TPMDC Kent Conrad
Super Committee
Why The Super Committee's New Tax Expert Could Be Key To Its Success
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
It's a mistake to read much into the fact that the Super Committee picked a staff director, or that he's a long-serving Republican aide. There's a temptation to read deeply into these developments, but ultimately the 12 members of the Super Committee will either reach an accommodation or they will not, and that much is up to them.
On that score, it is interesting that the staff director, Democrat or Republican, has extensive knowledge of the tax code.
This goes back to the final hours of the debt limit deal. The Super Committee will draft legislation that CBO will score relative to current law. That means CBO will score whatever they produce as if expiration of ALL the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2012. Want to make Bush's lower-income and middle-class tax cuts permanent, and let the top bracket cuts expire? No can do. That scores as a big tax CUT -- and thus counts against the committee's goal of reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bush Tax Cuts, CBO, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Kent Conrad, Super Committee, Taxes
Medicare
Paul Ryan To Dems: Show Us Your Budget...No, The Other One!
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Before yesterday, Republicans on Capitol Hill liked to feign anger about Senate Democrats' failure to pass a budget in over two years.
Now that the debt limit deal is done -- and it's essentially a 10-year budget, with the force of law -- Republicans are...still attacking Democrats for...not passing a budget!
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Budget, Kent Conrad, Medicare, Paul Ryan
John Boehner
Why Boehner's Debt Limit Plan Will Have To Fail Before Endgame Becomes Clear
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
High level discussions continue between Democrats and Republicans to make sure Congress raises the debt limit before the Treasury runs out of borrowing authority and has to slash public spending on a massive scale. But for the moment, we're in a period of repose. In public, few are willing to budge too far off their own party's plan to raise the debt limit. And members and aides are now believe that a viable solution won't emerge until one of the existing, partisan plans fails publicly.
In other words, things haven't moved a whole lot since yesterday. For the moment, most participants expect that the House GOP plan, authored by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will move first, and will fail, either in his own chamber or in the Senate. But they're now pessimistic that a workable plan will emerge before then, something party leaders were hoping against hope for yesterday.
"I think so -- probably that's the case," Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Americans for Tax Reform, Chamber of Commerce, Club For Growth, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Default, Deficit, Entitlement reform, Entitlements, FreedomWorks, Grover Norquist, Harry Reid, John Boehner, Kent Conrad, Mitch McConnell, Taxes
Barack Obama
Reid: Actually Obama Will Meet With Senators On Debt Limit Wednesday
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.
Turns out President Obama will come to the Capitol to talk debt ceiling...just not today.
At a Thursday Senate press conference, scheduled minutes before it began, Democratic leaders called out their GOP counterparts, who invited Obama to the Hill without notice in order to swipe at him later for declining. Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that Obama will come, along with the Vice President Joe Biden, to visit Senators on Wednesday.
"Next week, on Tuesday, we're going to have Sen. [Kent] Conrad who's worked really hard with the people on the Budget Committee to come up with a way forward on the budget," Reid said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Budget, Debt, Debt ceiling, Default, Gene Sperling, Harry Reid, Joe Biden, Kent Conrad
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Obama And Netanyahu, Distrustful Allies, To Meet
The New York Times reports: "As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel heads to the White House on Friday for the seventh meeting since President Obama took office, the two men are facing a turning point in a relationship that has never been warm. By all accounts, they do not trust each other. President Obama has told aides and allies that he does not believe that Mr. Netanyahu will ever be willing to make the kind of big concessions that will lead to a peace deal."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will receive his daily briefing at 10 a.m. ET. He will meet at 11:15 a.m. ET with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two will deliver statements to the press at 12:05 p.m. ET, and hold a working lunch at 12:30 p.m. ET. Then at 3:10 p.m. ET, Obama will deliver remarks to CIA employees.
Topics: 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Budget, DSCC, Israel, Israel/Palestine, Kent Conrad, Libya, Roundup, Senate '12
Gang of Six
Source: Coburn Ditching Gang Of Six Over Plan To Cut Medicare
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Not since David Lee Roth left Van Halen has a defection augured so poorly for team success. On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told reporters he was stepping away from the Gang of Six negotiations -- a bipartisan working group of senators putting together a plan to reduce the deficit and debt -- over their inability to agree on entitlement spending cuts.
