Federal Legislative Report, April 2011
By William H. Lewis
NET NEUTRALITY
In December 2010, an FCC Panel decided to implement Net Neutrality. The new House of Representatives is attempting to override this. Representative Greg Walden (R) OR has introduced House Joint Resolution 37, a congressional resolution of disapproval to reverse the FCC Net Neutrality Rules. This legislation has 58 cosponsors. It passed in committee and has been placed on the House’s calendar.
THE BUDGET
Since the last Congress did not pass a budget for the fiscal year October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011, the government has been funded by Continuing Resolutions, the latest one of which is set to expire on Friday April 8th. The House wants to make spending cuts totaling $61 Billion and the Senate originally said they were willing to consider cuts totaling $4 Billion. Now the Senate says they are willing to make cuts in the $33 to $34 Billion range. If an agreement cannot be reached, the government will shut down at midnight April 8th. However, essential services such as Social Security, Medicare, and the military would not be shut down. As of the morning of April 5th, the President and the House have not come up with an agreement, so a government shut down may be coming.
If there is a shut down, each party will try to blame the other. The Democrats have a play - book that states that they are to call each measure the Republicans come up with as “extreme.” My question is this: “Is it extreme to want to put our fiscal house in order so as not to bankrupt the country?”
The Tea Party has been having a real impact on these negotiations. We have been holding our representatives’ feet to the fire and demanding tough spending cuts. Let’s keep up the good work.
Representative Paul Ryan (R) WI, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, will be introducing his budget proposals for the 2011 to 2012 fiscal year on April 5th. He has stated that he will be proposing $4 Trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. This budget will also tackle entitlement reforms.
OBAMA CARE
In January the House passed a bill to repeal Obama Care. The Senate has not taken it up, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will not allow it to come to the floor. There is a petition that asks the Congress to repeal Obama Care, so pressure is being applied on the Senate to repeal it, but it still faces an up hill battle.
The Obama Administration is appealing Judge Roger Vinson’s decision that Obama Care is unconstitutional. It will be appealed to a three judge panel of the 11th Circuit.
The Senate just passed a bill 87 to 12 to repeal a portion of Obama Care that deals with what is called “the 1099 Mandate”. That mandate would have required every business to file a 1099 for every business or individual to whom they write checks that total more than $600 per year. The bill repealing this mandate has been passed by both houses and is now (April 5th) headed to the President’s desk for his signature.
The State of Idaho is considering passing a bill of nullification regarding Obama Care. The bill is called House Bill 59. It has yet to be brought to the floor, but it does have a number of cosponsors in both houses. The Attorney General of Idaho has gone on record stating that nullification is, in his opinion, unconstitutional. That is contrary to what Thomas Jefferson and James Madison thought when they wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in 1798. These resolutions nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts within the boundaries of those two states.
Can you imagine what the reaction would be if 20 or more state legislatures passed bills nullifying Obama Care?
NATIONAL DEBT LIMIT
The National Debt Limit will be reached sometime this month. Many Republicans have indicated that they will not support an increase in the debt limit unless it is accompanied by big spending cuts and entitlement reforms. Some have even mentioned tying an increase in the debt limit to a Constitutional Amendment to balance the budget.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
Bloomberg and Fox News filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act, requesting that the Federal Reserve Bank disclose the extent of its lending activities from October 2007 to March 2010. A Federal Judge ruled that this information must be provided. On March 31, 29,000 pages of documentation were released to the public. This documentation revealed that the Fed loaned $3.3 trillion during that time frame, much of it to foreign banks and foreign companies at very low interest rates.
Congressman Ron Paul (R) TX will be having Congressional hearings regarding this in May. The Fed’s dealings have been secretive since its inception in 1913. The court’s decision forcing the Fed to be more transparent will allow the citizens of this country more insight into what is going on. It may even lead the citizens to demand a full audit of the Fed, something that has never been done.
In December 2010, an FCC Panel decided to implement Net Neutrality. The new House of Representatives is attempting to override this. Representative Greg Walden (R) OR has introduced House Joint Resolution 37, a congressional resolution of disapproval to reverse the FCC Net Neutrality Rules. This legislation has 58 cosponsors. It passed in committee and has been placed on the House’s calendar.
THE BUDGET
Since the last Congress did not pass a budget for the fiscal year October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011, the government has been funded by Continuing Resolutions, the latest one of which is set to expire on Friday April 8th. The House wants to make spending cuts totaling $61 Billion and the Senate originally said they were willing to consider cuts totaling $4 Billion. Now the Senate says they are willing to make cuts in the $33 to $34 Billion range. If an agreement cannot be reached, the government will shut down at midnight April 8th. However, essential services such as Social Security, Medicare, and the military would not be shut down. As of the morning of April 5th, the President and the House have not come up with an agreement, so a government shut down may be coming.
If there is a shut down, each party will try to blame the other. The Democrats have a play - book that states that they are to call each measure the Republicans come up with as “extreme.” My question is this: “Is it extreme to want to put our fiscal house in order so as not to bankrupt the country?”
The Tea Party has been having a real impact on these negotiations. We have been holding our representatives’ feet to the fire and demanding tough spending cuts. Let’s keep up the good work.
Representative Paul Ryan (R) WI, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, will be introducing his budget proposals for the 2011 to 2012 fiscal year on April 5th. He has stated that he will be proposing $4 Trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. This budget will also tackle entitlement reforms.
OBAMA CARE
In January the House passed a bill to repeal Obama Care. The Senate has not taken it up, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will not allow it to come to the floor. There is a petition that asks the Congress to repeal Obama Care, so pressure is being applied on the Senate to repeal it, but it still faces an up hill battle.
The Obama Administration is appealing Judge Roger Vinson’s decision that Obama Care is unconstitutional. It will be appealed to a three judge panel of the 11th Circuit.
The Senate just passed a bill 87 to 12 to repeal a portion of Obama Care that deals with what is called “the 1099 Mandate”. That mandate would have required every business to file a 1099 for every business or individual to whom they write checks that total more than $600 per year. The bill repealing this mandate has been passed by both houses and is now (April 5th) headed to the President’s desk for his signature.
The State of Idaho is considering passing a bill of nullification regarding Obama Care. The bill is called House Bill 59. It has yet to be brought to the floor, but it does have a number of cosponsors in both houses. The Attorney General of Idaho has gone on record stating that nullification is, in his opinion, unconstitutional. That is contrary to what Thomas Jefferson and James Madison thought when they wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in 1798. These resolutions nullified the Alien and Sedition Acts within the boundaries of those two states.
Can you imagine what the reaction would be if 20 or more state legislatures passed bills nullifying Obama Care?
NATIONAL DEBT LIMIT
The National Debt Limit will be reached sometime this month. Many Republicans have indicated that they will not support an increase in the debt limit unless it is accompanied by big spending cuts and entitlement reforms. Some have even mentioned tying an increase in the debt limit to a Constitutional Amendment to balance the budget.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
Bloomberg and Fox News filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act, requesting that the Federal Reserve Bank disclose the extent of its lending activities from October 2007 to March 2010. A Federal Judge ruled that this information must be provided. On March 31, 29,000 pages of documentation were released to the public. This documentation revealed that the Fed loaned $3.3 trillion during that time frame, much of it to foreign banks and foreign companies at very low interest rates.
Congressman Ron Paul (R) TX will be having Congressional hearings regarding this in May. The Fed’s dealings have been secretive since its inception in 1913. The court’s decision forcing the Fed to be more transparent will allow the citizens of this country more insight into what is going on. It may even lead the citizens to demand a full audit of the Fed, something that has never been done.
