with tax increases. The patch would temporarily protect 23 million American taxpayers from becoming subject to the AMT.

House Democrats are firm in demanding new taxes to pay for the $50 billion cost of AMT relief. Two leading liberal lawmakers circulated a letter among colleagues seeking to pressure Democratic leaders.

“As progressive members of the Democratic Caucus, we wish to make clear our concern with any AMT patch that does not adhere to the House PAYGO rules,” wrote Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a member of Ways and Means, and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.). “We believe House Democrats must remain united on this principle.” 

Mobilization by liberals reinforces a coalition of House Democrats from across the political spectrum pressing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to stand firm.

More than 30 conservative Blue Dog Democrats signed a letter to Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) urging them to pay for tax relief.

“Under no circumstance will we vote for any piece of legislation that does not meet the requirements of PAYGO, nor will we vote to waive the PAYGO rules to allow for such legislation,” they wrote, referring to budget rules that require the cost of bills be offset with tax increases or spending cuts.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the New Democrat Coalition, also demands an AMT bill that conforms with budget rules. “I want AMT paid for. I think the entire Democratic Caucus wants the AMT paid for. I am very resolved to that.

“I’m very mindful of the number of constituents damaged if we don’t get this fixed … [people] also want [tax relief] paid for because they are deeply concerned about the way the Republicans ran the Congress.”

Federal debt has soared during the Bush presidency. Republicans say deficit spending was needed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the ensuing recession.

Tauscher said Senate Republicans need to recognize that a new party controls Congress, and compromise.

“I would remind them we took the majority and decided we were not going to run the government as they did, as profligate spenders,” she said. “They need to be cooperative.”

Democratic House leaders, including Pelosi, Hoyer and Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.), met Tuesday to discuss strategy. Pelosi also met Reid to discuss spending and taxes.

But they do not appear to have decided how to break the impasse.

Obey has proposed reducing the cost of the omnibus to Bush’s proposal and cutting all lawmakers’ earmarks to spare a variety of programs from cuts. He hopes rank-and-file Republicans will press their leaders to accept higher domestic spending to save projects slated for their districts, said a Democratic aide.


Reid was not embracing that idea when asked about it Tuesday.
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Denny Crane · Dec 12, 2007

The bolded paragraph, last one before the end of the article.

What a concept! If you want PAYGO, fine, just get it into your teenie little brains (I'm talking TO the congresscritters) that you can accomplish it with spending cuts instead of a tax hike.

Denny Crane · Dec 13, 2007

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...1201791_pf.html

Democrats Bow to Bush's Demands in House Spending Bill
Billions Trimmed From New Requests

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 13, 2007; A03


House Democratic leaders yesterday agreed to meet President Bush's bottom-line spending limit on a sprawling, half-trillion-dollar domestic spending bill, dropping their demands for as much as $22 billion in additional spending but vowing to shift funds from the president's priorities to theirs.

The final legislation, still under negotiation, will be shorn of funding for the war in Iraq when it reaches the House floor, possibly on Friday. But Democratic leadership aides concede that the Senate will probably add those funds. A proposal to strip the bill of spending provisions for lawmakers' home districts was shelved after a bipartisan revolt, but Democrats say the number and size of those earmarks will be scaled back.

When defense spending is added to the total, discretionary spending for fiscal 2008 would reach a tentative total of $936.5 billion, $3.7 billion more than the president's request, said House Appropriations Committee staff members. All of the additional money would be spent on veterans affairs.

The agreement signaled that congressional Democrats are ready to give in to many of the White House's demands as they try to finish the session before they break for Christmas -- a political victory for the president, who has refused to compromise on the spending measures.

The House last night also approved a new version of legislation that would stave off the spread of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel tax system originally targeted at the very rich, to millions of middle-class families. The House version would not add to the federal budget deficit.

The progress yesterday on Capitol Hill did not mean that lawmakers will be rushing to the exits in the next few days. The AMT bill, which was approved 226 to 193, pays for the $50 billion tax fix largely by preventing hedge fund managers from deferring compensation by shifting their pay to offshore tax shelters. The White House issued a fresh veto threat, reiterating Bush's opposition to any tax increases to pay for an AMT fix.

