Scott Brown Sends Letter To Dodd, Frank Opposing $19 Billion Bank Tax In Financial Reform Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) sent the following letter to Senate Committee on Banking Chairman Chris Dodd and House Committee on Financial Resources Chairman Barney Frank to express his strong opposition to the bank tax that was included in the conference report for the financial regulatory reform bill.

Dear Chairman Dodd and Chairman Frank,

I am writing you to express my strong opposition to the $19 billion bank tax that was included in the financial reform bill during the conference committee. This tax was not in the Senate version of the bill, which I supported. If the final version of this bill contains these higher taxes, I will not support it.

It is especially troubling that this provision was inserted in the conference report in the dead of night without hearings or economic analysis. While some will try to argue this isn’t a tax, this new provision takes real money away from the economy, making it unavailable for lending on Main Street, and gives it to Washington. That sounds like a tax to me.

I have always strongly opposed a bank tax because, as the non-partisan CBO has said, costs would be passed onto the millions of American consumers and small businesses who rely on major U.S. financial institutions for their checking, ATM, loans or other services. This tax will be paid by consumers who will have to pay higher fees and the small businesses that won’t get the funding they need to invest and create jobs.

Imposing this new tax is the wrong option. Our economy is still struggling. It is wrong to impose higher taxes and ignore the impact it will have on our economy without considering other ways we might offset the costs of the measure. I am asking that the conference committee find a way to offset the cost of the bill by cutting unnecessary federal spending. There are hundreds of billions in unspent federal funds sitting around, some authorized years ago for long-dead initiatives. Congress needs to start to looking there first, and I stand ready to help.

Sincerely,

Senator Scott P. Brown

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Senator Scott P. Brown 317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington D.C. 20510 Phone: (202) 224-4543 Fax: (202) 228-2646

The U.S. Export-Import Bank Exporting Jobs to China

Lost jobs in the Gulf from the drilling ban, lost hi-tech jobs in Florida and Texas from cancellations of the manned space program, lost manufacturing jobs in Wisconsin. The Obama Aministration in a full court press against private sector jobs that nobody seems to notice. Sensenbrenner, Ryan Urge Export-Import Bank to Reverse India Plant Ruling ‘You Are Simply Exporting Jobs to China’

Washington, D.C. –The U.S. Export-Import Bank should place jobs over environmental activism and reverse its recent decision not to extend loan guarantees to an Indian power plant that planned to make a significant equipment purchase from a Wisconsin company, Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis, and Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a letter to the bank’s chairman.

“With the national unemployment rate continuing to hover close to 10 percent, all steps should be taken to reinvigorate the economy and bring jobs to the United States,” the letter to Export-Import Bank Chairman Fred Hochberg said. “However, with this decision, you are simply exporting American jobs to China.”

By rejecting a bid for an approximate $600 million loan guarantee for Reliance Power Ltd.’s coal-fired power generation station near Sasan, India, the Export-Import Bank prevented South Milwaukee-based manufacturer Bucyrus International Inc. from creating more than 1,000 jobs, Sensenbrenner and Ryan said in the letter. Bucyrus International’s chief executive told the media that the decision would cost up to 300 jobs in Wisconsin, and up to 700 jobs in other states.

“There’s no clearer demonstration of how this Administration’s environmental activism will cost U.S. jobs than this ruling by the Export-Import Bank,” said Sensenbrenner, Ranking Republican on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “This baffling decision will have a direct impact on Wisconsin’s people and its economy and it shows to just what lengths the Administration will go to push its environmental agenda. The only guarantee that the Export-Import Bank offers is that no Americans will benefit from this project.”

The bank’s decision won’t prevent India from moving forward with the project, the letter said, but instead of purchasing equipment from an American manufacturer, Reliance Power will likely turn to firms in China and Belarus for its industrial hardware. “Climate change is a global issue and greenhouse gas emissions are not confined within geographic boundaries,” the letter said. “Therefore, your decision not only eliminates American jobs, it will not mitigate climate change in any manner.”

“The Administration’s actions show that attempting to reduce reducing global warming – by a fraction of a degree over the next century – is a higher priority than keeping Wisconsin residents employed now. The vibrancy and competitiveness of the American economy should never take a back seat to political ideology and it’s reprehensible that the Administration has arrived at the faulty conclusion that we are incapable of enacting energy policies that are both environmentally friendly and economically beneficial,” said Ryan, Ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee. “American products and workers can compete with the best in the world, if they are given a chance – unfortunately, in this instance, they were not. Should the Administration fail to reverse this decision, or worse, should it continue with muscling through a byzantine cap-and-trade scheme, we need only to look to Bucyrus to see the repercussions.”

The bank’s decision also reflected the Administration’s environmental policies, Sensenbrenner and Ryan said. After the decision, Hochberg released a statement citing the Administration’s “commitment to transition away from high-carbon investments.” The Departments of State and Treasury also support the bank’s decision to reject the loan guarantees.

Related Letter To Administration in PDF Format:Sensenbrenner, Ryan Urge Export-Import Bank to Reverse India Plant Ruling

Republicans - Select Committee on Energy Independance and Global Warming H2-344 Ford House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Phone: (202) 225-0110 | Fax: (202) 225-0095