Pelosi Celebrates Small Business Vote, Slams GOP On Variety Of Issues

By Miles Wolf Tamboli
Talk Radio News

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appeared giddy during her weekly press conference on Thursday over the fact that her chamber passed an important bill aimed at providing relief to small businesses.

Earlier in the day, the House passed the Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010, legislation that will provide small businesses with credit from a $30 billion trust, by a vote of 241-182.

"Small businesses are the creators of jobs in our country, they're the creators of capital...but they need credit," said Pelosi.

The Speaker then went to work on responding to criticism waged by Republicans over aspects of a financial regulatory reform bill making its way through conference.

"For too long now, Republicans in Congress have favored Wall Street over Main Street," she said.

Pelosi also blasted Republicans over a statement made by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) earlier in the day, in which he apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward during a hearing in the House for what he referred to as a "shakedown" by the White House on BP's earnings.

"I think that Mr. Barton's comments fit comfortably among the leadership of the Republicans in the House of Representatives...He is not alone in his association with sympathy for the oil companies," said Pelosi.

The Speaker also condemned the GOP for voting against a defense authorization bill that passed the House last month.

"Their mantra: 'defense, defense defense; it's our first responsibility. We all care about it.' Nine Republicans voted for it, because it had 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in it. Over 160 Republicans did not vote for it," Pelosi said.

House Republicans Launch New Website To Gauge Americans' Opinions

By Miles Wolf Tamboli-Talk Radio News Service

Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have developed a new website to enhance American input in Washington policy-making.

"The number one thing that I hear over, and over, and over again everywhere I go is, 'why isn't Washington listening to us?'," said Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) during a media event marking the launch of the website.

Entitled AmericaSpeakingOut.com, Republicans hope that the public will use the site to engage in dialogue and debate with each other, and present fresh ideas.

"America Speaking Out is about trying to enlist the voices and help of the American people, so we can begin by listening and turning around the equation ... to produce an economy and an America that meets with the approval of the American people," said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

"Out of this, the ... Republican members hope to build a governing agenda," said House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-In.).

Some have criticized the Republican Party recently with assertions that leaders are out of ideas and that the party is surviving off of arraigning the Democratic Party, a notion Pence was quick to respond to.

"This is not a political party in search of a keel or in search of principles. It's not a listening tour. House Republicans know what we believe, and at AmericaSpeakingOut.com, we state those openly on the first page."

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) continued; "We know what our principles are. What we're asking the American people to do is to participate with us in terms of how ... we apply those principles."

Others have surmised that the effort is a political move, giving the Republicans a positive image before November's midterm primary elections. Boehner stated that the future of the website depends on the next Congress, implying that the website may not remain active after the elections are over.

Dodd Confident Senate Will Make Progress On Financial Reform This Week

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) expressed confidence Monday that the Senate will make headway on financial regulatory reform this week, despite mounting challenges from Republicans.

“I'm going to work on the assumption … that when we bring this bill up later this week that we'll have the votes across the board...to allow us to debate this legislation, consider amendments and move forward," said Dodd during a morning press conference.

Dodd added that if Republicans have suggestions for a better strategy toward reforming regulation of the financial industry, then they need to come forward soon. Otherwise, the effort to move forward with the legislation will continue.

“The door has been open … it’s never been closed. My Republican colleagues on the committee and leadership know that,” Dodd explained. “But I’m waiting for the knock on the door.”

The legislation would put a $50 billion fund in place that “too big to fail” banks would pay into in order to ensure that they would receive assistance if they ever came into hardship. According to Dodd, the idea for the program, similar to what smaller banks do with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, came from the Republicans, so their recent opposition was not foreseen.

“This was a Republican suggestion to have a pre-payment in the bill,” said Dodd. “I’m willing to listen to some other ideas, provided we don’t expose the taxpayer [to risk.]”

According to the chairman, reform legislation would have prevented Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from committing fraud, as alleged recently by the Securities Exchange Commission.

“Our bill would have prevented those kinds of events from happening,” said Dodd.

GOP Head Vows That Health Care Fight Is Not Over

By Chingyu Wang-Talk Radio News Service

House Republican Conference chair Mike Pence (R-Ind.) told reporters Tuesday that House Republicans will continue to fight against the health care legislation that was passed on Sunday and signed into law two days later.

“We are disappointed with the outcome of the vote on Sunday night; we are determined to continue to take our case against this government takeover of healthcare to the American people,” said Pence.

“This fight is not over,” Pence added.

House Republican Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wa.), who joined Pence, stressed that the legislation will place an economic burden on Americans.

“This bill is going to add more taxes, more requirements on our small businesses. Premiums are continuing to escalate; and CBO estimates that under the bill that just passed, premiums will increase between 10% -13%,” said Rodgers.

Stepping away from health care, Pence addressed the administration's relationship with Israel, notably the settlement issue.

“The time has come for this administration to stop bullying Israel. The whole suggestion that the construction of settlements in undisputed areas of Jerusalem is somehow an affront to the United States, or an affront to the peace process, is absurd,” said Pence.

Healthcare Fight Not Over, Say GOP'ers

Although President Barack Obama will soon sign the main health reform bill passed by the House last night, Republican lawmakers aren't convinced that their window of opportunity to 'kill the bill' has closed. Hours after the House passed the Senate's bill, as well as a subsequent reconciliation bill, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) drafted legislation to repeal them.

“Americans across the country are outraged that liberals have made an unconstitutional bill full of special interest bribes the law of the land. Democrats will pay a price for their overreach. This fight is far from over. Now the work begins to repeal this monstrosity and restore the principles of freedom that made America a great nation," said King in a statement released Monday morning.

King's effort will most likely enjoy support from at least a few on the other side of Capitol Hill.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has already said he will introduce a repeal measure in the Senate, and during an appearance on ABC this morning Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) vowed "we're going to repeal this."

Realistically, Republicans will more than likely have to win control of both Houses this fall in order to have a shot at repealing the soon-to-be laws. Additionally, without 60 seats in the Senate, Republicans would have to use the same reconciliation process they have assailed Democrats over the past few months for using. However, while attaining a super-majority is out of the question, Republicans are betting on the fact that Obamacare will pay dividends for their candidates later this year.

One such candidate is Rev. Isaac Hayes (R), a youth Minister from Chicago, who sees healthcare as a way to defeat Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) in his race to get re-elected to the House.

"I believe the process by which health insurance reform has been jammed down our throats will be the centerpiece of the November election...America knows this is a government grab of one-sixth of the economy and they are encouraging Republicans to repeal this bill the moment we are sworn in as the 112th Congress," Hayes told Talk Radio News Service on Monday.