Politics on the Hudson

Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith summed up Vice President Joe Biden’s re-election message at a campaign fundraiser in Tallahassee earlier today.

“If you want to know in 2012 what we’ve got to say, it’s very simple – General Motors is hiring and Bin Laden is dead,” Smith was quoted as saying in a media pool report filed by the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper.

In a rare show of overwhelming bipartisanship, the Senate voted 96 to 3 this evening to approve legislation that prohibits members of Congress and federal employees from financially profiting by trading on insider knowledge.

The bill, known as the STOCK Act (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge), came to the floor as an amalgam of bills proposed by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown.

One of the last amendments approved by the Senate today is a requirement that lawmakers disclose information about all of the real estate mortgages they hold. The bipartisan amendment authored by Democrat Barbara Boxer of California and Johnny Isakson  of Georgia also applies to mortgages held by the president, vice president and executive branch employees who are subject to Senate confirmation.

House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor has promised a floor vote in his chamber by the end of the month.

House Democrats led by Louise Slaughter of New York and Tim Walz of Minnesota have started a petition drive to force a vote as soon as possible.

President Barack Obama issued a statement after the Senate vote urging the House to act quickly.

Obama also urged Congress to do more to restore public trust “like prohibiting elected officials from owning stocks in industries they impact, and prohibiting people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress from lobbying Congress, an idea that has bipartisan support outside of Washington.’’

 

 

The United Farm Workers of America announced today they are endorsing President Barack Obama for re-election in November.

President Obama stands with farm workers and immigrants,’‘ UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said in a press statement. ”His administration is fighting against mean-spirited partisan legislation and gratuitous attacks by Republican politicians against hard-working, tax-paying immigrants who are among the most vulnerable people in our society.”

The White House plans to announce today it has received a commitment from businesses, nonprofits and federal agencies to provide summer jobs for 180,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24.
Private-sector partners include CVS Caremark, the Gap, Starbucks, Syracuse University and United Parcel Service.
President Barack Obama had proposed a $1.5 billion summer youth employment program as part of his American Jobs Act, but Congress didn’t act on that request.
The plan to be announced Thursday builds on a theme of congressional inaction that the administration has used to justify more controversial actions, such as Wednesday’s recess appointments by Obama of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three members of the National Labor Relations Board.
The federal agencies that will participate in the summer youth jobs program won’t get new funding, according to the administration.
Even so, the Agriculture Department plans to provide summer employment to 7,100 youths, the Interior Department will employ 12,000 and the Health and Human Services Department will employ 324.
In 2009 and 2010, economic stimulus legislation financed 367,000 summer youth jobs, according to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.
“When those Recovery Act dollars dried up last year, I made summer youth jobs a top priority here at the Department of Labor,’’ Solis said. “I personally traveled to communities across the country and challenged employers to make a commitment. A number of major corporations like Jamba Juice, UPS and Wells Fargo signed on. They created thousands of summer work opportunities for young people.’’
Altogether an estimated 80,000 summer jobs were offered in 2011, with the help of groups such as the U.S. Conference of Mayor and community-based nonprofits.
Solis said she hopes to enlist more employers in coming months and ultimately employ 250,000 youths for the year.
Unemployment among 16-to-24-year-olds was 18.1 percent in July. The rate among blacks was 31 percent. Among Hispanics, it was 20 percent.
In July 2007, just prior to the onset of the Great Recession, unemployment for that age group stood at 10.8 percent.
In conjunction with the initiative, the White House plans to release a report outlining the national economic burden of not providing job opportunities for disadvantaged youth.
The report, authored by two faculty members at Columbia University’s Teachers College and another from Queens College, estimates the nation has at least 6.7 million disadvantaged youths between 16 and 24 who neither work nor attend school. On average, they impose an immediate taxpayer burden of $13,900 a year compared to other youths in the same age group.

