Today in Washington, D.C. - June 23, 2011:The Senate resumed consideration of its dastardly S. 679, the nominations reform bill. They will also vote on the Senate will vote on an amendment from Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) prohibiting funds for presidential czars.Then they will vote on an amendment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) which would remove the director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics from the list of positions being affected by the bill. Five other amendments are pending to the bill and additional votes on amendments are possible today. If all the amendments are worked through, the Senate will vote on passage of S. 679.
Yesterday, the ARRA News Service detailed objections to this bill and the US Senate "abdicating even more of its responsibility to the Executive Branch of government." If you have not done so please review our comments yesterday which includes an excellent excerpt from RedState that screams out "Senate Plans to Abdicate its Confirmation Duties".
The Senate will then take up S. Res. 116, which would streamline the process of Senate consideration of various members of part-time boards and commissions. If an agreement is reached, the Senate may take up and vote on the nominations of James Cole to be Deputy Attorney General, Virginia Seitz to be Assistant Attorney General, and Lisa Monaco to be Assistant Attorney General.
The House is set to vote on one on Friday for at least one resolution on Lybia. However, there are threee resolutions posted so up to three resolutions may be voted on. Hoes Speaker Boehner has already agreed to allow votes on two of the resolutions. The Washington Post reports "Three Libya resolutions have been posted on the Web site of the House Rules committee: one would authorize the limited use of military force there (a vote set up to fail). Another would direct the president to withdraw forces engaged in offensive operations. And a third, sponsored by Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), would strip funding for those offensive operations. . . . 'I believe, and I think most of my colleagues believe, the president has failed to make his case as to why we have engaged in Libya,' Boehner said Thursday of the Libya action. 'And we have not heard the president talk about this for four or five weeks. And therefore, members of Congress and the American people are left in the dark. I think the strategy was flawed from the beginning.'"
As previously reported, these resolutions have been made necessary because "President Obama did not seek congressional consent when he launched air strikes against Gadhafi's forces on March 19. As detailed in the above letter, he is in violation of the 1973 War Powers Resolution that requires approval of the legislative branch within 60 days, with a 30-day extension. That deadline has passed. The White House, in a report to Congress last week, said the limited U.S. role in the operation did not amount to hostilities thus the President did not have to comply and this argument has further inflamed lawmakers."Or at least lawmakers who are concerned about the U.S. Constitution and abuse of power by the Executive Branch.
Also in the House, the Patent Bill previously passed by the US Senate in March, 2011 by a vote of (95-5) has made its way through two House committees. It has been stalled over the use of Patent fees above authorized budgets in ways that were not transparent. Under the agreement, the patent office will be allowed to set its fees and any money it brings in above its budget will be put in a reserve fund. The PTO will not be able to access those reserve funds without the agreement of the lawmakers who oversee appropriations. Representative Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said, "The money in the fund will be reserved for and used by the PTO and only the PTO. This maintains congressional oversight, while making sure that fees collected by the PTO can no longer be diverted."
In many people's opinion the bill should have been stalled based on Constitutional property rights. Of major concern to many is the surrender to the UN, Europe, and Japan the unique way patents have been protected in the United States since its establishment under the Constitution. The new bill may result in more future theft of American inventors' patents. At this time, the United States uses a "first-to-invent" application system protecting the original inventor. The proposed bill changes the filing system to a "first-inventor-to-file" system which is used in Europe and Japan. Many believe that this new filing method takes away the property rights of inventors and violates the US Constitution. There are also other objections, but the property rights issue is the major factor which could in the long run kill the rights of U.S. inventors.
We will now wait to see, when the Patent Bill is brought to the House floor. If passed, the Senate will also have to concur in the present proposed revision if the bill. It is indeed of grave concern that so many issues are being confronted by the present Congress. In the past, property rights would have been protected by both major parties verses altering the present traditional American method.
Reuters reported yesterday, “Efforts in the U.S. Congress to head off a debt default faced a new hurdle on Wednesday as Democratic leaders called for additional spending to boost the sluggish economy. Democrats' demand for new stimulus spending is directly at odds with the efforts of negotiators, led by Vice President Joe Biden, who are trying to find trillions of dollars in budget savings as part of a deal that would allow Congress to sign off on new borrowing before the country runs out of money to pay its bills."
Roll Call writes, “Senate Democrats [are] demanding that new stimulus measures be included in the bipartisan deficit reduction talks led by Vice President Joseph Biden.” Politico notes that the new spending proposals “could include new spending on infrastructure and clean energy.” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a key member of Senate Democrat leadership was didn’t bother to dress up the Democrats’ plans: “This is a stimulus program,” he said, according to Roll Call.
Reacting to the new Democrat calls for even more stimulus spending in a speech on the floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “This isn’t just mystifying, it’s farcical. I mean, most Americans had to wonder if they were dreaming this morning when they saw this headline: ‘Democrats call for new spending in US debt deal’ More spending? As a solution to a debt crisis? What planet are they on?”
Today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor pulled out the "alleged" bipartisan negotiations to raise the nation's debt limit. The effort was led by Vice President Joe Biden. As detailed previously, the Democrats are advocating 1) more spending and 2) higher taxes verses cutting spending and eliminating government programs. The New York Times quotes Eric Cantor as saying, “As it stands, the Democrats continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases. There is not support in the House for a tax increase, and I don’t believe now is the time to raise taxes in light of our current economic situation. Regardless of the progress that has been made, the tax issue must be resolved before discussions can continue.”
The NY Times further also related, "Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Senate Republican and the party’s only other representative in the talks, said later Thursday that he would also miss the next negotiating session as he and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, turned up the pressure on President Obama to play a larger role in the push for a debt limit deal. 'President Obama needs to decide between his goal of higher taxes, or a bipartisan plan to address our deficit,” Mr. McConnell and Mr. Kyl said in a joint statement. “He can’t have both. But we need to hear from him.'"
Indeed, it’s amazing that Democrats would actually float the idea of even more stimulus spending after the 2009 stimulus added nearly a trillion dollars to the debt and failed to live up to its promises. President Obama’s economic advisors Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein said the “unemployment rate with … the recovery plan,” would not exceed eight percent. Today, unemployment is at 9.1%. Democrat leaders including Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi all said the stimulus would create between 3.5 and 4 million jobs, but millions of jobs have been lost since then.
As Leader McConnell said today, “The central issue in these [debt] talks, as every serious person knows, is our nation’s massive deficit and debt — and the disastrous long-term consequences for jobs and the economy that would result if we don’t do something about it. We have this problem because government spends too much. The way to solve it is to spend less.”
In addition to Senate Democrats’ fixation on more government spending, another problem with the debt negotiations has been the questionable absence of leadership by President Obama. Sen. Mitch McConnell even commented: “Where in the world has President Obama been for the past month? “What does he propose? What is he willing to do to reduce the debt and avoid the crisis that is building on his watch. He’s in charge. I think most Americans think it’s about time he starts acting like it. It’s not enough for the President to step in front of a microphone every once in a while and say a few words that someone hands him to say about jobs and the economy. Americans want to see that he’s actually doing something about it. What they see instead is more bad economic news every day, a gathering crisis that threatens to make current problems even worse, and a President who is either unwilling or unable to recognize that our nation’s economy is in serious trouble. He’s the President. He needs to lead. He needs to show that he recognizes the problem. And do something about it.”
Tags: Washington, D.C. US Senate, US House, Democrats, more spending, higher taxes, no reduction of federal spending, Debt Ceiling, Abdicating Confirmation Duties, Libya, Patient Bill To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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