OVERNIGHT FINANCE: Terror insurance in spending bill?
TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: TERRORISM INSURANCE WATCH. The latest via me: “The insurance industry is considering pushing Congress to reauthorize its Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in the stopgap budget, according to multiple sources familiar with the issue.
“Congress must pass a short-term budget, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), by Dec. 12 or the government will shut down. Supporters of the terror insurance program are banking that Tea Party critics won’t risk another government shutdown… Congress must reauthorize the insurance program, which provides a financial backstop in the event of a large-scale terror attack, by year’s end or it will shut down.” http://bit.ly/1zajGBi.
{mosads}— HENSARLING staff had a call with TRIA stakeholders earlier today to pitch a deal but so far no word of an agreement.
— Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) was expected earlier today to release his letter signed by more than 40 House Republicans urging leadership to secure a long-term TRIA deal. But the letter never surfaced…
THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE where we hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. How about the Birds’ win over the Cowboys? I’ll be on Fox News tonight with Greta Van Susteren from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-release.thehill.com; and subscribe:http://digital-release.thehill.com/signup/48.
ON-TAP FOR THE WEEK — My look-ahead for the busy work week only on The Hill:http://bit.ly/1A8SOlW.
HOUSE OMNIBUS VOTE NEXT WEEK? Rebecca Shabad for The Hill: “An omnibus spending package funding the government through next September is expected to hit the House floor next week, House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing told The Hill. Hing said negotiators made significant progress over the Thanksgiving holiday in crafting a full omnibus bill, which would include appropriations for the entire government.”
— IMMIGRATION WRANGLINGS: “House GOP leaders have come under pressure to include measures in the omnibus that would undermine President Obama’s executive actions on immigration that gave legal status to millions of immigrants. Ideas floated by lawmakers include a bill denying funds to the agencies that would carry out the actions, and moving a ‘cromnibus’ that would consist of an omnibus measure for most of the government, but a shorter-term continuing resolution for agencies carrying out the immigration actions.” STORY: http://bit.ly/1FIbDxz.
— SHUTDOWN SEQUEL? We don’t know yet. But tomorrow morning, House Republicans are meeting with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to discuss the omnibus bill.
TAX EXTENDERS WATCH: SHORT-TERM VOTE THIS WEEK? Bernie Becker for the hometown paper: “The House is moving toward a vote to restore a slew of expired tax breaks, though only through the end of this year, according to aides and lobbyists.
“The vote on a short-term extension, expected as soon as this week, would come after a veto threat from President Obama derailed a developing deal between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) that would have extended some expired tax breaks indefinitely, as well as others for two years.”
— BECKER WITH THE BACKSTORY: “House Republicans have warned for weeks that a one-year deal on the tax ‘extenders’ would be the best they could do if lawmakers fell short on a broader deal, even though tax writers from both parties have said that such an agreement would make it difficult for companies and families to plan for 2015.”
— OBAMA BUCKS CONGRESS DEAL: “The deal that Obama threatened to veto would have extended priorities of both parties for good, including a tax break for state and local sales taxes that is especially important to Reid’s home state of Nevada. Business-friendly priorities like the research credit and an incentive for expensing would have also been revived indefinitely, as would tax breaks for commuters using mass transit and for families to help pay college costs.”
— THE BATTLE LINES: “Democrats’ main problem with the agreement was that it didn’t lock in expansions of the incentives for the working poor — the Earned Income Tax Credit and the child tax credit — that are set to expire in 2017. Republicans have long complained about taxpayers and illegal immigrants fraudulently claiming those credits and said that Obama’s recent actions on immigration made it difficult for them to accept further extensions of the two tax breaks.” FULL STORY – – > http://bit.ly/1rPIuu0.
DRINKS ON HILLARY: The likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate will host a cocktail fundraiser tonight in New York City for Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) at the home of prominent N.Y. donors Victor and Sarah Kovner. Tickets start at $1,000. See the invitation: http://bit.ly/1z8Ztf7.
