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The following is a roundup of political activity going on in Washington and across the nation. It’s courtesy of Scott Wilk, Community Organizer, and Anchor Consulting group. The Beacon will be posting these daily as they become available.

In the House:

  • The House convenes at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.
  • Five “One Minutes” Per Side
  • H.R. 3269 – Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009 (Rep. Frank – Financial Services) (Subject to a Rule)
  • Fifty-seven House progressives have now signed a letter vowing to vote against health care legislation unless concessions to conservative Blue Dogs related to the so-called “public option” are reversed. Assuming near-universal Republican opposition to the legislation, that number of progressive Democrats would be more than enough to kill the bill.
  • The House today is slated to pass legislation to give shareholders a greater say on corporate pay packages in a vote that will be hailed as the first major step in curbing the excesses that led to the collapse of the banking sector and housing market.

In the Senate:

  • The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m.
  • Resume consideration of H.R. 2997, Agriculture Appropriations.
  • There will be no roll call votes during today’s session.
  • Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus said his panel won’t be able to pass health-care legislation next week, dealing a setback to the Obama administration’s plans.
  • GA Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R) and Johnny Isakson (R) announced yesterday they will vote against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation.
  • The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved the $163.1 billion Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, as well as the $67.7 billion Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill.

Other News

  • In a sign that the economic recession might be easing, quarterly numbers released this morning reveal that “[t]he U.S. economy shrank at a more subdued pace” than expected. “Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell at a 1 percent annual rate in the April through June quarter… That compares with a 6.4 percent pace of decline in the first quarter, a revision from an earlier estimate of a 5.5 percent rate of decline.” (WaPo)
  • “With the health care bill languishing in the Senate and under fire in the House, Democratic leaders are quietly preparing for Plan B…Under the scenario now being discussed, bi-partisan talks would be aborted and parliamentary maneuvers used to force the bill through with a party-line vote.” (ABC)
  • Last night, President Obama praised the House of Representatives “for passing a sweeping food safety bill designed to prevent repeats of the wide outbreak of salmonella in peanuts that killed at least nine Americans.”  The legislation approved yesterday “over objections from some farm-state lawmakers would require more government inspections of manufacturers, give the Food and Drug Administration new powers to order recalls, and require the FDA to develop a system for better tracing food-borne illnesses.” (Boston Globe)
  • In California, “the deep cuts imposed by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this year are raising the question of whether the University of California, the California State University system and the nation’s largest community college network can maintain their reputations for quality, or whether a public higher educational system that has been lauded as the world’s finest may be in serious decline.” (LAT)
  • Junior Democratic legislators, primarily the large number of whom took Republican seats in 2006 and 2008 are proving to be some of the hardest Members of Congress to sway on health care reform, as they “want to be sure the emerging health care plan is one they can embrace, particularly after they have already had to cast a difficult vote on climate-change legislation.” (NYT)

Federal Grant of the Day

  • Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) for Mentoring, Educational, and Employment Strategies To Improve Academic, Social, and Career Pathway Outcomes
  • The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announces the availability of $34 million for grants to serve high schools that have been designated as persistently dangerous by State Educational Agencies for the 2008-2009 school year under section 9532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. These grants will be awarded to fund projects in schools not currently receiving a DOL grant for these purposes through a competitive process open both to school districts which include persistently dangerous high schools and to community-based organizations (CBOs) in partnership with these school districts. The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is September 22, 2009.

Today in History

  • On July 31, 1975, James R. “Jimmy” Hoffa, one of the most influential American labor leaders of the 20th century, disappeared in Detroit, Michigan, never to be heard from again. Though he is popularly believed to have been the victim of a Mafia hit, conclusive evidence was never found, and Hoffa’s death remains shrouded in mystery to this day.

Source and thanks to www.anchor-consult.com | For more information, contact Jamie Gregorian at 202-258-3268 or [email protected]