President's Jobs Proposal Includes Harkin-led Efforts to Fund Education Jobs/School Construction

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) tonight issued the following statement after President Obama addressed Congress on the need to put America back to work.  Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee that funds education and labor initiatives.  He has fought to prevent massive layoffs of American teachers and is leading the effort in Congress to rebuild the middle class in America.

"Traveling in Iowa this summer it was abundantly clear that the number one issue impacting Americans is not the budget deficit, but a far more urgent deficit: the jobs deficit.  By all means, we need to agree on necessary spending cuts and tax increases to bring deficits under control in the longer term.  But in the short term, we need a robust federal agenda to boost the economy and create jobs.

"I am encouraged that the President's proposal goes to the heart of that effort by investing in the jobs that sustain a strong middle class.  In particular, new funding he proposed for educator jobs will keep teachers in the classrooms.  This echoes a bill that I pushed through Congress last year to provide $10 billion to keep teachers on the job in the face of deep cuts to state budgets.

"The President's call to renovate our schools is a win-win for our economy and for our children.  Kids cannot be expected to reach their full potential if the school they attend is crumbling around them.  And my experience in Iowa in providing funding to renovate our schools shows that every dollar in federal funds that is provided for school construction leverages an additional four dollars in funding from other sources, creating jobs and economic growth.

"And I was pleased to see he proposed ramping up federal investments in infrastructure to boost U.S. competitiveness and create construction jobs.  As the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates, America faces a $2.2 trillion infrastructure backlog and they are correct to say that "we are still driving on Eisenhower's roads and sending our kids to Roosevelt's schools."  His proposal also offers assistance so that the long-term unemployed can support their families while they continue to look for work.

"As we move forward, we must also address the fact that two-thirds of adults with disabilities are not working. In the HELP Committee, I intend to continue to hold hearings on the best way to address this issue.

"Now that this proposal has been unveiled, I encourage the President to use the bully pulpit and fight to get it passed.  Where necessary, draw a sharp contrast to those who offer only obstruction and do-nothingism.  It's time to break up the gridlock in Washington and put America back to work.  The future of our middle class - and our economy - depends on it."

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GAO report on improved IRS whistleblower office

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote the 2006 law improving the IRS whistleblower office to encourage people with information about big-dollar tax fraud to come forward and lead to the substantial recovery of tax dollars for the U.S. Treasury.  He modeled the whistleblower improvements after the successful 1986 whistleblower amendments to the federal False Claims Act.  Grassley was the Senate author of the False Claims Act whistleblower amendments, which since 1986 have brought back more than $27 billion to the federal treasury and deterred even more fraudulent activity. The False Claims Act whistleblower provisions have been very effective against defense and health care fraud, but there was no strong incentive to expose big-dollar tax fraud until Grassley's work in 2006.  Grassley has been monitoring the progress of the new, improved whistleblower office.  In April, an in-house accountant who raised a red flag about a tax lapse that his employer then ignored, leading him to tip off the IRS, received $4.5 million in the first whistleblower award under the new, improved IRS whistleblower office, with a recovery for the taxpayers of a net $20 million in taxes and interest from the financial services firm. Grassley made the following comment on a report released today from the Government Accountability Office, GAO-11-683, "Tax Whistleblowers: Incomplete Data Hinders IRS's Ability to Manage Claim Processing Time and Enhance External Communication."

"The report makes clear that the whistleblower program has been a success in providing good information to the IRS about big-dollar tax cheating.  The statistics show the IRS views a significant number of the whistleblower claims as having merit.  The IRS has received tips on more than 9,500 taxpayers from 1,400 whistleblowers in just five years. The IRS has acted or is acting on almost 8,300 of these claims, so only about 1,300 tips have been rejected so far.

"Now the challenge is for the IRS and Treasury to make the changes needed to provide assurance to existing and future whistleblowers so they're not discouraged by the time needed to process their claims. With the nation facing massive deficits, Treasury and IRS officials need to do all they can to ensure the success of what's clearly one of the best tools available to go after tax fraud.  The vast majority of taxpayers are honest.  They're the ones who benefit from a successful whistleblower program.  More tax compliance means more fairness for hardworking families who pay what they owe.

