DODGING DODD-FRANK REFORM: Republicans have been railing against the regulations put in place during the financial crisis for being ineffective and suppressing economic growth. Earlier this year, the House passed a measure to dismantle Dodd-Frank, but the Senate has seemingly avoided taking it up. Now, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) says it should be part of tax reform. He wants the FY18 reconciliation language to also be used to pass Dodd-Frank reform with a simple majority, but given Dodd-Frank hasn’t even moved through committee in the Senate, this is a massive stretch and would certainly more than complicate Republican efforts to score on tax reform. One small Dodd-Frank revision is moving through - S.1463 allows for a lengthier term of an FSOC official and is expected to become law very soon.
LAST GASP: The Senate is using this short week to figure out if they can repeal and replace Obamacare before September 30th and President Trump has dispatched Veep Mike Pence to make a last minute appeal to Republican Senators at their weekly lunch today. It’s clear the Cassidy-Graham-Heller-Johnson plan doesn’t have the 50 votes yet or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be taking it up. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is lobbying against it calling it “Obamacare Lite.” The question then becomes, how do they get to 50? They have to win two votes from Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), or Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who all voted against the last Republican attempt. It will be clearer who will swing, once the CBO releases its limited analysis expected next week, but the Administration turning toward Democrats is real motivation to get something done. Our Senior Health Policy Analyst Emily Evans is covering this closely. Read her piece here.
WAITING ON TAX REFORM - Members of the Republican base are as eager as ever for tax reform to take root. For many voters, President Trump’s promise to change things up and put money in their pockets was the top appeal. Which is why some are having a hard time understanding why tax reform isn’t done yet, but the devil is in the details. There are so many different provisions, ideas, and impacts to consider and the Republican Party has been wrangling over them for years. Right now the fight over deductions is driving a wedge between factions of the party. The Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing on business tax reform today where the key player in the Senate - Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is expected to outline some of his goals.
CRUNCH TIME AT CFPB: The CFPB is overwhelmed with consumer complaints surrounding the Equifax breach - leading to many op-eds to cite the importance of their arbitration rule that the House voted to reverse, but is still pending in the Senate Banking Committee. The Bureau also just settled with one of the largest owners of student debt in the U.S. for their unfair and illegal collection practices. Meanwhile, the CFPB has been working on getting out their payday lending rule, now that they have completed their analysis. The rule is expected to wipe out parts of the lending industry and Congressional Republicans have already promised to reverse it, likely using the Congressional Review Act.
CONFERENCE CALL TOMORROW | DISH NETWORK (DISH): Please join our Senior Telecom Analyst Paul Glenchur to discuss the regulatory outlook and agenda for Dish Network with its Senior VP and Deputy Counsel, Jeff Blum. September 20th at 11am ET. Get the dial in instructions here.
EVENT | QUARTERLY POLICY THEMES: Thursday, September 21 @ 2pm: We will be hosting our Quarterly Policy Themes Call Thursday, September 21st at 2pm. Led by our Macro Policy Analyst JT Taylor and Health Care Analyst Emily Evans, this presentation will be a conversation with our policy team as they provide insight on major policy issues developing in Washington. It is crunch time for Congress who has a jammed packed legislative agenda ahead. Over the next three months, they must address an FY18 budget, appropriations, tax reform and maybe even health care reform. Get the event details here.
PAMA IMPLEMENTATION IS IMMINENT: BE WORRIED BUT NOT SCARED | LH, DGX, EXAS: Our Senior Health Policy Analyst Emily Evans writes we doubt CMS will delay implementation of PAMA; Congressional guardrails should limit impact on most tests; public meeting on September 25th. Read the full piece here.
EVENT: DEPUTY ENERGY SECRETARY & FORMER OPEC PRESIDENT HEADLINE OCT 11 HEDGEYE ENERGY CONF (NYC) Our Senior Energy Analyst Joe McMonigle is hosting a Hedgeye energy conference in New York City. Topics include regulating pipelines, grid reliability and energy infrastructure in the Trump Administration - as well as an OPEC meeting preview. Get the event details here.
