Rescue Plan released; What does it mean?

[Lancer]

BBC World News just blamed Pelosi.

[Timexwatch]

Here's an analysis of who voted for what:

Members Seeking Re-Election

REPUBLICANS

No Clear Favorite

Total: 4 — Yes: 2 (50 percent) No: 2 (50 percent)

* Robin Hayes , North Carolina 8: No
* Jon Porter , Nevada 3: Yes
* Dave Reichert , Washington 8: No
* Christopher Shays , Connecticut 4: Yes

Leans Republican
Bailout Bill a Bust Among House Members in Competitive Races

Total: 15 — Yes: 1 (7 percent) No: 14 (93 percent)

* Vern Buchanan , Florida 13: No
* Shelley Moore Capito , West Virginia 2: No
* Steve Chabot , Ohio 1: No
* Mario Diaz-Balart : Florida 21: No
* Phil English , Pennsylvania 3: No
* Tom Feeney : Florida 24: No
* Sam Graves , Missouri 6: No
* Dean Heller , Nevada 2: No
* Ric Keller , Florida 8: No
* John R. “Randy” Kuhl Jr. , New York 29: No
* Joe Knollenberg , Michigan 9: No
* Mark Steven Kirk , Illinois 10: Yes
* Marilyn Musgrave , Colorado 4: No
* Jean Schmidt , Ohio 2: No
* Tim Walberg , Michigan 7: No

Leans Democratic

Total: 1 — No: 1 (100 percent)

* Don Young , Alaska at-large: No

Republican Favored

Total: 19 — Yes: 2 (11 percent) No: 17 (89 percent)

* Michele Bachmann , Minnesota 6: No
* Judy Biggert , Illinois 13: No
* Charles Boustany Jr. , Louisiana 7: No
* John Culberson , Texas 7: No
* Charlie Dent , Pennsylvania 15: No
* Lincoln Diaz-Balart , Florida 25: No
* Thelma Drake , Virginia 2: No
* Scott Garrett , New Jersey 5: No
* Jim Gerlach , Pennsylvania 6: No
* Virgil H. Goode Jr. , Virginia 5: No
* John Kline , Minnesota 2: Yes
* Steven C. LaTourette , Ohio 14: No
* Michael McCaul , Texas 10: No
* Tim Murphy , Pennsylvania 18: No
* Peter Roskam , Illinois 6: No
* Bill Sali , Idaho 1: No
* John Shadegg , Arizona 3: No
* Lee Terry , Nebraska 2: No
* Frank R. Wolf , Virginia 10: Yes

DEMOCRATS

No Clear Favorite

Total: 4 — Yes: 1 (25 percent) No: 3 (75 percent)

* Nancy Boyda , Kansas 2: No
* Don Cazayoux , Louisiana 6: No
* Nick Lampson , Texas 22: No
* Tim Mahoney , Florida 16: Yes

Leans Democratic
Bailout Bill a Bust Among House Members in Competitive Races

Total: 17 — Yes: 5 (29 percent) No: 12 (71 percent)

* Jason Altmire , Pennsylvania 4: No
* Christopher Carney , Pennsylvania 10: No
* Travis W. Childers , Mississippi 1: No
* Bill Foster , Illinois 14: Yes
* Gabrielle Giffords , Arizona 8: No
* Kirsten Gillibrand , New York 20: No
* Baron P. Hill , Indiana 9: No
* Paul E. Kanjorski , Pennsylvania 11: Yes
* Steve Kagen , Wisconsin 8: No
* Jim Marshall , Georgia 8: Yes
* Jerry McNerney , California 11: Yes
* Harry E. Mitchell , Arizona 5: No
* Christopher S. Murphy , Connecticut 5: Yes
* Ciro D. Rodriguez , Texas 23: No
* Carol Shea-Porter , New Hampshire 1: No
* Tim Walz , Minnesota 1: No
* John Yarmuth , Kentucky 3: No

Democrat Favored

Total: 13 — Yes: 9 (69 percent) No: 4 (31 percent)

* Michael Arcuri , New York 24: Yes
* John Barrow , Georgia 12: No
* Melissa Bean , Illinois 8: Yes
* Andre Carson : Indiana 7: No
* Joe Courtney , Connecticut 2: No
* Joe Donnelly , Indiana 2: Yes
* Brad Ellsworth , Indiana 8: Yes
* John Hall , New York 19: Yes
* Paul W. Hodes , New Hampshire 2: No
* Ron Klein , Florida 22: Yes
* Dennis Moore , Kansas 3: Yes
* Patrick J. Murphy , Pennsylvania 8: Yes
* Zack Space , Ohio 18: Yes

Members Not Seeking Re-Election

(NOTE: Ratings are for races to succeed departing members. Members are retiring unless otherwise noted.)

