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 RotorNews
Go to the My Rotor.com page for information on receiving RotorNews by e-mail and contributing news stories including press releases online. To view stories online in a particular category, click one of the following links: Advisory Circulars, Affiliate,  Airworthiness Directives, Government, HAI Happenings, Helicopters Saving Lives, Industry Press Releases, Legislative, Maintenance Update (members only), Operations Update (members only), Preliminary Accident Reports (members only), Safety, and Security.   

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 Legislative News
    
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IMMIGRATION UPDATE
Monday, June 22, 2009 (340 reads)Legislative News

A planned White House meeting to discuss immigration has already been postponed twice, and HAI has now learned the White House is expected to hold the highly anticipated meeting Thursday to discuss the prospects of overhauling the nation's immigration laws and giving millions of undocumented workers in the country some legal status.



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HEALTHCARE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Monday, June 22, 2009 (142 reads)Legislative News

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will continue amending its 600-page healthcare overhaul this week. The committee, which has been meeting since last Wednesday to make changes to the bill, is expected to reconvene this afternoon, Monday June 22.



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Senate Cloture Vote Today on Tourism Bill
Monday, June 22, 2009 (170 reads)Legislative News

Senators failed to agree last week on amendments to the tourism-promotion bill (S. 1023) being pushed by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada).  Reid has now said he wants to limit debate on the bill with a cloture vote possibly scheduled for later today, Monday, June 22. Reid said he hoped to avoid the cloture vote by reaching an agreement on amendments with Republicans.



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The Elections Are Over: What's Ahead in Congress and Likely to Affect HAI Members
Thursday, November 06, 2008 (1024 reads)Legislative News

Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) are headed to the White House in January. Democrats have enlarged their control of the Senate and will thus gain an expanded edge on most committees, enhancing their ability to advance President-elect Barack Obama’s priorities.



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Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Signs Contract for Three AW139 Helicopters Plus Options
Friday, October 31, 2008 (602 reads)Legislative News

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has signed a contract for three AW139 medium twin engine helicopters plus options for several additional aircraft.



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Transportation Security Administration (TSA) proposes to amend current aviation transportation security regulations
Thursday, October 30, 2008 (666 reads)Legislative News

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) proposes to amend current aviation transportation security regulations to enhance the security of general aviation by expanding the scope of current requirements and by adding new requirements for certain large aircraft operators and airports serving those aircraft.



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BREAKING NEWS: Foreclosure Warning to Hedge Fund Industry
Friday, October 24, 2008 (850 reads)Legislative News

HAI reports a group of influential House Democrats has sent a stern warning to the hedge fund industry not to stand in the way of federal efforts to curb foreclosures.



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Foreclosure Relief Legislation Coming after Election
Friday, October 24, 2008 (585 reads)Legislative News

A package of housing and lending proposal legislation will soon be forthcoming from Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), including a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures.



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Legislative Update: Faulting Federal Officials for Lax Financial Regulation
Friday, October 24, 2008 (484 reads)Legislative News

HAI continues to closely track legislative developments from Capitol Hill on the free-market views that fueled the financial crisis.



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SUPPORT FOR A SECOND STIMULUS UP TO $300 BILLION
Friday, October 24, 2008 (683 reads)Legislative News

At a hearing today, Friday, October 24 before the House Education and Labor Committee, lawmakers were told by a group of bipartisan economists that Congress should pass an economic stimulus package and include an extension of unemployment benefits and investments in infrastructure and job
training.



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Legislative Update: Guiding The Overhaul of Financial Regulations
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 (592 reads)Legislative News

HAI is reporting that House leaders will likely form a select committee to explore a rewrite of the regulatory structure that governs the financial industry.



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BREAKING NEWS: HILL LEADERS SAY FINANCIAL DEAL AT HAND
Sunday, September 28, 2008 (309 reads)Legislative News

Shortly after midnight on Saturday night, September 27, negotiators  announced they believe they have a deal on a financial rescue package, but will wait for their staffs to put it on paper before they officially sign off on it. “We should have an announcement sometime [today],” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D=Nevada), while Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said “we’ve made great progress toward a deal that will work and will be effective in the marketplace and will be effective for all Americans.”  House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), who was negotiating on behalf of House Republicans most opposed to the plan Paulson first proposed, said he also was optimistic that the deal can be closed.. HAI will continue to provide comprehensive coverage on this issue as more information becomes available.



