Monday, September 27, 2010

WASHINGON - Senator Chuck Grassley has been named a "Guardian of Small Business" by the National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, for his outstanding voting record on behalf of America's small business owners in the 111th Congress.

"Small business owners pay close attention to how their lawmakers vote on the issues affecting their businesses. The Guardian award is a symbol of sincere appreciation from the small business community for votes that supported their ability to own, operate and grow their businesses," said NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner.

"I really appreciate receiving this award from small business owners," Grassley said.  "Small businesses create 70 percent of new jobs, and we ought to do everything possible to put them in a stronger position to grow and hire workers.  America's economic recovery and new opportunities depend on the ability of small businesses to succeed."

As Ranking Member or Chairman of the Committee on Finance since 2000, Grassley has been in a position and used it to promote and advance tax and health care policies that would help small businesses establish themselves and grow.

For example, last year, Grassley protested the placement of liens by the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, on small businesses that unknowingly invested in prohibited tax shelters. Some of these businesses were assessed tax penalties as high as $300,000 per year but received a tax benefit for as little as $15,000 from the transaction.  Grassley fought hard to persuade the IRS to provide temporary relief to small businesses facing these penalties until Congress could enact bipartisan legislation to fix the penalty structure.  Grassley announced he would hold up all Treasury nominees until the IRS agreed to continue to suspend its enforcement actions, and the IRS agreed to suspend collection enforcement action.  Grassley said it was a matter of fairness, as the Treasury Department was giving favorable tax treatment to government bailout participants, including big banks like Citigroup, while showing no leniency and placing liens on small businesses contrary to congressional intent.  This week, legislation making a permanent fix for small business was passed by Congress and is on its way to the President for signature.

Similarly, Grassley strongly protested the way small businesses were neglected in the $814 billion stimulus bill enacted in February 2009.  Less than one-half of one percent of the tax relief in that bill was directed to small business.  In June 2009, Grassley introduced a comprehensive small business tax relief bill, the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2009, or S.1381.  Grassley said his goal was to "leave more money in the hands of small businesses so that they can hire more workers, continue to pay the salaries of their current employees, and make additional investments in their business."  The NFIB strongly supported the Grassley bill and said, "To get the small business economy moving again, small businesses need the tools and incentives to expand and grow their business.  S. 1381 provides the kinds of tools and incentives that small businesses need."

Most of the tax provisions in the small business bill passed by the Senate this month, which the President is scheduled to sign into law today, come from that comprehensive tax relief bill for small businesses that Grassley introduced last year.  Unfortunately, the bill that passed left out the largest and most important provision in Grassley's bill:  a 20-percent deduction for small business income.  "Small businesses need the tax certainty this provision offers, and I'll continue to work for policies that will leave more money in the hands of small businesses," Grassley said.

Grassley also continues to work to educate Congress and the public about the impact of various policy proposals on small businesses.  For example, the President and Democratic leadership of Congress have proposed increasing the top two marginal tax rates from 33 and 35 percent to 36 and 39.6 percent, respectively; increasing the tax rates on capital gains and dividends to 20 percent; fully reinstating the personal exemption phase-out, known as PEP, for those making over $200,000; and fully reinstating the limitation on itemized deductions, which is known as Pease, for those making over $200,000.

Grassley said it's not the case that increases in the top two tax rates would hit only wealthy individuals and only a small percentage of small businesses.  "According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 50 percent of all flow-through business income would be subject to the tax rate hikes," Grassley said.  "So this hits small businesses especially hard because most small businesses are flow-through entities as S corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and sole proprietorships."  Grassley makes his arguments based on nonpartisan data from both the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office.

Similarly, during the health care reform debate, Grassley highlighted the cost of various proposals on small businesses, both in terms of their ability to provide health care to their employees and the regulatory burden imposed on them by the new health care regime. Grassley followed up on his previous statement about the Form 1099 reporting requirement enacted in the health care bill by voting to repeal the provision two weeks ago.  While the measure failed, there is bi-partisan support to repeal these reporting requirements so Grassley continues to work for repeal before the provision becomes effective.

Senators Call on Obama to Fire Government Watchdog for Afghanistan

The group expresses frustration with president's failure to act sooner

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A bipartisan group of four senators today called on President Barack Obama to fire the government watchdog responsible for investigating tax dollar misuse in Afghanistan amid mounting evidence of incompetence and mismanagement.  U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), along with Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Charles Grassley (R-IA), sent a letter asking the president to remove Arnold Fields as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

"It has been clear for several months that SIGAR's mission is not being served effectively.  It is for this reason that we have concluded that SIGAR would be better served with new leadership," the letter states.

