Full plate of economy issues awaits Obama, Congress

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Health care, job creation and tackling the gaping U.S. budget deficit await both President Barack Obama and lawmakers upon their return to Washington, getting the new year and new decade off to an intense start with a sharp focus on economic issues.

With midterm congressional elections coming up later this year, the heat is on Democrats in particular to deliver as the economy begins to crawl out of recession.

The health-care overhaul, Obama's top domestic priority, will be front and center when lawmakers return to work in earnest in the middle of the month. On Dec. 24, the Senate passed its plan to revamp the health-care system, which seeks to extend insurance to millions of Americans and bar insurers from denying coverage to the sick.

Senate and House lawmakers must now hammer out a compromise version of the legislation, which Obama wants to sign before his State of the Union address. Republicans have vowed to continue their fight against the bill. Read earlier story about Senate and House bills.

Leadership and committee chairs will be discussing the process for conference this week, said Stephanie Lundberg, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Obama's State of the Union speech is likely to be in the first days of February, and in it the president is expected to take on the $1.4 trillion U.S. budget deficit. The White House is backing a bipartisan commission to cut federal borrowing, and Obama's budget director Peter Orszag has said the administration will offer ways to tackle the deficit in its next budget, in February.

Lawmakers will also soon have to mull an increase in the nation's borrowing limit. Just before leaving town on Christmas Eve, the Senate joined the House in approving a short-term increase in the U.S. debt limit. But the $290 billion increase only bought the government borrowing power into February, meaning lawmakers must kick off an election year with a debate about the country's debt. The U.S. debt ceiling now stands at $12.4 trillion.

House and Senate lawmakers will converge on the Capitol for a pro-forma session on Tuesday, but won't get back to work in earnest until mid-month. The House will be back in session on Jan. 12 and the Senate will return for votes on Jan. 20.

With unemployment at 10% and with prospects for significant job growth dim, lawmakers are also poised to take up job-creation legislation.

The House cleared its $174 billion job-creation bill in December and now it's the Senate's turn to act. But Republicans have roundly criticized the measure and have compared it to the $787 billion economic stimulus bill signed by Obama last year. Republicans charge that the stimulus has been ineffective at creating jobs, but the White House says 3.5 million jobs are on track to be created by the end of the year.

Bank reform is also high on the congressional agenda. The House has passed its bill but the Senate hasn't. At issue are rules that would prevent a reprise of the market meltdown that shook the world in 2008. But action is going to be slow out of the gate: the Senate Banking Committee is just beginning to debate the legislation, and analysts think a final vote by the Senate may not come until spring.

November's congressional elections will hang over everything lawmakers do this year, and since a new president's party usually loses seats, Democrats will need to be on the lookout for Republican attempts to unseat them. All of the House's 435 members are up for reelection, and there will be 36 Senate contests. Republicans would need 40 House seats to capture that chamber, and 10 seats to wrest Senate control from Democrats.

Source:marketwatch.com/

EPA to Hold States, Washington, D.C. Accountable for Chesapeake Bay Cleanup

(January 3, 2010) - Utilizing the authority of the Clean Water Act and an executive order by President Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hopes to accelerate the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay.

The EPA recently completed an “accountability framework” that will set limits on the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment which can be introduced to the Bay and its waterways by states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“President Obama, EPA and the states want real, measurable results to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in a statement. “To get there EPA is strengthening support for our partners, setting clear standards for progress, and ensuring accountability if those standards aren’t met.”

Technical assistance will be provided to help the states comprising the Chesapeake Bay watershed—Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia and Washington, D.C.—to improve the performance and accountability of pollution control programs. A total of $11.2 million in grants for the 2010 fiscal year will also be provided to meet those goals.

To ensure that counties, municipalities, conservation districts and watershed organizations understand their role and play their part in meeting outlined water quality goals, the EPA expects the states and D.C. to further divide their pollution limits down to the local level by 2011. By 2017, pollution controls should be in place that are expected to reduce bay pollution by 60 percent, and the EPA said all required pollution control programs must be ready by 2025.

Each jurisdiction must meet milestones every two years. If they fail to do so, the EPA can impose consequences including: an increase in federal enforcement and compliance in the watershed; prohibiting new or expanded pollution discharges; and redirecting EPA grants.

“Pollution in the Chesapeake is a challenge that has persisted for decades,” Jackson said. “This federal-state partnership presents new opportunities for cleanup, and we’re increasing support and accountability to be sure we get the job done.”

Source:afro.com/

Economic Downturn Hits Some Industries, K Street Firms Hard

Washington, D.C., is enjoying the long Labor Day weekend, and the Center for Responsive Politics is no different.


But in your leisure time, check out this front-page story by Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen, who uses our research and data in noting Sunday: "In a year when Washington's influence industry should be thriving, with epic battled over health-care and energy legislation, lobbying in many sectors is in marked decline as defense contractors, real estate firms and other companies pull back in a down economy."


Eggen also notes: "Lobbying revenue for many of the city's most powerful advocacy firs, including bellweathers such as Patton Boggs and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, plunged 10 percent or more in the first half of the year."


While some firms and industries are certainly hurting, not all are. For our take on this issue, check out our reporting here, here, here and here.


And, of course, enjoy your barbecue.