Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in his weekly radio address to the nation, blasted the economic stimulus package passed by the House this week, accusing House Democrats of straying from President Obama's proposals.
"Republicans are committed to working with President Obama to steer Americans out of the current economic trouble," McConnell said, offering tax cuts and fixed-rate mortgages as the GOP's alternative to provisions in the House-passed package.
Watch the YouTube video of McConnell's address below:
House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (Conn.) today introduced legislation that would create a congressionally appointed commission to examine the causes of the economic crisis.
The commission would report back to Congress within 90 days on what caused the crisis and what can be done to prevent its repetition.
"We have been addressing the symptoms of our financial crisis rather than curing the disease because we don
New TV ads funded by several progressive groups and labor unions will pressure GOP senators to vote for President' Obama's economic stimulus package, which the House passed last night.
Versions of the same ad will target Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Judd Gregg (N.H.), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).
Another version, which does not mention any specific senator, will air nationally. The ads are funded in conjunction by Americans United for Change, MoveOn.org, AFSCME, and SEIU. The groups are members of a massive liberal coalition dedicated to passing Obama's stimulus package.
House Democrats are practicing "business as usual" while President Obama meets with his opposition to discuss the pending economic stimulus package, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) told The Tennessean.
Cooper is a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition of Democratic House members, a group that is often at odds with Democratic leadership over spending issues.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is putting freshman Democrats on the spot for today's House vote on President Obama's economic stimulus package, taking issue with a provision that allocates $335 million to sexually transmitted disease prevention programs through the Centers for Disease Control after the Drudge Report today called attention to the proposed spending at the top of its page.
The NRCC circulated news releases in the districts of 29 freshman House Dems, blasting the provision.
After meeting with business leaders at the White House this morning, President Obama offered some criticism of corporate America along with promises to help spur economic growth.
"As we discussed in our meeting a few minutes ago, corporate America will have to accept its own responsibilities to its workers and to the American public," Obama said during his post-meeting remarks. "But these executives also understand that without wise leadership in Washington, even the best-run businesses cannot do as well as they might."
Obama met with 13 business leaders to discuss his economic stimulus plan. In attendance were the CEOs of Google, IBM, Xerox, Kodak, Motorola, BET Holdings, Honeywell, Jet Blue, and others, as well as the retired CEO of Edison International.
"The businesses that are shedding jobs to stay afloat -- they cannot afford inaction or delay," Obama said, adding that "the vast majority of these jobs [to be created by Obama's stimulus] will be created in the private sector -- because, as these CEOs well know, business, not government, is the engine of growth in this country."
Obama renewed his pledge to invest in infrastructure, clean energy technology, healthcare, and education, saying those investments would "lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity."
House Republican leaders have asked President Obama to meet with their economic team tomorrow to discuss the GOP's thoughts on how to respond to the economic crisis.
Obama reached out to Republicans for input in crafting an economic stimulus plan during a Jan. 5 meeting on Capitol Hill. Now, they say, they're ready to give it.
GOP leaders sent a letter to President Obama today formally requesting a meeting between Obama and their Jan. 5 meeting as a task force to develop the input Obama had sought.
In the letter, the top House Republicans offered little detail of what specific proposals their working group would suggest: "The challenge as we see it is to create a plan that helps middle class taxpayers and small businesses without wasting money or exploding our national deficit. We believe the economic recovery plan should primarily create real, long term jobs, encourage entrepreneurs, and help average Americans keep more of their money to save and invest," they wrote.
The entire text of the letter, which was signed by Cantor, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), is below:
Read more...
The Senate on Thursday easily approved a massive, $10 billion package of 164 bills that had been the subject of a long standoff between Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
Senators voted 73-21 for the 1,294-page bill that was created by Reid from a collection of bills on which Coburn had placed a legislative hold. The Oklahoman is a well-known objector to the Senate's penchant for passing legislation with little scrutiny.
Known as a lands bill, the legislation would remove acreage in several Western states from oil or gas exploration, while authorizing studies for similar steps in other states. Democrats defend that as necessary to protect environmentally fragile lands, while Republicans say it will hurt energy production.
A grudge match developed between Reid and Coburn over the bill last year, and debate over it even forced a rare Sunday session last weekend.
Reid said the bill would "provide enjoyment for generations to come."
"The press reports it is the most significant environmental bill passed in more than a quarter of a century," he said.
Democrats and Republicans also battled over the bill's size and spending. Democrats described it as a collection of necessary legislation that will benefit states, but the GOP derided it as a expensive grab bag of earmarks.
"This bill is 1,294 pages of pork, land-grabs, and other special interest goodies," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).
Most Americans want Congress to block the disbursement of the remaining $350 billion in bailout money until they get more details about how the funds would be used, according to a new Gallup poll.
Though President-elect Obama has asked Congress for the money now, 62 percent of Americans want the request blocked until they receive plans on how it will be spent. Another 12 percent said that the money should be blocked entirely, and just 20 percent want the money released.
Support for Congress to block the funds is bipartisan -- 67 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of Democrats want the money blocked until they hear more details.
House Republican leaders were quick to the draw Wednesday afternoon with a show of support for the economic stimulus initiative taken by their conservative colleagues earlier in the day. The plan offered by leaders of the Republican Study Committee (RSC), over 100 members strong, includes more tax cuts for individuals and less government created jobs.
Members of the conservative RSC have had a testy relationship with their leaders in the past, but Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his deputy, Eric Cantor (R-Va.), sent out press statements within two hours of the RSC's official roll out.
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