"The report has good recommendations that the IRS needs to implement tomorrow.  The IRS needs to do a better job of communicating with whistleblowers.  Silence between the IRS and the whistleblowers only helps the tax cheats.  I'm concerned that the IRS management still might have too many opportunities to say 'no' to a whistleblower, even when the whistleblower office believes a claim has merit. The IRS commissioner has to make it clear that he expects the director of the IRS whistleblower office to speak up if it thinks an IRS office is foot-dragging on a good whistleblower claim.  The law I wrote gives the IRS whistleblower office the power to investigate claims on its own. The IRS commissioner should make that clear to all of his managers and provide the necessary resources so that valid whistleblower claims aren't forgotten.  We can't let the next Madoff get a free pass just because someone doesn't want to be bothered.  Going through whistleblower claims is work but it's worth it.

"The GAO report says the IRS is short on resources but also is doing nothing to take advantage of the resources of the whistleblower and his attorneys.  This has to stop.  A key provision of the whistleblower law, and a big part of the success of the False Claims Act provisions that I co-wrote, is to allow the government to leverage the whistleblower's resources.  It's worrisome that the IRS hasn't taken advantage of this provision even once.  The tax cheats shouldn't be the only ones who can take advantage of outside legal talent.  The IRS can't ask for more resources while ignoring the free resources available.

"The GAO has done a good service by providing a road map for how to improve the IRS whistleblower program and go after big-dollar tax cheating.  For the benefit of honest taxpayers, I intend to ensure that the IRS follows that map."

Senator Chuck Grassley tonight released the following statement after the President's speech before a Joint Session of Congress.

An audio comment can be accessed on Grassley's website by clicking here.

"What the President's saying is more of the same, especially with what was in the stimulus bill.  That massive government spending bill passed two years ago, right after the President took office, and was touted by the administration as a way to keep unemployment below eight percent, which it hasn't by a long shot.  When we've tested something like that, and it failed, we need to try something new.  That something new would be to remove the tremendous anxiety that Congress, the President and Washington lately are creating for employers throughout America, in businesses small and big.   Employers don't know what's coming next in the way of regulations and higher taxes.  As a result, they're understandably reluctant to spend the trillion dollars that's now sitting in corporate treasuries.  The cash flow of small businesses needs to be protected, or they can't hire anybody new.  We've got to free up that corporate money and the entrepreneurial spirit to create economic activity and jobs.

"The best way for Congress and the President to lessen that anxiety is to make a serious effort to get rid of duplicative, outdated regulations and really consider the economic impact of forthcoming regulations before reflexively moving them forward, as in the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed dust regulation, which doesn't reflect an understanding of farming and the economic impact on rural communities; to make sure the biggest tax increase in the history of the country, which everyone knows is coming on December 31, 2012, doesn't happen; and to get under control the excessive government spending that's tripled the national debt over the last two years.  I'm willing to work with the President to make things happen, but that doesn't mean more of the same.  In the end, the President inherited a very bad economic situation, but by any measure of the economy, including inflation or unemployment or deficit spending, his policies and programs have made it worse.  We want the President to see that what he's tried hasn't worked and for him to work with Congress to get the economy turned around."

 

BAUCUS, GRASSLEY APPLAUD PASSAGE OF BILL TO INCREASE TAX FAIRNESS, DETER TAX SHELTERS BY ELIMINATING PATENTS ON TAX STRATEGIES

Finance Senators Say All Taxpayers Have a Right to Legal Methods to Reduce Tax Bills

Washington, DC - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and senior Committee member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today applauded the Senate's passage of their bill to protect taxpayers and fight tax evasion, which was included in the larger patent reform bill.  The Baucus-Grassley legislation prevents any individual or firm from patenting tax strategies, which could otherwise subject taxpayers to royalty fees for using the patented strategy when filing their taxes.  The bill also stops tax patents from providing windfalls to lawyers and patent holders by preventing them from holding exclusive rights to use loopholes, which could provide some businesses with unfair advantages over their competitors.  Now that both the House and Senate have passed the patent reform bill, it goes to the President for his signature.

