What's In A Name?

[Annie]

Hell's bells!

WashingtonWatch.com - H.R. 1586, The XXXXXXAct ofXXXX

H.R. 1586, The XXXXXXAct ofXXXX (16 comments ↓ | 14 wiki edits: view article &#8595

H.R. 1586 would impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients.

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Read the bill? Hell, they didn't bother to name the bill! And for THIS they came back for special session.

If they name it? They'll have to revote.

 

[Dr.House]

They have to pass it so that they can name it (and find out what's in it)...

I'm sure Pelosi will make that statement shortly....

 

[Claudette]

WTF??

Now they are going to tax your bonus if your company recieved TARP money??

I'd like to know who the "Certain" companies are. Bet they are non Barry Boy supporters.

 

[Dr.House]

Perhaps we should name it for them...

How about:

"Pretend We Care About Jobs Act" of "Pre-November Ass Kicking 2010"

 

[Skull Pilot]

Why bother naming bills anymore?

No one reads them anyway.

 

[Greenbeard]

And for THIS they came back for special session.

Ah, no. They came back to pass a bill extending funds to states for Medicaid and education budgets. That bill just happens to have the same number as the one you're talking about.

What you're looking at is the original text of H.R. 1586 (the low number should indicate that this bill was not originally introduced recently); there are six versions:

1 . To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients. (Introduced in House - IH)[H.R.1586.IH][PDF]
2 . FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (Engrossed Amendment Senate - EAS)[H.R.1586.EAS][PDF]
3 . To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients. (Engrossed in House [Passed House] - EH)[H.R.1586.EH][PDF]
4 . XXXXXXAct ofXXXX (Engrossed Amendment Senate - EAS)[H.R.1586.EAS2][PDF]
5 . Aviation Safety and Investment Act of 2010 (Engrossed Amendment House - EAH)[H.R.1586.EAH][PDF]
6 . To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients. (Placed on Calendar Senate - PCS)[H.R.1586.PCS][PDF]

Now, usually when you see a list like that on THOMAS, those are in chronological order. That's not quite true of this list.

This bill started out as the "H.R. 1586--To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients," introduced in the House on March 18, 2009. That's the first item on the list (the ".IH" means it was introduced in the House but didn't pass in that form). The next day it passed the House with the text listed at number 3 in the list (the ".EH" means it was engrossed in the House, i.e. passed out of that chamber and sent to the Senate), which is also the text of version 6--the bill placed on the calendar of the Senate (".PSC"). There it sat, a bill taxing the TARP bonus money that passed the House in March 2009.

Fast forward a year. The Senate "took up" the legislation, by which I mean they pulled the text of the bill the House had sent them out of the drawer, blew the dust off, and stuck in--via an amendment--the text of a completely unrelated bill they wanted to pass, entitled " FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act." This, number 2 in the list, was engrossed in the Senate and sent back to the House on March 22, 2010. The House then amended the Senate amendment to produce yet another iteration of the bill--now called the " Aviation Safety and Investment Act of 2010"--which it passed and sent back to the Senate on March 25, 2010. Since both chambers have to pass the same piece of legislation before it goes to the President, it can ping pong back and forth like this for a while.

This one, however, didn't. It sat in the Senate until about two weeks ago, at which point yet another amendment ("SENATE AMENDMENT TO HOUSE AMENDMENT TO SENATE AMENDMENT") was used to strip out all the text and put it a completely new bill. This is the one they didn't bother titling that extends Medicaid and education funds to states. That's number 4 on the list, " XXXXXXAct ofXXXX."

This bill--the fifth or sixth iteration of H.R. 1586 and the third completely different bill bearing that number--is what the House came back to pass today. They did so and the President signed it earlier today. But this isn't the TARP bonuses bill and it isn't the Aviation Safety bill. The text of those bills was each thrown out as this thing ping ponged back and forth between the two chambers until finally, today, they both agreed to the same text.