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 Federal Legislative Update  WEEKLY FROM AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY

 IN THESE EXCLUSIVE AFP WEEKLY NEWS LETTERS YOU WILL FIND

Highlights    

WHAT IS GOING ON IN   U.S. House AND U.S. Senate

 WHAT HAS Recently Passed

 Legislation to Watch WHAT IS COMMING UP 

Important Dates KEY DATES TO KEEP IN MIND

Work Schedule Remember they work for us here is how to keep tabs on what they are doing on the Peoples behalf 

AFP Key Votes and Letters of Support

Current Action Alerts HERE IS WHERE OUR ACTION TEAM COMES IN

 

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Permalink Reply by carol ann parisi on February 14, 2011 at 6:54am

Federal Legislative Update

For the week of February 7

 

Highlights

 

  • I am now using our new Blackbaud interface to list all of the federal bills we are endorsing or key voting.  Follow this link.  Click on each bill for a profile of the legislation, cosponsors and a link to our letter of support.

 

  • I’ve created a brief summary of federal budget reform proposals.

 

U.S. House

 

  • The House will likely reauthorize both the USA PATRIOT Act and the Andean Trade pact under a suspension of the rules this week. 

 

  • Weekly You Cut vote: to secure the return to the United States the $179 million overpaid into the United Nations Tax Equalization Fund.

 

  • The House will also vote on a resolution instructing committees to begin a review of regulations under their respective jurisdiction to determine the economic and jobs impact.  This will result in a series of reports to Congress.

 

U.S. Senate

 

  • The Senate is still considering the FAA reauthorization bill.  This bill passed 93-0 this past March; however it was a short term fix and needs to be passed again.  There are still several amendments pending. 

 

  • AFP is key voting the Toomey Full Faith and Credit Act, which has been filed as an amendment.  We do not know for sure whether this amendment will get a vote.

 

  • Remember, because these are amendments to the FAA bill, if something squeaks through that the majority does not like, they can always tank the bill on final passage.

 

Recently Passed

 

  • Last week, the Senate voted 51-47 not to repeal ObamaCare; it was a straight party line vote with Sens. Lieberman and Warner not voting.  AFP key voted this vote. 

 

  • The Senate also voted to repeal the 1099 reporting requirements installed under ObamaCare.  This is the first major provision to be repealed.  The vote was 81-17. 

 

  • House was not in session last week.

 

Legislation to Watch

 

  • Next week the House will take up the CR.  Chairman Ryan has proposed a cut of $43 billion.  Speaker Boehner has promised an open rule, although it has not been established yet, which will allow numerous amendments.  The RSC will bring its proposal to cut $100 billion.  There are also opportunities for policy riders, which could affect regulators, ObamaCare implementation or other myriad of issues. 
  • Senator Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Chairman Upton (R-Mich.) have released a discussion draft of legislation to permanently block the EPA’s authority to issue climate change regulations.  Profile in The Hill.  
  • Senator Barrasso (R-Wyo.) has introduced S.228, which will broadly block federal climate rules under the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act and prohibit public nuisance litigation related to climate change.  This is an important marker in the 112th Congress as it will lay out the right flank of the debate.  Our letter of support.
  • Senator DeMint (R-S.C.) has introduced S. 192, a bill to repeal ObamaCare. 
  • Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R.-Ca.) have both introduced the Full Faith and Credit Act, which will require the Treasury to prioritize servicing the federal debt above all other spending: House version and Senate version.  This bill is in response to the hysteria claiming that if the debt ceiling is not raised we will default on our debt.  Phil Kerpen has a piece on NRO on this issue. 
  • Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will introduce the Senate companion to Rep. Davis’s REINS Act, H.R. 10 by the end of the week.

