Inside the Dome: April 22nd, 2010

April 22nd, 2010, Washington, DC–From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:

In the Senate, after Republicans showed a united front of opposition to the current Dodd Wall Street Takeover bill, that are signs that a deal is imminent. Sen. Shelby stated yesterday that “I’m more optimistic than I’ve ever been. I think we can put a bill together pretty soon.” Majority Leader Reid reportedly plans to hold the first cloture vote on Monday (meaning he’ll file it today), and will proceed to formal debate of the bill if he reaches the 60-vote threshold. Without a formal deal worked out, this means one Republican would have to break ranks and join the Democrats on a “promise” by Reid and Dodd to make good on the final package.

In another notable sign of Republican compromise in the works, Sen. Grassley joined the Democrat majority of the Agriculture Committee in approving a measure that would create federal oversight of the financial derivatives market.

Bottom Line: It cannot be overestimated the far-reaching implications and impact of any “Wall Street reform” bill that Reid and the Democrats ultimately approve. It is a fact that the federal government’s involvement and management of the private financial services sector will be greatly expanded, and the Treasury will be given permanent bailout authority without the necessity of future congressional approval. Conservatives must be relentless in explaining how this negatively impacts average Americans, and how many jobs it will destroy in the financial industry.

In the House, Minority Leader Boehner, Rep. Goodlatte, and the GOP leadership team are holding a press conference this morning to challenge House Democrats to join Republicans in enacting a total ban on earmarks for one year. Goodlatte will introduce an earmark reform resolution that essentially redirects all the savings from the earmark ban toward deficit reduction.

Meanwhile, Rep. Issa, in his role as ranking member of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, continues to aggressively pursue potential incidents of fraud within the federal government and the Obama Administration. Issa along with several other House members sent a letter to the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission questioning the timing and details of the SECs recent charges against Goldman Sachs, raising the possibility that the charges and the SECs timing in announcing them are politically motivated. Issa stated on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren, “There’s this long list of coincidences, and I don’t have answers to this questions. What I see is a very unusual event. They could have done this partisan party-line, 3-2 vote at the SEC, and released it six months ago, or six months from now, they could have released it after the trading day as is their tradition.”

Bottom Line: Not only is reviving earmark reform now politically wise for Republicans since it remains a top concern of Americans, it is also good government. This initiative also proves the lie of Sen. Jim Inhofe’s repeated assertions that earmark reform does not and cannot save one dime from the federal budget.

Issa is on to something with the SEC/Goldman Sachs issue, and his calm but relentless comportment makes him the perfect man to expose the truth behind this brewing scandal.

At the other end of the Avenue, after weeks of rumors and speculation, Obama finally admitted that he is mulling a Value Added Tax (VAT) on Americans. In an interview on CNBC, Obama stated, “I know that there’s been a lot of talk around town lately about the value-added tax. That is something that has worked for some countries. It’s something that would be novel for the United States… I want to get a better picture of what our options are.”

Obama has also been trying to distance himself from the campaign promise he made repeatedly to not raise “any of your taxes” for those making less than $250,000 a year. In two speeches within the last week, he’s repackaged his no tax pledge like this: “And one thing we haven’t done is raise income taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year – another promise that we kept.”

Today Obama will in New York at Cooper Union giving a speech on his Wall Street takeover package, where he will restate his belief “in the power of the free market… but a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get.”

Bottom Line: For Obama to suggest imposing a value-added tax on Americans with a straight face – and simultaneously pretend he has not already shattered his no-tax pledge – is inconceivable. The very mention of a VAT should make Americans shutter, since there’s certainly no thought by Obama of repealing the 16^th Amendment, and rue the day that Obama took office for even considering it.

Here’s a translation of Obama’s “pro” free-market rhetoric: “I’m for a free-market, so long as it is properly fettered and shackled by the all-knowing, all-wise, and all power federal government… with me at the helm.”

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