OVERNIGHT MONEY: House, Senate tackle budgets

The deal on Wednesday doesn’t eliminate the possibility that the Senate will stay in session this week, but it does make it possible to imagine that, if lawmakers can work quickly, a budget could gain approval on Friday. 

{mosads}Meanwhile, the House is expected to approve Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget blueprint on Thursday, as well as clear the Senate-passed CR. 

Whew. 

The House dispensed with a handful of various budget proposals on Wednesday, leaving Ryan’s plan and the CR for final votes on Thursday, then … recess.

In fact, the House was busy on Wednesday. 

Lawmakers rejected the Senate Democratic budget even before the upper chamber could begin its consideration, on a 154-261 vote, with 35 Democrats voting against Murray’s blueprint. 

The House also turned back the conservative Republican budget in a 104-132 vote, with 171 Democrats voting present.

Democrats hoped that by getting their members to vote present instead of against the budget, it might be approved by the House.

That would have allowed Democrats to train their campaign ads on the Republican Study Committee budget, which would boost the Social Security age to 70 and cut Medicare benefits, including for people now 59 years old. The RSC blueprint would balance the budget in four years.

Head to the light. 

BREAKING NEWS

Too big to solve?: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that he still views “too big to fail” banks as a “major issue” that must be addressed.

Bernanke told reporters that the lingering concern about whether the nation’s biggest financial institutions are perceived as enjoying a government lifeline is still a challenge for regulators. He added that while new tools created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law are aimed at addressing the issue, further action could be needed to put the matter fully to bed.

“I don’t think ‘too big to fail’ is solved now. We’re doing a number of things which I think will help,” he said. “If we don’t achieve the goal, I think we’ll have to do additional steps … it’s not just something we can forget about.”

The Fed announced Wednesday that it will maintain its accommodative policy in the face of a slowly improving economy.

The Federal Open Market Committee said it appeared the economy had returned to moderate growth after slowing at the end of last year. 

While there have been “signs of improvement” in the labor market, an elevated unemployment rate is still bolstering the case for the Fed to stay the course, the committee added.

By maintaining existing policy, the Fed renewed its commitment to a policy of near-zero interest rates, with an additional $85 billion in bond purchases a month, in an effort to further lower long-term borrowing rates and spur on the economy.

LOOSE CHANGE

You should see them do Seinfeld!: Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee, is pressing the IRS to release a pair of productions — a Star Trek parody and Gilligan’s Island-inspired skit — from the tax collecting agency’s TV studio. 

Republicans have pointed to the studio, which cost about $4 million in 2012, as part of their efforts to highlight wasteful Washington spending, especially as they made the case that there were reasonable ways to find other cuts to replace the sequester. (Of course, $4 million is also a drop in the bucket compared with the $85 billion in sequester cuts.)

Ways and Means says that the IRS has confirmed to Boustany that the two productions exist, but have declined to hand over the video proof. Boustany also wants a list of expenses for the IRS TV studio. The two videos cost about $60,000. 

China currency: A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a China currency bill on Wednesday that it says will hold Beijing and another other nations accountable for lowering the value of their currencies to gain an edge in global trade. 

House Ways and Means ranking member Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) and Reps. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) reintroduced the same measure that got 234 co-sponsors in the last Congress. 

They argue that China keep the yuan low gives the nation’s exporters an advantage that has led to the loss of at least 1 million jobs, many in the manufacturing sector. 

“American manufacturing is ripe for a resurgence,” Murphy told reporters. “Our country boasts one of the most talented workforces in the world, but it’s time to put in place clear standards that give American manufacturers — and the working men and women of this country — a fair shot at competing and succeeding in a free global economy..

He said the currency bill is step one in the process. 

The bill reverses a current Commerce Department practice that has precluded it from treating foreign government currency practices as an export subsidy while also directing the department on how to measure subsidies provided to foreign producers through currency undervaluation.

Pour me a cold one:  On Thursday, the Beer Institute and National Beer Wholesalers Association will unveil results of their biannual “Beer Serves America” study that looks at total jobs, wages, output and taxes generated by the beer industry, from the hops and barley farmers to the bartenders at the local pub. Ahhh …

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Initial Claims: The Labor Department releases its weekly filings for jobless benefits a day ahead of February job numbers. 

Mortgage Rates: Freddie Mac is releasing weekly data on fixed-rate mortgages, which have been hovering around historic lows.  

FHFA Housing Price Index: The Federal Housing Finance Agency will release its measure of prices for January on single-family homes. 

Existing Home Sales: The National Association of Realtors releases February figures for sales of existing homes. Existing-home sales are completed transactions across a broad range of housing types, including single-family homes. 

Leading indicators: The Conference Board will release a batch of previously announced economic indicators for February: new orders, jobless claims, money supply, average workweek, building permits and stock prices. 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Senate rejects Coburn’s amendment to restore tours of White House
— Internet retailers bash Senate attempt to ‘sneak through’ online sales tax
— Study: Corporate tax rate a drag on economic growth
— Children’s advocates slam House budget
— Sen. Warren planning book project
— Durbin: Grand bargain odds near 50-50
— Bill would limit Dodd-Frank’s global reach
— Bank regulators told they are ‘bayoneting the wounded’ with rules
— Interest groups with stake in reform line up for meetings with House tax-writers

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