 

Important Dates

  • Week of Feb 14: House vote on FY2011 CR
  • Week of Feb 14: President Obama’s FY 2012 Budget Proposal
  • Feb. 28: Patriot Act expires, House will begin work on extending it soon.
  • March 4: The current continuing resolution expires
  • March: The exact date of a vote to increase the federal debt ceiling will depend on how fast the country spends money.  Treasury Secretary Geithner suggested the date will be between mid-March and late-April.
  • April: Rep. Paul Ryan will lead the introduction of the House GOP budget.
  • Early-Mid June: The Congressional Review Act’s privileged status expires regarding the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules

 

Work Schedule

 

House in session: Feb. 8-17, 28-Mar. 17

Senate in session: Feb. 8, 15-18  

 

AFP Key Votes and Letters of Support (Full List)

 

 

Current Action Alerts

 

Permalink Reply by carol ann parisi on March 11, 2011 at 10:17am


As a Champion of Prosperity, we're counting on you to spread the word about this chart, and its implications. It is critical that Congress steps in and puts a stop to this ludicrous abuse of regulatory power.

Permalink Reply by carol ann parisi on March 25, 2011 at 4:18pm
 
Header

,

The Senate will vote NEXT WEEK on stopping the EPA's global warming power grab. Call Senator Kirk and tell him to VOTE YES on the McConnell Amendment.

President Obama's cap-and-trade energy tax – designed, according to Obama himself, to make electricity prices "necessarily skyrocket" – went down in flames in the Senate last year and was emphatically buried in the midterm elections. Unfortunately, the day after the election, Obama said: "Cap and trade was just one way of skinning the cat; it was not the only way. It was a means, not an end."

Obama's budget for the EPA showed what he meant: "The Administration continues to support greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the United States in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050."

Obama is telling the EPA to just pretend the cap-and-trade bill passed and regulate away! The regulations will cost the economy trillions but do nothing to improve the environment. Fortunately, the Senate is slated to vote on stopping the EPA when they return from this week's recess. It will take 60 votes, and Senator Kirk could hold the key to success.

Call Senator Mark Kirk at 202-224-2854. Click here to let us know how the call went.

Couldn't get through? Click here to e-mail Senator Kirk and tell him to VOTE YES on the M...

The Senate will also vote on one, and possibly two different sham amendments that pretend to stop the EPA but actually rubber stamp their power grab and allow them to move forward with global warming regulations. The Baucus Amendment literally codifies the EPA's regulations, giving them congressional approval and undermining legal challenges – it's worse than doing nothing. The Rockefeller Amendment pretends to delay the regulations for two years, but will only create more confusion and delay investments because states will be allowed to regulate.

Want additional information on important national issues? Can't get enough AFP's updates? Click here to sign up and receive legislative updates and detailed ...

The Senate will vote NEXT WEEK on stopping the EPA's global warming power grab. Call Senator Kirk today and tell him to VOTE YES on the McConnell Amendment– the only real amendment to stop the EPA.
Permalink Reply by carol ann parisi on April 11, 2011 at 1:14pm

Please see below for a comparison of FY2012 budget proposals put forth by President Obama, Chairman Ryan and the RSC.  Chairman Ryan presents a solid policy document with a vision for an America with a limited government.  The RSC has larger cuts in the first year and balances the budget “within the 10-year window.”  President Obama predictably punts on all the hard questions and continues his unabashed growth of government.   

 

You can also find the breakdown online by clicking here.  Please feel free to distribute this widely, as you see fit.

 

 

Comparing the Budget Proposals from President Obama, Chairman Paul Ryan and the Republican Study Committee

- April 2011 -

 

Overview

 

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and the Republican Study Committee (RSC) have released two separate budget proposals for FY2012.  Both differ significantly from President Obama’s vision of ever-expanding government as laid out in his FY2012 budget proposal released earlier this year.  While the tax plans of these two new proposals are identical, reducing taxes by $1.8 trillion when compared to the president’s proposal over ten years, both cut trillions of dollars in federal spending and reduce deficits over the next ten years.  The RSC achieves more aggressive spending cuts in both discretionary and mandatory spending, further reducing the economy-crushing budget deficits proposed by the president, and balancing the budget by the year 2020. 

