"The framework would raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling through 2012,
cut spending by about $1 trillion
and call for enactment of a law shaving another $1.5 trillion from long-term debt by 2021
-- or institute punishing reductions across all government areas,
including Medicare and defense programs...
...a bipartisan congressional super- committee
would be charged with proposing deficit savings of $1.5 trillion
over a decade by late November...
...spending reductions wouldn’t be triggered until after fiscal 2012...
...Republicans dropped their insistence on withholding some of the borrowing authority
until future spending cuts had been made...
...If Standard & Poor’s “sticks to what it said,
it will downgrade” the U.S. debt following the deal...
...The agreement “does nothing to restore household and corporate confidence,
so unemployment will be higher than it would have been otherwise,”
...“Growth will be lower than it would be otherwise.
And inequality will be worse than it would be otherwise.”
Bloomberg
Showing posts with label Kay Hagan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kay Hagan. Show all posts
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
New Study: More Than 130 Top Congressional Staffers Are Former Lobbyists -. Senator Kay Hagan from N.C. Joined The Club
New Study: More Than 130 Top Congressional Staffers Are Former Lobbyists - OpenSecrets Blog OpenSecrets
With permission from Opensecrets.org and Center for Responsive politics
At least 130 current congressional chiefs of staff and legislative directors are former lobbyists, new research by the Center for Responsive Politics and Remapping Debate indicates.
And some of these powerful staffers -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have worked multiple lobbying jobs prior to working in their current congressional capacities, the project finds.
The majority of chiefs of staff and legislative directors represented corporations, trade organizations, or worked for lobbying firms that represented corporations, but a wide range of entities were represented: from the National Right to Work Committee to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; from King & Spalding to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group; and from the American Insurance Association to Human Rights Campaign.
"The bottom line is that many of the most powerful congressional staffers, who are now responsible for working on behalf of the public's interest, used to make a living convincing the government to benefit a client's special interest," said Sheila Krumholz, the Center's executive director. "Such relationships could present conflicts of interest and deserve continued scrutiny."
Said Craig Gurian, editor of Remapping Debate: "People have begun to appreciate that the flow of public officials and staffers to lobbying entities -- particularly to those who serve interests regulated by Congress -- has a significant and corrosive influence on the shape of public policy. The new tool that we have developed with the Center for Responsive Politics makes clear that those risks can be present when the revolving door brings former lobbyists -- especially those serving a narrow private interest rather than a broad public interest -- into government."
The public is already able to explore where outgoing senators and representatives from the 111th Congress are now employed thanks to a tracking tools deployed this January and available both from Remapping Debate and from the Center for Responsive Politics. Since then, the Center and Remapping the Debate the organizations have regularly bolstered the tracking tool.
Help the Center and Remapping Debate continue to expand the tracking tool by adding your own insight to the comings and goings of former members of Congress.
===
Remapping Debate, an online public policy news journal, believes that there is a fundamental (and democracy-corroding) paradox about the media ecosystem that needs to be addressed: for all the outlets and for all the bytes, the “why” and “why not” questions of public policy are too rarely addressed. Remapping Debate seeks to address this deficiency through probing reporting that asks these questions and thereby encourages more robust public policy debate.
The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking and reporting on money in U.S. federal politics and its effect on elections and public policy. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Center aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government. The Center's award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org, is the most comprehensive resource for campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. The Center relies on support from a combination of foundation grants, individual contributions and custom data work. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses, labor unions or trade associations.
________________________________________________________________________________
Now we find out that our own local Senator Kay Hagan just in the past few months hired a new Chief of Staff in Thomas O'Donnell a former lobbyist , here is what was said in media on this appointment;
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says she has hired a former senior official in the Clinton administration as her chief of staff.
The North Carolina Democrat said in a news release that 52-year-old Tom O'Donnell will replace Crystal King who had been chief of staff since Hagan took office in 2009.
From 1993 to 1997, O'Donnell was chief of staff of the president's Council of Economic Advisers then the White House National Economic Council. O'Donnell graduated from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin and comes to Hagan's office from the D.C.-based firm of Crowell & Moring where he was a partner.