"Unfair patents can give a small number of people a stranglehold on tax strategies that should be open to anyone," Baucus said. "This bill will bring fairness to the system, and it will deter the use of tax shelters to evade the responsibility we all share.  Our ongoing tax reform effort will continue cleaning up the code, and it can create jobs and be a major boost to our economy."

"Tax strategy patents are on the rise.  More and more legal tax strategies are unavailable or more expensive for more and more taxpayers," Grassley said. "It's important to protect intellectual property rights for true tax preparation and financial management software.  At the same time, we have to protect the right of taxpayers to have equal access to legal tax strategies.  That's necessary for fairness and tax compliance.  We need more tax compliance, not less."

In order to obtain a patent, an inventor must show, among other things, that the claimed invention is novel and non-obvious and has a practical application.  In 1998, the courts determined that a method of doing business may be patentable, and soon thereafter, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office began granting patents for various tax-related inventions.

Tax practitioners have long decried the issuance of these tax-strategy patents because they are unlikely to be novel, given the public nature of the tax code, and undermine the fairness of the Federal tax system by removing from the public domain particular ways of satisfying a taxpayer's legal obligations.  The bill expressly provides that a strategy for reducing, avoiding or deferring tax liability cannot be considered a new or non-obvious idea, and therefore, a patent on a tax strategy cannot be obtained.

Baucus and Grassley have long been leaders in congressional efforts to protect taxpayers and prevent the patenting of tax strategies that result in extra costs for taxpayers.

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Grassley, Johanns Work to Stop Long Reach of the EPA in Regulating Dust

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley today introduced legislation to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating dust in rural America while maintaining the protections of the Clean Air Act to the public's health and welfare.  Grassley introduced the bill with Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska.

Grassley first began asking questions about the EPA's proposed dust rules in 2006.  He has hounded the EPA as the rule has progressed through the regulating process to ensure that the unique aspects of agriculture and rural America are accounted for.  Grassley has invited the last two EPA administrators to Iowa to see for themselves the important role that farmers play in their communities.  Administrator Stephen Johnson came to Iowa in 2006 and heard directly from several farmers and agriculture specialists.  Current Administrator Lisa Jackson sent two staff members to Iowa in 2009 to spend the day with Grassley touring a family farm, the Iowa State University research facility and a biodiesel plant.

"In each of my most recent town hall meetings the excessive amount of regulations coming out of Washington, D.C. and the impact on small businesses and rural communities was a top issue," Grassley said.  "The dust rule is a perfect example. It makes no sense to regulate the dust coming out of a combine harvesting soybeans or the dust off a gravel road of a pick-up truck traveling into town.  If the administration were to decide to revise the standard, farmers and livestock producers will likely be unable to attain the standard levels and the rural economy would be devastated."

The bill takes a two prong approach to keep the EPA from regulating farm dust.  First, it prevents the EPA from revising the current dust standard for one year from date of enactment.

The bill also provides flexibility for states, localities, and tribes to regulate "nuisance dust."  Nuisance dust is defined in the bill to exclude the type of dust typical of rural areas (unpaved roads and dust resulting from agricultural activities) from the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) regulation targeted at harmful air pollutants. If the state, tribal, or local government chooses to regulate nuisance dust, these regulations would supersede any regulations put forth by the federal government under the Clean Air Act. If there are no local regulations in place and the EPA wants to regulate this type of dust, the EPA must find that the specific type of dust or particulate matter causes adverse health effects and that the benefits of applying EPA's standard to that area outweigh the costs to the local and regional communities, including economic and employment impacts.  The Clean Air Act does not currently differentiate between urban and rural dust, so this provides the EPA with a distinction between the two for implementation of air quality standards.

A companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Kristi Noem of South Dakota.