REPUBLICANS

No Clear Favorite

Total: 6 — Yes: 5 (83 percent) No: 1 (17 percent)

* Mike Ferguson , New Jersey 7: Yes
* Deborah Pryce , Ohio 15: Yes
* Jim Ramstad , Minnesota 3: No
* Ralph Regula , Ohio 16: Yes
* H. James Saxton , New Jersey 3: Yes
* Heather A. Wilson , New Mexico 1 (lost Senate primary): Yes

Leans Republican

Total: 7 — Yes: 4 (57 percent) No: 3 (43 percent)
Bailout Bill a Bust Among House Members in Competitive Races

* Barbara Cubin , Wyoming at-large: Yes
* John T. Doolittle , California 4: No
* Terry Everett , Alabama 2: Yes
* Kenny Hulshof , Missouri 9 (running for governor): No
* Jim McCrery , Louisiana 4: Yes
* Steve Pearce , New Mexico 2 (running for Senate): No
* Thomas M. Reynolds , New York 26: Yes

Republican Favored

Total: 5 — Yes: 5 (100 percent)

* Wayne T. Gilchrest , Maryland 1 (defeated in primary): Yes
* David L. Hobson , Ohio 7: Yes
* Ray LaHood , Illinois 18: Yes
* Ron Lewis , Kentucky 2: Yes
* Dave Weldon , Florida 15: Yes

Democrat Favored

Total: 1 — Yes: 1 (100 percent)

* Vito J. Fossella , New York 13: Yes

Leans Democratic

Total: 4 — Yes: 2 (50 percent) No: 1 (25 percent) Did Not Vote: 1 (25 percent)

* Thomas M. Davis III , Virginia 11: Yes
* Rick Renzi , Arizona 1: No
* James T. Walsh , New York 25: Yes
* Jerry Weller , Illinois 11: Did Not Vote

DEMOCRATS

No Clear Favorite

Total: 1 — Yes: 1 (100 percent)
Bailout Bill a Bust Among House Members in Competitive Races

* Robert E. “Bud” Cramer , Alabama 5: Yes

Leans Democratic

Total: 1 — Yes: 1 (100 percent)

* Darlene Hooley , Oregon 5: Yes

Democrat Favored

Total: 1 — Yes: 1 (100 percent)

* Tom Allen , Maine 1 (running for Senate): Yes

[MrFun]

Everyone wanting to place the blame on an individual or a single party when there's enough fault with many individuals and with more than one party.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by MrFun
Everyone wanting to place the blame on an individual or a single party when there's enough fault with many individuals and with more than one party.

It's always the party that's at fault that spouts this stuff.

[Kidlicious]

Lancer is right. Also I've been wrong this whole time. The Democrats definitely suck more than Republicans. Well.... except for W.

[Lancer]

[Zkribbler]

...and then there was McCain, who rushed back to Washington to save the deal --->, and who couldn't get a single representative from Arizona to vote for it as the Republicans en masse rejected his leadership.

[Lancer]

Anyone can have a bad day.

[Ellestar]

Not bad for a commie juniors, but they should have used a much better invention of the Communist Party - confiscation of property. Government uses a taxpayer's money to save a company while president of that company runs away with a 20m$ bonuses? Strip him and his family of all belongings and leave him with a pair of socks and a cheap apartment, that will make others think twice about what are they doing.

P.S. Confiscation of property should also be an automatic default sentence in all economic crimes, in addition to a jail etc. Communists sucked in many things, but this one is one of their best and most efficient inventions. I wonder why noone uses it.

[Timexwatch]

From a Senate list-serv:

Pursuant to a UC agreement entered into tonight, the Senate will vote on the economic rescue plan tomorrow night (Wednesday). The vote will occur after a series of votes starting at 7:30pm.