After a bit of confusion over Coburn's status in these talks, his spokesman John Hart confirmed the departure in a statement, "He has decided to take a break from the talks."
A source with knowledge of the negotiations says Coburn ultimately broke ranks after members of the group rejected his proposal to introduce a global cap on Medicare spending that would have cut $150 billion from current beneficiaries.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Debt Ceiling, Deficit, Dick Durbin, Gang of Six, Harry Reid, Joe Biden, Kent Conrad, Mark Warner, Medicare, Mike Crapo, Mitch McConnell, Saxby Chambliss, Spending, Tom Coburn
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
Democrats Put On Combat Boots
The Hill reports: "Welcome to Bizarro Washington, where Republicans are trusted to lead on the economy and President Obama is the man with the big stick who killed Osama bin Laden. For decades, the roles of the two major parties were clearly defined by voters: Republicans were strong on national security, and Democrats, the mommy party, were the anti-war crowd whose strength was the economy. Now that Obama can claim the scalp of bin Laden, voters, especially those under 30 years old, might be forced to reevaluate those traditional views."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:30 a.m. ET, and Obama will meet at 10:30 a.m. ET with senior advisers. At 3:15 p.m. ET, Obama will welcome the Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride. Then at 4:30 p.m. ET, Obama will meet with Prince Charles.
Topics: 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Debt Ceiling, Gang of Six, John Boehner, Kent Conrad, Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan, Pres '12, Prince Charles, Roundup
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Conrad: 'Work Both Sides Of The Equation' On Taxes And Spending, Without Raising Rates
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) called for an increase in tax revenue, without raising marginal rates, by closing tax loopholes. " You know, let me just say this, revenue has to be part of this because revenue as a share of our national income is the lowest it has been in 60 years. Spending as a share of our national income is the highest it has been in 60 years. So you got to work both sides of the equation," said Conrad, who served on President Obama's debt commission. "But we did not raise tax rates, as this proposal, what we did was have tax reform. Let me just give you an example. In the Cayman Islands there is a little building, five-story building, called Ugland House, it claims to be the home of 18,000 companies. They all say they're doing business in that little building, the only business they're doing is monkey business. They're avoiding paying the taxes that they owe. If you reform the tax code and collect that money, I don't consider that a tax increase."
Coburn: Increase Revenue By 'Taking Away Tax Credits, Lowering The Tax Rate'
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) voiced his support for tax reforms that would increase overall revenue by closing loopholes and tax credits, without raising tax rates: "Well, we're not talking about it [raising rates]. I think if you go back and look at the commission's report, what we were talking about is getting significant dynamic effects by taking away tax credits, lowering the tax rate and having an economic increase that will actually increase the revenues to the federal government."
Topics: 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Debt Commission, Deficit, John McCain, Kent Conrad, Libya, Lindsey Graham, Medicare, Muammar Qaddafi, Pres '12, Richard Blumenthal, Rick Santorum, Roundup, Sunday Shows
Social Security
Parsing The Game Of Six: Will They Try To Cut Social Security Benefits?
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
The bipartisan group of six senators privately drafting a debt and deficit reduction plan have been unusually tight-lipped about their negotiations. That's probably necessary internally if the group's goal is to come to an agreement. But it's led to intense speculation about what's on the table, what shape their policy options are taking, and whether progressives will get a raw deal.
Of the six -- Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Warner (D-VA), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Tom Coburn (R-OK), and Mike Crapo (R-ID) -- only Durbin could be fairly described as a progressive. So the race is on to figure out where his bright lines are, and to what, if any, extent he's willing to walk away if the final agreement completely undermines progressive interests. But while his public statements in recent weeks don't lay out exactly what those bright lines are, he's tipped his hand in two important ways.
One big tell was his official public response to the House Republican budget, which doesn't meaningfully touch Social Security but basically obliterates Medicare and Medicaid, while not raising any new revenue, and lowering taxes on wealthy Americans.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Dick Durbin, Kent Conrad, Mark Warner, Medicaid, Medicare, Mike Crapo, Saxby Chambliss, Social Security, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Taxes, Tom Coburn, Treasury, White House
Budget
'Gang of Six' Under New Scrutiny Ahead of President Obama's Speech
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Members of the "Gang of Six," the bipartisan group of senators who have spent the last few months hammering out a comprehensive budget plan based on the Simpson-Bowles commission, are under new scrutiny after reports that President Obama might endorse the deficit panel's findings in his speech tomorrow.
