PODCAST: Hill Update from Max Pappas, 1/24/10
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FreedomWorks VP of Public Policy, Max Pappas, gives us a weekly rundown of what is going on in the legislative world. In this episode he gives us some information on:
- The RSC, under Jim Jordan, is introducing the Spending Reduction Act of 2011. The bill lays out a 2.5 trillion reduction over 10 years, rolling spending back to 2008 (in some cases 2006) levels.
- Rep. Jeff Duncan is introducing a bill that would bring back the Byrd Committee (The Joint Committee of Nonessential Federal Expenditure). The new committee would be responsible for finding wasteful programs that can be cut, in order to reduce federal spending. A letter of support is being prepared.
- Rep. Ted Poe (TX) is introducing the Ensuring Affordable Energy Act (H.R.153), which would prohibit funding for the EPA to be used to implement or enforce a Cap and Trade program
- Senator Toomey (R-PA) and Rep. McClintock (R-CA) are proposing a bill that states that the first obligation of the Treasury Department is to service the debt. This would undermine the scare tactics Treasury is using to say not raising the debt ceiling would mean we’d default on our debt.
- The Senate is lagging behind the House and is still working on rule changes. Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Udall (D-CO), are still trying to get rid of the filibuster, which ensures that the Minority has a voice. Coburn and McCaskill are trying to amend the rules to include a clause that states that every bill introduced needs to have a CBO score and that the bill must be available for 72 hours before it comes to vote. The Democrats are fighting this.