FROM HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER’S PRESS OFFICE: “Today, Speaker Boehner called President Obama to discuss the Speaker’s desire to provide a full year of tax relief for American families before December 31st. With Senator Reid having declined to call his Members back to Washington this week to join the House in negotiating a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut, the Speaker proposed that the President send members of his economic policy team up to Congress to find a way to accommodate the President’s full-year request. The Speaker explained his concern that flaws in the Senate-passed bill will be unworkable for many small business job creators. He reiterated that if their shared goal is a one-year bill, there is no reason an agreement cannot be reached before year’s end. The President declined the Speaker’s offer.”

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE: Speaker Boehner called the President this morning and the President reiterated to the Speaker that the only viable option currently on the table is for the House of Representatives to pass the bipartisan Senate compromise that received the support of nearly 90 percent of the Senate. The President told Speaker Boehner that he is committed to begin working immediately on a full-year agreement once the House passes the bipartisan Senate compromise that prevents a tax hike on 160 million Americans on January 1.

Two freshman Republican House members from New York were in spin mode Wednesday, staying in Washington for a media blitz to urge further negotiations for a one-year extension of a payroll tax cut.
Reps. Tom Reed of Corning and Nan Hayworth of Bedford spent the day shuttling between television cameras and their congressional offices.
Their message to the public: Pressure the Senate and House to negotiate a one-year deal instead of accepting the Senate’s two-month extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and Medicare reimbursement rates.
“This is the time-honored process that the founders provided wisely for,’’ Hayworth said in an interview shortly after appearing on CNN. “We are hoping for January 1 to dawn with the American people receiving the longest-term relief we can provide them.’’
Reed, who appeared on two cable news programs Tuesday night, also made the media rounds Wednesday, doing interviews with Bloomberg, Politico, the National Journal and Roll Call.
“Messaging has been part of the operation, obviously, but we are also digging into these issues,’’ Reed said during an interview in his office. “I truly believe, if the Senate came to the table we could work this out.’’
Democrats say House Republicans should accept the Senate deal, and they noted that that several GOP senators agree.
In a phone call Wednesday, President Barack Obama urged House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to allow a House vote on the Senate’s two-month deal while reiterating the need to ultimately agree on a one-year extension.
The two-month extension approved by the Senate in an 89-10 vote Saturday was negotiated by Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer appeared Wednesday on MSNBC and Fox News, accusing House Republicans of using their proposed negotiations to shelve the payroll tax cut extension.
Reed and Hayworth said they will stay in Washington as long as necessary because House GOP leaders have appointed them to a possible House-Senate conference committee on the tax cut extension.
Meanwhile, other New York Republicans have taken differing positions.
Freshman Republican Rep. Chris Gibson of Kinderhook voted Tuesday against the House GOP proposal to seek negotiations with the Senate.
And freshman Rep. Richard Hanna of Oneida County issued a statement Wednesday saying he would have voted in favor of the Senate plan.
“While a year-long extension is preferable to a two-month extension, I certainly would have voted for the Senate-passed bill if given the opportunity,’’ Hanna said. “Because the Senate bill was not brought to the House floor for a direct vote, I voted to … move to a House-Senate conference to resolve differences between the chambers.’’
Hanna said the Senate and House should get back to working on a deal.
“I stand ready to finish this work,’’ he said. “Letting the payroll tax cut or unemployment insurance expire next year is unacceptable.’’

The $38.5 billion in 2011 budget cuts agreed to by President Barack Obama  and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid in order to avert a government shutdown turned out to be too deep for many New York Democrats.

Obama and Reid reached an agreement with Republican House Speaker John Boehner shortly before a shutdown would have begun at midnight Friday.

Eleven Democrats from New York City voted against the $2 billion in immediate cuts that are part of the deal.

The measure approved by the House 348-70 and in Senate by a voice vote was signed into law early Saturday morning by President Barak Obama.  It keeps the government operating through Thursday while imposing $2 billion in immediate spending cuts.