Many commentators on the left have expressed serious concerns such a move would be politically disastrous and undermine Democratic morale heading into battle against a far-reaching House GOP budget proposal that would privatize and drastically cut Medicare. Asked about the issue, Democratic members of the 'Gang of Six' were sensitive to any suggestions that their proposal -- or Obama's -- could be confused with Paul Ryan's "draconian" plan.
"Anything that [Obama] would propose would be dramatically different from the really draconian proposals of Mr. Ryan," Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters. "Mr. Ryan, the first thing he does is cut taxes by well over a trillion dollars for the wealthiest among us, so he digs the hole deeper which means his cuts have to be far more draconian."
Asked by a reporter whether wading into Medicare cuts could divide Democrats, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) also pushed back against comparison to Ryan.
"I can say with certainty there will be a clear difference between Paul Ryan and Barack Obama on Medicare," he said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget, Debt Commission, Dick Durbin, Kent Conrad
Government Shutdown
New Offer On The Table As Clock Ticks Toward Government Shutdown
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Maybe it isn't a take it or leave it situation for John Boehner. After a Democratic caucus meeting this afternoon, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters negotiators are discussing a new possible deal.
"While we were in there another offer is being analyzed," Conrad said. "And I don't know any of the details, I don't know if anybody does because it was just been received while we were in there."
At a press conference following the meeting, I asked Reid for the details of that offer. He kept it pretty close to the vest.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Abortion, Government Shutdown, Harry Reid, Kent Conrad, Planned Parenthood, Spending
Medicare
Dems Find Message Discipline Against GOP Plan To Scrap Medicare
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
A funny thing happened on the way to a government shutdown. Democrats got on message about the House Republicans' other, bigger budget, which creates a policy blueprint for the next decade.
That message? The GOP plan to end Medicare and hack away at Medicaid is a non-starter. This came from top Democrats across the political spectrum.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Budget, Budget Committee, Government Shutdown, Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, Medicaid, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, Steny Hoyer, White House
Debt Ceiling
'Pay China First' -- Republicans' Wild Plan To Avoid U.S. Debt Default
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
New Republican legislation in the House and Senate would force the U.S. government to reroute huge amounts of money to China and other creditors in the event that Congress fails to raise its debt ceiling.
"I intend to introduce legislation that would require the Treasury to make interest payments on our debt its first priority in the event that the debt ceiling is not raised," Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) wrote in a Friday Wall Street Journal op-ed.
If passed, Toomey's plan would require the government to cut large checks to foreign countries, and major financial institutions, before paying off its obligations to Social Security beneficiaries and other citizens owed money by the Treasury -- that is, if the U.S. hits its debt ceiling. Republican leaders insist they will raise the country's debt limit before this happens. But first, they're going to try to force Democrats to accept large spending cuts, using their control over the debt limit as leverage. That means gridlock, and the threat that they'll come up short.
That's where Toomey's idea supposedly comes in. And yet, according to the Treasury Department, his plan wouldn't actually avoid a default, or its catastrophic consequences.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget, Budget Committee, China, Chris Van Hollen, Debt, Debt Ceiling, Jim Jordan, John Boehner, Kent Conrad, Mitch McConnell, Pat Toomey
2012 elections
Lieberman And Hutchison: We Could Have Won If We Weren't Retiring
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX)
The three senators who have announced their 2012 retirements thus far appeared Sunday on This Week. Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) both maintained that they think they could have won re-election -- and the other, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), only commented on why his state has turned against the status quo in Washington.
All in all, these reactions seemed to coincide with the chances that these same individual Senators' seats would stay with their current party or caucus.
Following Conrad's retirement, the Cook Report changed the rating of this race from "Likely Democratic" to "Toss Up." Before Lieberman announced his retirement, Cook had the race as only "Leans Democratic," due in part to the possibility that a three-way race could split the Dem vote and throw the seat to the Republicans -- but it is now the much safer "Likely Democratic." And Hutchison's seat has seen no change -- it was "Likely Republican" before she announced her retirement, and it is "Likely Republican" now.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012 elections, CT-SEN, Joe Lieberman, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Kent Conrad, ND-SEN, Senate '12, TX-SEN
State Of The Union
Who's Got A Date To The State Of The Union?
