Summit Theatrics

Feb 24, 2010 — Politico

Martin Kady II

TOYOTA, DAY II: The Toyota hearings hit a higher gear today with the testimony of CEO Akio Toyoda. POLITICO’s Jake Sherman reports that Day I of the hearings only caused more confusion: “Toyota hit Capitol Hill on Tuesday hoping to provide answers, but the auto giant created more confusion in a grueling day of contradictory testimony that seemed to leave lawmakers befuddled and angry.

“An engineer from Illinois told an Energy and Commerce subcommittee that electronics may be to blame for the automaker’s rapid-acceleration problems. A Toyota executive said the cause was sticky pedals and floor mats. The transportation secretary said he believed Toyota’s reasoning but would investigate potential problems with electronics. In the end, the top U.S. executive for Toyota said the recalls might not even solve the rapid-acceleration problems.”

FINANCIAL REFORM DEAL? The Bob Corker-Chris Dodd pairing seems to be working out quite well so far – even though some Senate Republicans weren’t happy that Corker decided to actually work with a Democrat. WaPo’s Steve Pearlstein writes in his column: “By early next week, look for [Dodd and Corker] to unveil a creative bipartisan proposal that will hit all the right notes … The [CFPA] compromise hammered out between Dodd and Corker would establish a single regulator of federally chartered banks with a dual mission and an independent source of funding, based on my conversations with several key players. One division would promulgate and enforce rules to protect consumers; the other would fulfill the traditional role of supervising banks for safety and soundness.”

NO VOLCKER RULE: Along with the consumer protection agency, the Volcker rule is probably dead as well. Damien Paletta in The Wall Street Journal: “Key senators are expected to scrap President Barack Obama's proposal to prohibit commercial banks from certain risky trading activities, people familiar with the matter said, a setback for the administration's bid to limit the size and scope of the largest U.S. banks.

"The proposal, dubbed the "Volcker rule" after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, would have essentially prevented any commercial bank with federally insured deposits from owning a division that makes speculative bets with its own capital.

JOBS BILL BLUEPRINT: The modest Senate jobs bill could be a sign of bipartisan cooperation. Ben Pershing in The Washington Post: “The Senate headed toward passage Wednesday morning of a $15 billion jobs bill amid hope that the measure could provide a blueprint for other items on President Obama's agenda.

“The legislation is the first element of what Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has said will be a multipart "jobs agenda." The measure includes a new program that would give companies a break from paying Social Security taxes on new employees for the remainder of 2010. It also carries a one-year extension of the Highway Trust Fund, an expansion of the Build America Bonds program and a provision to allow companies to write off equipment purchases. The next stop is the House, where Democratic leaders are weighing whether to pass the Senate version or go to conference to reconcile it with the $154 billion jobs bill the House passed in December.”

HOUSE COOL ON SENATE VERSION: CongressDaily reports significant hesitance in the House on the jobs bill: “House and Senate Democrats still appear to be working off different song sheets as they try to address unemployment.

“House Democrats want to pay for major spending on infrastructure and other job-creation measures with a new tax on the largest financial institutions, while the White House wants to preserve the tax for deficit reduction. A skeptical Senate might not even go along with a bank tax at all. The Senate is struggling just to renew tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired last year, let alone costly new initiatives. And as the White House presses ahead with its healthcare reform bill, they've included offsets senators had hoped to use to pay for spending and tax breaks intended to spur the economy.”

HILL OSHA VIOLATIONS: Congressional offices don’t seem to follow OSHA rules very closely, as Jordy Yager reports in The Hill: “More than 70 percent of congressional offices have violated worker safety standards over the past year.

“While the majority of all lawmaker offices on Capitol Hill have at least one health or safety hazard violation, this year’s inspection data from the Office of Compliance inspections is an improvement over last year’s. The number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations found in each office has significantly decreased over the years as well — from an average of about 8.15 violations per office in 2007 to an average of 1.75 hazards in each office this year. The type of violations is also shifting, from what used to be gross safety risks to what are now relatively minor infractions, like lengths of electric cord strung together or a blocked electrical outlet.”

BLANCHE’S TROUBLES: Blanche Lincoln not only trails Republican candidates by double digits, she’s got problems on her left flank now. John McArdle in CQ-Roll Call: “Just days before she files for the toughest race of her political career, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been working to smooth over frayed relations with some African-American leaders in Arkansas over the prickly issue of federal court appointments.

“But it appears those efforts have fallen flat in recent days. Lincoln already faces an uphill battle to win a third term this fall, and if her support lags among black voters — who have historically been one of her most loyal constituencies — her re-election prospects could be further in peril. But a more immediate concern for Lincoln could be the state’s May primary, since national progressive groups are hard at work trying to entice Lt. Gov. Bill Halter to challenge the moderate senator. Black voters account for a sizable chunk of the primary electorate in a state where the overall black population is 15.5 percent, and it appears Halter may be courting the support of key community leaders.”

THE C STREET ‘CHURCH’: A group of ministers wants the now-infamous Capitol Hill house to lose its tax exempt status. Laurie Goodstein in the NYT: “A group of ministers has sent a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service saying that a town house on Capitol Hill that provides inexpensive lodging and meals for conservative Christian members of Congress is not a church and should no longer be granted the tax-exempt status afforded a house of worship.

“The town house, known as the C Street Center, received a jolt of notoriety last year after Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina said he had sought spiritual counseling there in connection with his affair with an Argentine woman. The residence has been home to two other legislators who espoused conservative family values but were recently tarnished, Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, who admitted to an affair with an aide, and former Representative Charles W. Pickering Jr., Republican of Mississippi, who faced accusations of an extramarital affair.

“We are concerned that an exclusive residential club for powerful officials may be masquerading as a church,” said the letter to the I.R.S., which was signed by 13 mainline Protestant ministers, many with the United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ and all of them in Ohio. “Any time an organization uses church status as part of a tax avoidance scheme, it poses a threat to the integrity of religious institutions everywhere.”

WJLA WASHINGTON WEATHER: A Winter Storm Watch goes into effect tonight for an area from Frederick, Maryland to Loudoun and Prince William, Virginia to Charles and St Marys Counties in Maryland and areas north and east. An area of low pressure will track through the southern Gulf States before redeveloping off the east coast tonight. It will rapidly intensify and move over Long Island through the day on Thursday. As it passes to our east tonight through Thursday, there is the potential for some minor accumulations of snowfall, 1 to 3 inches, particularly DC and eastward.

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