      
Bankruptcy Experts Calling for Changes to 2006 Bankruptcy Overhaul
Saturday, September 27, 2008 (750 reads)Legislative News

Bankruptcy experts are urging changes in the 2005 overhaul of the systemto increase the survival chances of affected firms and stop favoredcreditors from leaving others in the lurch. In testimony today, Friday, September 26 before the House Judiciary Committeeexperts said that because the 2005 reform law bill exempted large pools of financial holdings from the process, the most valuable assets of a firm like Lehman Brothers "are walking out the door at the moment a bankruptcy is filed." As a result, only the "dregs" of the company's holdings are left for other creditors.



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BREAKING NEWS: House GOP Appoints New Negotiator
Saturday, September 27, 2008 (745 reads)Legislative News

The long days, late nights and tons of meetings on Capitol Hill are taking a toll as lawmakers struggle over a massive taxpayer-paid bailout plan. It hasn’t helped that President Bush and the nation’s top economic gurus have been “running around saying the sky is falling.”  Talks on a financial industry bailout appear to be on track again on Capitol Hill, with the lead Democratic negotiator predicting that there could be an agreement by Sunday.



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House Passes Economic Stimulus Package
Saturday, September 27, 2008 (310 reads)Legislative News

The U. S. House of Representatives this evening, Friday September 26, approved a $60.7 billion economic stimulus package that includes a seven-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits, a $2 6 billion increase in food stamp benefits, and $14.7 billion to help states address rising Medicaid costs. The measure passed 264-158. Earlier today, Senate Republicans blocked the chamber from taking up a $56.7 billion economic recovery package that Senate Democrats unveiled Thursday. That procedural vote fell short, 52-42, of the 60 votes needed for approval. The Senate could try to take up the House package this weekend. In a Statement of Administration Policy, the White House said President Bush would veto the bill because it would "simply increase government spending, including self-perpetuating entitlement spending by tens of billions of dollars."



      
Lawmakers Working Through Weekend and Into Next Week
Saturday, September 27, 2008 (669 reads)Legislative News

HAI reports lawmakers will not be heading home to their congressional districts this weekend and Congress will not adjourn as originally planned.  The Senate will work over the weekend and will return in the middle of next week.  There is no word yet on the House's schedule, but it is looking like  members of that chamber will be around for a while, too.  What is clear is that Republicans want substantial changes to the present draft economic bail out on the table.  There is no deal in sight.



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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Credit Card Fair Free Act
Monday, June 16, 2008 (1301 reads)Legislative News

As reported last week on HAI’s RotorNews, legislation has been introduced in Congress that would address interchange rates electronic payment networks charge merchants for processing credit card and some debit card transactions.



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Connecticut Legislature Stops Gas Tax Increase
Monday, June 16, 2008 (1157 reads)Legislative News

HAI reports Connecticut lawmakers voted last week to block a planned increase in the state’s gas tax that would have added up to 5 cents to the price of a gallon of gas.



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LEGISLATIVE CLARIFICATION: Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Law
Monday, June 16, 2008 (1117 reads)Legislative News

President Bush has signed into law, as Public Law 110-241, the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act.  Congress passed the law and the President signed it to “fix” a flaw in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) law passed in 2003.  The FACT Act required retailers to truncate credit card numbers on electronically printed receipts and eliminate expiration dates.



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Legislative Update: Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Monday, June 16, 2008 (1276 reads)Legislative News

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an extension of unemployment insurance last week.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said he would seek to bring the bill to the Senate floor “soon” by unanimous consent, but will abandon it if Republicans object.  Reid intends to add the bill’s language to the war supplemental, which could also move to the Senate floor this week.