Sens. John Thune (R-SD) & Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)
The biggest question headed into tomorrow's State of the Union address doesn't seem to be what President Obama will say -- it seems clear he will in some way acknowledge the recent Republican gains, talk about the need for spending cuts, defend health care reform against efforts to repeal it, etc. No, the big question is -- which Democrat is sitting with which Republican?
As you know, there has been a push in the last couple weeks for Democratic and Republican members to sit with each other, as opposed to the usual separated seating. There is no assigned seating, of course, but we've always been treated to the sight of separate aisles that stand to applaud the president, or sit stony-faced.
The idea this year was promoted by the think tank Third Way, which is associated with moderate Democrats, and taken up by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO). It has also been promoted as a pro-civility measure to suggest a sense of Congressional unity, in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).
Let's take a look at some of the key pairings that are coming up. I asked Udall's office about who he would be sitting with. Their response: "Stay tuned Eric!"
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Chuck Schumer, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Kent Conrad, Mark Udall, State Of The Union, Tom Coburn
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
McCain: Obama Has 'Learned A Lot'
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offered some rare compliments to the man who defeated him in 2008, President Obama, saying that Obama had "learned a lot in the last two years" and since the November elections. "He is a very intelligent man. I think he's doing a lot of right things. This emphasis on cutting spending that we'll be talking about...was something that obviously was not talked about in the last two years," said McCain. "I think there's common ground because I think the president realized, as a result of the November elections, that the American people have a different set of priorities."
McConnell: 2012 Election 'Is Not Right Now'
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell backed away form his past statements that his top priority was to make sure President Obama would be defeated in 2012. "Well, the election is not right now," said McConnell. "And the question is what are we going to do between now and '12? Sure, I'd like a Republican president in January of 2013, but the real question for the American people right now is not the election in '12, but what are we going to do now? And I'm hoping the president's pivot to the center will be more than just rhetoric and we can actually do some important things for the country in the short term. The election will take care of itself over a period of two years."
Topics: 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Budget, CT-SEN, Debt Ceiling, Deficit, Dick Durbin, Eric Cantor, Health Care, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Kent Conrad, Mitch McConnell, Pres '12, Roundup, Senate '12, Sunday Shows
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
• Fox News Sunday: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL).
• NBC, Meet The Press: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), Assistant House Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-SC), former George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes, former Bill Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Chuck Schumer, Colin Powell, Dick Durbin, Eric Cantor, James Clyburn, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, John Podesta, Karen Hughes, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Kent Conrad, Mitch McConnell, Sunday Shows
ND-SEN
Kent Conrad To Retire
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
In a big development for the 2012 Senate races, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) is set to announce that he is retiring, the Washington Post reports -- opening up a red-state seat that could be very tough for the Dems to hold.
A moderate Democrat, Conrad was first elected to the Senate in 1986. He initially retired in 1992, but was then elected to the state's other Senate seat in a late 1992 special election -- making him the only person to have ever held both of his state's Senate seats during the same day, when he was sworn in from one to the other. He was re-elected easily in 1994, 2000 and 2006.
He was one of the Democrats who helped sink the public option during the health care reform debates, but also helped to provide the 60th vote to pass the health care bill that ultimately did pass and was signed into law by President Obama.
His historically Republican state took an even bigger swing to the right in the past year, though. His fellow Dem Senator Byron Dorgan retired, with Republican John Hoeven easily winning the seat, and Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy was defeated for re-election.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012 elections, Kent Conrad, ND-SEN, Senate '10
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
New DADT Wrinkle: Is Kent Conrad Onboard With Standalone Repeal Bill?
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
This afternoon, a group from the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization that helps gay and lesbian servicemembers deal with the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, will come to Capitol Hill to help push more Senators to back the standalone DADT repeal bill. On their list of targets, surprisingly, is Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).
I asked the SLDN why. They told me it was because Conrad has never made a "positive statement" backing the standalone bill. So I asked Conrad's office for a positive statement. And they declined to say anything about Conrad's position on the standalone bill, positive or negative.
