Hoyer: No Vote On Tax Cuts Until After Elections

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced today that Democrats will wait until after the midterm elections to vote on the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. The GOP wanted a vote to occur before Congress adjourned to return to the campaign trail.

If the tax cuts are not extended by the end of the year, they will expire for all Americans on January 1, 2011.

Senators Unveil Aviation Security Reform Bill

Senate Homeland Security members Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.) have introduced legislation aimed at bolstering security at U.S. airports.

According to the duo, The Aviation Security Innovation & Reform (AIR) Act would “strengthen transportation security and make sure the men and women at our nation’s airports and other transportation centers have the best training possible.”

Read more about the bill here.

Boehner And GOP Demand Vote On Tax Cut Extension

By AJ Swartwood

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the actions of the Democratic majority a betrayal if they fail to vote on an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts before leaving Congress.

“They’re turning their back on the American people,” he said.

Boehner expressed outrage Wednesday morning with other House Republican leaders at the Democratic leadership’s refusal to propose an up or down vote on the tax cut extension, which they say has bi-partisan support in both chambers of Congress.

“I believe there is a bi-partisan majority in both the House and Senate that want to extend all of the current tax rates,” said Boehner.

As Congress prepares to adjourn and hit the campaign trail this week, GOP leaders are calling upon Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and President Obama to allow “a fair and open process,” ultimately bring the notion to the floor for a vote.

Door To House Closes Friday

The House leaves Capitol Hill at the end of this week following votes on a continued resolution to keep the government operating for a few more months, a bill to compensate 9/11 responders, and a defense intelligence bill.

An assistant to Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said this morning that “it is unlikely we would be in session next week.”

That, of course, could change should Democratic leaders decide to vote on extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have both signaled a desire to hold a vote before the November elections, despite the fact that passage at this point is extremely unlikely…

BP Announces New Safety Policing Unit

BP’s new CEO Bob Dudley is not wasting any time to shuffle the company’s upper echelon in an effort to perform some major damage control after this summer’s Gulf Coast disaster. 

Just two days before he officially replaces Tony Hayward, Dudley announced the installment of a new unit whose sole responsibility will be to police the safety practices of the company. The new division will be headed by Mark Bly who also led the investigation into what caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“This is a deeply challenging time for BP. The Macondo incident was a tragedy that claimed the lives of 11 people, caused injury to many others and had a widespread environmental impact,” Dudley said in a message to BP staff.

“Our response to the incident needs to go beyond deepwater drilling. There are lessons for us relating to the way we operate, the way we organize our company and the way we manage risk.”

Read more…