 

The RSC’s efforts at accelerated spending cuts are laudable; we need to get control of the nation’s deteriorating fiscal situation right now.  Cutting $387 billion from the president’s budget in FY2012 alone (a full $208 billion more than the chairman’s proposal) is a good start.  However, too-aggressive cuts to the nation’s largest entitlement programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security) may not be politically viable and may undermine efforts at tackling the nation’s fiscal problems.  Chairman Ryan’s proposal offers a more sustainable and politically-viable vision for reforms to these entitlement programs. 

 

Headline Numbers – When compared to the chairman’s budget, the RSC budget has an additional $3.3 trillion in spending cuts, including an additional $208 billion in cuts in FY 2012. 

 

In terms of total federal outlays, both proposals work to limit government spending.  Chairman Ryan’s proposal reduces spending by $6.2 trillion when compared to the president’s budget, including $179 billion in spending cuts in 2012 alone.  As a share of the economy, the president proposes a much larger public sector presence, keeping federal spending as a share of GDP at nearly 24 percent in 2021, far above the 40-year average of 20.8 percent.  Chairman Ryan would reduce this public sector presence, reducing federal spending as a share of GDP to 19.9 percent by 2021.  The RSC proposal is more aggressive in achieving spending cuts, cutting an additional $3.3 trillion from spending over ten years, including $208 billion in additional cuts in 2012. 

 

On the revenue side, Chairman Ryan has proposed reducing tax revenues by $4.2 trillion over ten years when compared to the CBO baseline, a full $1.8 trillion in tax cuts when compared to the president’s proposal.  The proposal makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts that were recently extended only to 2012; individual income tax revenues are reduced by consolidating the current six brackets and cutting the top rate from 35 to 25 percent; the corporate tax rate is reduced from 35 to 25 percent; and finally it eliminates over $800 billion in tax increases that were set to kick in under ObamaCare.  Revenue reductions are offset by efforts to broaden the tax base – the proposal eliminates or modifies a significant number of deductions, credits, and other tax expenditures.  This brings tax revenues back to their historical average of approximately 18 percent of GDP, whereas the president’s proposal would further raise taxes, taking a total of 19 percent of GDP in federal revenues.  The RSC has announced that its tax reform proposal is identical to the chairman’s.   more in AWAKEN ALERT SENT 4/11

 

Both budget proposals make a strong effort to control deficits over the next ten years (see chart).  Compared to the president’s proposal, the chairman’s budget reduces deficits by $4.4 trillion, with $168 billion in deficit-reduction in FY2012 alone.  With their more

Permalink Reply by carol ann parisi on June 1, 2011 at 3:01pm

FROM AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY 

Paul Ryan put out an excellent video on Medicare that explains its dire fiscal situation and debunks some of the claims about how it “pushes granny off the cliff.”  I would encourage anyone writing on this topic to include the video in their communications.  Enjoy!

 

 

Federal Legislative Update

For the week of May 30

 

  • AFP continues to take a stand opposing expensive new natural gas subsidies through the NAT GAS Act, which inexplicably has been cosponsored by 187 Members in the House, including 80 Republicans.  Since releasing a letter opposing the bill three weeks ago, work has been on-going to stop H.R. 1380 in its tracks: See the  Washington Times last week), leading a coalition letter from other conservative/free-market organizations, and asking our activists to  get involved through an online petition and an action alert.    

 

Highlights This Week

 

U.S. Senate

 

  • The Senate is in “pro forma” session this week, meaning that the Senate will meet briefly periodically throughout the week, but conduct no business.  There is strong speculation that the pro forma session was forced so that the President could not recess-appoint controversial nominees such as Elizabeth Warren to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or Goodwin Liu to the California District Court Circuit.  President Obama has made unprecedented use of recess appointments to place controversial candidates in various federal posts without the confirmation of the Senate.  Last week, 20 Republican Senators wrote a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him to prevent recess appointments by continuing to demand pro forma sessions in the Senate.  Neither the Senate nor the House may adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other chamber. 