This could be a big deal -- if Conrad turns out to be a no, his vote would throw off the math on the standalone bill and endanger repeal at the last second.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Kent Conrad
Bush Tax Cuts
Dems Held Hostage By Tax Cut Deal
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Democrats' unease with President Obama's tax cut compromise waned slightly yesterday -- particularly in the Senate, after members were briefed about the economic upsides to getting this package passed before the end of the year. But even as the legislation was being drafted -- in preparation for a Senate floor debate that could begin today -- Dems were hoping the framework could be tweaked a bit -- particularly the estate tax provision, which even sympathetic members regard as too-friendly to the children of the über-rich.
That's not going to happen.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bush Tax Cuts, Joe Biden, Jon Kyl, Kent Conrad, Stimulus, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Taxes
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Rangel: 'They Knew' I Didn't Deserve Censure
Appearing on State of the Union, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) said that his censure this past week was the product of a political environment in which members of Congress were afraid of appearing "easy on anybody in Washington." Rangel added: "I can understand that feeling back home, but I tell you, individually, whether it's Republicans or Democrats, they knew what I had done did not reach the level of a censure."
Durbin: 'Unconscionable' To Cut Top Taxes And Not Extend Unemployment
Appearing on Face The Nation, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that any tax-cut deal would also have to include an extension of unemployment benefits: "The notion that we would give tax cuts to those making over a million dollars a year, which is the Republican position, and then turn our backs on 2 million Americans who will lose unemployment benefits before Christmas ... is unconscionable."
Topics: Bush Tax Cuts, Charlie Rangel, Dick Durbin, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Jeb Hensarling, Kent Conrad, Orrin Hatch, Roundup, Sunday Shows, Tax Cuts, Taxes, Wes Clark
Fiscal Commission
FAIL: Fiscal Commission Adjourns Without Holding Official Vote
The 18-Member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, Sept. 29th, 2010
After weeks of tumultuous negotiations, the White House's fiscal commission adjourned today without agreement on a controversial plan to reduce deficits by slashing spending and lowering income tax rates.
Recognizing that they'd fail to meet the 14-vote threshold for passage, the 18-member commission ultimately did not take a final vote. However, members announced their positions ahead of today's final meeting, and in the end a majority -- according to Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), 11 in total -- claimed to support the proposal.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Alan Simpson, Andy Stern, Dave Camp, Dick Durbin, Erskine Bowles, Fiscal Commission, Fiscal Resonsibility, Jan Schakowsky, Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, Paul Ryan, Tom Coburn, White House, Xavier Becerra
Paul Ryan
Republican Paul Ryan Opposes White House Fiscal Commission Plan
Paul Ryan
Incoming Budget Committee chairman -- and fiscal commission member -- Paul Ryan (R-WI) will not be voting for the White House Fiscal Commission's report, he told reporters at a breakfast roundtable hosted by the Christian Science Monitor today.
"Obviously I'm not going to vote for it," Ryan said. "I think I pretty much telegraphed that."
Ryan was at pains to praise the commission's chairmen, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles, for their efforts, but ultimately criticized the plan dramatically -- in particular, he says, because it reinforces President Obama's health care law.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Alan Simpson, Barack Obama, Erskine Bowles, Fiscal Commission, Fiscal Resonsibility, Health Care, Judd Gregg, Kent Conrad, Paul Ryan
2012 elections
DeMint Targets Red-State Dem Senators In Fundraising Email
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Sen. Jim DeMint is already hitting the virtual campaign trail for the 2012 Senate races, National Journal reports, with his Senate Conservatives Fund leadership PAC sending out a fundraising email targeting four red-state Democrats who voted against the earmark moratorium.
The targeted Senators are Jon Tester (D-MT), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Kent Conrad (D-ND) and the newly-elected Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who just won a special election and is up for a vote again in 2012. All four of them hail from states that were carried by John McCain in 2008.
"These senators are nice folks but they have ignored the will of the American people and they must be replaced with principled conservatives in 2012," DeMint says in the email. "That's where the Senate Conservatives Fund comes in and it's where you can help."
