Getting What They Expected

Posted by White House

Last week, as special interest billionaires continued to pour secret donations of millions of dollars each into front groups supporting Republicans, we asked the obvious question: "What do they expect in return?"

Today we found out they're already drawing up the plans. Washington lobbyists are lining up cash to help Republicans in Congress repeal Wall Street reform, repeal health care reform and go back to the same policies that led to this mess. The New York Times describes the blitz of meetings between Republicans in Congress and Washington lobbyists:

But there is nothing mysterious for the lobbyists and corporate executives writing most of these checks. Mr. Camp is slated to take over the powerful, tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee if Republicans win the majority next week, transforming this low-key conservative Republican almost overnight into one of the most powerful men in town.

Across Washington, lobbyists have been working behind the scenes now for months to prepare for this possible power shift. Former aides to Mr. Camp, who now work as lobbyists, are checking in with their onetime boss, chatting with him and his aides about staff appointments he might make when he takes over the Ways and Means Committee, and what tax or health care issues will be at the top of his agenda. Other lobbyists have gone to his staff to try to get to the head of the line in presenting proposed tax changes that will benefit their clients.

“You don’t wait until Nov. 3 and say, ‘What is the plan,’ ” said Jennifer Bell, a former aide to Mr. Camp who is now a health care lobbyist. She flew to Michigan last month in part to catch up with Mr. Camp while he was in his district. “Obviously, it is the majority that sets the agenda.”

This should come as no surprise given the track record of Congressional Republicans over the past two years. Rather than listen to the American people, Congressional Republicans have repeatedly shown their loyalty to these special interests by retreating behind closed doors to strategize with their lobbyists on the most critical issues for the American people.

On Wall Street reform, Congressional Republicans didn’t listen to the millions of Americans who lost their homes and savings as a result of the financial crisis. Instead, House Republicans teamed up with Wall Street lobbyists to try to defeat the bill, and Senate Republicans leaders traveled to New York City to meet with Wall Street executives and hedge fund managers to discuss their opposition to the legislation and solicit campaign contributions. In fact, right after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell got back from that trip, he announced that Senate Republicans would not support the bill providing the toughest consumer financial protections in history.

On health insurance reform, Congressional Republicans didn’t listen to the stories of Americans who cannot afford insurance or have been denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Instead, House Republicans introduced an “alternative” bill that borrowed proposals from health insurance companies, and before any of the Senate committees had even begun working on health reform legislation, Senate Republican leaders met with health care lobbyists in an effort to “recruit stakeholders to oppose” important Democratic proposals.

And when Senate Democrats brought an important jobs bill to the floor earlier this year, their colleagues across the aisle didn’t listen to unemployed Americans looking for work. Instead, they held a strategy session with lobbyists.

In fact, Congressional Republicans have made clear that lobbyists have a seat at the table even when they are formulating their party’s broader strategy and governing vision. When House Republicans put together their “Pledge to America,” they invited a group of high-powered lobbyists and corporate insiders to help them craft their agenda at a secret, closed-door meeting – opening it up to the public only after the invitation was leaked to the press. Then, on the day House Republicans released their agenda, we learned that they had quietly put a former lobbyist for Big Oil and other special interests in charge of putting the “Pledge” together.

What Do They Expect in Return?

Posted by White House

Ever since the Citizens United ruling opened the floodgates to unlimited and undisclosed special interest and corporate spending in our elections, President Obama has repeatedly warned that these undisclosed contributions will give special interests even more power over politicians. And, with that power, they plan to return to the days when lobbyists wrote the laws in Washington to benefit special interests at the expense of the American people.

The President fought hard to block this troubling development by repeatedly calling on Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act -- legislation that would establish the strongest-ever disclosure requirements for election-related spending by special interests. But Congressional Republicans blocked every attempt we made to put our democracy back where it belongs -- in the hands of the American people. Their opposition wasn’t rooted in policy differences, because they’ve supported this type of legislation in the past. Rather, it was a cynical decision based on electoral considerations. And now, thanks to aggressive investigative reporting, we are getting a glimpse of the consequences lax disclosure rules have on our political process.