Hagan says O'Donnell has been a senior manager of presidential nominating conventions; experience that will be valuable as Charlotte hosts the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Let's take a closer look at Tom O'Donnell from opensecrets.org CLICKHERE .
Now we have our own Senator from N.C. in Kay Hagan on this list of hiring a lobbyist as a congressional staffer.
With permission from Opensecrets.org and Center for Responsive politics
At least 130 current congressional chiefs of staff and legislative directors are former lobbyists, new research by the Center for Responsive Politics and Remapping Debate indicates.
And some of these powerful staffers -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have worked multiple lobbying jobs prior to working in their current congressional capacities, the project finds.
The majority of chiefs of staff and legislative directors represented corporations, trade organizations, or worked for lobbying firms that represented corporations, but a wide range of entities were represented: from the National Right to Work Committee to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; from King & Spalding to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group; and from the American Insurance Association to Human Rights Campaign.
"The bottom line is that many of the most powerful congressional staffers, who are now responsible for working on behalf of the public's interest, used to make a living convincing the government to benefit a client's special interest," said Sheila Krumholz, the Center's executive director. "Such relationships could present conflicts of interest and deserve continued scrutiny."
Said Craig Gurian, editor of Remapping Debate: "People have begun to appreciate that the flow of public officials and staffers to lobbying entities -- particularly to those who serve interests regulated by Congress -- has a significant and corrosive influence on the shape of public policy. The new tool that we have developed with the Center for Responsive Politics makes clear that those risks can be present when the revolving door brings former lobbyists -- especially those serving a narrow private interest rather than a broad public interest -- into government."
The public is already able to explore where outgoing senators and representatives from the 111th Congress are now employed thanks to a tracking tools deployed this January and available both from Remapping Debate and from the Center for Responsive Politics. Since then, the Center and Remapping the Debate the organizations have regularly bolstered the tracking tool.
Help the Center and Remapping Debate continue to expand the tracking tool by adding your own insight to the comings and goings of former members of Congress.
===
Remapping Debate, an online public policy news journal, believes that there is a fundamental (and democracy-corroding) paradox about the media ecosystem that needs to be addressed: for all the outlets and for all the bytes, the “why” and “why not” questions of public policy are too rarely addressed. Remapping Debate seeks to address this deficiency through probing reporting that asks these questions and thereby encourages more robust public policy debate.
The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking and reporting on money in U.S. federal politics and its effect on elections and public policy. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Center aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government. The Center's award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org, is the most comprehensive resource for campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. The Center relies on support from a combination of foundation grants, individual contributions and custom data work. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses, labor unions or trade associations.
________________________________________________________________________________
Now we find out that our own local Senator Kay Hagan just in the past few months hired a new Chief of Staff in Thomas O'Donnell a former lobbyist , here is what was said in media on this appointment;
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says she has hired a former senior official in the Clinton administration as her chief of staff.
The North Carolina Democrat said in a news release that 52-year-old Tom O'Donnell will replace Crystal King who had been chief of staff since Hagan took office in 2009.
From 1993 to 1997, O'Donnell was chief of staff of the president's Council of Economic Advisers then the White House National Economic Council. O'Donnell graduated from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin and comes to Hagan's office from the D.C.-based firm of Crowell & Moring where he was a partner.
Hagan says O'Donnell has been a senior manager of presidential nominating conventions; experience that will be valuable as Charlotte hosts the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
Let's take a closer look at Tom O'Donnell from opensecrets.org CLICKHERE .
Now we have our own Senator from N.C. in Kay Hagan on this list of hiring a lobbyist as a congressional staffer.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Kay Hagan and Greensboro News & Record's Editorial Board
"North Carolina’s Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan was one of only 19 who voted against a measure that extends tax cuts for all Americans...
Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina supported it, despite the huge objection cited by Hagan: “This bill would add $858 billion to the national debt without offering a long-term solution.”
Burr took a different view: “The tax bill was more about economic policy than it was about fiscal policy,” he said Wednesday. Extending current tax rates “was vital from the standpoint of tax predictability.”
It’s predictable now that those tax rates, even for the wealthy, won’t bump up when this extension runs out in two years.
...Hagan, who said she couldn’t stomach further tax breaks for millionaires, allowed that she supported extending tax cuts for the middle class. But, added up, the total cost was unacceptable, she said Tuesday.