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House Tax Plan Would Significantly Affect Small Businesses
Thursday, May 15, 2008 (935 reads)Legislative News

As reported earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on a supplemental spending bill to cover educational benefits for veterans.  Pay as you go provisions pushed by House “Blue Dogs” require the cost of those educational benefits be fully offset.  The pay-go provision being pushed by the Blue Dogs would impose a .47 percent surtax on individual incomes over $500,000 and on the married couples’ income over $1 million.



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THE ECONOMY: White House Rejects Extending Jobless Benefits, Other Aid
Friday, March 07, 2008 (1312 reads)Legislative News

Despite worsening economic indicators and demands from Democrats for new steps to reverse the situation, the White House today declined to endorse further stimulus measures.



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BUDGET UPDATE: Senate Dems Approve FY09 Budget
Friday, March 07, 2008 (1183 reads)Legislative News

Split down party lines, the Senate Budget Committee Thursday, March 6, moved its FY09 budget plan to the floor after staving off Republican efforts to rewrite key elements of the process.  By a 12-10 margin, the 23-member panel voted to approve a $3 trillion blueprint that would set the spending and taxing policies for FY09.



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Senate Passes Consumer Protection Bill
Friday, March 07, 2008 (1100 reads)Legislative News

The U. S. Senate passed landmark product safety legislation (H. R. 4040) Thursday, March 6, setting the stage for a House-Senate conference and possibly having the final version reach the White House by July. 



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Bill Creating Emergency Reconstruction Corps Expected to Pass House Wednesday
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 (1296 reads)Legislative News

The U. S. House of Representatives is expected Wednesday. March 5 to pass a bill to create a corps of experts for emergency reconstruction and development overseas. The bill (HR 1084), which the Foreign Affairs Committee approved February 27 by voice vote, would authorize the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, which the Bush administration created in 2004.


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Legislative Update: Fraud Legislation
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 (1225 reads)Legislative News

Legislation introduced last week by Senator Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, aimed at combating the practice of sending fraudulent e-mails or setting up fake Web sites to lure recipients into providing personal or financial information has garnered praise from Internet industry stakeholders, but criticism of the bill is beginning to surface.


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Senators Looking To Strike Deal On CPSC Legislation
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 (1264 reads)Legislative News

HAI reports Senators will continue to work out kinks in consumer product safety legislation over the next few days following the near-unanimous passage of cloture Monday evening. Republicans are expected to offer amendments aimed at aligning the bill with the House-passed version that has the support of industry stakeholders and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Both the House and Senate bills hand CPSC more powers and resources to oversee compliance with consumer safety laws.


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HOMELAND SECURITY UPDATE: Congress to Seek More Records Behind No-Bid Contract
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 (1460 reads)Legislative News

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is continuing to scrutinize the origins of a $39 million no-bid contract the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate gave two companies to build an electricity grid in New York City.


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Legislation to Curb Internet Fraud or Control Domain Names?
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 (1082 reads)Legislative News

Nearly everyone with a computer and access to email on the Internet has received e-mail messages where the sender poses as a legitimate business as a way to trick people into giving out personal information. Several provisions in S. 2661 introduced in the U.S. Senate last week seeking to curb identity theft known as “phishing” have sparked a fight over the Internet’s equivalent of real estate: domain names.


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Product Safety Legislation
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 (1045 reads)Legislative News

Product safety legislation faces a test on the floor of the Senate this week as some Republicans continue to raise concerns about provisions they say would hurt business. Lawmakers are looking to amend legislation (S. 2663), with concerns centering on the protection of proprietary corporate information, a whistleblower provision, and enforcement by the states.


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Homeland Security Update: Congress Asking Who is in Charge?
Monday, March 03, 2008 (1398 reads)Legislative News

The Bush Administration’s new and largely classified plan to ramp up security of government computer networks yielded more questions than answers last week at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.  Members of Congress expressed doubts about leadership, privacy, and resource allocation for achieving real-time intrusion detection.