The New York Times reported today that one Texas billionaire alone has given at least $13 million to outside groups that are able to accept donations of unlimited size and are spending tens of millions of dollars on misleading, negative ads. This donor refused interviews, but his spokesman said, “We’ll let the donations speak for themselves.” And NBC News reported yesterday that this special interest money has been pouring in to these shadowy groups at such a rate in the past few weeks that they expect to raise as much as $250 million between now and Election Day.

Donations to many of these groups never have to be disclosed, which means the American people no longer have the right to know who is financing ads that are “overwhelmingly spreading exaggerations and falsehoods” in an attempt to influence an election. As the President said yesterday: “They could be insurance companies. They could be Wall Street banks. We don’t know. We don’t know who it is.”

And this kind of activity is not limited to election season; it is a year-round campaign to take over our democracy as these groups attempt to bully lawmakers and distort key legislation on behalf of corporate interests.Additional reporting, based on corporate records, revealed a number of contributions from major corporations to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For instance, Dow Chemical gave the Chamber $1.7 million last year as it fought rules tightening security requirements at chemical facilities. Prudential Financial gave the Chamber $2 million last year as the Chamber led a national advertising campaign against new financial regulations. And there was little doubt that Prudential expected a return on its investment. The company spokesman admitted that the money was designed to influence votes. “I am not suggesting it is a coincidence,” he said in the Times story.

These types of stories about special interest power grabs will only become more common until Congressional Republicans end their blockade against stronger disclosure rules, like the DISCLOSE Act. Otherwise we risk a situation where laws are being made with shadowy special interests who hide behind their checkbooks, and not based on what’s in the best interest of the American people.

And, more importantly right now, these groups spending millions ought to be straight with the American people. Who is funding your ads – and what do they expect in return?

Cutting Through the Rhetoric on Spending

Posted by White House

In Washington, it’s often hard to cut through it all the political rhetoric and examine the facts of what is being claimed. Today’s New York Times did that with a critical issue: government spending.

In “As G.O.P. Seeks Spending Cuts, Details Are Scarce,” David Herszenhorn reports that all over the country, Congressional Republicans are calling for spending restraint, but offering few if any details on what they would cut.

The scarcity of those details is probably explained by the fact that, as the Times puts it, “federal budget statistics show that Republican policies over the last decade, and the cost of the two wars, added far more to the deficit than initiatives approved by the Democratic Congress since 2006.” In particular, the previous administration’s failure to pay for two large tax cuts and a prescription drug benefit for Medicare added trillions of dollars to our deficits. Congressional Republicans certainly don’t mention that their call to extend tax cuts to the wealthiest of the wealthy would add another $700 billion to the deficit or that their call to repeal the Affordable Care Act actually would make the deficit $100 billion larger over the next decade.

Furthermore, while Congressional Republicans are talking about their vague plan for “across the board” cuts to non-security, discretionary spending, they are steadfastly refusing to flesh out what these cuts – which would amount to a 20 percent reduction in spending in critical areas like education --- would mean in reality.

As I wrote previously, this indiscriminate cutting would undermine some of our most important priorities. Look at education: the Congressional GOP plan would mean that we wouldn’t be able to fund the turnaround of roughly 100 of our lowest-performing schools; we’d have to eliminate funds that help pay the costs of educating 6.7 million special education students; and about 8 million college students would see their Pell grants cut by an average of $700.

In contrast, the President has proposed a three-year freeze on discretionary spending outside of security that will cut programs that do not work or are not essential, while still investing in what we need to keep the economy growing and protect the health and safety of the American people. So even as we invest in education and innovation, the President’s plan would bring non-security discretionary spending to its lowest levels in nearly 50 years.

That’s a responsible strategy for fiscal discipline and economic growth, one the President has detailed in his budget and talks about around the country. Instead of trying to hide behind their sound bites, it’s time that the Republicans in Congress come clean with their plans and account for their record.

Weekly Address: GOP Rewarding Corporations that Create Jobs Overseas

Posted by White House

The President lays out his agenda to foster investment here at home. He vows to close the tax loopholes for sending jobs and profits overseas that Congressional Republicans have tried to protect.

