Oberstar Oil Spill Liability Bill Clears Committee
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Washington DC – Sweeping legislation to prevent future oil spills and hold oil companies like BP accountable passed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today by a wide bipartisan margin. The legislation introduced by Congressman Jim Oberstar, who chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, eliminates the $75 million liability cap and holds oil companies 100 percent responsible for the costs of cleaning up oil spill damage. The Oil Spill Accountability and Environmental Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 5629) also makes a series of reforms to prevent future oil spills.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 6:20 PM, updated July 2, 2010
House Bill Reforms Wall Street and Ends “Too Big to Fail” Banking
Washington DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to rein in Wall Street, end taxpayer bailouts of big banks, and create a consumer financial protection bureau to act on behalf of consumers.
“We are putting an end to the era of abuses by banks that are too big to fail,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar. “The Wall Street financial crisis has cost the American people 8 million jobs and $17 trillion in retirement savings and net worth.”
The Wall Street reform legislation is designed to prevent the risky financial practices that led to the financial meltdown. “Banks were making loans to people who could not afford to pay them back, and then selling those loans before they could go bad; eventually, the whole house of cards fell down, and the U.S. taxpayer was left to clean the mess,” said Oberstar. “This bill creates clear, common sense rules that will prevent future economic meltdowns.”
The bill ends the principle of “too big to fail” and creates a process to shut down large, failing firms whose collapse would put the entire economy at risk. After exhausting all of the bank’s assets, additional costs would be covered by a “dissolution fund,” to which all large financial firms would contribute.
This legislation also establishes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a watchdog agency to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial practices. This independent bureau will provide clear and accurate information to families and small businesses to ensure that bank loans, mortgages, and credit cards are fair and affordable. Just like the FDA does for medical safety, the CFPB will set safety standards to prevent practices such as hidden credit card fees, deceptive “fine print,” and other financial abuses that have escaped oversight so far.
“A credit card company shouldn’t be allowed to bury unreasonable fees in 30 pages of fine print, or send you a bill the day before it’s due so they can collect a late fee,” said Oberstar. “This bill puts a cop on the beat to protect working families from unscrupulous finance companies.”
The Wall Street reform bill has been called the “strongest set of Wall Street reforms in three generations” by Elizabeth Warren, chair of the nonpartisan Congressional Oversight Panel, and has been endorsed by the AARP, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Council of Institutional Investors, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Restaurant Association, Public Citizen, SEIU, and US PIRG, among other organizations. The bill was publicly debated for more than 50 hours and includes over 70 Republican and bipartisan amendments.
_______
House Passes Bill to Keep Big Corporations Out of U.S. Elections
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation that will rein in the influence of special interest groups and big corporations over the election process. The bipartisan DISCLOSE Act reverses a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that gives big corporations the right to contribute directly to candidates and buy political advertising. It also requires groups who are formed to campaign against candidates and issues to fully disclose who their donors are.
“The American people have the right to know who is flooding the airwaves with political attack ads during a campaign,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar.
The DISCLOSE Act requires corporations, organizations, and special interest groups to clearly label the ads they purchase, just like a candidate for office does. It will stop Wall Street, Big Oil, and U.S. corporations controlled by foreign – or even hostile – governments from secretly manipulating elections by funneling money to fly-by-night front groups that run last minute attack ads and other anonymous election advertisements.
“Without this protection a company like BP could campaign against members of Congress for ensuring they clean up the spill in the Gulf,” said Oberstar.
CEOs will need to identify themselves in their advertisements, and corporations and organizations will be required to disclose their political expenditures. The bill also prohibits entities that receive taxpayer money – such as large government contractors and corporations receiving TARP funds – from turning around and spending that money to influence elections.
“This is common sense election reform and I’m sorry to see that only two Republicans joined with us to pass this bill,” said Oberstar. “Clean, transparent elections benefit all Americans - this shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”
The DISCLOSE Act has strong support from the campaign finance reform community and has been endorsed by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Democracy 21, among many other organizations.
_____________
House Passes Small Business Jobs and Credit Act
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to strengthen small businesses and create jobs. The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act will leverage $300 billion in lending and offers tax incentives to help America’s small businesses grow. The legislation is fully paid for and will save taxpayers $1 billion over the next ten years.
“In the past 15 years, Minnesota’s 450,000 small businesses have created over two thirds of all the new employment in our state,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar. “Ensuring that small businesses have access to credit is one of the single most important things Congress can do to create jobs.”
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act will help small businesses by establishing a new $30 billion lending fund which will leverage up to ten times as much additional private lending activity. Tough performance-based incentives and safeguards are built in to ensure that funds go to small business that will spur job creation. The legislation will also provide tax relief by lowering capital gains taxes on small business investments, and increasing tax deductions for entrepreneurs who are starting up new small business ventures.
“We need to ensure that Americans who are willing to invest their own hard work and savings in a small business have every opportunity to succeed,” said Oberstar. “Ensuring that Main Street businesses can grow and create new jobs is a vital part of our economic recovery.”