DeMint then adds that his PAC will need "at least $4 million" for these four targeted races.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2012 elections, Ben Nelson, Earmarks, Jim DeMint, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, Kent Conrad, MT-SEN, ND-SEN, NE-SEN, Senate '12, Senate Conservatives Fund, WV-SEN
Kent Conrad
Conrad Applauds Fiscal Commissioners' Controversial Recommendations (VIDEO)
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Senate Democrats' top budget guy spoke supportively this morning of the controversial proposal unveiled yesterday by the chairmen of the White House's fiscal commission.
"I am going to vote for proposals that do as much as this does in terms of reducing the debt," Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) said on ABC. "There is no way of doing it that's not controversial and difficult... if some of us have to sacrifice a political career to get this country back on track, then so be it. It has to be done."
Conrad stopped short of fully endorsing the plan, but in a later appearance on MSNBC suggested he thinks it's generally on point. "From 30,000 feet I think they are going in the right direction," Conrad said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Alan Simpson, Barack Obama, Debt, Debt Commission, Erskine Bowles, Fiscal Commission, Kent Conrad, Social Security, Taxes, White House
Debt
Bayh And Conrad Endorse $20M 'OweNo' National Debt Ad Campaign (VIDEO)
Ad From Peter G. Peterson Foundation, "Rally"
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) are giving their endorsement to a new ad campaign called "OweNo," seeking to expand public awareness about the national debt -- and signaling an opening volley in the Social Security debate, the Huffington Post reports,
OweNo? Hasn't she ruined everything she touches?
The ad campaign is being run by the Peter G. Peterson foundation, created by the former Nixon-era Secretary of Commerce and co-founder of the budget hawk group the Concord Coalition. The first ad -- part of a $20 million campaign -- does not feature Bayh or Conrad, but a fictional politician named "Hugh Jidette," and his crowd of supporters who stop cheering once he describes his policies of spending more money and passing the tab on to their kids.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Evan Bayh, Kent Conrad, OweNo, Peter G. Peterson, Social Security
Doug Elmendorf
CBO Chief: High Income Tax Cuts Slow Income Growth
Intentionally or not (but probably intentionally), Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad has mastered the art of deploying CBO chief Doug Elmendorf to ostensibly make the case for Conrad's policy preferences, under oath.
Today, Elmendorf made two key points before Conrad's panel: one will be used by Republicans to argue for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts; and the other will be used by Democrats to argue for letting Bush's high-income cuts expired. Both will, of course, bolster Conrad's argument for his own compromise position on tax cuts.
Here, in Elmendorf's words, is what will surely be the Republican talking point:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget Committee, Bush Tax Cuts, CBO, Doug Elmendorf, Health Care, Kent Conrad, Tax Cuts
Fiscal Commission
Republicans On Obama Debt Commission Push For Corporate And Capital Gains Tax Cuts
President Obama meets with the leaders of his bipartisan debt commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles, on left, and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, on right.
Republicans on President Obama's fiscal commission, which is tasked with coming up with ways to reduce the deficit, have privately argued in official meetings that the panel should recommend further corporate and capital gains tax cuts as part of its mandate. The panel has been charged with raising revenues and cutting spending, to bring the federal budget into greater balance. But if Republican members are successful, their advocacy would result in either an unbalanced report, dedicated wholly to spending and benefit cuts -- or to gridlock and, thus, no recommendations at all.
At a tax reform working group meeting last week, Republicans argued against every possible tax increase. According to one source familiar with the deliberations, Republicans were even opposed to eliminating loopholes, exemptions, credits and other so-called "tax expenditures" unless the associated revenue increase could be used to lower capital gains and corporate income rates.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, David Camp, Debt, Debt Commission, Fiscal Commission, Fiscal Resonsibility, Kent Conrad, Medicare, Social Security, Tax Cuts
Bush Tax Cuts
Boehner: No Deal On Bush Tax Cuts (VIDEO)
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
President Obama will announce in a speech in Ohio today that he's unwilling to budge on the Bush tax cuts: the cuts on the highest brackets must expire, no matter what congressional Republicans (and even some Democrats) are saying. This will mark the first election season battle between Obama and House Republican leader John Boehner -- who hopes to become Speaker next Congress, and who today proposed a minimum of a two-year extension of all current tax rates.