What the American Opportunity Tax Credit Means for College Students

Posted by White House

Any middle class parent or student who’s worried about paying college tuition will tell you that $2,500 makes a big difference when it comes time to pay the bills. But right now, there's a real chance students will lose access to an important tax credit provides this level of assistance - unless we act quickly.

That’s why President Obama is calling on Congress to make the American Opportunity Tax Credit – a $2500 per year tax credit for working families and students attending college – permanent. To help bring attention to the issue, he's meeting with college students in the Oval Office today. You can help by spreading the word about this important issue as well.

This isn't just an issue for current students - it matters to all of us. Having more college educated workers in the American workforce is crucial to growing our economy. In order to compete in the 21st century global economy, we need to give all Americans the opportunity to pursue a college degree – and that’s exactly what this tax credit does:

• The American Opportunity Tax Credit gives working families and students a $2,500 per year tax credit for students attending college.
• If Congress makes this tax credit permanent it would be worth up to $10,000 for four years of college.
• 12 million more students from working families will have a chance to earn a college degree thanks to a 90% increase in tax credits for education during the first year of the Obama Administration.

Unfortunately, some Congressional Republicans are proposing a 20% cut on education which would mean reducing financial aid for eight million college students and leaving community colleges without the resources they need to prepare students for the jobs of the future. At the same time, they’re proposing to borrow $700 billion to provide millionaires and billionaires with an average tax cut of $100,000.

At times like these, cutting back on investments that are directly related to our economic growth just doesn’t make sense. We can’t afford to shortchange American students, and that’s why the President will continue to fight to make the American Opportunity Tax Credits permanent and to strengthen our education system for all students.

Weekly Address: Strengthening Education, Not Cutting It

Posted by White House

The President explains that even as we focus on creating jobs immediately, we must also ensure the economy is better for our children by investing in education – not cutting it by 20% as Congressional Republicans propose.

Weekly Address: Solar Power & a Clean Energy Economy

Posted by White House

The President points to a revolutionary new solar plant that will employ 1,000 people and power 140,000 homes. The plant is possible because of the President’s investments in the clean energy economy, which Congressional Republicans want to eliminate.

White House White Board: CEA Chair Austan Goolsbee Explains the Tax Cut Fight

Posted by White House

Today we're trying out something new -- White House White Board, in which one of our key players on the White House team will cut through the political back-and-forth you hear every day and break down an issue affecting American families into simple, understandable terms. Today, Austan Goolsbee, the new Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers here at the White House, tackles the tax cut fight and what it means that Congressional Republicans are "holding middle class tax cuts hostage" as the President has said:

Key points and links:

• Under President Obama’s plan, all Americans would receive a tax cut on the first $250,000 of their income. Every middle class family would receive the immediate certainty and comfort of knowing their tax cuts were permanently extended. Every American making more than $250,000 per year they would receive a tax cut on the first $250,000 of their income.
• Instead of working to give middle class families this immediate certainty and comfort, Congressional Republicans are continuing to hold that relief hostage in order to have our nation borrow $700 billion that we can’t afford to provide an average tax cut of $100,000 to millionaires and billionaires.
• We simply can’t afford to give the wealthiest Americans these big tax cuts that would add to our deficit and, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, be just about the least effective way to grow our economy and help create jobs.
  

Reforming Government: Congressional Republicans Haven't Changed & Can't Bring the Change We Need

Posted by White House

Later today, House Republican Leader John Boehner will be giving a speech on “Congressional Reform and the People’s House” at the American Enterprise Institute. We are interested to hear what Rep. Boehner has to say, but given the track record of Congressional Republicans over the past two years and the lack of real reform in their new agenda, we sincerely hope we’ll hear some substantive proposals this time around. But please excuse us for being more than a little skeptical that this is anything other than a brief election year conversion. One thing is already clear: they haven’t changed, so they won’t bring the change we need. Despite their talk about ending “backroom deals” and their promises of transparency, Congressional Republicans have repeatedly shown that they still pay more attention to lobbyists than they do to the American people.