Over the past 18 months, all four senators have repeatedly raised concerns regarding SIGAR's performance, but recent actions by Fields have spurred the senators to more aggressively press the president for action.  Fields exhibited questionable judgment by entering into a no-bid $95,000 contract with Joseph Schmitz as a consultant for the agency.  Schmitz, a former Department of Defense Inspector General, resigned among serious allegations of misconduct, including obstructing criminal investigations, quashing audits, and misleading Congress.  He has been hired to independently monitor SIGAR's performance in implementing the recommendations of Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE).  CIGIE is an independent government organization that reviews the work of inspectors general and found earlier this year a number of serious deficiencies in SIGAR's performance.

Beyond calling for Fields' dismissal and expressing outrage over the hiring of Schmitz, the senators also expressed their frustration with the president's failure to change SIGAR leadership sooner.

"We urge you to act now.  We are disappointed by your Administration's ongoing failure to take decisive action to improve SIGAR," they wrote in the letter.

CIGIE recently released three reviews of SIGAR, and found numerous problems with the agency's work, including their failure to meet minimum standards for their investigations.  The reviews also found that the agency has no meaningful strategic plan for their audits and investigations and that leadership at SIGAR remains more concerned with the quantity of their work rather than the quality.

A copy of the letter is available here.

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Additional $3 Million Available on Sept. 24 to Save Consumers Money on Energy Efficient Replacement Appliances

CHICAGO - September 19, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today encouraged residents across Illinois to save money and go green by taking advantage of $3 million in rebates available on Sept. 24 for the ENERGY STAR Replacement Appliance Rebate Program. The program builds on last spring's popular appliance rebate sale and is designed to help Illinoisans reduce their energy consumption while boosting the state's economy.

"This is another great chance to take advantage of a program that boosts business throughout Illinois and helps our environment by reducing energy consumption," said Governor Quinn. "Now is the time to go out and replace your aging and inefficient appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers and dishwashers."

At 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, consumers upgrading to more energy-efficient appliances will be able to take advantage of a 15 percent point-of-sale rebate (up to $250 per appliance) at participating retail stores for as long as funds are available. The rebate may be used on ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers and dishwashers purchased at participating retail stores. The rebates are intended for consumers replacing an old unit; customers must certify that they are purchasing a replacement appliance at the time of purchase.

There are approximately $3 million in appliance rebate funds available for the final round of the program. Based on the success of the first appliance rebate offer, organizers expect funds to run out the same day (Sept. 24). While most rebates will be given out at the counter, retailers are also making them available by phone to people with disabilities.

"The first round of the ENERGY STAR rebate program helped people save money on nearly 47,000 energy-efficient water heaters, HVAC systems and appliances," said Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Director Warren Ribley. "Our goal is to encourage more people to get rid of old, inefficient appliances and replace them with more efficient models that will lower energy bills and reduce the state's environmental footprint."

Illinois has received a total of $12.4 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the ENERGY STAR rebate program. The first round of the program distributed $9.4 million in rebates, which generated more than $75 million in sales and 1.3 trillion BTUs in lifetime energy savings - the equivalent of taking 1,712 passenger vehicles off the road for one year.

The Illinois ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program is being managed by the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance on behalf of DCEO. The state also partnered with the Illinois Retail Merchants Association to enroll and coordinate the retailers in the program. More than 420 retailers are participating in the program. For more information, including a list of participating retailers, visit www.IllinoisEnergy.org/appliances. 

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In 1974, Delbert Tibbs was convicted of murder and rape near Fort Myers, Florida. His trial was riddled with corruption, including testimony by a jailhouse informant who later acknowledged that

he provided false testimony in the hopes that his own sentence would be reduced. After spending years on death row as an innocent man, Delbert is now free and lives in Chicago. His story is featured in the play "Exonerated," and he is currently realizing his lifelong dream of becoming a writer.

St. Ambrose University at the Rogalski Center, 518 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA

Tuesday, September 21at 7 p.m.

Sponsored by Churches United of the Quad Cities and the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

For more information, contact Colleen Cunningham at 314-249-1159 or colleenc@ejusa.org