Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) applauded a Thursday announcement by the Internal Revenue Service that it will no longer provide a taxpayer's debt indicator to tax preparers and financial institutions that provide refund anticipation loans (RALs).

High interest rates charged on the RALs have led Baucus to push for a discontinuation of the information. 

"Refund Anticipation Loans charge taxpayers sky-high interest rates, 36 percent or more for access to their own money," Baucus said today in a statement. "It is reprehensible that banks would use our tax system as a profit center to exploit taxpayers and today’s announcement takes that problem head on."

Several lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation Thursday that would strike some Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemptions for the Securities and Exchange Commission that were included in financial regulatory reform legislation.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) — wrote a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro saying they are concerned that "this provision could undermine the very important goal of bringing more transparency to Wall Street if improperly interpreted and implemented."

The bill introduced Thursday will eliminate the FOIA exemption for certain records provided to the SEC by financial entities. The bill clarifies that hedge funds and other new entities regulated by the SEC under the new reform law will be considered “financial institutions” for the purposes of applying FOIA exemption 8.  

Kaufman argued that the bill would "fine tune" the major legislation. 

The bill also would ensure that the SEC can treat sensitive information provided by hedge funds to the commission as part of the examination and surveillance process the same way the agency treats similar information from other financial institutions.

President Obama said on Thursday that he's "confident" the U.S. won't slip into a so-called "double dip" recession.

The president, fresh off a trip to a Ford plant in Chicago to tout manufacturing successes, said that while a great deal of work remains to be done, he was strongly optimistic that the economy wouldn't slide back into a second recession.

"I am confident about that," the president said in an interview on CNBC when asked if thought the U.S. would avoid a double-dip recession.

"I think that we've got a lot of work to do," he added. "There are some trends that we've got to address, particularly in terms of long-term unemployment, and you addressed this earlier."

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The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is expected to get about a $2.6 billion boost in revenue over five years under legislation cleared Wednesday night by the Senate. 

The measure allows the FHA to increase the statutory cap on its annual premiums from 0.55 percent to 1.55 percent in its single-family program, providing an avenue for much-needed revenue. 

The downturn in the housing market has deteriorated the agency's capital reserve fund, which had holdings of only $3.5 billion through June. That is $6.5 billion less than the same time last year, according to a report released this week.  

GOP Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine join Democrats in approving the legislation.

Ford Motor Co. will receive a $250 million loan guarantee to finance billions in export sales to Mexico and Canada, President Obama announced today.

The Export-Import Bank's loan guarantee will finance $3.1 billion in export sales of more than 200,000 U.S.-made vehicles, according to a White House statement.

Obama touted the loan during remarks today at a Ford plant in Chicago that is adding 1,200 workers. The plant will be building a new 2011 Explorer, which is expected to be on the list of the exported vehicles.

New claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week as employers continued to cut jobs and the economic recovery's pace slowed. 

First-time claims increased by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 479,000, for the week ending July 31, the highest since April, as the recovery plods along this summer, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The government's July jobs numbers are expected Friday, and it's likely the unemployment rate rose as more people looked for employment, even though the economy probably added jobs. 

The ADP national employment report on Wednesday showed the job market added 42,000 jobs. That could be even better news for Friday's report, as ADP has underestimated the number of jobs created the past five out of six times. 

RECESS INTERRUPTED — The House will come back Tuesday to pass the $26.1 billion jobs bill with fiscal aid for state and local governments. Senate Democrats plus the two Maine Republicans voted Wednesday to end debate on the package of $10 billion for a fund to stave off teacher cutbacks and $16.1 billion in more Medicaid funding for states. The Senate is expected to pass the package Thursday. The House wasn't planning on coming back until after Labor Day; it will be in pro forma session Monday, and vote on the bill Tuesday. The Hill: http://bit.ly/cur8Wa

Speaker Pelosi's decision was announced via Twitter: @SpeakerPelosi: I will be calling the House back into session early next week to save teachers' jobs and help seniors & children #FMAP http://bit.ly/b03yXz 

Why Twitter? Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami: "We wanted to get the word out quickly on the decision that the House will be voting to keep teachers on the job. The Senate cloture vote was a major topic that was being followed closely on Twitter, the blogs, online news site, newspapers, TV and wires. So that is why we used Twitter, and we e-mailed the news release within minutes." http://bit.ly/buP7XB

House GOP Leader John Boehner's (Ohio) response tweet: It’s official: Dems to call House back on Tuesday to pass more “stimulus” spending, "paid for" with new job-killing tax on U.S. job creators http://bit.ly/bpABFn

Unions pressed for House's return. "A K Street lobbyist said the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) pushed Pelosi to call back the House for the vote. States would have to lay off thousands of teachers if Congress doesn’t approve the money by the end of August."