The threat virtually ensured that the Senate will not muster the 60 votes needed to break a threatened Republican filibuster. It moved Congress further toward shattering a Democratic pledge not to pass tax cuts that are not fully offset by tax increases or spending reductions.

Senate Democratic leaders, backed by key Republicans, finalized a new version of a comprehensive energy bill. It would raise automotive fuel-efficiency standards and preserve a package of conservation and renewable-energy tax incentives, to be funded largely by revoking tax breaks given to the largest oil companies in recent years.

The Senate is to vote today on the revised energy bill, and senators from both parties said proponents are close to reaching the 60-vote threshold. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) summoned from the campaign trail the five senators seeking the presidential nomination for this morning's vote.

The new version of the bill meets a key White House demand by stripping out a requirement that utilities move toward generating 15 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources. It also pares back tax increases on oil companies by exempting independent energy companies from a provision that would end a manufacturer's tax credit awarded in 2005.

But the White House is also threatening to veto that legislation. "It seems that Senator Reid wants to keep the tax title in there, which the president has been very clear that he won't sign," White House spokesman Dana Perino said.

Bush may also veto the spending package, even though Democrats shaved $22 billion from federal domestic programs to meet his demands, said Rep. Jerry Lewis (Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. He added, "And I think we'll have enough Republicans to sustain a veto."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto emphasized last night, "The White House is not part of any deal, full stop."

The veto threats in the face of Democratic compromises left party lawmakers in disbelief. Because of Bush's intransigence, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said that "we're going to have some horrific decisions to make over the next week."

Democratic leaders tried to put the best face on their surrender on domestic spending levels, promising that the final bill will reflect their priorities, if not their preferred funding -- "the president's number, our priorities," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). She noted that the bill would increase funding for children's health programs, nutrition and medical research at the National Institutes of Health.

Democrats will also increase spending on heating assistance for the poor, health care for veterans, local law enforcement and border security, Democratic leadership aides said last night.

To meet those goals, staff members on the House Appropriations Committee will probably target the president's "Millennium Challenge" international aid program, his abstinence-education efforts and the scandal-plagued "Reading First" education effort.

Senate Republicans will seek to add as much as $70 billion in war funding to the bill, without strings on the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq attached. Pelosi indicated she would vote against the final bill if such funds are included but made clear that Democrats are ready to make the concessions needed to avoid a veto.

"This is a negotiation about a bill that will be signed by the president," she said.

The retooled version of the energy bill still includes higher standards for motor vehicle and appliance efficiency, as well as a requirement for vastly expanded use of ethanol and other biofuels. The tax package would offset expanded energy conservation incentives by trimming tax breaks and depreciation allowances for the biggest oil firms.

The House AMT bill would prevent 21 million middle-income American households from being hit with a tax increase that could average $2,000 per family from a levy designed in 1969 to target only the super-rich. The proposal would also increase the number of low-income families that could benefit from a refundable tax credit for children.

The plan's outlook in the Senate is not good. The ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Jim McCrery (La.), called it "dead on arrival."

"What we are watching is a Kabuki dance," he said. "The Senate made it clear, with a bipartisan 88 to 5 vote last Thursday, that it will pass an AMT patch without unnecessary tax increases." Bush also opposes the House measure.

Staff writer Jeffrey H. Birnbaum contributed to this report.

Denny Crane · Dec 13, 2007

http://thehill.com/index2.php?option=com_c...0&Itemid=70

Dems cave on spending
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<td width="70%" valign="top" align="left" colspan="2"> By Alexander Bolton </td>
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Senate and House Democrats backed down Wednesday from a spending showdown with President Bush.

The Democrats’ capitulation Wednesday on the total domestic spending level is the latest instance of Bush prevailing on a major policy showdown. Bush and his Senate Republican allies have repeatedly beat back efforts by Democrats to place restrictions on funding for the war in Iraq as well as Democratic attempts to expand funding of children’s health insurance by $35 billion.

Democratic leaders said Wednesday that they would keep total spending at the strict $933 billion limit set by the White House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also abandoned a proposal she supported Tuesday to eliminate lawmakers’ earmarks from spending bills after she faced stiff opposition from powerful fellow Democrats. 