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House Committee Approves Research, Fire Administration Bills
Monday, March 03, 2008 (1233 reads)Legislative News

Legislation (H.R. 3916, H.R. 4847) intended to bolster research at federal safety and security agencies was approved last week by the House Science Committee.  H.R. 3916 would direct the Department of Homeland Security to boost some of its research accounts and develop technologies that would allow unmanned aerial vehicles to safety operate inside U.S. airspace. 



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DHS Chemical Security Rules Update
Monday, March 03, 2008 (1294 reads)Legislative News

The House Homeland Security Committee continues to examine proposed legislation that would force chemical facilities to implement “inherently safer technologies” in their site security plans.  The legislation would make permanent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations and would also require certain high-risk facilities to take a risk-based approach to making their facilities safer, such as switching to less dangerous chemicals.



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Senators Receive Warning Against Barring Companies from Oil Leases
Monday, March 03, 2008 (1116 reads)Legislative News

The Assistant Secretary for land and minerals management at the Interior Department, C. Stephen Allred, warned Senators last week that if the courts allow oil companies to escape royalty payments unintentionally waived by the government when prices were low, the loss to the Treasury could amount to between $23 billion and $31 billion. 



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House May Pass FISA Legislation in Stages
Monday, March 03, 2008 (1418 reads)Legislative News

The White House and Congressional Republicans have ramped up their public pressure demanding that House Democratic leaders allow a vote on the Senate-passed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  Commercials on television and even President Bush in his news conference last week have repeatedly asserted that not having a new law in force is dangerous for the country.



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Senate Commerce Grills DOT Secretary Over FY09 Budget
Monday, March 03, 2008 (1119 reads)Legislative News

Senators on the Senate Commerce Committee raked Transportation Secretary Mary Peters over the coals last week at a hearing originally called to discuss her agency’s fiscal year 2009 budget.  Things quickly deteriorated, with griping over budget cuts, cuts to the essential air service program (small town flights), and the failure of the general aviation community to agree to higher user fees.



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Bush's FY09 Plan Would Only Patch AMT, Leaving Fix For Later
Friday, February 01, 2008 (1394 reads)Legislative News

HAI has learned President Bush's fiscal year 2009 (FY09) budget will not include the cost of fixing the growing alternative minimum tax (AMT) problem, proposing instead a one-year patch that will add only to this year's deficit, according to an administration official. The White House claims the budget can be balanced by 2012, a goal that would be harder to reach if the cost of a broader AMT fix is included.



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Plain Language Bill Clears House Subcommittee
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 (1420 reads)Legislative News

A bill mandating that federal agencies use plain language in commonly used forms has won approval from a House panel, though Republicans will likely push to expand the reach of the legislation as it advances.  The House Oversight and Government Reform Information Policy Subcommittee voted 3-0 on the measure, which members said will save citizens time and money by making tax, benefits and Social Security forms, grant applications and other documents shorter and more comprehensible.



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Calls For Insurance Carrier Choice In Regulation
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 (1420 reads)Legislative News

HAI reports the head of the Financial Services Roundtable has once again renewed
his difficult bid to persuade Congress to pass legislation that would allow carriers to choose whether to continue to be regulated by states or opt for supervision by a new federal agency.



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Liability Shield for Warrantless Surveillance Survives Senate Vote
Friday, January 25, 2008 (1342 reads)Legislative News

The Senate on Thursday, January 24 turned back the first big challenge to legislation including retroactive legal immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.



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Moderate Dems Supporting Some Tax Cuts For Business
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1349 reads)Legislative News

As Congress continues formulating the outline of an economic stimulus package, some business-related tax cuts have broad, bipartisan support among Democrats, particularly the moderate New Democrat and Blue Dog coalitions.  For instance, Blue Dog Congresswoman Melissa Bean, D-Illinois, will offer legislation aimed at business and job creation that Democratic leaders have expressed interest in placing in the package.



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SBA Chief Urges Business Incentives For Stimulus Package
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1348 reads)Legislative News

The Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Steve Preston lobbied this week for the approval of investment incentives for small businesses as a part of the economic stimulus package due to be worked out this week by White House officials and congressional leaders of both parties.