Let’s drink…
SHOT, Clinton catches flack for paid speeches. The Hill’s Peter Sullivan: “Hillary Clinton appears set to give another paid speech amid controversy over the appearances and questions as to when they will stop if she is indeed running for president… Clinton’s paid speeches, and the trappings around them, run the risk of making her appear out of touch, as she faces pressure from the left to be more populist and emulate liberal hero Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).” http://bit.ly/1z8cWDZ.
CHASER, via political analyst Juan Williams in an op-ed for The Hill: “[Warren] could become the Barack Obama of 2016, able to grab the Democrats’ presidential nomination from the favorite, Hillary Clinton, by coming at her from the left. The defining issue for Democrats in 2008 was Iraq. In 2016 it will be the economy. Warren is much more in step with the party on this issue than is Clinton.” http://bit.ly/12k7EKy.
QUOTABLE, New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley, in prepared remarks at Baruch College earlier today: “Market expectations that [raising interest rates] will occur around mid-2015 seem reasonable to me, although that could change depending on how the economy evolves.” My recap: http://bit.ly/1vd8XXx.
NOTABLE: DUDLEY DOUBLES-DOWN, DEFENDS RECORD. The embattled New York Fed chief defended his leadership in an interview with CNBC’s Steve Liesman earlier today. As one of Wall Street’s top regulators, he’s come under fire in recent weeks following reports suggesting that officials at the New York bank didn’t aggressively pursue bad actors in the financial sector.
“Can you say that these sorts of things that have not been found by the New York Fed previously will be found in the future?” Liesman asked Dudley.
— DUDLEY’S RESPONSE: “I think that there’s always things that are going to happen that we’re not going to find. This idea that somehow the New York Fed or any supervisor is going to prevent all bad things from happening — I don’t think that’s a realistic standard… The issue of regulatory capture is a real issue and something that we really have to guard against,” Dudley said. “So, we’ve done a lot of things and we’re going to continue to guard against this issue to make sure we’re not subject to regulatory capture.” My story: http://bit.ly/1zaf2mG.
SIDESHOW: FINCHER STAFFER RESIGNS, via Scott Wong: “The top spokeswoman to Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) resigned Monday after calling President Obama’s daughters ‘classless’ in a Facebook post over the Thanksgiving break.” http://bit.ly/1FIcleb.
DAILY DISTRACTION: Outgoing-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) rapping to Mackelmore’s Thrift Shop. Video: http://bit.ly/1vCynxH. (H/T The Hill’s Judy Kurtz.)
SHUTDOWN BLAME GAME, via Rebecca Shabad: “Half of the public would blame GOP lawmakers for a government shutdown while only a third would blame President Obama, according to a CNN survey released Monday.” http://bit.ly/1yDB6YI.
BERNANKE INVESTIGATED INTERNAL LEAK. Jake Bernstein for ProPublica: “The Federal Reserve sprung a previously unreported leak in October 2012, when potentially market-moving information about highly confidential monetary deliberations made its way into a financial analyst’s private newsletter. The leak occurred the day before the scheduled public release of meeting minutes that shed new light on the Fed’s decision to embark on a third round of bond buying to boost the economy, ProPublica has learned.”
FOR YOUR RADAR, via Sarah Halzack for The Washington Post: “Fewer consumers hit the stores or went online this Thanksgiving weekend, a sign that Black Friday’s bloat into days and even weeks of promotions may be creating less urgency around the events that many retailers consider the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
“The National Retail Federation reported that 55.1 percent of consumers shopped between Thursday and Sunday, according to a survey it conducted over the weekend. That is down from 58.7 percent the previous year. The NRF said total spending was $50.9 billion, an 11 percent decline from an estimated $57.4 billion in 2013.” http://wapo.st/1CvL9D3.
CONNECT WITH THE HILL’s FINANCE TEAM – Write us with tips, suggestions and news: vneedham@digital-release.thehill.com; pschroeder@digital-release.thehill.com; bbecker@digital-release.thehill.com; rshabad@digital-release.thehill.com; kcirilli@digital-release.thehill.com.
—Follow us on Twitter: @VickofTheHill; @PeteSchroeder; @BernieBecker3; @RebeccaShabad and @kevcirilli.
This story was updated at 7:45 p.m.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.