Senate GOP Strikes A Major Blow Against Small Businesses While House Continues To Try To Clean Up Bush/Republican Economic Mess

Early yesterday every single Republican senator-- including the 3 from New England who the mainstream media has gotten into the habit of calling "moderates"-- joined a filibuster of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act. Their congressional caucuses are doubling down on their strategy of destroying the economy from the inside. They are in ritual opposition to every attempt Obama makes to clean up the mess that decades of conservative misgovernance have left us with. The bill-- Barney Frank's H.R. 5297-- passed 241-282 in the House on June 17. When she found out that Burr was one of the Republicans filibustering the desperately needed bill. North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall issued this statement:

After 16 years in Washington, Senator Richard Burr still needs to get his priorities straight. People are losing jobs, businesses are struggling and he's playing politics. If he's not willing to give small businesses the support they need to create jobs, it's time for him to give up his.

She pointed out that several Republican lawmakers helped write the bipartisan bill, which was backed by traditional Republican Party allies like the National Federation of Independent Business and even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Republicans complain that the legislation-- which eliminates capital gains taxes for investment in small firms, creates a Small Business Lending Fund to underwrite loans through community banks, and creates a credit initiative for small business to help meet state budget shortfalls-- gives too much money to family farmers. And they're also angry because they haven't been allowed to present a bunch of partisan, election year amendments. I see Reid voted NO, which means he intends to bring it up again so, presumably, he'll let the nasty little children get some time to grandstand on a bunch of amendments that have no chance of passing.

So while Republicans were running their games in the Senate, Barney Frank's House Financial Services Committee voted to approve the Shareholder Protection Act, which will require corporations to receive permission from a majority of shareholders before spending money on political campaigns, and will require all large election-related expenditures to be disclosed to shareholders and the public. No doubt the Senate Republicans will be eager to filibuster this one as well. Michael Keegan, president of People For the American Way explained why this bill should not be filibustered and why it's so crucial that Congress enact it and the President sign it:

“In approving the Shareholder Protection Act, the House Financial Services Committee has taken an important step towards making corporations accountable to their shareholders and our government accountable to its voters. The Citizens United decision handed corporations the power to use unlimited amounts of money from their treasuries to influence elections-- without so much as checking with individual shareholders before spending their money, or telling them that they have done so.
 
“The only way to truly undo the damage of Citizens United is to pass a Constitutional Amendment reversing it. But until then, voters at least deserve to know which corporations are attempting to influence elections and shareholders deserve to know which elections their money is influencing. Yesterday, the Senate GOP united against the DISCLOSE Act, another measure to ensure transparency in corporate political activity. This time, I hope that the GOP will choose to listen to voters, rather than kowtowing to corporate interests.”

And speaking of stocks, there's an interesting teachable moment working itself out in the Wisconsin Senate race, pitting iconoclast and reformer Russ Feingold against shady GOP multimillionaire Ron Johnson. Johnson has been pushing a Big Oil agenda-- a bailout for B.P., drilling in the Great Lakes, more tax breaks and special treatment for Big Oil and big polluters-- and the it turns out that he owns a small fortune in B.P. stock, something he hadn't disclosed when he was pushing their case, a case that would make him even richer. Even as dense an Insider as Chris Matthews saw through Johnson's serial flip flopping on this major conflict of interest:

Multimillionaire Ron Johnson reversed himself again Monday, saying he now wasn’t certain whether he would sell his BP stock, after previously telling supporters and the media that he planned to sell the stock “to help pay for his campaign.” The initial flip-flop came after Johnson’s campaign initially said he would keep the stock.
 
Johnson also opposes the BP compensation fund for the victims of the Gulf oil spill-- calling it “Bad for America.”  As reported by the Capital Times: "Johnson climbed in bed with BP. The wealthy candidate derided the Obama administration's efforts to get money to pay for claims that are all but certain to exceed $20 billion ‘very troubling.’"
 
“Ron Johnson is misleading voters with his intentions. First he was going to keep the stock, then he decided to sell, now he's waiting for the right moment so he can turn a buck to fund his campaign. It appears the only thing Johnson is consistent on is changing his position,” said Mike Tate, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. ”Wisconsin voters deserve better than a walking special interest whose positions on the issues shift depending on what his stock portfolio is doing. It’s time for Ron Johnson to stop playing games and sell the BP stock he hid from the public-- and give the money to support the BP Victims' Compensation Fund.”

But it turns out Russ Feingold has stock too-- and backs the company he has the stock in! Is he as corrupt and sleazy as Johnson. Uhhh... no. According to Wednesday's Market Place Magazine, Feingold pressed the FCC to “make it easier for residents living in northern and western Wisconsin to receive Wisconsin-related television programming, including in-state news, weather, sports and entertainment”-- including Green Bay Packer games. And he owns stock in the Packers! Unfortunately," said Feingold Thursday, "I will be unable to attend today's Green Bay Packers annual shareholder meeting. However, I want to make it clear that I will not be divesting my one share in the Packers. Not because it's the only stock I own, or because market conditions predict a Super Bowl, but because I am a committed Packer fan whether they are up or down."

All kidding aside, Big Business, lead by the far right Chamber of Commerce, is making a concerted effort this year to help the Republicans win back both houses of Congress. And they are pouring tens of millions of dollars into defeating Democrats, especially non-Blue Dog type Democrats.

The latest blatant signs of hostility come from coal executives who are considering starting up their own political operation to work against candidates they deem unfriendly to their interests. Their first three targets are all Democrats [Ben Chandler, Nick Rahill and Jack Conway].

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already vowed to invest $75 million in the mid-term elections. And health insurers are also planning to play big in November, although the specifics remain in flux. Both groups are hedging their bets by aligning themselves with some moderate or conservative Democrats in case Republicans don't win control of Congress.

UPDATE: That Was Fast... Small Business Bill Passes

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it looks like late yesterday Reid called the Senate back into session and they voted on the Small Business bill again and... it passed 70-23, only a handful of freaks and America-haters like DeMint, McCain, Cornyn and Vitter voting NO.