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Farm Bill Issues
On yesterday’s Agriculture Today radio program (The Red River Farm Network) Mike Hergert conducted an interview with House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D., Minn.).
An audio replay of the Red River Farm Network interview is available here (MP3- 8:07), while an unofficial transcript of their conversation is available here.
Posted by Keith Good • February, 21, 2012 • 5:28 am Farm Bill: Legislative Timing, Budget Variables, Safety Net and Crop Insurance Issues
Late last week, Mike Hergert of the Red River Farm Network spoke with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) about the 2012 Farm Bill. In part, their discussion focused on regional issues and the safety net, budget concerns, and legislative timing of the Farm Bill- the full interview can be heard here (MP3- 5:33).
Meanwhile, Agri-Pulse Senior Editor Stewart Doan spoke with Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R., Kans.) on this week’s Agri-Pulse Open Mic program.
An Agri-Pulse summary of the discussion indicated that, “The top Republican on the Senate Ag Committee bristles at the suggestion that he’s blocking a legislative fix to a court order requiring EPA to regulate aquatic pesticide applications, and he says the Labor Department’s child labor in agriculture proposal should be withdrawn. Speaking the day after the Senate Ag panel’s first farm bill hearing of 2012, Sen. Pat Roberts says he and Chairman Debbie Stabenow are working in a bipartisan fashion to markup a bill ASAP containing a ‘crop insurance-plus’ commodity title that serves the needs of all of U.S. agriculture.”
To listen to the Open Mic interview with Sen. Roberts, just click here.
Posted by Keith Good • February, 20, 2012 • 5:29 am Budget: Payroll Tax –Debt Limit –Energy
Paul Kane and Ben Pershing reported in today’s Washington Post that, “Amid some dissent, House and Senate leaders prepared for final votes Friday for an economic package worth more than $150 billion that would extend a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits for the rest of the year.
“While Senate Republicans protested, the remaining members of a House-Senate committee tasked with forging a compromise pronounced themselves satisfied with the deal, signing the 270-page compromise Thursday afternoon in a bipartisan ceremony that stood in sharp contrast to the otherwise bitterly partisan tone of this Congress.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 17, 2012 • 5:46 am Budget issues and Senate Farm Bill Hearing
Naftali Bendavid and Siobhan Hughes reported in today’s Wall Street Journal that, “Congressional negotiators working on a deal to extend jobless benefits and a payroll-tax cut say they have come to a deal, paving the way for a vote before the policies expire at the end of the month.
“‘We have reached an agreement,’ said Rep. Dave Camp (R, Mich.) shortly after midnight. ‘We’re confident that this can be concluded.’
“Sen. Max Baucus (D, Mont.) said, ‘It’s clear that we’ll have a majority of conferees sign the conference report.’”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 16, 2012 • 4:44 am Budget and the Farm Bill -Pay Roll Tax –Transportation
Daniel Looker reported yesterday at Agriculture.com that, “Farmers would take a big hit in cuts to crop insurance premiums proposed in the Obama Administration’s 2013 USDA budget released Monday. That idea isn’t going over well, either in Congress or among farm groups.
“‘There’s pretty much unanimous agreement among farmers and here in Congress that we need a strong crop insurance program,’ Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee told Agriculture.com Tuesday.
“According to this detailed breakdown of the USDA budget, the federal government would save $3.3 billion over 10 years by cutting subsidies on farmers’ premiums. ‘The proposal would reduce the premium subsidy levels by 2 percentage points for those policies that are currently subsidized by more than 50 percent,’ says page 101 of that appendix to the budget. Currently, USDA subsidizes about 60% of farmers’ premium costs.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 15, 2012 • 5:15 am Budget: Agriculture, CFTC, EPA, Trade, and Energy; and Pay Roll Tax Issue
Budget Issues: Agriculture- Farm Bill
Lori Montgomery reported in today’s Washington Post that, “President Obama rolled out an election-year budget on Monday that would delay action to reduce the national debt in favor of fresh spending on Democratic priorities aimed at rebuilding the American middle class.
“In his final budget request before facing voters in November, Obama called for $350 billion in new stimulus to maintain lower payroll taxes, bolster domestic manufacturing, lure jobs back from overseas, hire teachers, retrain workers and fix the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. There would be only modest trims to federal health-care programs and no changes to Social Security, the biggest drivers of future borrowing, despite last year’s raucous political debate over the federal debt.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 14, 2012 • 4:57 am President Obama’s Budget and Agriculture- Payroll Tax- Transportation
Jared A. Favole and Damian Paletta reported in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal that, “President Barack Obama on Monday will propose a multi-trillion-dollar U.S. government budget that seeks to spur job creation and impose higher taxes on the rich to help reduce the deficit, laying down a clear election-year marker of his priorities.”
The Journal article pointed out that, “The budget calls for new spending limits on agriculture subsidies and moving to five-day-a-week postal delivery, among other things.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 13, 2012 • 5:17 am Budget- Payroll Tax- Transportation
Damian Paletta reported in today’s Wall Street Journal that, “President Barack Obama’s budget proposal Monday will offer several measures to trim the federal deficit in the next 10 years. But it would leave largely unchanged the biggest drivers of future government spending: the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs that are expanding rapidly as the baby boom turns into a senior boom.
“Calling for major changes in the popular programs would be politically treacherous in an election year because of fierce opposition from seniors, who vote in large numbers. But budget experts of both parties agree the programs’ growth must be curbed at some point or they will swamp the budget.”
