Friday Reads: Congress and its Sisyphus Heydays
Posted: December 12, 2014 Filed under: morning reads | Tags: Chromnibus 33 Comments
Good Morning!
I have to keep it short today because I’ve got a lot of work to finish up within a week and I’m just about to collapse. Well, I actually I have a few times. I fell asleep mid-day for two days in a row now.
Still, I’ve kept a jaundiced eye on a lame duck congress who still hasn’t dealt with the financial obligations of the country. The same guys that vote for crap for their political sponsors and for world wide war just can’t seem to come up with the balls to pay their bills. Republican voters have condemned us to rolling rocks up mountains and just waiting for the inevitable crush. How can you hate your own country that much?
House Republican leaders are skating on thin ice with the government funding bill, facing stiff opposition from the left and the right that threatens passage just hours before a midnight deadline to avert a shutdown.
GOP leaders temporarily recessed the House and postponed a final vote scheduled for the afternoon, while informing members to be ready to vote.“Leadership teams are still talking to their respective Members. A vote is still planned for this afternoon,” a House Republican leadership aide said.
Republicans long expected some opposition from their right flank due to the fact that the $1.1 trillion spending bill doesn’t block President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. What has thrown the plan into chaos is that numerous House Democrats are defecting over extraneous policy provisions that would weaken derivative trading rules on big banks and loosen campaign finance laws. The bill likely will need significant Democratic support to pass.
The Democratic opposition is being led by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (MD) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), who call the bank provision a giveaway to Wall Street.
According to multiple sources, the legislation was negotiated by GOP and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. House Democratic leaders stress that they don’t support all the provisions in the bill but want to keep the government open. They say they are not whipping against the bill.
The White House came out for the bill after it cleared a test vote in the House by a narrow 214-212 margin earlier on Thursday. It said it objects to the weakening of Wall Street reform but signaled Obama would sign the bill anyway.
Republicans just won’t pay the bills unless Democrats agree to blow something up. It’s ridiculous. We’ve got a new political term for the lexicon. It’s a “Cromnibus” bill. It tries to tear apart what little Wall Street oversight regulation we’ve put through 
since the global financial crisis on Wall Street and Banks. It also increases the amount of money that an individual can give to a political party. So, we can either destroy our country now by not funding its debt and by not running our government or we can destroy it with more incentives to the financial gambling industry and to billionaire party sponsors.
The $1.014 trillion spending measure has been criticized for easing rules on campaign finance and the banking industry. But its supporters say it’s also a bipartisan deal that would fund most of the U.S. government until next October.
Disagreement over the bill forced the final vote to be delayed for hours Thursday. It also created unlikely alliances: The White House joined with House Speaker John Boehner to rally support for the measure, most House Democrats agreed with a small group of Republicans – including Rep. Michele Bachmann – that the bill should be rejected.
As we noted when the bill was agreed upon and published on Tuesday, the House was slated to hold the first vote on the spending bill Thursday, with the Senate to follow.
You can read the bill, broken down by government agency, on the House Appropriations Committee site.
The legislation was nicknamed “cromnibus” because it combines the traditional sweeping scope of an omnibus spending bill with a continuing resolution (CR). While it would fund most of the government until the next financial year, the Department of Homeland Security would only be funded through February, in a move that seeks to limit President Obama’s recent executive actions on immigration.
Another part of the measure would vastly increase the maximum amount of money a contributor can give to a political party.
“Right now a person can give just under $100,000 a year to a party through its various committees,” NPR’s Ailsa Chang reports on All Things Considered. “And under this bill, that cap goes up to almost $800,000.”
Shortly after noon Thursday, the bill squeezed by in the rules vote, 214-212, after Republican leaders including Speaker John Boehner and Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry, walked the floor to bolster support, NPR’s Juana Summers reports.
After no Democrats voted in favor and more than a dozen Republicans defected to vote against, the House was adjourned so Boehner could organize his support.
So, as of yesterday afternoon, here were the poison pills. This bill had Elizabeth Warren hopping mad. Please go check that they were basically a Grinch to the poor while giving the rich enough presents that elephants should be blushing.
In addition to spending appropriations, the bill includes changes to various laws that are known as “policy riders.” One of these is drawing sharp criticism from Democrats and financial industry watchdogs. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform package passed in 2010 on how banks that receive taxpayer backing can use high-risk financial instruments known as a swaps, which were a key driver of the last financial crisis. Banks and other financial companies the “swaps pushout rule,” which has been praised as a crucial component of the reform law by the White House, Sen. (D-MA), and Bush-era banking regulator .
