The Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee recently submitted their recommendations for tax reform to the deficit reduction super committee. Their recommendations lay out the principles they’d like tax reform to adhere to: economic growth, fairness, simplicity, revenue neutrality, permanence, competitiveness, and savings and investment. Towards those ends, the Senate Finance Republicans offer several specific policies: An income tax rate for individuals and corporations that is no higher than 25 percent; Repeal of Obamacare and its tax increases; Full repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax; Adoption of a territorial …
Senate Finance Committee Republicans have some good advice for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes known as the super committee): Fix Social Security now. As part of a 21-page comprehensive set of recommendations on issues under Finance Committee jurisdiction, the Republicans note that “Social Security reform, aimed at solvency and integrity of the program, and not for near-term deficit reduction, needs to occur as soon as possible and should not be delayed.” Further, the recommendations note: Reform of the Social Security program to ensure sustainable solvency and protection …
The recent proposal from the Gang of Six has received attention as a possible deal for raising the debt ceiling. On health care, the G6 proposal was initially weak, and as the story goes, the Gang allegedly beefed up its changes to health care spending to attract more support. But in reality, the improvements are small, and the plan ultimately fails to adequately address federal spending on health entitlements or to promise acceptable solutions down the road. Medicare, the health entitlement for the elderly and disabled, represents the largest driver …
On Monday the Senate Finance Committee unveiled the legislative text of S. 1796 — dubbed “America’s Healthy Future Act” — revealing to fans of legislative “bloatware” a new one for the record book! Not only does this latest entry in the Congress League’s 111th season “monster bill” competition outstrip all other current contenders in the Health Division, it even eclipses the previous all-time division titleholder. At a staggering 1,502 pages, the Finance Committee bill dwarfs the Senate HELP Committee’s 839 page bill (S.1679), and is nearly one-and-a-half times the size …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhOigjmCZls[/youtube] This past summer, hundreds of thousands of Americans attended townhall meetings and demanded their representatives be more upfront about the health reform legislation being crafted to overhaul one-sixth of the U.S. economy. But Congress continues to operate in a shroud of ambiguity. Members of the Senate Finance Committee even recently defeated an amendment that would have required Congress to post the actual committee bill (the committee currently is working on conceptual framework of a bill) online for at least 72 hours before voting on it. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) …
Senate Analysis – This week, the Senate will continue work on more over-due appropriations bills. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on its health care reform concept. Of course, the real work will continue behind closed doors where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and members of the Obama administration continue to craft the bill that will be debated on the Senate floor. Major Senate Floor Action – The Senate is poised to complete work on the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill. Several appropriations conferences …
On Thursday, October 1, the Senate Finance Committee heard the last of amendments to the America’s Healthy Choices Act of 2009. Senators continued to hammer out the details of health policy, even as they continued to openly contradict many of the President’s high profile promises on health reform, including his promise to refrain from imposing more taxes on America’s middle class. A State-Based Government Run Health Plan (Cantwell Amendment C15) Following the failure of the Rockefeller and Schumer amendments to creates a national government run health plan to compete against …
President Barack Obama’s push for a sweeping health care overhaul edged closer to a major victory in the Senate Finance Committee. Early next week, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on final passage on the “Vapor Bill” being debated and marked up in Committee. The term “Vapor Bill” is used to describe the legislation, because the Senate Finance Committee has been debating the outline of a bill and not actual bill text in Committee. Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) offered an amendment to allow a reading of the bill for 72 …
The White House put out talking points on Tuesday in an attempt to deflect the debate on the multitude of tax increases in the health care plan working through the Senate Finance Committee. These tax increases almost uniformly violate (again) the President’s plan not to raise taxes on middle-income Americans. The White House asserts that fees on insurance companies, drugmakers, devicemakers, etc. won’t be passed on to consumers as a hidden tax. They offer three explanations. “First, the fees are lump sum, not per unit, so you should not expect …
On September 23, 2009, the Senate Finance Committee continued its markup of the Baucus health bill, the “Chairman’s Mark” , of the America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009. While fewer than ten amendments were voted on at the September 23rd mark up of the bill, there are still more than 500 filed. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says he wants to complete the mark-up of the conceptual language (not the actual bill language) by the close of business on September 25th. Senators made a number …