 

U.S. House

 

  • On Tuesday, the House voted on a “clean” (we prefer “blank-check”) debt ceiling increase, which would have raised the current debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion to $16.7 trillion with no strings attached and no corresponding spending cuts.  There have been six debt ceiling increases since September of 2007, increasing the total allowable debt by $5.3 trillion over that time.  As planned, the bill failed by a large margin, with 82 Democrats joining every Republican in voting against it (the vote was 318-97). 
  • The House has moved on to its annual appropriations bills, which will fund the operations various agencies and departments.  This week they will be considering the FY2012 Homeland Security appropriations bill, and later in the week get to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.  The former asks for a 3 percent cut in spending levels from FY2011, the latter a 1 percent cut. 
  • Sometime this week the House may also consider a motion by Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), H.Con.Res. 51, which directs the President to remove American forces from Libya under the War Powers Act. 

 

 

Last Week: Recently Passed

 

U.S. Senate

 

  • The Senate failed to pass four separate budget resolutions.  Senator Rand Paul’s budget (failed by a vote of 7-90), Senator Pat Toomey’s budget (failed by a vote of 42-55), House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget (failed by a vote of 40-57), and the President’s budget (failed by a vote of 3-97).  Republican Senators Brown, Collins, Murkowski, Paul, and Snowe all voted against Paul Ryan’s budget.  It has now been over 750 days since Senate Democrats have passed a budget, and no proposal is expected to surface anytime soon.    

 

U.S. House

 

  • After the Senate failed to pass PATRIOT Act extension on its own, the House took up legislation to extend some provisions of the PATRIOT Act and a small business research and development program, and passed it through by a vote of 250-163.   The Senate later concurred in this motion, by a vote of 72-23.
  • The House continues to chip away at ObamaCare, with another small bill passed to defund one of its provisions.  H.R. 1216 rescinds any unobligated funds that ObamaCare set aside for health centers to train medical residents and make future expenditures under the program subject to the annual discretionary appropriations process.  CBO has estimated that this would save $220 million over the next ten years.  The bill passed with a vote of 234-185, largely along party lines. 
  • The House spent the rest of last week on the Defense authorization bill, voting to increase Defense and related spending by $24 billion or 5 percent.  The measure passed by a vote of 322-96. 

 

Legislation to Watch

 

  • Representative John Sullivan (R-Okla.) has introduced the NAT GAS Act, a bill to provide an extended production tax credit and large vehicle purchase subsidies for the adoption of natural gas.  AFP is strongly opposed to using the tax code to pick winners and losers.  Click to read our letter of opposition and action alert.
  • Senator Jon Tester has indicated he is looking to move forward with S. 575, a bill to delay implementation of the Durbin amendment’s price controls on debit card interchange fees.  The latest is that he will try to attach the bill as an amendment to EDA reauthorization when the Senate returns to session next week. 
  • Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) and Representative Charles Boustany (R-La.)introduced the Repeal the CLASS Act, S. 720 and H.R. 1173 respectively.  The measure would fully repeal an expensive long-term care entitlement program that was created under ObamaCare. 
  • Representative Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) introduced H.R. 1259, the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act, which would completely eliminate the death and generation-skipping taxes, and reform other gift taxes. 
  • Representative Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) introduced H.R. 1281, the Restoring Economic Certainty Act, which would create a two-year moratorium on new regulatory rulemakings and in the future require agencies to provide full accounts of the jobs impact and economic costs/benefits of any new regulations. 
  • Senator David Vitter (R-La.) and Representative Rob Bishop (R-Utah) have formally introduced their 3-D Act S. 706 and H.R. 1287, an energy package that focuses on Domestic jobs, Domestic energy and Deficit reduction.  click here for an AFP blog post on the same issue.
  • Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Representative Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) introduced a consensus balanced budget amendment (S.J. Res. 10 and H.J. Res. 56) to the U.S. Constitution. 
  • Senator Hutchison (R-Texas) and Representative Walden (R-Ore.) have joint resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act for the FCC’s Internet regulations. 

 

Current Action Alerts (Full List)

 

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