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SPRINGFIELD, IL (09/08/2011)(readMedia)-- By 2nd Lt. April Hawes, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs

Before the planes hit and before the towers crumbled, it was a routine Tuesday morning for four Illinois National Guardsmen. One Soldier was teaching in his classroom while a future Illinois Soldier was listening to her teacher in biology class. Across the world, an Illinois Airman arrived in Germany for annual training. Another Airman, then with the New York National Guard, was on Long Island when disaster struck.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Carlock

When Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Carlock, of Astoria, joined the Illinois Army National Guard in 1993, he did it because he wanted to continue his family heritage of military service while getting his education. Soon after, he became a high school teacher in Astoria.

September 11, 2001 another teacher told Carlock what was happening on the east coast. He immediately turned on the TV in his classroom to see it for himself.

"I stopped all of my planned lessons for the day and made all of my students watch everything on the news," he said. "I urged them to remember that day as it would be a pivotal day in American history and they are to witness it."

Carlock, who is assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 44th Chemical Battalion in Macomb, said he was instantly shocked and angered when he witnessed the 9/11 attacks. He then realized, as an Illinois National Guardsman, he needed to be prepared to possibly deploy stateside or abroad because of these attacks.

Carlock eventually deployed in 2004 to Iraq with Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Field Artillery in Macomb.

Since he has joined, witnessed those terrorist attacks and deployed, Carlock said he is proud of his service in the Illinois Army National Guard.

"I believe that we have proven ourselves as a professional organization that deserves the same respect

that the Active Army receives," he said. "From our efforts and professionalism, I think the National Guard is

looked at in a much more positive light compared to the years prior to Sept. 11, 2001. I feel very proud that I have been able to serve at such a crucial time."

Sgt. Sara Minder

Like Carlock, Sgt. Sara Minder of Springfield, with Joint Force Headquarters in Springfield, watched the events of that historic day on TV while sitting in a high-school classroom.

"All I could do was sit and stare at the TV. No one in the classroom said a word," she said. "I think we were all hoping the first plane was just an accident. Seeing the second plane hit made me realize that this was intentional."

Eighteen months later, she joined the Illinois Army National Guard.

Her reason for joining had a dual-purpose. She said she wanted to be like her cousin and best friend, Jason, who was a Marine. She said she also wanted to do something after she felt the fear of her country on 9/11.

Just two months after she enlisted, Jason was killed in a helicopter accident in Iraq.

In August 2003, she left for basic training and advanced individual training, which she was pulled out of a week early for a deployment. She returned home for four days and then travelled to Iraq with the 232nd Corps Support Battalion in Springfield. She spent her 19th birthday and the first anniversary of Jason's death overseas.

While she remembers the fear she felt 10 years ago on 9/11, Minder said she hopes her service in the Illinois Army National Guard will prevent her fellow Americans from experiencing the same fear in the future.

"I feel a stronger sense of duty to my country," she said. "I do not want another generation to have to feel the fear that we felt on that day."

Chief Master Sgt. Mark Stevens

Chief Master Sgt. Mark Stevens, of Elk Grove Village, was on foreign soil 10 years ago when he heard about the terrorist attacks. He had just landed in Germany for annual training as the first sergeant with the 217th Engineering Installation Squadron attached to the 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield.

A cashier at the base exchange was the first to tell him a plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He then watched German TV and listened to the radio to learn a second plane crashed into the South

Tower and yet another plane crashed into the Pentagon.

"(I felt) anger and rage that someone would attack America and kill innocent civilians," said Stevens, who is now assigned to the 183rd Air Operations Group in Springfield.

While he felt anger and rage, Stevens said Airmen around him were also angry, shocked and confused by the terrorist attacks. Since he joined the Illinois Air National Guard in 1985, Stevens said he had always been proud to defend his country, but after 9/11 he saw his service in a more serious light.

"I always took my military career serious, but this made it more real and important," he said. "The level of seriousness about (what) we do struck home."

Senior Master Sgt. Kim Piskacek

Senior Master Sgt. Kim Piskacek, of O'Fallon, walked into chaos when she went to work at the Office of Student Affairs at Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y. on that Tuesday morning.