The order of votes at 7:30 will occur as follows:

1) Motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2095, the Rail Safety/Amtrak bill;

2) Dorgan amendment (clarify policy in event of Indian test) to H.R. 7081, the U.S.-India Nuclear bill (60 vote threshold);

3) Bingaman amendment (reporting requirement in event of Indian test) to H.R. 7081, the U.S.-India Nuclear bill (60 vote threshold);

4) Passage of H.R. 7081 the U.S.-India Nuclear bill (60 vote threshold);

5) Dodd amendment (relating to rescue package) to H.R. 1424, the vehicle for the Economic Stabilization bill (60 vote threshold) and

6) Passage of H.R. 1424, as amended (60 vote threshold).

The Senate will call up H.R. 1424, the text of which will be substituted with the economic rescue plan (a Dodd amendment which must have the consent of both the Majority and Minority Leaders). The only other amendment in order will be a Sanders amendment that will be handled by a voice vote. According to a CQ article, Sanders has called for a 10 percent surtax on individuals earning at least $500,000 per year, in order to help pay for the plan. (http://www.cq.com/document/display.d...6&sourcetype=6 ) It has been reported that the economic rescue plan will have additional measures from the original bill, including: 1) FDIC insurance limit increase from $100,000 to $250,000 and 2) H.R. 6049 as passed by the Senate by a vote of 93-2 on September 23. Record Vote Number: 202. The original economic rescue bill failed in the House yesterday by a vote of 205-228.

The Senate is going to vote tonight on the 'bailout'. Essentially what they are doing is rolling a tweaked bailout package together with the AMT patch (which was already voted down by the House IIRC).

For context on the AMT patch, this is from CQ:

Sept. 30, 2008 – 9:47 p.m.
Senate Gives New Life to Its ‘Tax Extenders’ Measure
By Richard Rubin, CQ Staff

The Senate is seizing a chance to get its way on a long-stalled tax bill (HR 6049) by adding the measure to the must-pass economic recovery legislation.

Senate Democrats said Tuesday evening that they plan to add the their chamber’s “tax extenders” bill to the financial package, which is scheduled for a floor vote Wednesday.

The tax measure would “patch” the alternative minimum tax; extend expiring business tax provisions provide incentives for renewable energy and conservation; include mental health parity legislation; and offer tax breaks for victims of natural disasters.

“Adding this tax relief will ensure that regular working Americans get the financial help they need in this time of crisis,” Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said in a statement. “As soon as this legislation passes, good-paying jobs will open up in the green energy sector as wind and solar projects get up and running.”

The House and Senate have been locked in a staredown that threatened to allow dozens of tax breaks to lapse. Lobbyists from the manufacturing, renewable-energy and financial-services sectors had been pushing for a resolution, but every time a breakthrough seemed near, it slipped away.

The Senate had raised the issue of including tax extenders in the financial rescue package, a House Democratic aide said, but Tuesday night’s announcement still caught House negotiators off guard.

“This was a surprise,” the aide said.

If the Senate passes the package, the combination of extenders and financial bailout legislation could attract House Republicans who voted against the original recovery package (HR 3997) on Monday.

But the inclusion of the Senate extenders bill seems likely to irritate House Democratic leaders, who had split the tax provisions into four separate bills in an attempt to get things moving.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement Tuesday night that did not specifically mention the extenders.

“The Senate has made a decision about how to proceed and what can pass that body,” said Pelos, D-Calif. “The Senate will vote tomorrow night and the Congress will work its will.”

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., was equally non-committal about the Senate approach.

“I am talking with my House colleagues about the Senate action and how to best proceed taking that into consideration in determining what action in the House will be most successful,” he said.

When the bailout and the extenders were separate issues, Hoyer refused to allow the Senate tax bill to reach the House floor because it does not comply with the pay-as-you-go rule, which requires extensions of tax breaks to be paired with revenue increases or spending cuts. Urged along by the Democrats’ conservative Blue Dog coalition, Hoyer had said Monday that the House would adjourn without considering the Senate bill.

If that had happened, the Senate would have been left with four House bills: an AMT patch without offsets (HR 7005), a disaster tax package without offsets (HR 7006), a mental health parity bill with offsets (HR 6983) and an extenders bill with offsets (HR 7060).

Senate leaders, meanwhile, described their tax package as a careful compromise that could not be separated into pieces.

But everything changed when the House voted down the first version of the economic recovery bill (HR 3997) on Monday. House leaders decided they had to return to work this week, opening another opportunity for the Senate to get its way.

Senators apparently grabbed the only vehicle they could, intertwining a sideshow fight with the biggest national issue of the moment.

The Blue Dogs will play a key role in deciding the fate of the new Senate bill in the House. Of the coalition’s 49 members, 25 voted for the original bailout bill on Monday. The Senate’s inclusion of its extenders package will probably put those 25 votes at risk.

