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Cost Estimate for H.R. 3630, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011 – December 9, 2011 “According to CBOs and JCTs estimates, enacting H.R. 3630 would change revenues and direct spending to produce increases in the deficit of $166.8 billion in fiscal year 2012 and $25.3 billion over the 2012-2021 period. Relative …
CRS – Congressional Lawmaking: A Perspective On Secrecy and Transparency – Walter J. Oleszek, Senior Specialist in American National Government, November 30, 2011 “Openness is fundamental to representative government. Yet the congressional process is replete with activities and actions that are private and not observable by the public. How to distinguish reasonable legislative secrecy from …
“The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act 2010 (P.L. No. 111-68) amended 2 U.S.C. 104(a), to require the posting of the semiannual report of the Secretary of the Senate on the Senate Web site. Since 1823, the Secretary of the Senate has published the semiannual statements covering the periods from October 1st to March 31st and April …
Recent Studies Show EPA Air Rules Do Not Threaten Electric Reliability, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Democratic Staff, November 2011. “In November 2011, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and M.J. Bradley and Associates each released updated studies evaluating the effects of existing and upcoming EPA regulations to control pollution from power plants. These …
Presidential Policy Directive 8 and the National Preparedness System: Background and Issues for Congress, Jared T. Brown – Analyst in Emergency, Management and Homeland Security Policy, October 21, 2011 “Presidential Policy Directive 8: National Preparedness (PPD-8) was signed and released by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2011. PPD-8 and its component policies intend to …
Legislative History of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act Public Law 109-435, James I. Campbell Jr., September 2007. Includes a summary of the evolution of the bill over 10 years, the public law, congressional debates, most recent committee reports (and related bills), and presidential signing statement. 1077 pages.
Testimony, Congressional Budget Office, Statement of Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director – Policies for Increasing Economic Growth and Employment in 2012 and 2013, before the Committee on the Budget, United States Senate, November 15, 2011 “CBO expects real GDP to grow in the vicinity of 1½ percent this calendar year (as measured by the change between …
“FHFA Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco responded to a letter from numerous U.S. Senators [Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs – with a hearing scheduled for November 15, 2011] regarding executive compensation at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Attached is the text of the letter…Losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) have …
Tax Reform Options: Promoting Retirement Security by Jack VanDerhei, Employee Benefit Research Institute: “Currently, the combination of worker and employer contributions in a defined contribution plan is capped by the federal tax code at the lesser of $49,000 per year or 100 percent of a workers compensation (participants over age 50 can made additional catch-up …
News release: “Congressional websites are getting better, according to an analysis by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). The nonprofit organization graded 618 congressional websites and found the most common grade moved from an F in the 111th Congress to a B in the 112th Congress. CMF has been grading congressional websites since 2001 and issues …
Discretionary Spending, October 26, 2011 – Testimony before the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, U.S. Congress “Discretionary outlaysthe part of federal spending that lawmakers generally control through annual appropriation actstotaled about $1.35 trillion in 2011, or close to 40 percent of federal outlays. Slightly more than half of that spending was for defense. The …
“This report, Analysis of Impacts of a Clean Energy Standard – October 2011 – responds to a request from Chairman Ralph M. Hall for an analysis of the impacts of a Clean Energy Standard (CES). The request, as outlined in the letter included in Appendix A, sets out specific assumptions and scenarios for the study. …
