–Senate Finance Chief Set To Release His Plan For 01 and 03 Tax Cuts
–Senate Budget Committee To Examine Fed Response To Econ Crisis
–House Financial Services Panel To Consider Housing Finance System
–House Financial Services Panel To Hold Hearing on Global Fin System

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (MNI) – The full-throated rhetorical jousting
on which of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts should be extended may shift
this week into the actual introduction of specific legislation.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus has indicated that he
will release his plan this week which would extend those tax cuts for
those individuals making up to $200,000 and couples making up to
$250,000 as well as making adjustments to the alternative minimum tax.

But Baucus has not scheduled any hearings to examine his proposal,
nor has he suggested that a Finance Committee mark-up to consider his
plan is imminent.

Both the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have
repeatedly said that tax cuts for individuals making up to $200,000 and
couples earning up to $250,000 should be extended.

The cost of extending these tax cuts would be about $1.4 trillion
over a decade. Extending all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would cost
more than $2 trillion over a decade.

Congressional Republican leaders have supported extending all of
the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Some House Democrats are calling for a
one-year extension of the upper income tax cuts as well as a permanent
extension of the middle class tax cuts.

In other matters this week, the House is expected to take up the
small business lending bill that the Senate cleared last week. The
Senate is expected to spend the bulk of the week on the defense
authorization bill.

The Senate Budget Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday at 10
a.m. ET to examine the federal response to the recent economic crisis.
The panel will hear from Alan Blinder from Princeton University, John
Taylor from Stanford University and Mark Zandi from Moody’s Analytics.

The Senate Banking Committee is holding a hearing Tuesday at 10
a.m. on investing in infrastructure projects. Alan Krueger, an assistant
Treasury secretary for economic policy, will testify.

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing Thursday at 10
a.m. on lessons from the 1986 tax reform effort.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
will vote Tuesday at 9:15 a.m. on the nomination of Jack Lew to become
the White House budget director.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing
Wednesday at 10 a.m. on overhauling the housing finance system and then
a hearing Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. on the state of the global
financial system.

Finally, Congressional leaders will intensify talks on passing a
stop-gap spending bill that would fund the government for at least part
of the 2011 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

So far, Congress has passed none of 12 annual spending bills for
FY11. A stop-gap bill that funds the government until at least after the
Nov. 2 mid-term elections is expected.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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