But the addition of the tax extenders also presents some clear opportunities to pick up votes in the House.

The Senate bill includes mental health parity legislation, which is popular in the House. The lead GOP advocate in the House, Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., voted against the bailout bill on Monday.

It also includes more tax incentives for coal and oil shale than the House has allowed, giving members from coal-producing states and from some Western states a reason to vote yes.

The Senate bill also would reauthorize and fund a $3.2 billion program that gives money to rural counties that have significant amounts of federal land in them. That’s also popular in the West.

And it would extend the optional deduction for state sales taxes, which is valuable to residents of Texas and several other states without income taxes. Despite President Bush’s efforts, only four of the 19 Texas House Republicans voted “yes” on Monday.

The biggest piece of the bill is the AMT patch, which would prevent 22 million taxpayers from paying a tax originally meant for the wealthy. Because of the AMT’s structure, it tends to hit particularly hard in Democratic states such as New Jersey, California and Massachusetts.

The House’s reluctance to consider the Senate extenders bill was frustrating for members including Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa.

“I don’t understand that,” said Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “If I were a Democrat, I wouldn’t want to go home to say that I held up [relief for] 23 million Americans.”

But the maneuver could cost Democratic votes. House passage of the bailout bill could rely much more on Republicans than Monday’s version did.

“This is the Senate playing very high-risk politics with a critical bill,” the House Democratic aide said. “It’s going to probably result in a net reduction of Democratic votes . . . by a not insignificant amount.”

If the Senate tax extenders package rides on the bailout bill to enactment, it would conclude a debate that lasted for nearly the entire 110th Congress.

Even after the House relented on the 2007 AMT patch (PL 110-166), Blue Dogs saw an opportunity to make a stand on the extenders bill. Many of the expiring provisions, such as the research-and-development (R&D) credit, lapsed at the end of 2007, and the back-and-forth exchanges started months before that.

House Democrats gave the Senate ample warning of their intentions. In June, 218 of them sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., saying they would not vote for an extenders bill that did not comply with the pay-as-you-go rule.

Meanwhile in the Senate, Democrats tried repeatedly to bring House-passed bills or their own extenders packages to the Senate floor, but Republicans blocked them. Senate Republicans argue that extending an existing tax break is not the same thing as a tax cut, so there should not be offsets.

By September, with energy industry advocates getting more worried, leading senators finally cut a deal, creating a catchall bill that passed, 93-2, on Sept. 23. The White House announced that President Bush would sign the stand-alone bill.

The chambers do have some policy differences, on issues such as the structure of the wind credit, tax breaks for the coal industry and the scope of the disaster tax breaks.

It’s the principle of offsets that separates the two chambers, but they are not terribly far apart on the numbers. The Senate bill contains $150.6 billion in tax breaks and $43.5 billion in offsets. All combined, the four House bills that mirror the Senate legislation contain $137.7 billion in tax breaks and $65.7 billion in offsets.

[Aeson]

Awesome. Hopefully we can throw in some bridges in there too before it's all said and done

[Timexwatch]

The House is going to meet tomorrow, but no schedule has been announced. It's probably a good idea that they're meeting after the close of the markets:

The House is scheduled to meet again tomorrow, Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. Members should be advised recorded Votes are expected no earlier than 5:00 p.m.



Note: Additional information regarding tomorrow’s schedule should be announced by the Majority Leader before call of business today. Please stay tuned to future Floor Updates for more information.



Adam Wolf

Floor Assistant

Republican Leader John A. Boehner

H-204, The Capitol

(202) 225-4000

http://repcloakroom.house.gov

[Ramo]

The Sanders Amendment should be an interesting vote. Really hoping that it passes. If we're going to spend such large sums of money (and anyone who thinks that we're going to get all of it back is naive), surely we ought to find a way to pay for it...

[Timexwatch]

The Senate's version of the bailout is out. Here is the bill. Here is the committee staff summary.

Edit: Jim Clyburn says that they're voting on the bill Friday. I guess the House isn't going to be burning the midnight oil.... LINKY

Edit deux: Looks like Shadegg might be ready to roll

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by Ramo
...(and anyone who thinks that we're going to get all of it back is naive), ...

...or a student of history, who knows that, in 1933, FDR set up the Home Owners Loan Corp. to help stop foreclosures and funded it with $3 billion, and that eventually the government made a small profit on the deal.