Let's Spend

Congress.org presents MEGAVOTE for November 16, 2015 and Georgia's 13th Congressional District.
Recent Congressional Votes

• Senate: Revised Defense Authorization -- Passage
• Senate: Military-Construction-VA Appropriations -- Passage
• Senate: Surface Transportation Reauthorization -- Cloture

Upcoming Congressional Bills

• Senate: Transportation-HUD Appropriations
• House: Auto Loans
• House: Bank Mortgage Liability
• House: Federal Reserve Overhaul

Recent Senate Votes:

Revised Defense Authorization -- Passage Vote Agreed to (91-3, 6 Not Voting)
The Senate cleared legislation that authorizes $599 billion for the Pentagon and defense-related programs for fiscal 2016, $5 billion less than both the president's overall request and the original conference agreement. It provides $33 billion of the original $38 billion in added funds for defense, including $8 billion through the Overseas Contingency Operations account. The measure authorizes $715 million for Iraqi forces fighting the Islamic State, $406 million to train and equip Syrian opposition forces and $300 million for lethal weapons for Ukraine. It modifies the military retirement system, blocks the Pentagon from retiring the A-10 Warthog aircraft and authorizes $11 billion for the F-35 Fighter.
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted YES
Sen. David Perdue voted YES
Three dissenting votes.
A relatively small amount of money to train Syrians.
A relatively small amount of money to weapons to Ukraine.
Blocking a recommended obsolescence.

Military-Construction-VA Appropriations -- Passage Vote Passed (93-0, 7 Not Voting)
The Senate passed an amended version of the bill that funds veterans’ health programs and military bases. The measure, which contains nearly $80 billion in discretionary funding, also includes language that prohibits transfers from Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. homeland and a ban on another round of base closures.
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted YES
Sen. David Perdue voted YES
No dissenting votes, and a statement that Guantanamo prisoners cannot be brought onto US soil.

Surface Transportation Reauthorization -- Cloture Vote Agreed to (82-7, 11 Not Voting)
The Senate agreed to create a conference committee with the House concerning legislation that reauthorizes surface transportation programs for six years.
Sen. Johnny Isakson voted YES
Sen. David Perdue voted NO
An agreement to stop talking about creating a committee for study of a bill to spend money on roads.
Very often these bills are full of pork for home districts, this explains the nearly unanimous vote.
Have no idea what our junior senator's objection was, probably that he wasn't getting a new road built in south Georgia.

Upcoming Votes:
Transportation-HUD Appropriations - HR2577
The bill funds the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. The measure, which contains nearly $56 billion in discretionary funding, also provides funding for such items as Amtrak and Section 8 housing vouchers.
Combining Amtrak and HUD appropriations, government created sinkholes.

Auto Loans - HR1737
The bill nullifies the 2013 guidance issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding fair lending practices for indirect auto lenders, after the CFPB determined that car loans provided through auto dealers were artificially high and discriminatory.
Legislation that will no deter car salesmen or automakers from screwing customers.

Bank Mortgage Liability - HR1210
The bill creates a safe harbor from lawsuits for banks that originate non-qualified mortgages that do not comply with ability-to-repay requirements, as long as the bank retains the mortgage in its own portfolio.
I guess if they are hanging on to the risk, they are the ones that stand to lose,

Federal Reserve Overhaul - HR3189
The bill modifies Federal Reserve operations and oversight in an effort to make it more accountable, including by requiring the Fed to develop detailed strategies with set goals for conducting monetary policy that would be reviewed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and requiring the Fed chairman to testify before Congress if GAO determines that the strategy no longer complies with bill requirements. It also provides for GAO audits of all Fed activities, including its deliberations over monetary policy. The legislation requires the Fed to conduct cost-benefit analyses of all proposed rules and limits the Fed’s emergency lending powers.
On the way home last night, I heard the news blurb where a politician suggested that making the inner workings of the Federal Reserve a bad idea. 
It is universally understood that the amount of debt the country really has is much greater than reported. And that the Fed has played games with the public numbers, including the discount rate at the behest of Presidents, probably going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson.
These fights go all the way back to the 1st and 2nd Banks of the United States, and a huge campaign issue for Andrew Jackson, widely regarded as one of the greatest populist presidents. 
This bank was created, on a public level to govern (lessen) the wide swings in monetary value, on an internal level, to create a cheap credit source accessible only to high level borrowers. It is an expression of a fixed game.

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