31 Search results found for: “fiscal cliff”

WELCOME 113TH CONGRESS

January 3, 2013

The 113th Congress will be sworn in at noon today but will take no break from fighting over fiscal priorities with the opening weeks and months likely to be dominated by partisan fights over the size of a multibillion-dollar disaster aid package (Super Storm Sandy relief package), how to raise the nation’s debt ceiling before the end of February, and calls for additional spending cuts and an overhaul of the federal tax code.  President Obama has also called for legislative…

No Earmarking in 113th Congress

November 27, 2012

It appears that earmarks will remain “taboo” when the new congress convenes in January. During organizational meetings the week before Thanksgiving, the House Republicans voted to extend the current ban on earmarking for the entire two years of the 113th Congress. That leaves the House Democrats, who meet for their organizational meetings on Thursday, no choice but to accept a continuation of those rules. The Senate Republicans also voted to refrain from adding earmarks to appropriations bills in the next…

Sequestration Update

November 20, 2012

Following their private meeting last week, President Obama and House and Senate leaders expressed confidence that they would be able to reach agreement on a means of averting the year-end “fiscal cliff” of expiring tax benefits and deep, across-the-board budget cuts required by the sequester.  Congress is out of session this week for the Thanksgiving holiday but congressional leaders and staff are reported to be continuing their talks. If lawmakers fail to stop implementation of the budget sequester on January…

One More Day…

November 5, 2012

Tomorrow is election day – finally! Regardless of who wins the presidency, he will have to move quickly to find a solution to avert the fiscal cliff that can muster enough votes in a politically divided Congress.  As I’ve been reporting for much of the year, Congress must take action by the end of the calendar year in order to avoid a tax increase of more than $500 billion on nearly 90 percent of Americans.  Unemployment assistance for millions of…

Sequestration Update

October 22, 2012

Even though Congress is in recess until after the November elections, efforts to find a solution to the so-called “fiscal cliff” continue among members of the Senate. A bipartisan effort aimed at avoiding scheduled increases in taxes and automatic, across-the-board spending cuts early next year are taking shape in Senate, with attention focused on replacing the fiscal cliff with an alternative deficit reduction package in the lame-duck session this December. The efforts are focused on establishing a framework for deficit…