In addition to spending appropriations, the bill includes changes to various laws that are known as “policy riders.” One of these is drawing sharp criticism from Democrats and financial industry watchdogs. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform package passed in 2010 put new limits on how banks that receive taxpayer backing can use high-risk financial instruments known as a swaps, which were a key driver of the last financial crisis. Banks and other financial companies hate the “swaps pushout rule,” which has been praised as a crucial component of the reform law by the White House, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Bush-era banking regulator Sheila Bair.
The cromnibus repeals the swaps pushout rule. Americans for Financial Reform and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights blasted the move as “a backroom deal buried deep in a stopgap government funding measure” that will increase the risks taxpayers and the economy face. Former Rep. Barney Frank called it “a terrible violation of the procedure that should be followed on this complex and important subject, and a frightening precedent that provides a road map for further attacks on our protection against financial instability.”
Compared to repealing the swaps rule, Congress’ second gift to the financial industry is a mere stocking stuffer. But it will have long-term consequences for public oversight of risky Wall Street behavior. The bill gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) a $250 million budget, which is $65 million less than what the White House asked for and $30 million less than the maximum CFTC budget that would have been allowed under last year’s long-term budget deal. While the CFTC number is an increase over previous years, the bill requires the agency to spend $50 million of the budget on information technology. The agency needs to upgrade its systems to perform its vast new responsibilities under Dodd-Frank reform, so the tech money is welcome in a sense. But it also needs way more money for staff than is allowed under the cromnibus budget. The bill won’t require layoffs at the CFTC, but it will prevent the agency from staffing up in the coming year to keep up with its growing role in regulating the financial industry, a Democratic staffer close to the negotiations told ThinkProgress. Departing CFTC commissioners have been saying for years that the agency is understaffed, and employee morale is dangerously low at the agency already according to press reports.
While several controversial policy riders were quickly discovered, it was the change to Dodd-Frank that generated the loudest outcry.
The provision would no longer require that big banks separate trades in financial derivatives from traditional bank accounts, which are backed by the government through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The derivatives played a key role in the financial collapse.
Critics argue the change would leave taxpayers on the hook if trades explode. Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) called it a “stealth attack” on his namesake achievement.
Still, it’s unclear whether the opposition from Warren, Frank and others will persuade House Democrats to risk a government shutdown by voting against the bill.
Even vocal critics in the Senate of the provision, such as Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), stopped short of promising to oppose it.
The White House, similarly, is not saying whether President Obama would sign the cromnibus, though White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he was “pleased” to see a bill produced.
The change to the Dodd-Frank law has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past.
Republicans and 70 House Democrats voted for a version of the tweak in 2013, with most arguing it would boost economic growth and lessen the regulatory burdens on banks.
“There’s huge misunderstandings about what this thing says,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), who was an early sponsor of the original House bill.
Himes argued that the most dangerous derivatives would still be kept away from government-backed banks under the provision, and that banks would only be allowed to trade “plain vanilla” interest rate swaps.
But that was yesterday afternoon, about last night ….
The House on Thursday approved a $1.1 trillion bill funding most of the government through September despite an outcry from Democrats and significant defections in both parties.
By a vote of 219-216, the House sent the bill to the Senate, where a similar debate may break out between liberal Democrats and the White House.
The vote split Democratic leaders, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) opposing the bill and criticizing the White House, but Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) backing it. Fifty-seven Democrats voted for the bill, while 139 opposed it.
Hoyer said it was “better to pass it than to defeat it.”
Democrats objected to changes to the Wall Street reform bill that were included in the 1,600-page bill, and many were unswayed by a last-ditch White House lobbying push.
Conservative Republicans, meanwhile, opposed the bill for not doing more to curtail President Obama’s executive actions on immigration. While 162 Republicans voted for the bill, 67 rejected it.
For much of the afternoon and evening, the bill looked to be at death’s door as a government shutdown loomed at midnight.
The bill’s passage, as a result, was a remarkable victory for both Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and President Obama, who were able to cobble together the votes for passage.
The so-called “cromnibus” included an omnibus of 11 appropriations bills funding most of the government through September, and a continuing resolution funding the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 27.
“This plan was put together after consultation with our members,” Boehner told reporters Thursday morning. “And we worked through this process in a bipartisan, bicameral way.”
He implored his members to back it: “Listen, if we don’t get finished today, we’re going to be here until Christmas.”
GOP leaders suspended debate on the floor for hours as the White House made a push to win over Democrats.
House Democrats have long-been agitated with the White House and its outreach efforts, but they’ve largely kept the grumbling behind closed doors and off the record.
With the arrival of the “cromnibus” debate — and Obama’s backing of the package — the frustrations spilled over.
Pelosi, rarely a public critic of the president, minced no words in denouncing the “cromnibus” — and Obama’s support for it.