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Tax Rebate Checks Emerges As Sleeper Issue
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1519 reads)Legislative News

With both parties essentially set in considering one-time tax rebates as part of any economic stimulus plan, the focus has turned to their size and who is eligible -- and now how quickly they can get into the hands of consumers.  Some modest impact as a result of the 2001 tax rebates was felt, but Congressional Budget Office (CBO) officials told Senators yesterday, January 22 that checks might go out too late this year to help inject some life into the ailing economy.  That contention was based in part on difficulties the IRS would have in administering the rebates, as well as the Social Security Administration (SSA), which processes payroll tax contributions.



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Domenici Eyes Stimulus For Energy Tax Credits
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1352 reads)Legislative News

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member, Senator Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, said Tuesday, January 22 the economic stimulus package should be a vehicle to extend billions in renewable energy tax credits that expire at the end of the year.  "Tax incentives that provide for the production of renewable energy will help grow the economy by increasing jobs, lowering energy prices, and infusing much-needed capital in the markets."



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The Economic Pulse in Washington: Retailers Sell Tax Rebate
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1348 reads)Legislative News

Offering a tax rebate to workers might not be on top of the list for much of K Street (where most Washington lobbyists call home); however, the idea has picked up steam with the nation's retail lobby, which argues that such checks could help provide a boost to the economy that is increasingly driven by consumer spending.  Increased retail sales could spur related wholesale and manufacturer activity.



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ENERGY UPDATE: Renewable Energy Looks To Tax Incentives; Eyes Stimulus
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1623 reads)Legislative News

HAI reports the renewable energy industry is making a grassroots push for Congress to extend tax incentives in an economic stimulus package or other early legislation this year. Heads of the solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower industries said January 22 that tax incentives for their industries created two years ago and set to expire at the end of the year must be quickly extended to ensure continued investment.



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Lawmakers & Bush Meet as Fed Acts to Counter Market Turmoil
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (1332 reads)Legislative News

Lawmakers pressed ahead Tuesday, January 22 with plans to kickstart the ailing U.S. economy, as the Federal Reserve Board stepped in with a big interest rate cut aimed at spurring growth and stabilizing a battered stock market.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D-California), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-Nevada), and other leaders from both parties, met with President Bush at the White House to discuss a stimulus package, following up on a conference call last week.



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House Chairman Seeks to Block Oil Leases in Polar Bear Habitat
Monday, January 21, 2008 (1496 reads)Legislative News

A bill that would bar the federal government from opening up nearly 30 million acres of polar bear habitat to oil and gas drilling until the animal’s status as an endangered species is determined was introduced Thursday, January 17 in the U. S. House of Representatives.



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CONGRESSIONAL OUTLOOK: Economy Eclipses War Atop '08 Agenda
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 (1387 reads)Legislative News

After dominating the legislative agenda for most of last year, the Iraq war is taking a backseat to the economy at the start of the election year, but congressional leaders insist the war remains on the radar and cannot be ignored.



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Democrats Begin Crafting Stimulus Package
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 (1408 reads)Legislative News

House Democrats are crafting a "timely, targeted and temporary" response to a possible recession.  As much as $120 billion in spending and tax proposals are under consideration. Spending components could be designated as an "emergency" and not require offsets, noting that for any package to be effective it should be approved by "early April at the latest."



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Congress Faces Familiar Problems in New Year on Plethora of Tax Questions
Monday, January 14, 2008 (1549 reads)Legislative News

Congressional tax writers return in 2008 to tackle two of the same issues they struggled with in 2007: the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and expiring tax provisions.  And, as in 2007, the form and timing of significant tax legislation will be shaped by the pay-as-you-go budget rules that forced tough, divisive fights on revenue-raising offsets.



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Economic Stimulus Proposals Divide Democrats
Monday, January 14, 2008 (1516 reads)Legislative News

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) face a split in their party’s ranks over the best medicine for a tired economy: tax cuts or more spending.  Liberal Democrats, committee chairmen, and appropriators want to boost spending on traditional Democratic priorities such as infrastructure and heating oil subsidies. Moderate Democrats would prefer to spur consumer spending and job creation with new tax breaks for middle-class families and businesses.



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