A RECAP OF THIS WEEK'S TOP GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC ...

Oleh:

September 10, 2012

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This week the House and Senate were out of session. ?Both Chambers return Monday for what is expected to be just two weeks of session before breaking for the election. ?This week the House is likely to consider the ?FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012? (H.R. 5949), the ?Federal Emergency Management Agency Reauthorization Act of 2011? (H.R. 2903), the ?Federal Housing Administration Fiscal Solvency Act of 2012? (H.R. 4264), and the ?Government Spending Accountability Act of 2012? (H.R. 4631). ?The Senate will consider the ?Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012? (S. 3457).

FINANCIAL SERVICES
SEC RESCHEDULES DATE OF MARKET TECHNOLOGY ROUNDTABLE

The Securities and Exchange Commission has rescheduled the Market Technology Roundtable to Oct. 2. The change was made to accommodate scheduling conflicts and to better respond to strong interest from individuals and groups wishing to participate in the roundtable discussion.

The roundtable at the SEC?s Washington, D.C. headquarters is open to the public and will be webcast. As previously announced, the event will begin with a discussion on preventing errors, focusing on current best practices and practical constraints for creating, deploying, and operating mission-critical systems, including those used to automatically generate and route orders, match trades, confirm transactions, and disseminate data. The afternoon session will focus on error response, with experts discussing how the market might employ independent filters, objective tests, and other real-time processes or crisis-management procedures to detect, limit, and possibly terminate erroneous market activities when they occur, thereby limiting the impact of such errors. ?Invitations to participate in the panels have not been sent out but are expected in coming weeks.

A link to the detailed schedule can be found here<http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2012/2012-182.htm>.

TAXES

Each party outlined the specifics of their Convention Platforms during the past two weeks. ?With respect to taxes, although both of the platforms contain principles for tax reform, the Democratic position makes clear that the party will continue to push for tax breaks for companies that insource jobs, while eliminating tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas. On the other hand, the Republican position is quite broad in its outlay for tax reform, though some were surprised that the platform did not contain support for energy legislation. The main tax principles contained within the two platforms are outlined below.

The Republican Platform<http://www.gop.com/2012-republican-platform_home/>:

* ????????Extend the 2001/2003 Bush Tax Cuts for all income levels

* ????????Simplify and reform the tax code so that it promotes coherence, savings and innovation and increases American competitiveness

* ????????Reform the tax code by reducing marginal tax rates by 20% across-the-board in a revenue-neutral manner

* ????????Eliminate the taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains altogether for lower and middle-income taxpayers

* ????????Repeal the estate tax

* ????????Repeal the individual and corporate Alternative Minimum Tax

* ????????Reduce the corporate tax rate

* ????????Make the research and development tax credit permanent

* ????????Switch to a territorial system of corporate taxation so that profits earned and taxed abroad may be repatriated for job-creating investment in the United States without additional penalty

* ????????Religious organizations, charities and fraternal benevolent societies should not be subject to taxation and donations to them should continue to be tax deductible

* ????????Any restructuring of federal taxation such as a value added tax or national sales tax must be tied to the simultaneous repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment, which established the federal income tax

* ????????Amend the U.S. Constitution to require a super-majority for any tax increase, with exceptions for only war and national emergencies, and imposing a cap limiting spending to the historical average percentage of GDP so that future Congresses cannot balance the budget by raising taxes

* ????????Modernize Medicaid by block-granting the program to the States, and providing states with the flexibility to design programs that meet the needs of their low income citizens by for example a refundable tax credit that allows non-disabled adults and children to be moved into private health insurance of their choice

* ????????Preserve the mortgage interest deduction if tax reform does not occur (but no similar statement if tax reform is included)

* ????????Equalize the tax treatment of group and individual health insurance plans while restoring cuts to Medicare, simplifying the health care system, increasing health care choice and containing costs

* ????????Simplify the paper work required for a tax break for hiring a veteran and by giving vets their assured place at the head of the employment line

* ????????Fundamental principles: they oppose retroactive taxation and tax policies that divide Americans or promote class warfare

The Democratic Platform<http://www.democrats.org/democratic-national-platform>:

* ????????Extend the 2001/2003 Bush Tax Cuts for individuals who earn $200,000 or less and families that earn $250,000 or less while allowing tax cuts for those who earn greater than $250,000 to expire

* ????????Create a ?fairer and simpler? code that lives up to the Buffet Rule

* ????????Continue the ?American Jobs Act? including payroll tax relief, tax credits for businesses that hire veterans, and an extension of unemployment insurance

