CONGRESS

The Week on the Hill

by Jill Smallen and Jason Dick

Sat. Jun 14, 2008


Jobless Benefits Boost in Works

The House voted 274-137 on June 12 to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, a move that clears the way for consideration of a war supplemental funding bill that includes a major expansion of education aid for military veterans. House Democrats first brought up the unemployment compensation boost on June 11 under suspension of the rules, but the 279-144 vote was 3 votes short of the two-thirds needed for expedited approval. President Bush threatened to veto the legislation and pushed for targeting a smaller benefits boost to a few states hit hardest by high unemployment. Democrats were considering attaching their more generous unemployment package to the pending war-funding bill. House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., was negotiating with the White House on what could be included beyond the approximately $165 billion slated to carry the Iraq and Afghanistan wars through June 2009. It seemed likely that Democratic leaders would attach a $50 billion-plus expansion of college aid for veterans, while dropping a House-passed tax hike on the rich to offset the cost, despite griping from fiscal conservative Blue Dogs. Bush had vowed a veto because of the tax hike. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the final package is also likely to ban several Bush administration Medicaid rules. Amid GOP complaints that Democrats are taking too long to pass the war funding, Pelosi said on June 12 that they intend to send the legislation to Bush by July 4. "We want a bill that can be signed by the president," she said. --Brian Friel/National Journal

Energy Items Blocked in Senate

In the latest round of oneupmanship between the two parties over record gasoline prices, Senate Republicans on June 10 blocked a Democratic energy package that the White House had threatened to veto. The package contained familiar Democratic items aimed at going after major oil companies by repealing $17 billion in tax incentives and imposing a "windfall profits" tax. Other provisions enjoyed bipartisan backing but garnered veto threats, such as measures making gas price-gouging a federal crime and allowing the United States to sue OPEC for manipulating global crude oil supply and prices. But the package also included a relatively new strategy to combat oil-market speculation that offered a glimmer of possible agreement on a short-term way to lower prices at the pump. The plan would prevent traders of U.S. crude oil from routing transactions through offshore markets and require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to increase the margin requirement for all oil futures trades, contracts, or transactions. Supporters say those steps could reduce crude oil prices and gas prices at the pump between 20 and 30 percent. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, called it "an area we agree on and I think we can come to a bipartisan consensus on." --Darren Goode/CongressDaily

Big Tax Bill Falls to Filibuster

Senate Democrats this week promised to revive a huge tax bill after Republicans filibustered a motion to begin debate. Only three GOP senators crossed the aisle on June 10 to support the cloture motion, which failed 50-44, well short of the 60 needed. The legislation would extend and expand various expiring tax breaks for individuals and businesses, and provide incentives for renewable-energy production. To offset the cost, Democrats proposed closing a loophole allowing wealthy investment fund managers to defer taxes on income in offshore accounts, and delaying for nearly a decade a new tax break for multinational firms. "Once again, our Democrat friends never miss an opportunity to sock Americans with a new tax hike," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quipped. Democrats proposed sweeteners--such as a one-year patch shielding 26 million taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, at a $62 billion cost without offsets--but that was not enough to woo Republicans. --Peter Cohn/CongressDaily

House Increases Amtrak Funding

The House on June 11 passed a $15 billion Amtrak reauthorization bill, despite a veto threat from President Bush. With gasoline prices over $4 per gallon, the push for greater investment in the passenger rail service easily garnered a veto-proof majority, 311-104, with 87 Republicans joining all Democrats. "People are beginning to realize, just as they did in the days after September 11, that Amtrak service to move people from one city to another is vitally important," House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar, D-Minn., said. He gained the support of committee ranking member John Mica, R-Fla., an ardent Amtrak critic, by including a measure encouraging private-sector investment in developing high-speed rail service. The bill would provide an average of $1.5 billion a year in federal subsidies to Amtrak, although Bush said the amount was too generous and complained that the legislation does not do enough to push the railroad toward self-sufficiency. The Senate passed its version of the bill last year. --Brian Friel/National Journal