"Why wouldn't we work together to make clear that all current tax rates will be extended for the next two years," Boehner said on ABC this morning.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Bush Tax Cuts, John Boehner, Kent Conrad, Peter Orszag, Taxes
Social Security
Meet The 18 People Who Could Determine The Fate Of Social Security
President Obama meets with the leaders of his bipartisan debt commission, Democrat Erskine Bowles, on left, and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, on right.
Last week former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, who co-chairs the White House's fiscal commission, drew a storm of criticism for comparing Social Security to a "cow with 310 million tits." But Titgate isn't really about language. It's about both Simpson himself -- who has long viewed Social Security as a bloated program for spoiled old people -- and about the commission as a whole. Comprised of nine tax-averse Republicans and nine Democrats, many of whom have expressed support for Social Security changes in the past, the commission will almost certainly be biased toward benefit cuts, and away from raising taxes, when it presents its report on December 1. Below, the cast of characters who will be making the calls.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Alan Simpson, Andy Stern, Barack Obama, David Camp, Debt, Debt Commission, Dick Durbin, Erskine Bowles, Fiscal Commission, Jan Schakowsky, Jeb Hensarling, John Spratt, Judd Gregg, Kent Conrad, Max Baucus, Medicare, Mike Crapo, Paul Ryan, Social Security, Tom Coburn, Xavier Becerra
Kent Conrad
Conrad: GOP Tax Cut Plan 'A Formula For The Decline Of The United States'
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Has Kent Conrad done an about face and become a supporter of the Republican plan to endlessly extend tax cuts for the rich? Far from it.
"The Republicans' proposal to me is a formula for the decline of the United States," Conrad said last night in response to a question from TPMDC.
Conrad is among the only Senators whose hawkish rhetoric on deficits closely matches his voting record, and he surprised many -- even senior members of his own party -- when he was quoted widely supporting a continuation of the Bush tax cuts, including for high income earners.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Bush Tax Cuts, Deficit, George W. Bush, Kent Conrad, Stimulus, Tax Cuts
Roundup
TPMDC Morning Roundup
McConnell: GOP Will Run On 'Repeal And Replace'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appeared on CNN, explaining how the GOP will run against the health care bill this year. "Repeal and replace will be the slogan for the fall," said McConnell, explaining that the party will run against the new taxes and cuts to Medicare Advantage. He added: "And we're going to remind the American people of that in the future and hopefully we'll be able to repeal the most egregious parts of this and replace them with things we could have done on a bipartisan basis much earlier this year."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will meet at 9 a.m. ET with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN). He will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:35 a.m. ET. He will meet at 10:15 a.m. ET with Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) to discuss financial reform. At 2:30 p.m. ET, he will sign an executive order reaffirming the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's consistency with longstanding restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortion, joined by a group of pro-life Democrats including Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and others.
Topics: 2010 elections, Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Budget Reconciliation, Health Care, Kent Conrad, Mitch McConnell, Roundup
Health Care
Conrad Asks House To Remove North Dakota Deal
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
After taking heat for a "special deal" in the House's health care reconciliation bill that would benefit the Bank of North Dakota, House leadership will submit a manager's amendment to remove the deal.
The provision, seen as a deal for Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), would have allowed the Bank of North Dakota, a state bank, to continue receiving federal subsidies for student loans, even as the bill eliminated such subsidies for other banks. Student loan legislation is tied into the health care bill.
So Conrad had his staff call leadership and ask to get it removed.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Health Care, John McCain, Kent Conrad
Budget Reconciliation
Conrad: Parts Of Health Care Fix Might Not Meet Reconciliation Test
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
One of the key issues bedeviling House Democrats who are still on the fence about health care reform is the unpredictability of the Senate. They wonder whether the Senate will be able to pass a reconciliation bill--making needed changes to the comprehensive health care bill--that hasn't been riddled with holes by Republican procedural bullets.
Today, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)--chair of the Senate Budget Committee--didn't provide them much peace of mind.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget Reconciliation, Democrats, Health Care, House Democrats, House of Representatives, Kent Conrad, Parliamentarian, Reconciliation, Republicans, Senate
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).
