Presidential Push For Infrastructure
Obama pressures Republicans to back transportation infrastructure bill. The Hill: "President Obama accused Republicans of taking credit for transportation projects they refused to fund as he pressed Congress for more federal infrastructure spending in a speech Wednesday ... 'usually they show up at ribbon cuttings for projects that they refused to fund.'"
"House silent on highway funding" reports The Hill: "Senate leaders this week unveiled a six-year, $265 billion road and transit funding package bill that will be marked up in committee on Thursday morning ... The House has stayed out of the fray, focusing instead on a recent agreement it reached with the Senate on a smaller $8.2 billion bill to boost U.S. port and waterways ... The key figure in the House is Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the chairman of the Transportation Committee. Shuster is facing his primary on Thursday, and is working to fend off a challenge from businessman Art Halvorson, who has attacked his past work on pricey transportation bills. Shuster is expected to survive the primary, but transportation advocates are worried that too much time has been lost to pass a large bill before the projected bankruptcy date for the Highway Trust Fund."
Bill Clinton endorses tax break for multinationals in exchange for infrastructure funds. TNR's Danny Vinik criticizes: "He would grant U.S. multinational corporations a repatriation tax holiday as long as they bought infrastructure bonds with 10 percent of the repatriated funds. In other words, U.S. companies would get a big tax break as long as they helped seed an infrastructure bank. Representative John Delaney and senators Michael Bennet and Roy Blunt have introduced similar proposals in the House and Senate ... [But a] tax repatriation holiday would only provide multinationals further incentive to keep the money overseas, which would further decrease government revenues."
Conservative Push For Immigration Reform
"Immigration Overhaul Backed by Growing Number of Tea Partyers" reports Roll Call: "..a group of mayors and business leaders from across the political spectrum is determined to prove that momentum is growing for a rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws — even among conservatives. The coalition, Partnership for a New American Economy, on Wednesday held the first in a series of monthly conference calls moderated by Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and featuring public figures in the conservative movement who support immigration overhaul efforts. Norquist and his guests — Tea Party Express Co-Founder and Strategist Sal Russo, America Online Founder Steve Case and American Conservative Union Chairman Al Cardenas — strained to get the point across that the issue is not dead on Capitol Hill, and that House GOP leaders continue to plod along on a path to bring legislation to the floor."
Boehner still sees a path for immigration reform, finds NYT: "...Boehner has not abandoned the idea of a deal because a narrow path for achieving one still exists ... Following a slower, step-by-step immigration approach that Mr. Boehner has advocated, the House Judiciary Committee has cleared several bills on separate aspects of the issue. This summer, after the threat of primary challenges from the right passes for many incumbents, Mr. Boehner has the chance to put one or more of these bills on the floor before lawmakers begin their August recess. Passage of the bills could then set off months of negotiations for a compromise with the Senate ..."
Divides Threaten Corporate Tax Break Bill
Rift opens between WH and Senate Dems on tax breaks. The Hill: "Senate Democrats on Wednesday brushed aside concerns from the White House that legislation to revive a slew of lapsed tax breaks would add to the deficit. Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the no. 3 Democrat in the chamber, said any push to find offsets for the roughly $85 billion legislation would be fruitless ... The Senate is expected to take another procedural vote Wednesday on the legislation ..."
"Reid blocks Republican amendments to tax bill" reports The Hill: "Reid's move to file cloture on the EXPIRE Act sets up a procedural vote around 2 p.m. on Thursday ... The more than $85 billion tax bill has bipartisan support and would extend more than 50 credits for two years. But Republicans have also called for the consideration of their own amendments. A fight over amendments killed an energy efficiency bill earlier this week. Democrats have argued that if Republicans block the tax bill, it would harm the economy because many tax credits expired at the beginning of the year and should be renewed."
Bill Clinton Defends Glass-Steagall Repeal
Former president defends record on financial deregulation: "'Getting rid of Glass-Steagall didn't have anything to do with the crash,' Clinton said at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's 2014 Fiscal Summit in Washington. 'Everybody acts like I sat in a closet and said, 'What can I do for Wall Street today?''' ... Clinton said that none of the financial institutions that failed during the financial crisis crashed because of Glass-Steagall's repeal ... [He] blamed what he saw as lax regulatory enforcement after he left office for the financial crisis ... Clinton, though, reiterated his regret over eventually signing the Commodities Futures Modernization Act, which critics say removed regulatory oversight over some risky financial instruments."
"Prospects fade" for housing finance reform. Bloomberg: "The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is set today to advance a housing-finance bill that would wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even as weakening Democratic enthusiasm for the measure dims its chances of becoming law ... The bill will probably pass in the 22-member committee with a narrow majority, which won’t be enough for it to move forward this year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he would bring the bill to the floor for a vote of the full body only if it attracts broad support from Democrats on the panel ... Democrats remained divided on issues including lending in disadvantaged communities, big-bank dominance of the mortgage market and the powers of a new regulator."
Dems to push student loan reform next month. The Hill: "Democrats will push for a vote on legislation to allow people to refinance student loan debt at a lower rate ... The new bill would allow borrowers to refinance their existing loans at at the rate of 3.86 percent. That's the current rate for new loans under legislation Congress passed last year. The bill would cover the costs of those refinancings by enacting the “Buffett Rule,” a Democratic policy prescription that would ensure the wealthy pay some minimum amount of tax."
