Issa to business: Tell me what to fix (the anti-regulation pro-jobs man when jobs is code for profit and regulation is code for environment and justice)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wants the oil industry, drug manufacturers and other trade groups and companies to tell him which Obama administration regulations to target this year. The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee - in letters sent to more than 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks last month - requested a list of existing and proposed regulations that would harm job growth. "It was a broad net that we cast," Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said. Bardella did not have a complete list of groups that received an inquiry from Issa or their responses. But a partial list obtained by POLITICO includes ones sent Dec. 13 to Duke Energy, the Association of American Railroads, FMC Corp., Toyota and Bayer. Others receiving inquiries from Issa over the course of the month included the American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) and entities representing health care and telecommunication providers. The goal is to investigate the Obama administration's promise through the 2009 economicstimulus bill and other measures to create jobs, which "has gone unfilled, I guess is the nicest way to put it," Bardella said.

Rep. Issa to Big Business: What Regulations Should GOP Fight?

In news from Capitol Hill, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has asked the oil industry, drug manufacturers, healthcare providers and telecom firms to tell him which government regulations he should target this year as the new chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. According to Politico, Issa has sent letters to more than 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks last month requesting a list of existing and proposed regulations that would harm job growth. At least two recipients of Issa’s letter — the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association — complained about new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for greenhouse gas emissions for major polluters that went into effect Sunday.

LOOKING OUT FOR WALL STREET:

"To appease these Republicans, the conference committee yesterday agreed to eliminate the bank tax and "bring an early end to the Troubled Asset Relief Program," which would free up about $11 billion to pay for the bill. Every single Republican on the committee voted against this measure, instead opting to add to the deficit and put taxpayers on the hook for the legislation" 

On Friday, the conference committee reconciling the House and Senate versions of financial regulatory reform legislation approved final language (along a party-line vote) after a marathon 20-hour negotiating session. Lawmakers made a flurry of changes, including the addition of an exemption to the Volcker rule -- a ban on banks trading for their own benefit with federally insured dollars -- added at the behest of Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), and a weakening of Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-AR) provision requiring banks to spin-off their derivatives trading desks. However, the final bill retained Lincoln's language requiring exchanges and clearinghouses for derivatives, as well as a provision that compels banks to hold more capital against losses. Unfortunately, Republicans decided they were not yet done making changes. Yesterday, negotiators had to briefly reopen conference proceedings "after Senate Republicans who had supported an earlier version of the measure threatened to block final approval unless Democrats removed a proposed tax on big banks and hedge funds." Maine GOP Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe had announced that they would be joining Brown -- whose campaign received heavy support from Wall Street -- in voting against the reform bill because it imposes a $19 billion fee on the biggest financial firms to cover the cost of the law's implementation. But as Mother Jones' Kevin Drum noted, the bank fee is "not there to punish banks or to create a slush fund for new spending. It's there solely to make the bill deficit neutral." Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) challenged the Republican hold-outs to find some other way to pay for the bill. "Do they want to add to the deficit?" he asked, calling these peacocks out on their deficit hypocrisy. "Is there another way? What's their other way?" To appease these Republicans, the conference committee yesterday agreed to eliminate the bank tax and "bring an early end to the Troubled Asset Relief Program," which would free up about $11 billion to pay for the bill. Every single Republican on the committee voted against this measure, instead opting to add to the deficit and put taxpayers on the hook for the legislation.

News?

1. House Approves Financial Regulation Overhaul
2. GOP Continues Senate Filibuster of Unemployment Benefits
3. Senate Panel Votes to Remove Spill Liability Cap
4. BP Fined $5.2M for False Reporting on Colorado Leases
5. House Panel Votes to Undo Cuba Trade, Travel Restrictions
6. Puerto Rican Police Quash Protest at State Capitol
7. Israeli Peace Group Calls for New Flotilla Probe
8. Study: Media Stopped Calling Waterboarding "Torture" Following Its Disclosure as Routine U.S. Practice
9. ACLU Sues U.S. over No-Fly List