The larger cuts will be voted on by Congress Wednesday or Thursday and will keep the government operating through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

 Rep. Jerrold Nalder, one of the 11 no votes from New York City,  said in a phone interview this evening he felt the cuts were aimed at the city because they involved transit, public housing and other programs important to the metropolitan area.

“I don’t like the whole agreement,’’ Nadler said. ”I think the cuts are too big.’’

Nadler said lawmakers didn’t know the programs targeted for the $2 billion in cuts until just before the vote.

High speed passenger rail will be cut by $1.5 billion, capital investment grants by $280 million, public housing operating funds by $149 million and  the university community fund by $25 million.

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx also voted no.

“While it is beneficial to avoid a government shutdown, a deal for the sake of making a deal is often a bad one,’’ Engel said.

The White House budget office issued a memorandum at midnight Friday advising agencies to continue their normal operations in light of an agreement between the White House and congressional negotiators on a 2011 budget deal.

  The New York impact was unclear because many of the details were not immediately announced.

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,  and  House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,  issued a joint statement  late Friday announcing an agreement to cut $78.5 billion from President Barack Obama’s proposed 2011  fiscal year budget.

Republican freshman Rep. Chris Gibson of Kinderhook hailed the agreement. “This includes about $39 billion in cuts from fiscal year 2010 levels, a figure that is over four times larger than any other cut in history,’’ Gibson said in a press statement. 

Another New York Republican freshman, Rep. Richard Hanna of Barneveld, said, ”Importantly, this bill is free of distracting and divisive social policy riders, which I have opposed from the start.’‘ 

The Senate voted by unanimous consent shortly after 11 p.m. on a stopgap budget measure with $2 billion in spending cuts to keep the government operating through Thursday.  The House approved the six-day measure shortly after midnight in a lopsided 348-70 vote.

The six-day spending measure is expected to serve as a bridge to keep the government operating while the budget deal is put into legislative language and voted on by Congress early next week .  

President Barack Obama said the deal means the Washington Monument and other parts of the federal government will be open for business.

But some federal programs are headed for cuts. 

“Like any worthwhile compromise, both sides had to make tough decisions and give ground on issues that were important to them,’’ Obama said. ” And I certainly did that.  Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful. Programs people rely on will be cut back.  Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed.  And I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances.’‘ 

Obama indicated earlier this week that negotiators agreed to eliminate Pell grants for low-income college students attending summer school. Obama already proposed that in his 2012 budget request.

Obama also said some of the cuts would be in so-called mandatory, or entitlement spending. But he did not disclose whether the reductions would be in Medicare, Medicaid or other programs.

“Certainly cuts in areas like Medicaid, transportation funding will directly impact the state’s finances, but until we know the details we cannot say with accuracy exactly what the cuts would mean for our state,’’ said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s spokeswoman, Emily DeSantis. 

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx said the deal slashes the budget too deeply and threatens the nation’s fragile recovery.

“While it is beneficial to avoid a government shutdown, a deal for the sake of making a deal is often a bad one,’’ Engel said. “The one good thing about this agreement is that it includes provisions to pay our military and their families. They make many sacrifices for their country, this should not be one of them.’’

House Republicans have maintained the baseline for the negotiations should be the bill approved in the House to reduce spending from 2010 levels by $61 billion. That bill also contained numerous policy “riders,” such as a measure to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood and stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Boehner announced Friday afternoon that almost all the policy issues had been resolved, but Reid said the hang-up was over federal Title 10 spending on women’s health, which includes funding for Planned Parenthood.

Conservative Republicans want to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood because it provides abortion services.  

Planned Parenthood says its federal money is used for women’s health services and its abortion services are separately financed.

Planned Parenthood in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties handled more than 37,000 annual visits by women seeking pap tests, birth control implants, birth control pills, IUDs, free condoms, emergency contraceptives, cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, HIV tests, tests for sexually transmitted diseases and abortions, according to spokeswoman Beverly Katz.

Federal money “all goes for preventative services,” she said, adding that abortions are performed at separate locations.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand joined other Democratic women senators at a news conference Friday attacking Republicans for focusing on abortion.

