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Old 11-14-2010, 06:25 AM
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ilbegone ilbegone is offline
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Default Much riding on 'lame duck' congressional session

Much riding on 'lame duck' congressional session

November 13, 2010

By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Capping two years marked by the passage of sweeping but divisive new laws including a national health care overhaul and a $787 billion economic stimulus bill, the nation's 111th Congress returns this week for one last session before its overwhelming Democratic majority is history.

The post-election, or "lame duck," congressional work period is expected to be brief but explosive, as lawmakers prepare to grapple with an array of issues that will impact Inland Southern California and the country at large.

Fights on taxes and spending, which must be resolved before year's end, are likely to dominate the House and Senate floors. But for Democrats, the next six weeks represent the best chance in the foreseeable future to pass legislation championed by their party's membership. Their numbers -- and ability to muscle bills through the legislative process -- will be slashed dramatically when the next Congress convenes in January.

A law granting citizenship to certain illegal immigrants, a move to repeal the military's ban on openly gay service members and a bill to preserve more than 1 million acres of San Bernardino County land could all be on the table, as Democratic lawmakers push their priorities.

But fresh off a landslide Election Day victory handing them control of the House next year, Republicans say Democrats who have just been voted out of office have no business forcing through more contentious legislation.

"Lame-duck sessions should be used for things that must be done," said Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona. "We've had an election. The American people have spoken, and the right thing to do is to defer the business of the American people into the next Congress."

Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, who was re-elected but will return to the minority in January, countered that sitting members of Congress have a responsibility to continue their work, particularly amid tough economic times.

"First and foremost, we must continue to look at legislation designed to create jobs and get our economy moving again during the lame-duck session of Congress," Baca said. "We need to promote manufacturing and infrastructure growth here at home and stop the outsourcing of American jobs overseas."

TAX CLOCK TICKING

Atop the list of issues that must be addressed is a set of George W. Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans warn that the ensuing tax hikes would be devastating at a time when the economy is struggling to rebound from a deep recession.

"I think we ought to extend the existing tax policy permanently," Calvert said.

Inland Reps. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, and Darrell Issa, R-Vista, have also called for the extension of all the Bush tax cuts.

Democratic President Barack Obama, along with many in his party, agrees that most of the cuts should be permanently extended. But he proposes a plan that would return taxes to their previous levels for individuals who make more than $200,000 or households that earn more than $250,000. Proponents of the president's plan argue that allowing the cuts to expire for top earners would mean hundreds of billions of dollars in added revenue.

"They must be allowed to expire to begin the process of lowering our long-term deficits," said Baca, who backs Obama's plan.

COMPROMISES?

Possible compromises include a temporary extension -- likely for one or two years -- of the tax cuts for top earners, or a raised threshold allowing households earning more than $250,000 -- likely to either $500,000 or $1 million -- to retain their current tax levels.

But any agreement would require Democrats and Republicans to set aside the bitter partisanship that has prevailed over the first 23 months of this Congress.

So divided are the two parties that Congress has failed to pass even one of the 12 spending bills needed to fund the federal government in the current fiscal year, which began in October.

Differing views on the appropriate size of nearly all of the bills led to gridlock, forcing Congress in September to pass a stopgap measure known as a "continuing resolution" to keep federal departments running at previous budget levels.

That resolution expires Dec. 3, setting the stage for another showdown. Lewis, the Republican leader of the House Appropriations Committee, appears to be steeling for a fight with the panel's outgoing chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.

Responding to reports that Obey and the Democrats plan to push a more than $1.1 trillion package consolidating all of the unpassed bills, Lewis vowed to rally Republicans against the plan. Lewis, who is seeking the committee's chairmanship, calls for a return to 2008 spending levels. He and other Republicans have proposed plans to trim roughly $100 billion in overall spending.

"The American people have chosen a new path forward reflecting a desire to cut spending, rein in government excess, and demonstrate common-sense fiscal discipline," Lewis wrote in a Nov. 4 letter to Obey.

If no agreement is reached, Congress could simply approve another continuing resolution. But that would likely wipe out millions of dollars worth of earmarks for the Inland area.

The region's four GOP House members have sworn off earmarks as part of a party-wide moratorium on the funding directives lawmakers slip into the spending bills for projects back home. But Baca, along with Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, have requested funding for several local projects, including $500,000 for construction of a transit center in San Bernardino, $700,000 for a Metrolink parking lot in Rialto and millions more for water recycling programs, transportation projects and other endeavors.

"Unfortunately, if we do not pass these appropriation bills, the Inland Empire will miss out on important federal funding," Baca said.

CONTENTIOUS ISSUES

Embroiled in a tough re-election battle, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in recent months vowed to call a lame-duck session vote on legislation that would legalize certain undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, as long as they go to college or serve in the military.

Opponents of the bill, called the Dream Act, say it amounts to undeserved amnesty and say they will fight the effort. Among them is Calvert, who maintained the bill wouldn't have "the gas to pass" either chamber of Congress -- now or in January.

But advocates of legalization for immigrants see the lame-duck session as an opportunity to pass the bill, and they said they will hold Democrats accountable at the ballot box if they don't keep their word. Latino voters were credited with helping sway several recent elections, including Reid's, Boxer's and, in 2008, Obama's.

"If Democrats do not push it, I think that's a death blow for the Latino vote (in their favor)," said the Rev. Patricio Guillen, executive director of San Bernardino-based Librerķa del Pueblo, an immigrant-assistance group that favors a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

Because of the military provision, the bill could be included in a pending Defense-related bill. So could language to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the military's ban on openly gay service members. Last month, a federal judge in Riverside ordered a halt to the policy, which has led to roughly 14,000 discharges since its inception in 1993.

An appeals court put an indefinite stay on the Riverside ruling and is reviewing the case. Meanwhile, the Obama administration says the policy is best repealed through congressional action. The chances of that happening are significantly worse after January, when Republicans take the House and represent a larger portion of the Senate.

Also facing a tougher road in the next Congress would be Feinstein's plan to protect more than 1 million acres in San Bernardino County's High Desert through the creation of two monuments. Some Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about restricting development on the land and adding to the federal government's maintenance and oversight responsibilities.

Feinstein spokesman Gil Duran acknowledged that time is short and passing the bill through both chambers might be difficult. But he said Feinstein, who previously said she hoped to see it passed this year, had not given up on the effort.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/...4.45fad89.html
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Old 11-14-2010, 06:45 AM
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Ayatollahgondola Ayatollahgondola is offline
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I'm thinking that Obama's recent comments about extending the Bush tax cuts are related to the amnesty. He'll use that as a big bargaining chip to the willing republicans who have previously been wishy washy on amnesty.

PS. This isn't a lame duck congress. It's just lame
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