* ????????Continue double investment in Pell Grant scholarships and the American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college

* ????????Close loopholes and deductions for the largest corporations

* ????????Lowering corporate tax rates for companies in the United States with additional relief for those locating manufacturing and research and development in the United States, while closing loopholes and reducing incentives for corporations to shift jobs overseas

* ????????Cut tax subsidies for Big Oil while promoting job growth in the clean energy sector

* ????????Tax relief for clean energy manufacturing

* ????????Cut tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs and offer tax breaks to companies that insource jobs and invest in the United States

* ????????Expand and make permanent the Research and Development Tax Credit

* ????????Grow the Small Business Jobs Act in 2014 to provide tax cuts for small businesses that make new investments, hire more workers, or increases wages

* ????????End taxpayer-funded bank bailouts and the era of ?too big to fail?

* ????????Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

* ????????Improve the refundable tax credits for low-income families to encourage work and education

Senate Finance Committee Tax Extenders Bill Could Come to the SENATE Floor in September

* ????????Before August recess, the Senate Finance Committee considered and reported out the ?Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012? (S. 3521,) a bill that specifies which individual and business extenders the Committee supports temporarily extending through 2013. .

* ????????At the end of August, the Senate Finance Committee issued a bill report<http://www.finance.senate.gov/legislation/download/?id=9c934f45-739f-41c1-a814-cb09f2f42ccf> on the legislation that included the legislative language<http://www.finance.senate.gov/legislation/download/?id=87d83dcd-f847-44a5-bc99-c9f78699568c> and an updated revenue score<http://www.finance.senate.gov/legislation/download/?id=e4636791-394f-4f61-adbc-5e3da7bdf17d>.* ????????The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released its initial score<https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4479> of the estimated revenue effects of this legislation and scored it as costing $151 billion (over ten years) on August 1.

* ????????However, in a modified draft of the legislation, the Committee made several changes to extenders provisions, most significantly by expanding alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief to include some relief for 2013. Primarily because of the expanded AMT relief, the JCT issued a second score<https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4484> of the legislation which estimates that the bill will cost $205 billion over a ten year period.

* ????????On August 30, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its cost estimate<http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/08-31-FamilyBusinessTaxCut.pdf> of S. 3521 and found that ?[o]ver 60 percent of that revenue reduction would arise from a two-year extension of relief from the individual AMT.?

* ????????The Senate could hold a procedural vote on S. 3521 in September when Congress resumes, yet because of the approaching election, it seems very unlikely that there will be substantive progress until after early November.

* ????????Senior House Members have suggested that the House will not consider an extenders bill until after the election.

COMING UP

Customer Protections, Swaps Regulations: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold an open meeting<http://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/pr6344-12> September 12th to consider: (1) proposed rules on ?Enhancing Customer Protections and Customer Funds Held by Futures Commission Merchants? (FCMs); and (2) final rules on ?Adaptation of Existing Regulations to Incorporate Swaps.?

Financial Services Legislative Markup: The House Financial Services Committee announced a markup to be held on September 12th of the following legislation:

* ????????Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 2827<http://financialservices.house.gov/UploadedFiles/BILLS-112-HR2827-D000613-Amdt-1.pdf>, To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to clarify provisions relating to the regulation of municipal advisors, and for other purposes.

* ????????H.R. _____<http://financialservices.house.gov/UploadedFiles/BILLS-112-VVHR.pdf>, The Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2012

Cybersecurity and Communications: The House Homeland Security Committee?s Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing entitled: ?Resilient Communications: Current Challenges and Future Advancements.?

JOBS Act Implementation: The House Financial Services Committee?s Capital Markets Subcommittee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee?s Subcommittee on TARP and Financial Services will hold a joint hearing September 13th at 10am on the implementation of the ?Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act? (JOBS Act) (P.L. 112-106.) ?Witnesses have not yet been announced.

Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Capital Gains ? DATE TBD: The Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee will hold a joint hearing on proposals relating to the taxation of capital gains as a part of a broader overhaul of the tax system. Scheduled witnesses include David H. Brockway, partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP; Lawrence B. Lindsey, president and CEO, The Lindsey Group; Leonard E. Burman, professor of public affairs, Maxwell School, Syracuse University; and David L. Verrill, founder, Hub Angels Investment Group LLC, Cambridge, Mass.

Source: http://washingtonandwall.com/archives/287

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