Just When you Thought Your Wallet Was Safe . . .
In addition to considering the Senate Amendment to HR 1586 (the bill containing the $26B “stimulus”), the House will also consider a privileged resolution offered by Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) to pre-empt a lame duck session. The resolution against Lame-Duck passing of big legislation will put Democrats on the record on a tough issue heading into the August recess. The findings in the legislation are quite the condemnation of the 111th Congress’ tactics and the bill is described as “Pledging not to assemble on or between the dates of November 2, 2010 and January 3, 2011, except in the case of an unforeseen, sudden emergency requiring immediate action from Congress. Full text can be found here.
Why are they coming back? The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) pushed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to call back the House for the vote on the aid to teacher unions and state governments.
AFSCME even sent out a memo to K Street that “[t]he House must pass this bill with no changes as soon as possible. … Please call offices of allies 
and those who had deficit concerns with the tax extender bill.”
The bill is paid for with deep cuts to the food-stamp program. According to the Washington Independent:
SNAP benefits face a $11.9 billion rollback starting in April, 2014. A family of three can expect their benefits to drop about $50 a month. Never before have congressional policies actually created a month-to-month cut in food stamps.
The Hill reports that on Wednesday President Obama went to the AFL-CIO’s executive council begging that the union support Democratic Members and promising more goodies if the Democrats remain in power.
How powerful have the unions been in favor of Democrats politically? Last year the American Institute for Economic Research found
“Since 1990, labor unions have contributed over $667 million in election campaigns in the United States, of which $614 million or 92 percent went to support Democratic candidates. In 2008, unions spent $74.5 million in campaign contributions, with $68.3 million going to the Democratic Party.
In the $787 billion stimulus spending bill passed in February, $90 billion has been earmarked to help cover the tax shortfalls in state and local government budgets due to the economic recession. Most of this money will be used to maintain or increase jobs at these levels of government, since those in political office are apparently unwilling to reduce expenditures and cut public payrolls in the face of decreased tax revenues.
This is no doubt related to $38 million dollars that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union has contributed to Democratic Party campaigns since 1990, with nearly $2.6 million being given during the 2008 election. Public sector unions as a whole have given around $160 million to Democratic candidates between 1990 and 2008, with donations of $6 million in 2008.”
Opensecrets.org in May of this year reported:
“Two major unions plan to spend $100 million to influence the upcoming elections, The Hill reports. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) intends to invest $67 million and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will spend $44 million. These figures do not include expenditures by other major unions that typically have a heavy presence in electoral politics, most notably the AFL-CIO. Along with several other unions, both AFSCME and SEIU are among the top ten donors to federal campaigns and party committees since 1989, AFSCME barely being edged out by AT&T for the top spot. The two unions have given a combined $70.8 million since 1989, with over 97 percent going to Democrats. The bulk of the $100 million figure will be spent on television, direct mail advertising and get out the vote efforts.”
Just so It Isn’t a Total Waste of Time
This week Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop 8 violates the U.S. Constitution. If this decision holds, it would not only override the will of 7 million California voters, but could also eliminate the right of any state to determine the definition of marriage.
In response, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith will introduce a resolution condemning the decision as soon as the House comes back in session (which will reportedly be on Monday).
The speaker decides a bailout for state governments and teacher unions is important – but not marriage
Squishy Fatal Five
Yesterday Elena Kagan was confirmed to serve on the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 63-37. The Republicans who supported Ms. Kagan were: Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine.
This, as you might have noted, is quite a difference from even the most recent confirmation of Justice Sotomayor which was 68-31.
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) joined 36 Republicans in voting no.