Pelosi told the Democratic chairmen of the House Appropriations subcommittees, the so-called cardinals, that earmarks would stay in the omnibus and that Democratic leaders would accede to cut spending to levels demanded by Bush to save 11 spending bills from a veto, said sources familiar with a meeting that took place in Pelosi’s office early Wednesday morning.

The Democratic cardinals rebelled against a plan suggested by Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) to save $9.5 billion by slashing earmarks. Obey hoped to use the money to minimize cuts to domestic programs important to Democrats.

Pelosi emphasized in a press conference Wednesday afternoon that “we don’t want the bill vetoed,” in reference to a massive omnibus that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House are in the midst of negotiating. She said leaders would have a better understanding of the bill’s details by mid-Thursday.

Although Democrats have accepted Bush’s spending ceiling, obstacles remain to reaching final agreement. House and Senate Democrats are pursuing different approaches to slimming the spending package.

House Democrats have elected to manipulate funding levels for various government programs to reflect their policy priorities. The House Appropriations subcommittee chairmen have been given substantial leeway to decide which programs will be cut and boosted in the process.

The Senate is expected to adopt a straight across-the-board cut without discriminating among Democratic and Republican favorites, said several Democrats briefed on leadership negotiations.

As a result, even after House and Senate appropriators shave the omnibus to Bush’s number, they will still have to wrestle over differences in each chamber’s version.

House leaders are also planning to trim money from individual earmarks but will stop well short of eliminating projects entirely, as Obey proposed.

The good news for Democrats is that their concession on overall spending brings them significantly closer to enacting into law a range of spending priorities.

Pelosi highlighted several areas that would benefit from the passage of Democratic-crafted spending bills, including children’s health and the National Institutes of Health.

She said it is “immoral” that researchers are missing many opportunities to advance health science because of insufficient federal funding, noting that 1,500 Americans die every day because of cancer.

Another significant difficulty emerging for Democrats is a disagreement over war funding. Pelosi made clear that a House-passed omnibus would not include any more funding for the war in Iraq, although it may include funds for military operations in Afghanistan.

One senior House appropriator said that plan means it will be left to the Senate to decide how to package war funds in the omnibus. As lawmakers scramble to recess before Christmas, there will be pressure to add war funds without restrictions on Bush’s ability to conduct the war. The president has vowed to veto any effort to withdraw troops from Iraq or impose other constraints.

House Democrats may face the difficult proposition of considering a spending package that includes unfettered war monies. Pelosi said she would vote against such a bill but did not say she would prevent it from coming to the floor, revealing a large measure of pragmatism as the first session of the 110th Congress reaches its final days. 

In the final analysis, Democrats realized they would not be able to muster enough Republican votes to override Bush’s veto. The president vowed to reject any spending package that exceeded the $933 billion limit he set.

Democrats made a final attempt to drive a wedge between congressional Republicans and Bush by threatening to kill all lawmakers’ earmarks to bring the cost of the omnibus to the level Bush demanded. Obey hoped rank-and-file Republicans would pressure their leaders to accept a Democratic-proposed compromise that exceeded the White House budget by $11 billion, said a Democratic aide.

But that plan fizzled in the face of stiff Democratic opposition.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who served as the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee before becoming Senate Democratic leader, may have posed the biggest hurdle. 

At a Tuesday press conference, Reid declined to endorse the proposal to cut all earmarks and defended his right to steer funds to his home state.

Pelosi also faced strong opposition from the Democratic chairmen of the House Appropriations subcommittees, who in some cases had been waiting through 12 years of Republican control to finally wield a gavel on spending decisions.

Pelosi eased their concerns Wednesday morning by informing them that earmarks would not be cut and spending levels would be pared to the president’s levels to smooth the way for the omnibus to pass. Many government programs have had to subsist on a yearlong stopgap spending measure because Congress failed to pass a slew of spending bills in 2006. Many lawmakers want to avoid that from happening again.

Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, said he firmly opposed erasing the earmarks he had hammered out with colleagues. He said rank-and-file Democrats were tacitly promised earmarks for 2008 after they agreed to forgo them for 2007 by accepting the stopgap measure.
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Denny Crane · Dec 13, 2007

Awwww.... too bad. NOT!

Dems and GOP deadlocked as adjournment draws near

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