House Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said the offsets worked out by the Senate on the Medicare 'doc fix' could be changed once the rest of the tax extenders bill reaches the House. 

Levin said there are some "technical issues" with the pay-fors in the 'doc fix' part of the legislation that has undergone weeks of negotiations on both sides of the Capitol. 

"There could be more changes," he said. 

That could mean at least that part of the bill, which would stop a 21 percent pay cut to doctors, bounces back over to the Senate.

Just because the Senate passed a six-month 'doc fix' "doesn't mean we do it." he said. 

Levin said right now he's waiting on the Senate to pass the remaining parts of the bill including popular tax incentives, an extension of unemployment benefits and possibly aid to states for Medicaid. 

"We want the jobs bill so they need to pass the jobs bill," Levin told The Hill tonight. "The next step is for them to pass the  bill, the basic bill. Senate Republicans have to step up to do that."

The Senate agreed to the new 'doc fix' language last Friday, sending it over to the House. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed disappointment that the jobs portion of the legislation was still stuck in the Senate. 

Senate Democratic leaders are looking to fully offset an extension to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) included in the so-called tax extenders bill, sources told The Hill.

If the goal is achieved, the only unpaid portion of the bill will be a six-month extension to unemployment insurance. 

Lawmakers finalizing the Wall Street overhaul bill are considering new assessments on big financial firms to cover the costs of $4 billion in housing aid.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was originally looking to redirect money from the $700 billion financial bailout to support $3 billion in housing assistance and $1 billion for city and state efforts to ease foreclosure problems.

A Frank spokesman said an assessment could now fall on banks with at least $50 billion in assets and hedge funds with at least $10 billion in assets.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has pushed hard for the $3 billion in housing assistance for unemployed homeowners to make their mortgage payments.

"If we pass this bill without doing anything to prevent foreclosures--if we fix Wall Street and ignore Main Street--we will have done a disservice to our country," Waters said in a statement on Tuesday.

BP will provide at least $5 million for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for wildlife affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The net revenue BP receives from the sale of oil recovered from the Gulf will go to the NFWF, including an immediate donation of $5 million, the company announced Tuesday on its website. 

The total amount that will go to the group is unknown. 

"With this funding, we will invest in projects that will have the greatest benefit to the species most at risk from the oil," said NFWF Executive Director Jeff Trandahl in a BP release today. 

NFWF is working with U.S Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Agriculture along with other federal and state agencies to identify the immediate wildlife needs throughout the Gulf.

The money will be used to "ensure that their work can begin even as initial oil collections from the Discoverer Enterprise enter the refining process," the release said. 

"With its successful 25-year track record of identifying and funding solutions to America's toughest conservation challenges, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a strong and responsible steward for this money from the wildlife fund," said Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive officer. 

Senate Republicans suggested as much as $25 billion in deficit spending could be tolerated to pave the way for passage of a languishing tax extenders measure. 

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) suggested Tuesday that a new version of the bill would have to drop deficit spending "significantly below" the current $54 billion and "my guess is about half way." 

Thune is expecting to see another slimmed down version of the measure that removes the $24 billion federal matching funds for states for Medicaid, dropping the bill's deficit spending to about $30 billion, still short of a 50 percent reduction.

Senate Democrats are still working out the components of the bill, which will include after passing a stand-alone Medicare "doc fix" postponing a 21 percent pay cut for doctors last Thursday. 

"My guess is that some Republicans, because of UI, want to be able to vote for a bill and would accept a certain amount of non-paid-for spending," Thune said. 

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on Tuesday said supposed changes to the so-called tax extenders bill are likely not enough to sway him into supporting the bill. 

"The thing that I'm concerned about is the deficit," he told The Hill. "We've come to a time when we've just gotta keep saying no, and as a result we passed the so-called doc-fix and it was paid for." 

Still, the senator is reviewing the new proposal.

Two federal agencies will spend a total of $75 million on a joint project to integrate transportation and housing initiatives. 

The Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments will spend $35 million and $40 million, respectively, as part of the livable, sustainable communities project aiming to provide more affordable housing options closer to public transportation and good jobs, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday on his blog. 

The Livable Communities Project was first announced June 16, 2009, by LaHood, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. 

"When we announced the Obama Administration's interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, this is just the sort of coordinated activity we had in mind. And I am thrilled that DOT is part of it," LaHood wrote. 

More than 80 House Democrats are pushing Congress to support a strong exemption for commercial users of derivatives in the Wall Street overhaul bill.

In a series of letters, the lawmakers argue for a broad exemption for "end users" in the $600 trillion derivatives market that many blame for exacerbating the financial crisis in 2008. Manufacturers, financial firms and others have pushed for the exemption for companies that use derivatives to hedge a variety of business risks. 

The lawmakers back the exemption that passed the House in December and argue that the Senate version of the bill could hurt local business and bigger manufacturers. A group of House and Senate lawmakers finishing the Wall Street bill in conference plan to take up the derivatives measures on Wednesday or Thursday.

The section has been one of the most heavily lobbied parts of the 2,000-page financial overhaul effort that Congress aims to pass before the July 4 recess.

The letters were organized by the centrist New Democrat Coalition, the New York congressional delegation, lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee and Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.).

"It is imperative that we recognize the unique needs of the end users that are the economic engines our local communities," House Agriculture members wrote. "We have serious concerns that the Senate passed derivatives title will impose higher costs on end users who had nothing to do with the financial crisis. This will significantly impair the ability of small and medium sized businesses to expand and will drive up consumer prices during these difficult economic times."

New Democrats and members of the New York congressional delegation have also raised concerns about a provision backed by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) that would require banks to push out their derivatives trading desks. That provision has been stridently opposed by banks and other business interests.

Sales of existing homes fell unexpectedly by 2.2 percent from April to May as analysts' estimates came up short that a federal tax incentive would boost sales beyond its expiration date. 

Demand decreased to a 5.66 million annual rate, as home sales most likely rallied before the April 30 deadline on a tax incentive worth as much as $8,000, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Despite the drop, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun was upbeat on the news, saying, "We are witnessing the ongoing effects of the home buyer tax credit, which we’ll also see in June real estate closings." 

Economists had estimated a more-than-6-percent increase and a pace greater than a 6 million annual rate. April's sales rate was revised up to 5.79 million from the 5.77 million reported last month.