When Rep. Boehner and his House Republican colleagues unveiled their “Pledge to America” last week, one of the document’s most striking omissions was its lack of a plan to increase disclosure and curb the influence of special interest lobbyists. Unfortunately, this omission didn’t come as a surprise to us. While the Congressional Republican agenda was supposed to be the result of the people “speaking out,” it turned out to be the product of special interests speaking quietly. In fact, when House Republicans were putting together the “Pledge,” Rep. Boehner invited a group of high-powered lobbyists and corporate insiders to help craft the agenda at a secret, closed door meeting. After the invitation was leaked to the press, House Republicans bowed to pressure and broadcasted the meeting over the web, insisting that the webcast was an example of the kind of transparency they want in Washington. But the Pledge makes clear that they haven’t learned their lesson. Nowhere in the document is there any mention of steps they would take to improve disclosure and reduce the influence of high-powered lobbyists and special interests. In fact, on the day they released their agenda, we learned that the Pledge itself was written with the help of a former lobbyist for Big Oil and other special interests.

If Congressional Republicans are interested in reform, we suggest that they take a look at some of the unprecedented steps we have taken over the past two years to increase transparency in the executive branch – steps that have made this Administration the most transparent in history. They include releasing White House visitor records; tough new rules that close the revolving door for lobbyists who work in government; expanded disclosure of lobbyist contacts with the government; posting more government information than ever before on data.gov and recovery.gov; reforming the government’s FOIA processes, providing on-line access to White House staff financial reports and salaries; reversing an executive order that previously limited access to presidential records; and web-casting White House meetings and conferences. And we’d remind Rep. Boehner that when Democrats took control of Congress in 2007, they passed landmark ethics reforms that required disclosure of earmark sponsors and lobbyists’ campaign contributions, banned gifts from lobbyists and paid travel on corporate jets, and took important steps towards closing the revolving door in Congress.

These efforts represent a belief that our government belongs to the American People. We hope Republicans feel the same way about Congress, but they still need to prove that they don’t think it belongs to the special interests. Until they show they are committed to serious reform and change their own way of doing business, they won’t change the way Washington works.

Small Business Where Republicans Announced Pledge to America Would Likely Benefit From Obama Plan for Small Businesses

Posted by White House

Congressional Republican small business schedule today:

10:00: Unveil agenda mentioning small business 18 times.
2:30: Return to Capitol to vote against help for small business.

Congressional Republicans visited Tart Lumber Company, a small business in Sterling, Virginia where they laid out their “Pledge to America,” which will do nothing more than take America back to the same failed economic policies that caused this recession and hurt the very small business where they are holding their event.

The “Pledge to America” mentions small businesses not once, but eighteen times. But what it fails to mention is the impact the Republican agenda actually would have on small businesses.

In addition to hiking taxes for 110 million middle-class families and millions of businesses, the Congressional Republican have consistently opposed the 8 small business tax cuts that the President has already signed into law including:

1. A New Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
2. A New Tax Credit for Hiring Unemployed Workers
3. Bonus Depreciation Tax Incentives to Support New Investment
4. 75% Exclusion of Small Business Capital Gains
5. Expansion of Limits on Small Business Expensing
6. Five-Year Carryback of Net Operating Losses
7. Reduction of the Built-In Gains Holding Period for Small Businesses from 10 to 7 Years to Allow Small Business Greater Flexibility in Their Investments
8. Temporary Small Business Estimated Tax Payment Relief to Allow Small Businesses to Keep Needed Cash on Hand

And it doesn’t end there, the same Republicans in Congress are expected to vote against another Small Business Jobs Bill in the House TODAY….that’s right…they are expected to vote against a bill that would potentially benefit the very small business where they are rolling out their agenda.

The potential benefits to Tart Lumber in the Small Business Jobs Bill include:

1. Businesses like Tart will be able to immediately write off its first $500,000 in equipment investment next year.
2. Investors in firms like Tart would receive zero capital gains on their investments.
3. A new Small Business Lending Fund will make capital more available to firms like Tart
4. By expanding successful SBA lending programs, firms like Tart will have expanded opportunities to get the loans they need to grow.

As a recap, Republicans in Congress were not always against assistance for small businesses. In fact, the same Small Business Jobs Bill they are expected to vote against today is made up of Republican ideas including zero capital gains on investments and business expensing write offs. Unfortunately Republicans in Congress are once again putting partisan obstruction ahead of essential assistance for small businesses, even those they use as backdrops.