MORNING MESSAGE
...The
Securities and Exchange Commission requires corporations and banks that it
supervises to disclose in their annual reports the “annual total compensation of
the chief executive officer,” the “mean of the annual total compensation of all
[other] employees” and the ratio between the two. Yet five years after those
words became law as part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, the SEC
is still making excuses for not issuing regulations to enforce them.
Senate Transportation Bill Hits Speed Bump
Sen.
Mitch McConnell announces bipartisan transportation bill with a patchwork of new
revenue streams. NYT: “… the measure would spend more than $300 billion on
infrastructure over six years … Tax law compliance changes would crack down on
rich families who fudge the value of property inheritances to dodge estate
taxes. The government would be allowed to deny or revoke passports for people
with more than $50,000 in unpaid taxes. Private debt collection agencies would
be empowered to bring in an estimated $2.4 billion over the next decade…”
But
initial procedural vote hits filibuster. Roll Call: “Minority Leader Harry
Reid and [bill co-sponsor Sen. Barbara] Boxer had called for a delay so
Democrats could read the mammoth bill, and senators blocked bringing it up,
41-56 vote … McConnell said the Senate would have to be in session this weekend
in an effort to complete the highway bill before the August recess…”
McConnell
may schedule another vote for today. Politico: “Democrats are set to meet at
noon Wednesday to plan their next move …”
Compromise
faces “many obstacles” reports The Hill: “…$2.3 billion [would be raised] by
blocking Social Security payments to individuals with felony warrants … Senate
Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) raised reservations about
the Social Security language … Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby
(R-Ala.) objected to the [Federal Reserve] dividend rate cut … Sen. Lisa
Murkowski (R-Alaska) objects to using the petroleum reserve as an offset…”
Banks
don’t like Fed cut. The Hill: “Currently, banks must purchase stock at the
Federal Reserve in order to become a member. But they receive a 6 percent
interest rate on their investment. McConnell and Boxer want to slash that rate
to 1.5 percent for banks that have more than $1 billion in consolidated assets,
while keeping the 6 percent interest rate for banks under the $1 billion
threshold…”
Politico’s
Michael Grunwald explores what our transportation money gets spent on: “… we
spend more than five times as many federal dollars on roads as we spend on
public transit. We spend more building new road capacity than we spend fixing
existing roads … But most of our transportation choices aren’t made in
Washington. Congress is mostly a pass-through, funneling cash to states with
relatively few strings attached.”
Clock Ticks On Shutdown
Only
18 legislative working days until government could shut down. The Hill:
“[Rep. Nita] Lowey warned ‘zero of the 12 [spending] bills’ Republicans have
marked up and passed through committee ‘can and will be enacted into law’
because they adhere to sequestration spending caps … Democrats have demanded for
months that Republicans come to the negotiating table … but GOP leaders have so
far rejected their requests.”
Senate
committee passes tax break package. The Hill: “…lawmakers insisted they
don’t want to wait until year’s end to restore a group of incentives that
historically has had bipartisan support. [But Sen. Orrin] Hatch sounded
skeptical after the markup that the package of tax breaks could be added to the
Senate’s highway bill.”
Jeb Hypocritical On Lobbying
“Jeb
Bush Speech Denouncing Lobbyists Was Organized By Corporate Lobbying Group”
reports International Business Times: “[Bush] derided what he called the
capital city’s ‘comfortable establishment’ that leverages lobbying power to
unduly shape public policy … Bush was touting his clean-government credentials
at a function organized by the Florida Chamber of Commerce [which] spent nearly
$200,000 lobbying Florida lawmakers last year.”
“Gov.
John Kasich makes a strong case for the teleprompter” says W. Post’s Chris
Cillizza: “Kasich rambled through a 45-minute [announcement] speech [that]
never seemed to coalesce into any sort of coherent takeaway or message.”
GOP Targets Dodd-Frank
Republicans
try attaching Dodd-Frank rollback to spending bill. The Hill: “Sen. John
Boozman (R-Ark.) will likely include [Sen. Richard] Shelby’s proposal … that is
slated for a Wednesday mark-up … The bill would allow for more community and
regional banks to be excluded from regulations that are part of Dodd-Frank,
while aiming to provide regulatory relief for businesses.”
Former
WH economist Jared Bernstein backs financial transaction tax in NYT oped:
“Senator Bernie Sanders [proposes a] small excise tax, typically a few
hundredths of a percent, on trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other
securities. An itty-bitty, one-basis-point transaction tax … would raise $185
billion over 10 years … That would be enough to finance an ambitious expansion
of prekindergarten programs for 3- and 4-year-olds and restore funding of
college assistance for low-income students.”
Former
Rep. Barney Frank opposes restoration of Glass-Steagall. The Hill: “‘Even if
we did Glass-Steagall, you’d still have institutions that are too big to fail,’
Frank said … during an economic forum hosted by center-left think tank Third
Way.”
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