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act has been endorsed by a variety of organizations, including the National Small Business Association, the Small Business Majority, the National Association of Realtors, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
________________________
I cannot resist observing that some of our Congressional Representatives from Minnesota actually attend their committee meetings, propose legislation and amendments that are accepted and which make a serious contribution, and do not miss important votes --- unlike Michele Bachmann.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Washington DC – Sweeping legislation to prevent future oil spills and hold oil companies like BP accountable passed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today by a wide bipartisan margin. The legislation introduced by Congressman Jim Oberstar, who chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, eliminates the $75 million liability cap and holds oil companies 100 percent responsible for the costs of cleaning up oil spill damage. The Oil Spill Accountability and Environmental Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 5629) also makes a series of reforms to prevent future oil spills.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 6:20 PM, updated July 2, 2010
House Bill Reforms Wall Street and Ends “Too Big to Fail” Banking
Washington DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to rein in Wall Street, end taxpayer bailouts of big banks, and create a consumer financial protection bureau to act on behalf of consumers.
“We are putting an end to the era of abuses by banks that are too big to fail,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar. “The Wall Street financial crisis has cost the American people 8 million jobs and $17 trillion in retirement savings and net worth.”
The Wall Street reform legislation is designed to prevent the risky financial practices that led to the financial meltdown. “Banks were making loans to people who could not afford to pay them back, and then selling those loans before they could go bad; eventually, the whole house of cards fell down, and the U.S. taxpayer was left to clean the mess,” said Oberstar. “This bill creates clear, common sense rules that will prevent future economic meltdowns.”
The bill ends the principle of “too big to fail” and creates a process to shut down large, failing firms whose collapse would put the entire economy at risk. After exhausting all of the bank’s assets, additional costs would be covered by a “dissolution fund,” to which all large financial firms would contribute.
This legislation also establishes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a watchdog agency to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial practices. This independent bureau will provide clear and accurate information to families and small businesses to ensure that bank loans, mortgages, and credit cards are fair and affordable. Just like the FDA does for medical safety, the CFPB will set safety standards to prevent practices such as hidden credit card fees, deceptive “fine print,” and other financial abuses that have escaped oversight so far.
“A credit card company shouldn’t be allowed to bury unreasonable fees in 30 pages of fine print, or send you a bill the day before it’s due so they can collect a late fee,” said Oberstar. “This bill puts a cop on the beat to protect working families from unscrupulous finance companies.”
The Wall Street reform bill has been called the “strongest set of Wall Street reforms in three generations” by Elizabeth Warren, chair of the nonpartisan Congressional Oversight Panel, and has been endorsed by the AARP, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Council of Institutional Investors, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Restaurant Association, Public Citizen, SEIU, and US PIRG, among other organizations. The bill was publicly debated for more than 50 hours and includes over 70 Republican and bipartisan amendments.
_______
House Passes Bill to Keep Big Corporations Out of U.S. Elections
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation that will rein in the influence of special interest groups and big corporations over the election process. The bipartisan DISCLOSE Act reverses a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that gives big corporations the right to contribute directly to candidates and buy political advertising. It also requires groups who are formed to campaign against candidates and issues to fully disclose who their donors are.
“The American people have the right to know who is flooding the airwaves with political attack ads during a campaign,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar.
The DISCLOSE Act requires corporations, organizations, and special interest groups to clearly label the ads they purchase, just like a candidate for office does. It will stop Wall Street, Big Oil, and U.S. corporations controlled by foreign – or even hostile – governments from secretly manipulating elections by funneling money to fly-by-night front groups that run last minute attack ads and other anonymous election advertisements.
“Without this protection a company like BP could campaign against members of Congress for ensuring they clean up the spill in the Gulf,” said Oberstar.
CEOs will need to identify themselves in their advertisements, and corporations and organizations will be required to disclose their political expenditures. The bill also prohibits entities that receive taxpayer money – such as large government contractors and corporations receiving TARP funds – from turning around and spending that money to influence elections.
“This is common sense election reform and I’m sorry to see that only two Republicans joined with us to pass this bill,” said Oberstar. “Clean, transparent elections benefit all Americans - this shouldn’t be a partisan issue.”
The DISCLOSE Act has strong support from the campaign finance reform community and has been endorsed by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Democracy 21, among many other organizations.
_____________
House Passes Small Business Jobs and Credit Act
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to strengthen small businesses and create jobs. The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act will leverage $300 billion in lending and offers tax incentives to help America’s small businesses grow. The legislation is fully paid for and will save taxpayers $1 billion over the next ten years.
“In the past 15 years, Minnesota’s 450,000 small businesses have created over two thirds of all the new employment in our state,” said Congressman Jim Oberstar. “Ensuring that small businesses have access to credit is one of the single most important things Congress can do to create jobs.”
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act will help small businesses by establishing a new $30 billion lending fund which will leverage up to ten times as much additional private lending activity. Tough performance-based incentives and safeguards are built in to ensure that funds go to small business that will spur job creation. The legislation will also provide tax relief by lowering capital gains taxes on small business investments, and increasing tax deductions for entrepreneurs who are starting up new small business ventures.
“We need to ensure that Americans who are willing to invest their own hard work and savings in a small business have every opportunity to succeed,” said Oberstar. “Ensuring that Main Street businesses can grow and create new jobs is a vital part of our economic recovery.”
The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act has been endorsed by a variety of organizations, including the National Small Business Association, the Small Business Majority, the National Association of Realtors, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
________________________
I cannot resist observing that some of our Congressional Representatives from Minnesota actually attend their committee meetings, propose legislation and amendments that are accepted and which make a serious contribution, and do not miss important votes --- unlike Michele Bachmann.
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