• CBS, Face The Nation: Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
• Fox News Sunday: Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: John McCain, Jon Kyl, Kent Conrad, Lamar Alexander, Marsha Blackburn, Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, Robert Menendez, Steny Hoyer, Sunday Shows, Tom Coburn
Health Care
You Go First! Democrats Clash Over Reconciliation
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Democrats finally seem ready to act on health care reform, and for perhaps the first time in the entire year-long health care reform debate, they're speaking--openly--about the likelihood that they'll invoke the budget reconciliation process to make some tweaks to the Senate's health care bill. But there remains no clear path forward, with the House and Senate still jockeying over who will make the first move, and even Senate Democrats divided on how the process should work in their chamber and who among them gets to decide on it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she won't pass the Senate bill until the reconciliation process is complete. And Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) says the Senate can't do reconciliation until after the House acts on the Senate bill. Has an unstoppable force just met an immovable object?
Not necessarily.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget Reconciliation, Democrats, Harry Reid, Health Care, House of Representatives, Kent Conrad, Senate
Health Care
Conrad: Health Care 'Dead' Unless House Passes Senate Bill First
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
The Senate Democrats' top budget guy told reporters today that the Senate can't pass a reconciliation package tweaking a comprehensive health care bill unless the House passes the Senate bill first. And if the House won't do that, he says health care reform is "dead."
"The only way this works is for the House to pass the Senate bill and then, depending on what the package is, the reconciliation provision that moves first through the House and then comes here," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) outside the upper chamber this morning. "That's the only way that works."
I pointed out that House leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has repeatedly insisted they won't take a flier on a reconciliation package--that they will only pass the Senate bill after the smaller side-car reconciliation bill has been all wrapped up.
"Fine, then it's dead," Conrad said.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget Reconciliation, Health Care, House of Representatives, Kent Conrad, Senate
Health Care
#HealthCareFAIL: How The Dems Botched Their Signature Legislation
Clockwise from top left: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT); MA Sen. candidate Martha Coakley (D); Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and President Obama
Talk about fits and starts.
A year ago Democrats committed to passing comprehensive health care legislation; six months ago, it became clear that their project wouldn't go smoothly; one month ago it was full speed ahead; and a week and a half ago it all fell apart.
Health care reform is now on life support. To mix metaphors, it's on life support and the back burner at the same time. How the Democrats' signature agenda item went from a foregone conclusion to a prospect in peril is a tale of missteps and bad luck. No single player or event brought us to where we are today. But if any of the below episodes had gone...more smoothly, this might've been a done deal.
You know how the saying goes: Success has a thousand fathers, but failure is an orphan. And you can be sure that if health care reform fails, the people below will make like John Edwards--quick-like.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)Topics: Barack Obama, CBO, Chuck Grassley, Democrats, Doug Elmendorf, Filibuster, Harry Reid, Health Care, House of Representatives, Jeff Bingaman, Joe Lieberman, Kent Conrad, MA-SEN, Martha Coakley, Max Baucus, Mike Enzi, Olympia Snowe, Orrin Hatch, Paul Kirk, Public Option, Republicans, Scott Brown, Ted Kennedy
Health Care
Can They Get It Done? With Health Care Reform On The Line, The Senate Waffles
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND)
The clear consensus among leading Democrats is that the only true way forward on health care is for the House to pass the Senate's bill with a separate, guaranteed bill, or bills, making major changes to key aspects of it. And with Democrats down to 59 votes in the Senate, those changes would have to be passed via the budget reconciliation process, which circumvents the filibuster.
Progressives support the idea, but key questions remain--including whether the Senate can, or will take the necessary steps to make that happen.
Already, a number of conservative Democrats have come forward to say they oppose the proposed solutions outright. Others, including Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) have said they prefer different approaches. And for the plan to hold, Democrats could lose no more than 9 members.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Budget Reconciliation, Filibuster, Health Care, House of Representatives, Joe Lieberman, Kent Conrad, Senate, Sherrod Brown
Barack Obama
Obama Endorses Bipartisan Debt Commission Opposed By Progressives
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), President Barack Obama, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
The Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on a proposal to create a bipartisan debt commission charged with reducing soaring budget deficits, which are projected to be around $1 trillion a year for the next decade.
The commission would potentially have the power to force Congress into an up-or-down vote on systematic changes to the tax code and government entitlement programs, including Medicare and Social Security. That's got a lot of progressives worried -- and mad.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (1)Topics: Barack Obama, Debt Commission, Judd Gregg, Kent Conrad
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