Yes, you read that right. The President supported and also lobbied for the cromnibus despite it containing some really really awful things. Pelosi turned on the President. It passed by 1 voted. Yup, that’s right ONE VOTE. The Senate just gave itself 2 days to pass the monster. Oh, btw, the part about giving more money to political parties? That’s the REID-Boehner Bill. You won’t believe what got slipped into this 1600 page budget bill.
If anything, Thursday’s tumult highlighted the disconnect between Obama and congressional Democrats. Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, came out in strong opposition to the measure even as Obama was pressing her members to back it.
Democrats aligned with Pelosi took issue with policy provisions added to the bill addressing campaign finance reform and a key provision of the financial overhaul.
“This bill puts a big bow on a holiday gift for the Wall Street contributors who get special treatment in the provisions of this bill,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said ahead of the vote. “It’s all about stuffing the silk stockings, and these people want to gamble with our money.”
Conservative Republicans, meanwhile, fought the bill because they were angry that it didn’t combat Obama’s executive action on immigration.
We are so screwed. What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
Mama Lopez
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Hang in there, Dak. I really feel for you. Grading papers is the worst thing about teaching!
I’m just about done with the course rewrite. Have a conference call this afternoon now. Hope the phone will wake me if i midday crash again.
Good luck!
Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Found in Queen Elizabeth’s Garden at Buckingham Palace.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/magic-mushrooms-found-queen-elizabeths-garden-buckingham-palace-n266966
That does sound funny, but it’s not so unusual. Amanita muscaria is really fairly common in late summer and fall, even into early winter in mild seasons. Around here I see it growing in the planting strips next to the grocery store parking lot, by the hedges of a nearby grade school play yard, in back yards, in parks as well as out in the woods. Well, the Pacific Northwest does get a lot of rain and it’s usually mild. Southern UK has similar climate.
A. muscaria contains small amounts of muscarine which can cause vomiting and diarrhea, decreased BP, and cardiac arhythmias and bradycardia. The main effects, however, are from ibotenic acid and muscimol, which are the hallucinogenic compounds. Unfortunately they can also cause confusion, muscle spasticity, and delirium. It’s hard to determine strength of the relative compounds in an individual mushroom due to different growing conditions.
There’s your science trivia news for today!
The gardener in the story explained that they are common and have always been there. I didn’t realize the queen had so many mushrooms in her garden.
I’ve never tried magic mushrooms, just read about them in Carlos Castenada’s books. My sister used to take them when she lived in Texas.
Those were some great books, puts a smile on my face.
Snowden docs claiming NSA bugged Angela Merkel were fake. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0JP1QG20141211?irpc=932
I certainly hope that story gets some front page, above the fold attention.
It’s all over Twitter, and Greenwald is trying to claim he never exulted over that story.
LOL….No telling what else was fake, other than Snowden and Greenwald
I still think it was an Russian intel op. Snowden is in Russia. What other logical explanation is there really except that he’s in cahoots with them?
Bwahahaha!
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders were all over the t.v. complaining about this bill. They each gave a complete rundown on what it contained. Yet the bill was passed thanks to the efforts of the White House “push and shove” to get it passed.
Obama is such a disappointment. He stands for very little. After 6 years of brutal obstruction it seems he is still trying to find “compromise” with the GOP and we all know how well that works.
Few of the “movers and shakers” on Wall Street have ever been held accountable for the mess they made yet my understanding is that it was Wall Street operatives who wrote this latest insertion and managed to get Obama onboard.
Obama just cannot be trusted to “do the right thing”. A DINO for sure while the public can only sit back once again and watch this nation go down the toilet in deference to the 1%.
A final nail in the “hope and change” brigade which shoved him down our throats.
My congressman caved to all the White House whipping of the bill.
I only wish it was the “final nail”. I’m sure there will be more and they still won’t believe it.
If people think this was a bad funding bill, they should look ahead to what the new Congress would have produced after a 3 month CR they had as Plan B. As much as I hate to say it, another Omnibus spending bill was only going to get worse with full GOP control.
As an aside, the change to Dodd-Frank affects about 5% of derivatives. The other 95% are left untouched. Though that 5% may still be enough to blow up the world in a few years, if they are left unregulated in the future.
