Lost Cause
It's a wrap!
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2001
- Posts
- 30,949
Finally, some common sense being brought back to legislation and policy. Actually, I want to hear some more hysterical ranting from the uniformed.
Washington post:
With Republicans gaining control of both the White House and Congress, Bush administration officials last night began to prepare an ambitious legislative agenda to press their new -- and somewhat unexpected -- advantage.
Suddenly, items that had been bottled up in the Democratic Senate have new life. President Bush has new hopes for action on his conservative slate of judges, his energy plan calling for drilling in Alaska's wildlife refuge, and the policies he favors on topics such as homeland security, terrorism insurance and prescription drug coverage. With Democrats losing their ability to set the Senate schedule and launch probes of the administration, chances improve for Bush's hopes to extend last year's tax cuts, curtail jury awards, cut business regulations and overhaul Medicare.
At the same time, White House officials said last night that most of their early effort in the new Congress will revolve around stimulating economic growth. Wary of the struggling economy as a vulnerability for Bush heading into his reelection race, administration officials said Bush was likely to introduce a new economic-stimulus package early next year. Among the plans being drawn up are new tax cuts for businesses and investors.
The officials said they recognize that the economy now will be squarely on Bush's shoulders, and he will no longer be able to blame Democratic Senate leaders or former president Bill Clinton. "Republicans have the keys to the car and we're going to have to take action and continue to work for economic growth," a White House official said.
Unified control of the government presents both rewards and risks for Bush and the Republicans. They will be far freer to enact legislation and leave their stamp on both domestic and foreign policy -- and they will get the bulk of the credit, or blame, for events. The electorate remains evenly divided, and Republicans will lack a majority that can withstand Democratic filibusters and defections by GOP moderates in the Senate. But Bush, for better or worse, will come close to having sole ownership of the war on terrorism, military action in Iraq, the federal budget, government spending and the economy.
In a conference call early this morning, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the first priority for the lame-duck session of Congress that begins next week should be passage of legislation creating a Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department. The spokesman also mentioned terrorism insurance legislation and unfinished spending bills. "The president hopes tonight's results will be an impetus to the Senate to finish its business," Fleischer said.
Another priority for the White House will be passage of Bush's "faith-based" initiative to boost religious charities; officials are hopeful that proposal can be advanced in the lame-duck session. They are also confident they can enact their preferred version of legislation extending the landmark 1996 welfare reform law; the matter was shelved earlier this year after disagreements with Democrats who favored more funding and less stringent requirements.
Though it's far from clear that Bush will be able to enact broad changes in health care, Social Security or taxes, he will now have much more freedom to pursue all three.
The administration is eyeing wholesale changes to the Medicare program that would add a prescription drug benefit but inject more private-sector competition into the massive government program. The Treasury Department is also formulating a series of options to simplify or overhaul the corporate and personal income tax system. And Social Security reform advocates insist they have been promised an all-out push from the White House to enact proposals that would divert some of the Social Security payroll tax into personal accounts that could be invested in the stock market.
Recent additions to the Bush economic team indicate the White House is gearing up for a major push on health care legislation, congressional aides and health care lobbyists said. The White House could resurrect its version of HMO legislation while it pushes a prescription drug bill and tax credits for the purchase of health insurance. "I don't think it's lost on the White House that we're in a period when health care is going to be a big, big issue, legislatively and politically," said a Republican lobbyist with close ties to the White House.
Before such broad initiatives, however, will come economic legislation. In the short run, the Republican Congress will try to make good on economic measures that could not pass when Democrats controlled the Senate, said Eric Ueland, chief of staff for Senate Republican Whip Don Nickles (R-Okla.).
That includes making last year's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut permanent. Under current law, the tax cut would expire after 2010. If the proposal passes, it would be largely symbolic, because Congress can -- and almost certainly will -- vote to change tax policies over the next decade. Republicans would also likely move for a quick vote to speed up the repeal of the estate tax.
Ueland said Republicans are waiting for Bush to signal that they should move forward with a package of tax cuts aimed at investors, including proposals increasing the amount of stock losses that can be deducted from income taxes, raising the contribution limit on retirement accounts and cutting or eliminating taxes on stock dividends.
