One of things I've worked on most closely during my 8 months or so working in the US House of Representatives, i.e. the lower chamber of our Congress, is the Trade and Globalization Assistance Act. This is the first piece of legislation I've worked on that has been approved by the House of Representatives.
This week, the New York Times wrote a very supportive editorial about this legislation. In general, the bill incentivizes modernizations to state unemployment insurance systems and expands a program that helps workers who lose their jobs due to trade (The bill is thoroughly explained in the Committee Report accompanying it. It's sumarized here, except for most of the tax provisions, which are summarized here.). However, the Office of Management and Budget, an extremely important part of the Executive Office of the President, has declared that "if this bill were presented to the President in its current form, the President’s senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill." Even before the bill is ever presented to the President, we must await a version of the bill from the Senate.
Indi, Hope this passes in the Senate and with President Bush. Good luck. Were you not involved in the children's healthcare bill that the President vetoed? Love, Mom
ReplyDeleteHey Indi(dada) good luck for this one. I heard from b'mashi that it was 'showtime' a week or so ago:) she told us all about the bill while you were on C-SPAN!
ReplyDeleteIndu, I don't think you know how closely folks here follow the work you are doing. Since we get most of our information from the odd link or email, it's difficult to keep track -- so if you don't mind putting up a post on the work you are doing from time to time, it'll be greatly appreciated, especially by Baba, I know.
ReplyDeleteBesides, the blog is an easy way to maintain a sort of family record, something to read back from, look up later, that sort of thing. So this is exactly where your news belongs. And no, it's not 'boring'! :)
love,
Phuli
Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDelete1) Indrani/Mom: No, I didn't work on the children's health care bill that the President vetoes, but the committee I work for, the Committee on Ways and Means, did indeed play a significant role.
2) Debika/Chhotima: No need for the "(dada)," and thanks for your encouragement.
3) Sue/Phuli: I have no idea why others would be so interested in my work, but, you've already prodded me to post about what I'm up to, and I'll do my best to continue to do so. I should point out that I am somewhat limited in what I can say about my work in part because when I speak or write publicly about the work, I am in part speaking on behalf of my bosses, including the Chairperson of the Committee on Ways and Means and other members.
You know that after our agreement (Indi and not Indidada and Debika and not Chhotima) I don't call you dada anymore:) but to respect other people's sentiments, i do it here!
ReplyDeleteIndu -- Write whatever you are allowed to and want to. No pressure (only the occasional prod).
ReplyDeleteAs for the nomenclature confusion -- how about if we all use the names we personally use and never mind what we are expected to use?
For instance, Chhotima goes with Indi and Meno, I use Chhordi which is what I've always called Amrita.
If you think it is likely to confuse a third person, you'd add their name in brackets.
e.g. Barapishi (Indrani)
Kuttimama (Khokon)
Phulididi, I think that's a good idea. Thank you.
ReplyDeletere names why not just use initials?
ReplyDelete