AFSCME memo circulating K Street. “The House must pass this bill with no changes as soon as possible. ... Please call offices of allies and those who had deficit concerns with the tax extender bill."

Jobs bill paid for with deeper food-stamp cuts than expected. "SNAP benefits face a $11.9 billion rollback starting in April, 2014," reports the Washington Independent's Annie Lowrey. "A family of three can expect their benefits to drop about $50 a month. Never before have congressional policies actually created a month-to-month cut in food stamps." http://bit.ly/9aE4ao

OBAMA ASKS UNIONS TO BACK DEMS — "President Obama on Wednesday asked labor leaders to set aside their disappointments with his administration’s progress so far and rally around Democratic Party candidates ahead of the midterm elections," reports The Hill's Kevin Bogardus. "Speaking before the AFL-CIO’s executive council in Washington, Obama said he understands union members’ frustration over their priorities being stalled in Congress despite Democratic control."

Obama: “You have to remind [union members] that for the next three months, this election is a choice." http://bit.ly/bE2QXq

PRIVATE JOB GROWTH STILL WEAK IN JULY — The private sector added 42,000 jobs last month, which was slightly better than expected, ADP said Wednesday. But the report found "no evidence of acceleration." http://bit.ly/9VuuMJ

Labor Department jobs report is due out Friday. A slight rise in jobless rate expected, from 9.5 percent to 9.6 percent.

And/but... stocks were up Wednesday. WSJ: "Investors were cheered by hints of an improving employment picture, pushing U.S. stocks higher Wednesday ahead of closely-watched official jobs numbers on Friday that could shed light on the durability of the recovery." The Dow was up 44 points, or 0.2 percent. http://bit.ly/bL5Jqf

ALSO UP... THE PRICE OF BREAKFAST — The Economist: "The price of orange juice has also risen recently, probably thanks to bets placed on the likelihood of tropical storms. Coffee prices, which hit a 13-year high, are a result of poor harvests. Taken together, the raw ingredients for breakfast in much of the rich world have increased in price by 25% since the beginning of June." http://bit.ly/agGM2t  (Hat tip: NPR http://n.pr/ahDEDN)

SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE TRUSTEES REPORT DUE OUT THURSDAY — Projections could shape the fiscal commission debate on entitlements. CBO's report back in March found Social Security will pay out more in benefits this year than it will take in. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue will release the report at 11 a.m. at Treasury.

GEITHNER, GOP CLASH ON TAX CUTS: WaPo: "Geithner pushed back hard Wednesday against GOP criticism that allowing tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest Americans could harm small businesses. Senate Republicans held a news conference Wednesday afternoon with a trio of small-business owners..." http://bit.ly/c8tVh0

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.): "The impact of all this taxation, regulation and, yes, litigation as well, has a deterrent effect on what we all would like to do, and that is to create jobs."

Geithner at the Center for American Progress: "If you actually want to help small businesses get needed tax relief as opposed to using them as a cover for supporting tax cuts for the most well-off, those people should be supporting Senate passage of the Small Business Jobs Act this week."

With the jobs bill and the Kagan nomination still left to do, the Senate isn't likely to get to the small-business bill until after the recess.

Reid sets tax cut debate set for September. The Hill's Alexander Bolton: "That would make tax cuts a front-and-center issue in the days leading up to the midterm election. The debate promises to be contentious, pitting Democrats against Republicans, liberals against centrists and the Senate against the House." http://bit.ly/bo9Qlr

BILLIONAIRES TO POOL MONEY FOR CHARITY — "Forty of the nation's wealthiest American families and individuals have agreed to give away at least half of their fortunes to charity, providing the potential for billions of dollars to be pumped into charitable organizations," The Hill's Vicki Needham writes. "In June, Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates invited American billionaires to pledge their fortunes within their lifetimes or after their deaths." http://bit.ly/9iGEkR

Also pledged: hotel mogul Barron Hilton, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, film director George Lucas and investor Ronald Perelman.

Full list: http://givingpledge.org/#enter

The Senate seemed unlikely to reach an agreement on a small-business lending and tax-cut bill, as the House planned a return to Washington next week. 

The House's return to pass a $26 billion bill to provide Medicaid aid and funding to save teachers' and first-responders' jobs would provide the Senate a rare opportunity to clear a bill that has gained broad support from business groups. 

A Senate Democratic aide acknowledged the opportunity but said the bill needed Republican support.