After listening to Elizabeth and Bernie yesterday – then learning Obama and Jaime Diamond were working the phones in favor of passing this POS – I lost all hope. It has not helped that the Torture Report is being condemned and touted as good action by the CIA. I was a teen when JFK was assassinated. Civil rights were in the foreground – killings, Kent State. The America I thought existed – never did. I was a feminism before the word was ever used. A quiet one. Sexual harassment was rampant. Then, as a married youth and being part of a ‘golden couple’ – the plastic ’70’s sickened me living in Texas. The greed, the shallowness, callousness was all too easy to see. People like Bu$h, Cheney, investment bankers were scary to me. Obama came out of left field with no qualifications. I watched and listened to both of them. Michelle said they were only going to do this once, they would be too rich afterward. Recently Obama spoke at the UN and I felt a like pride the US had a black president. Unfortunately, I feel the same revolution toward him now as I have for the Bu$hies. I am just blathering – I got really upset last night. We have all the social issues from 40 years ago only magnified. Hating, lies, corruption were prevalent once Bu$h took office. I feel we are past saving this country. As Pat said – .’A final nail in the “hope and change” brigade which shoved him down our throats.’
Warren’s got a strange bedfellow here:
Chad Pergram @ChadPergram 6m6 minutes ago
Sens Warren/Vitter file amdt to strip Wall Street bailout language from #CRomnibus. If adopted, bill would have to return to House.
from yesterday before the action taken today
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/226816-gop-senator-criticizes-dodd-frank-rollback-in-cromnibus
Boo Radley,
You are not alone. I feel as if I’m back where I started before the Civil Rights and Women’s movements. The only group that is getting slightly improved status is gays–when will the backlash come on that?
Couldn’t have said it better Boo. We certainly don’t deserve this crap being forced onto us.
The Media is already calling Obama’s new approach, triangulation, and those of us who remember Clinton’s use of the tactic know that nothing that matters to the LEFT comes from it. What Obama basically got was continued funding for the ACA and a hands off from the GOP concerning his Executive immigration action. And then there’s the little heralded fact that 60% of the dollars appropriated by the Bill will go to Defense. Now that’s sickening!!!! The U.S. spends more on Defense than the next 8 largest defense budgets combined
( China, Russia, UK, France, Germany, Japan, India and Saudi Arabia) WTF is wrong with that picture?
Obama was always a Rockefeller Republican. We knew that back in 2008.
Yep
And then there’s this:
Violent Calls For Lynching Obama At Anti-Immigration Rally
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/12/violent-calls-lynching-obama-anti
And for a long fucking time.
I hope they get the Dodd-Frank change out of the CRomnibus. I’d also like our Dem populist heros try to get the changes out which allow companies to cut existing pensions with no consequences since that will likely have a more immediate effect. So far, I haven’t heard that mentioned and I’m not surprised since that will hurt those who can afford it least.
FWIW, another view and a little shaming of our non-voting purists…
On #CRomnibus and purity pouting
This mess is in the bill, unless Warren is a one trick pony I’d like this addressed.
LATimes: The lame-duck Congress plots to undermine retiree pensions
Did you see they included a provision to ensure the grouse wouldnt stay or go on the endangered species list because it might interfere with oil companies fracking tar sands?
CRomnibus Disaster Signals a Sad New Normal in D.C. – See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/12/12/CRomnibus-Disaster-Signals-Sad-New-Normal-DC#sthash.cHpqWEIY.AZS0Ye4k.dpuf
David Dayen
But there’s so much more to the CRomnibus than just those two riders. Under the bill, trustees would be enabled to cut pension benefits to current retirees, reversing a 40-year bond with workers who earned their retirement packages. Voters in the District of Columbia who approved legalized marijuana will see their initiative vaporized, with local government prohibited from taxing or regulating the drug’s sale. Trucking companies can make roads less safe by giving their employees 82-hour work weeks without sufficient rest breaks. Pell grants for college students will be cut, with the money diverted to private student loan contractors who have actively harmed borrowers. Government financiers of overseas projects will be prevented from stopping funding for coal-fired power plants. Blue Cross and Blue Shield will be allowed to count “quality improvement” measures toward their mandatory health spending under Obamacare’s “medical loss ratio” provision, a windfall saving them millions of dollars.
I’m not done. The bill eliminates a bipartisan measure to end “backdoor” searches by the NSA of Americans’ private communications. It blocks the EPA from regulating certain water sources for farmers. It adds an exception to allow the U.S. to continue to fund Egypt’s military leadership. In a giveaway to potato growers, it reduces nutrition standards in school lunches and the Women, Infant and Children food aid program. It halts the listing of new endangered species. It stops the regulation of lead in hunting ammunition or fishing equipment. It limits contributions to the Green Climate Fund to compensate poor countries ravaged by climate change. I could go on. And even if the offending measures on derivatives and campaign finance were removed, all of that dreck would remain.
But, it’s bipartisan, so that’s good, right?
Exactly … The Republicans only shove crap through without debate by blackmailing dems and the president with financial crisis. I have no doubt this is the new normal. And no one will hear about all of these because the media will be covering potential shutdown. This should be unconstitutional because there is no public debate. Its like a sneak attack and black mail rolled into one action!