David Rogers reported last night at Politico that, “The next few weeks will tell a lot as President Barack Obama rolls out his 2013 budget Monday, and, hard on its heels, a House-Senate conference must come up with some answers on the payroll tax holiday — or see it expire Feb. 29.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 10, 2012 • 5:58 am Budget- Payroll Tax
Erik Wasson reported yesterday at The Hill Online that, “Anxious Republicans plan to use President Obama’s soon-to-be-released budget as a rallying cry to unify their party, which has been fractured over the last couple of months.
“Democrats were largely seen as the political winners of December and January, as the GOP fumbled the payroll-tax issue and Obama’s approval ratings improved.
“February, Republicans believe, will be different. They claim that Obama’s budget will return the nation’s focus to fiscal issues, a traditional GOP stronghold.”
The article added that, “While House Republicans are now crafting their fiscal 2013 budget resolution, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday that Democrats in the upper chamber will not try to pass such a measure on the floor.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 9, 2012 • 5:32 am Budget- Payroll Tax- Transportation Bill- Keystone Pipeline
Humberto Sanchez reported yesterday at Roll Call Online that, “Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) — a key cheerleader of last year’s bipartisan deficit reduction efforts — said this week that he sees little chance of reaching a ‘grand bargain’ in this presidential election year.”
The article pointed out that, “Johanns was a backer of the gang of six Senators who tried last year to craft a bipartisan deficit reduction deal that dealt with spending cuts, entitlement reforms and the tax code. But Senate Democratic and Republican leaders have rebuffed those efforts to freelance on the deficit reduction issue, and as a result, the group’s efforts have been stifled.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 8, 2012 • 5:43 am Budget- Payroll Tax- Policy Agenda
Pete Kasperowicz reported yesterday at The Hill’s Floor Action Blog that, “The House on Thursday evening approved the first of up to 10 budget reform bills House Republicans hope to consider on the floor in the coming weeks…The bill requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide economic analyses of bills with major budgetary impacts — those that have an effect of 0.25 percent of GDP or more, or about $38 billion last year. The analysis would describe the economic impact of the bill, including on GDP, business investment, employment and other economic variables.”
Posted by Keith Good • February, 3, 2012 • 5:14 am Budget Issues, Payroll Tax
Felicia Sonmez reported yesterday at the 2chambers Blog (Washington Post) that, “The Senate on Thursday voted against proceeding on a symbolic resolution that would have disapproved of President Obama’s request earlier this month to raise the federal borrowing limit, clearing the way for the $1.2 trillion increase to proceed as expected.”
The update noted that, “Last week, the House approved the disapproval resolution on a largely party-line vote, with most Republicans voting ‘yes’ and most Democrats voting ‘no.’
“Even if the resolution had passed, Obama most likely would have vetoed it, and lawmakers would have faced the hurdle of a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers to override the White House’s decision.”
Posted by Keith Good • January, 27, 2012 • 6:08 am Budget Issues, Payroll Tax
Daniel Newhauser reported yesterday at Roll Call Online that, “Republicans today dismissed Democrats’ proposal to include a package of expired tax extenders in the payroll tax cut conference committee.
“Rep. Dave Camp, the co-chairman of the committee, indicated that he does not think the group of about 80 tax provisions should be brought up as the panel looks to extend a payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits and prevent cuts to doctors’ Medicare reimbursements.”
Posted by Keith Good • January, 26, 2012 • 5:58 am Budget- Spending Issues
Felicia Sonmez reported yesterday at the 2chambers blog (Washington Post) that, “The House on Wednesday passed a resolution disapproving of President Obama’s request to raise the country’s borrowing limit by $1.2 trillion, registering its displeasure with a debt hike that most members agreed on in the August debt ceiling deal.
“Wednesday’s 239-to-176 vote took place largely along party lines, with 233 Republicans and six Democrats voting ‘yes’ while 175 Democrats and one Republican voted ‘no.’ Two Republicans voted ‘present.’
“The vote marks the second of two ‘resolutions of disapproval’ allowed for in the August debt deal. In September, the House passed a similar resolution on a 232-to-186 vote. But the measure was blocked by the Senate, and the debt ceiling was raised by $500 billion.”
Posted by Keith Good • January, 19, 2012 • 5:31 am Budget- Payroll Tax Issues
Jeffrey Sparshott reported in today’s Wall Street Journal that, “The U.S. government curtailed its investment in a federal retirement fund Tuesday as it looks to stay under the legal debt limit while awaiting a congressional vote on raising the federal spending ceiling.”
The Journal article noted that, “The political theater—the House is expected to vote Wednesday, to express its displeasure at raising the limit—is a result of last summer’s compromise to raise the debt ceiling in stages.
“‘As a result of the debt limit certification submitted to Congress by the president on Jan. 12, 2012, unless a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted, the debt limit will be increased…effective after the close of business on Jan. 27,’ Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday in letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and other congressional leaders.
“To give Congress time to return from a holiday recess and vote, the White House held off on formal notification until last week.”
Posted by Keith Good • January, 18, 2012 • 5:26 am Executive Branch Issues (Organizational Structure), and Budget News
Mark Landler reported in Saturday’s New York Times that, “President Obama on Friday announced an aggressive campaign to shrink the size of the federal government, a proposal less notable for its goal — the fight against bloat has been embraced by every modern-day president — than for the political challenge it poses to a hostile Congress.
“Mr. Obama called on lawmakers to grant him broad new powers to propose mergers of agencies, which Congress would then have to approve or reject in an up-or-down vote. If granted the authority, he said, he would begin pruning by folding the Small Business Administration and five other trade and business agencies into a single agency that would replace the Commerce Department.
“The White House estimated that the consolidation would save $3 billion over 10 years and result in reductions of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs. The savings is a mere rounding error in the $3.7 trillion annual budget, but the numbers may be less important than the message that Mr. Obama wants to cut wasteful spending.”
Posted by Keith Good • January, 16, 2012 • 4:39 am 