“Republicans need to wake up,’’ Gillibrand said. “Since the Hyde Amendment of the last 30 years, federal money does not pay for abortions in this country. What they are cutting in this bill are safety nets for poor, at-risk women.’‘

Both of New York’s Democratic senators will sit next to Republicans at Tuesday’s State of the Union address in a show of bipartisanship.

Sen. Chuck Schumer plans to sit next to conservative Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, a bearded obstetrician who may have delivered as many babies as Schumer has delivered press conferences.

Coburn opposes abortion rights, gay marriage and federal spending on special home-state projects — or earmarks. Schumer takes the opposite view on each issue.

New York’s junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, will sit next to tall, lanky Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who may soon announce his candidacy for president.

Gillibrand said her office called Thune’s office to suggest the arrangement.

Does she expect Thune to be the next president?

“He won’t win,’’ she said with a laugh. “I’ll tell him that, ‘Just because I’m sitting next to you doesn’t mean I’ll vote for you.’’’

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx is arguably the New York lawmaker most invested in the spectacle of the State of the Union, year-in and year-out. He gets there about 12 hours before the speech in order to claim a coveted aisle seat along the path the president will follow into and out of the chamber.

About a dozen lawmakers do that, keeping each other’s seats reserved during bathroom and meal breaks leading up to the speech.

This year, Engel will switch his seat on the Democratic side of the chamber with the seat on the Republican side usually claimed by Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio, another reliable early arrival.

“We think that will be our showing of bipartisanship,’’ Engel said.

Some New York delegation members haven’t decided if they’ll break with the usual divided seating arrangement.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, Ulster County, said no one has asked him yet.

Freshman Republican Rep. Nan Hayworth of Mount Kisco, Westchester County, said she’s been too focused on her work to think about it.

Freshman Republican Rep. Tom Reed of Corning likewise has no firm plan.

“I’m going to sit wherever there’s a seat,’’ he said.

President Barack Obama posted a video preview of his State of the Union address on the Organizing for America website shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, telling supporters he will focus on economic competitiveness and job creation.

“My principle focus, my No. 1 focus, is going to be making sure that we are competitive,  that we are growing  and we are creating jobs, not just now, but well into the future,’’ he said. “And that’s what is going to be the main topic of the State of the Union.’’

Obama traveled to Schenectady Friday to highlight that theme during a speech and  tour of a General Electric factory that manufactures electric generating equipment for export to places like India.

And he struck that theme Saturday morning in his weekly radio address.

“I am focused on making sure that economy is working for everybody, for the entire American family,’’ he said in the Saturday evening video. “How do we make sure that people have good jobs with good benefits? How do we make sure that somebody who has a good idea can suddenly start a business? How are we going to make sure that we have the most innovative, dynamic economy in the world? And how do we make sure that our kids are able to compete with workers anywhere in the world? Now, to do that we are going to have to out innovate, we are going to have out build, we are going to have to out compete, we are going to have to educate other countries. That’s our challenge.’’

The presentation covered three other topics:
—“We are also going to deal with our deficit and our debt in a responsible way.
—“And we’ve got to reform government so that it’s leaner and smarter for the 21st Century.
—“Finally, we’ve got make sure that we continue to keep America safe and that we are continuing to advance our interests around the world.’’

Obama then turned to the need to “come together as a people’’ and be “willing to find common ground.’’

The four-minute video can be found at (http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hqblog).

It also has been posted on YouTube.

Obama started out his presentation by telling supporters, “Because you guys have been there from the start, because it was your passion and vision that helped get me to the White House, I just wanted to give you a little bit of a preview of what I am going to be saying.’’

He told them, “When you look back on these last two years they have been as tough as anything we have gone through since the Great Depression.’’

Two years later, he said, “An economy that was shrinking is now growing again. We have created more than a million jobs over the last year.  The stock market is back up and corporate profits are healthy again.’‘