She also noted the recent report issued by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson’s deficit-reduction commission. It’s time for Congress to stop making “empty promises” about deficit reduction. “We can’t put this burden on our children,” Hagan said.
She’s right.
Congress can always find reasons to justify deficit spending — if it ignores serious warnings.
Credit agency Moody’s, for example, said that “unless Congress gets its act together, it could see a once unthinkable downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on its watch, which could balloon U.S. borrowing costs and make our financing position much more costly,” Fortune reported Tuesday.
“We can’t keep borrowing from the Chinese,” Hagan said.
Obama and most members of Congress apparently wanted a deal at any price, and that’s what they got.
But, added to the debt already run up over the years, it may be more than the country and future taxpayers can afford. Washington has got to start putting its finances in order.
Hagan’s record isn’t impeccable — she’s requested hundreds of earmarks for North Carolina projects in the 2011 budget, the Civitas Institute reports — but she’s taking a stand now.
Unless more senators do the same, the country’s bills will bury it."
Greensboro News & Record's Editorial Board
Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina supported it, despite the huge objection cited by Hagan: “This bill would add $858 billion to the national debt without offering a long-term solution.”
"Senate Tax-Cut Plan Would Add $857 Billion to U.S. Debt,"
or will the Tax Deal really cost at least $1,472.92 trillion?
$857 Billion @ 4% x 30 years = $1,472.92 trillion
$857 Billion @ 5% x 40 years = $1,983.56 trillion
$857 Billion @ 6% x 50 years = $2,706.77 trillion
$857 Billion @ 7% x 75 years = $4,523.35 trillion
or will the Tax Deal really cost at least $1,472.92 trillion?
$857 Billion @ 4% x 30 years = $1,472.92 trillion
$857 Billion @ 5% x 40 years = $1,983.56 trillion
$857 Billion @ 6% x 50 years = $2,706.77 trillion
$857 Billion @ 7% x 75 years = $4,523.35 trillion
Burr took a different view: “The tax bill was more about economic policy than it was about fiscal policy,” he said Wednesday. Extending current tax rates “was vital from the standpoint of tax predictability.”
It’s predictable now that those tax rates, even for the wealthy, won’t bump up when this extension runs out in two years.
...Hagan, who said she couldn’t stomach further tax breaks for millionaires, allowed that she supported extending tax cuts for the middle class. But, added up, the total cost was unacceptable, she said Tuesday.
She also noted the recent report issued by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson’s deficit-reduction commission. It’s time for Congress to stop making “empty promises” about deficit reduction. “We can’t put this burden on our children,” Hagan said.
She’s right.
Congress can always find reasons to justify deficit spending — if it ignores serious warnings.
Credit agency Moody’s, for example, said that “unless Congress gets its act together, it could see a once unthinkable downgrade of the U.S. credit rating on its watch, which could balloon U.S. borrowing costs and make our financing position much more costly,” Fortune reported Tuesday.
“We can’t keep borrowing from the Chinese,” Hagan said.
Obama and most members of Congress apparently wanted a deal at any price, and that’s what they got.
But, added to the debt already run up over the years, it may be more than the country and future taxpayers can afford. Washington has got to start putting its finances in order.
Hagan’s record isn’t impeccable — she’s requested hundreds of earmarks for North Carolina projects in the 2011 budget, the Civitas Institute reports — but she’s taking a stand now.
Unless more senators do the same, the country’s bills will bury it."
Greensboro News & Record's Editorial Board
If some lose their whole fortunes,
they will drag many more down with them.
…the whole system of credit and finance…here at Rome
…is inextricably bound up with the revenues of the Asiatic province.
If those revenues are destroyed,
our whole system of credit will come down with a crash.
…The national budget must be balanced.
The public debt must be reduced.
The arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled.
Payments to foreign governments must be reduced
if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt.
People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman Constitutionalist
they will drag many more down with them.
…the whole system of credit and finance…here at Rome
…is inextricably bound up with the revenues of the Asiatic province.
If those revenues are destroyed,
our whole system of credit will come down with a crash.
…The national budget must be balanced.
The public debt must be reduced.
The arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled.
Payments to foreign governments must be reduced
if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt.
People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman Constitutionalist
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