Fellow employees gathered around the TV while the phones rang off the hook with frantic New Yorkers on the other end asking what they should do. The college president soon announced classes were cancelled and urged students not to travel toward Manhattan.

As others went back to their desks, Piskacek stayed glued to the TV.

"It fell," she told her co-workers.

"What fell?" they asked her.

"The tower," she said.

They didn't believe her. They didn't want to believe her; until they came back to the TV to witness the smoke for themselves, she said.

At the time, Piskacek was assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 105th Airlift Wing, which soon became a staging area for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross. The 105th lost two Airmen that day, one of whom she knew. Piskacek also said many 105th Airmen lost family and friends from the terrorist attacks.

It wasn't until 2004 when she said she realized how significant 9/11 was to all Americans, not just New Yorkers.

She said she was at an Air Force noncommissioned officer academy when the subject came up. She heard everyone else recall the day, just as she remembered, and said she was surprised to hear everyone was just as affected as she was.

"As New Yorkers, we didn't think of anything outside of New York City," she said. "It's so weird when you're that close to New York City and then you hear everyone else's account."

In 2004 she transferred to the Illinois Air National Guard. She then deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 with the 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield, where she is currently assigned.

Since her military career began with the Air Force in 1989, Piskacek said 9/11 brought a new meaning to her service.

"I've always been proud to serve, but Sept. 11 made it more personal," she said.

Galesburg, IL.   The Orpheum Theatre announced its 2011-12 line-up of education programs for pre-kindergarten through fifth grades today.  The theater's annual Lights! Camera! Learn! program brings nationally-touring musical productions to the community that are based on literary and/or historical studies appropriate to the current academic curriculum.  Significant grants and contributions allow the Orpheum Theatre to offer the program at no cost to schools, parents or students (except the cost of transportation).  Reservations are required and are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

The first installment of the Lights! Camera! Learn! program is a production of "We the People" presented by TheatreWorks USA which brings American government textbooks to life.  It's a new musical revue that sets civics lessons to a rock and roll beat and addresses democracy, elections, the two legislative houses, constitutional amendments and diplomacy.  The show encourages young people to get involved and make a difference.  "We the People" is offered for fourth and fifth grade students on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The second installment of the Lights! Camera! Learn! program, "Jigsaw Jones," is a perennial favorite of teachers and students alike.  Theodore "Jigsaw" Jones is his school's self-proclaimed detective.  When someone in Mrs. Gleason's class begins playing practical jokes it's up to Jigsaw Jones and his friend Mila to catch the culprit.  Brimming with music, charm, and humor, ArtsPower's new production - based on the book by renowned author James Preller - will make audiences laugh and think as they learn the secret codes that Jigsaw must decipher to solve the mystery.  "Jigsaw Jones: The Case of the Class Clown" is offered for second and third grade students on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The final installment of the Lights! Camera! Learn! program is also an ArtsPower production and draws from the popular Kids of the Polk Street School series by two-time Newbery Honor-winning author Patricia Reilly Giff.  "Fish Face" tells the tale of Emily Arrow who is great at everything; that is, until a new girl in school proves to be better at anything Emily can do.  When the new girl steals Emily's beloved unicorn, Emily must learn a few things about honesty and growing up.  "Fish Face" is offered for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade students on Tuesday, February 13, 2012 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The Orpheum Theatre's Lights! Camera! Learn! program is open to all public, private and home schools at no cost due, in part, to generous funding from the Galesburg Community Foundation, Galesburg CUSD #205, the Illinois Arts Council, BNSF Railway Foundation, businesses and individuals.

Reservations for all Lights! Camera! Learn! programs are required and seating is limited.  Reservations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.  For more information about the Orpheum Theatre's education program or to make reservations, please call 309-342-2299 or email tickets@theorpheum.org.

The Orpheum Theatre contributes to the region's quality of life by providing quality entertainment and education opportunities and programs; and serves as a civic gathering place and tourism partner for our communities.

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