Bush has also promised proposals to curb lawsuits, especially malpractice suits, and some kind of effort to cut back business regulations.
*This is gonna get good!
Washington post:
With Republicans gaining control of both the White House and Congress, Bush administration officials last night began to prepare an ambitious legislative agenda to press their new -- and somewhat unexpected -- advantage.
Suddenly, items that had been bottled up in the Democratic Senate have new life. President Bush has new hopes for action on his conservative slate of judges, his energy plan calling for drilling in Alaska's wildlife refuge, and the policies he favors on topics such as homeland security, terrorism insurance and prescription drug coverage. With Democrats losing their ability to set the Senate schedule and launch probes of the administration, chances improve for Bush's hopes to extend last year's tax cuts, curtail jury awards, cut business regulations and overhaul Medicare.
At the same time, White House officials said last night that most of their early effort in the new Congress will revolve around stimulating economic growth. Wary of the struggling economy as a vulnerability for Bush heading into his reelection race, administration officials said Bush was likely to introduce a new economic-stimulus package early next year. Among the plans being drawn up are new tax cuts for businesses and investors.
The officials said they recognize that the economy now will be squarely on Bush's shoulders, and he will no longer be able to blame Democratic Senate leaders or former president Bill Clinton. "Republicans have the keys to the car and we're going to have to take action and continue to work for economic growth," a White House official said.
Unified control of the government presents both rewards and risks for Bush and the Republicans. They will be far freer to enact legislation and leave their stamp on both domestic and foreign policy -- and they will get the bulk of the credit, or blame, for events. The electorate remains evenly divided, and Republicans will lack a majority that can withstand Democratic filibusters and defections by GOP moderates in the Senate. But Bush, for better or worse, will come close to having sole ownership of the war on terrorism, military action in Iraq, the federal budget, government spending and the economy.
In a conference call early this morning, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the first priority for the lame-duck session of Congress that begins next week should be passage of legislation creating a Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department. The spokesman also mentioned terrorism insurance legislation and unfinished spending bills. "The president hopes tonight's results will be an impetus to the Senate to finish its business," Fleischer said.
Another priority for the White House will be passage of Bush's "faith-based" initiative to boost religious charities; officials are hopeful that proposal can be advanced in the lame-duck session. They are also confident they can enact their preferred version of legislation extending the landmark 1996 welfare reform law; the matter was shelved earlier this year after disagreements with Democrats who favored more funding and less stringent requirements.
Though it's far from clear that Bush will be able to enact broad changes in health care, Social Security or taxes, he will now have much more freedom to pursue all three.
The administration is eyeing wholesale changes to the Medicare program that would add a prescription drug benefit but inject more private-sector competition into the massive government program. The Treasury Department is also formulating a series of options to simplify or overhaul the corporate and personal income tax system. And Social Security reform advocates insist they have been promised an all-out push from the White House to enact proposals that would divert some of the Social Security payroll tax into personal accounts that could be invested in the stock market.
Recent additions to the Bush economic team indicate the White House is gearing up for a major push on health care legislation, congressional aides and health care lobbyists said. The White House could resurrect its version of HMO legislation while it pushes a prescription drug bill and tax credits for the purchase of health insurance. "I don't think it's lost on the White House that we're in a period when health care is going to be a big, big issue, legislatively and politically," said a Republican lobbyist with close ties to the White House.
Before such broad initiatives, however, will come economic legislation. In the short run, the Republican Congress will try to make good on economic measures that could not pass when Democrats controlled the Senate, said Eric Ueland, chief of staff for Senate Republican Whip Don Nickles (R-Okla.).
That includes making last year's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut permanent. Under current law, the tax cut would expire after 2010. If the proposal passes, it would be largely symbolic, because Congress can -- and almost certainly will -- vote to change tax policies over the next decade. Republicans would also likely move for a quick vote to speed up the repeal of the estate tax.
Ueland said Republicans are waiting for Bush to signal that they should move forward with a package of tax cuts aimed at investors, including proposals increasing the amount of stock losses that can be deducted from income taxes, raising the contribution limit on retirement accounts and cutting or eliminating taxes on stock dividends.
Bush has also promised proposals to curb lawsuits, especially malpractice suits, and some kind of effort to cut back business regulations.
*This is gonna get good!
