Republican Senators Seek To Retire TARP

John DuBois, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah) introduced the TARP Sunset Act Tuesday in the hope of making sure the controversial program, meant to stabilize the U.S. financial system, does not extend beyond this year.

“Now is the time to end this program to ensure that additional taxpayer dollars are not wasted since TARP has devolved into a slush fund for the administration,” said Thune.

The TARP Sunset Act will eliminate Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's ability to spend outstanding funds after the end of 2009.

"[The] crisis has passed and the usefulness of TARP therefore is over,” said Benett. “It should be terminated is that this administration is using it like a revolving credit account.”

Bipartisan Group Pitches Commission To Examine Federal Overspending

John DuBois - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Speaking before the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) called for the creation of a bipartisan, 16-member panel to examine federal spending. The "Securing America's Future Economy" (SAFE) Commission would make recommendations to Congress regarding ways to limit overspending and would force lawmakers to vote on them.

According to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) the nation's deficit exceeded $1.4 trillion during the last fiscal year. Lieberman and other Democrats including Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) are in support of Wolf's proposal, making it a truly bipartisan bill.

Said Conrad, “We must also address the demographic challenge we face in Social Security and the revenue challenge we face from an outdated and inefficient revenue system."

The SAFE Commission mirrors legislation proposed by Wolf and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) in 2006. That bill, called the "Securing America’s Future Economy Commission Act," aimed to reform U.S. tax policy and entitlement benefit programs.

Lieberman argued that implementing Wolf's proposal will effectively help the country get back on the right fiscal track.

“The only way we will be able to make the difficult decisions needed to reduce our national debt is to create a special commission whose sole focus is to develop solutions to the long-term fiscal problems that our country faces,” said Lieberman.

Added Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), “The federal government is the worst credit card abuser in the world and we’re putting everything on the tab of our children and grandchildren.”

“We can continue down the same path, which means that in just 15 years every penny of the federal budget will go toward entitlement spending and retiring our debt, or we can start making the hard choices now," said Wolf.

Senate Republicans Decry Health Reform

By John DuBois

Talk Radio News Service-University of New Mexico

The America’s Affordable Health Choices Act that recently passed through the House has put Senate Republicans under pressure.

Quoting a March, 2009, speech by President Obama, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that the “B” word (Bankruptcy) looms for the country. “That b word is showing up in more and more articles as the cost of health care keeps getting higher,” said Alexander.

In that speech, Obama said: “If people think we could can simply take everybody who’s not insured and load them up in the system where costs are out of control it’s not going to happen. We’ll run out of money and the federal government will be bankrupt and the state governments will be bankrupt.”

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said that health reform will result in billions of dollars in new taxes nation-wide. The bill would drive up the cost of health insurance premiums and a six point seven billion dollar annual fee that will be imposed on insurers based on market share, she said.

“I have concluded that if any of these bills were to pass Health care costs would actually increase for many Americans the opposite of what we would want for health care reform to produce,” said Collins. “A 40-year-old today buying the most popular insurance policy in the individual market in the state of Maine pays $185 a month. Under the new Senate Finance Committee bill, that 40-year-old would have to pay at least $455 a month for a policy that meets the minimum standards because of new taxes.”

Collins said Democrats and Republicans should “put together a bipartisan bill, that would reduce the number of uninsured, not penalize small business, not drive up the cost of health care and would make a real difference. There are so many areas that have bipartisan agreement on what should be done. I would like to see us work together to try to put together a bill that would do just that. To me, we should rewrite the whole bill. I don’t know that my colleagues would all agree,” she said.

Rep. Conyers Looking Forward To Revising Patriot Act

John DuBois, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he looks forward to reworking aspects of the U.S. Patriot Act to make the legislation less “extreme.”

“We have a real opportunity before us to fix some of the most extreme provisions of that law and bring a better balance,” said Conyers during a markup of the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act, a piece of legislation concerning provisions in the original act that expire this year.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) expressed concern with some aspects of the new act.

“The bill repeals the lone terrorist provision,” Smith said. “Once this provision expires, all al-Qaida will have to do is publicly disavow one if its members ... claiming that the target of an investigation is not affiliated with the terrorist group and intelligence officials will be prevented from conducting surveillance on that lone terrorist.”

New included provisions to the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act puts more control on the use of National Security Letters, a form of subpoenas that require no probable cause, to ensure people’s constitutional rights.

“Since 2005, I have introduced legislation to curb these abuses, to put some more controls on the use of NSLs and more judicial supervision on the gag orders to ensure people’s constitutional rights,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)

The Patriot Act was passed in 2001 with the intention of granting law-enforcement organizations more authority to investigate terrorism.

Same-Sex Marriage Advocates Testify Before D.C. Council

John DuBois - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Over one hundred supporters of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act descended upon the Washington, D.C. City Council on Monday to express support for the legislation, which would extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples in D.C.

“I wonder, really, how confirming a couples’ love for each other threatens my own marriage? I wonder how loving couples with kids and dogs and cats threaten a neighborhood? I wonder how two people who just want those of us who sit here in the privileged group to confirm their rights as a loving couple are such a threat to the fabric of society?” asked Rev. Jill McCrory with the Metropolitan Community Church.

The bill has nine co-sponsors, Councilmember David Catania (D) said, making its passage at the Council level all but guaranteed.