Business

OVERNIGHT MONEY: Farm bill leaders seeking deal

by Vicki Needham, Erik Wasson and Bernie Becker - 12/03/13 6:33 PM ET

WEDNESDAY’S BIG STORY:

Farm bill crunch time: The top four farm bill negotiators will meet Wednesday, even though the Senate is out of session, in an effort to forge a deal.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and panel ranking member Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) are convinced that a deal is close enough that it is worth coming back early from a two-week Thanksgiving recess.

{mosads}On Tuesday, House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) said a deal on food stamps and commodity programs is very close, while GOP panel member Rep. Steve King (Iowa) said Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Stabenow just need to get behind a food stamp budget-cut number and force their will on the conference.

King and Schrader are not in agreement, however, on King’s amendment to stop states from banning products likes eggs based on production. King predicted it will be in any chairman’s mark of the $1 trillion farm bill.

Schrader said it would be out and voted down in the full committee.

“I look forward to see what the Senate will put on the table tomorrow,” Lucas told AgriTalk radio on Tuesday. “We are at the point in time where we should be able to move this process forward.”

He said it is possible to have an “understanding of principles that the lawyers can work on” in December in order to allow House votes in January.

At that point, there would be pressure on milk prices; those subsidies expire in 2014.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday blamed Senate Democrats for failing, so far, to compromise on the farm bill.

Senate Democrats suggested on Tuesday that both sides will need to move off their positions to reach an agreement.

“In the Senate, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to pass a bipartisan farm bill two years in a row,” said Ben Becker, spokesman for the Senate Agriculture Democrats.

“Agriculture Committee leaders are continuing to work together, and everyone needs to rise above partisan politics if we are going to continue making bipartisan progress.”

WHAT ELSE WE’RE WATCHING

Risk regulation: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Market Competitiveness will gather up various experts on Wednesday to discuss systemic risk regulation. The experts will look at the situation before the 2008 financial crisis and after the passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which led to the creation of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).

They will debate whether the FSOC, which is tasked with monitoring and mitigating threats, is meeting the needed regulatory gap.

More regs: A House Financial Services subcommittee on Wednesday will hold a hearing on what regulatory relief proposals are available for community financial institutions with several banking experts.

Income issues: President Obama will deliver remarks on Wednesday about the nation’s growing income inequality and a decline in economic mobility at the Center for American Progress.

The speech will serve a preview for next year’s State of the Union address, and reflect the president’s intention to turn his focus to the issue for the rest of this second term.

Headed to China: Vice President Biden is headed to Beijing on Wednesday to meet with Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao and Chinese President Xi Jinping about a wide range of economic and security issues. Currency manipulation is a major point of contention among congressional lawmakers on the economic front. But Biden also is expected to talk to the Chinese leaders about rising tensions around China’s air defense identification zone and the broader situation in the East China Sea.

Small-business focus: Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will participate in The Atlantic’s Small Business Forum to discuss Obama administration initiatives to spur economic growth, help small businesses grow and create jobs.

LOOSE CHANGE

Tax chat: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) huddled on Tuesday, just about a year before their deadline for getting tax reform across the finish line.

Camp told reporters afterward that he and Baucus, who meet regularly, discussed tax reform and year-end issues.

The Medicare “doc fix” and expiring unemployment benefits, which are both under Ways and Means and Finance jurisdiction, face upcoming deadlines.

The Michigan Republican didn’t exactly sound confident that he’d release a tax reform bill this year, after earlier vowing to mark up one this year. Aides to the chairman have said in recent weeks that he hopes to circulate a bill by the end of January.

“We’ve only got one more week left of session, so we’re still working through the details. As you know, it’s constant,” Camp said.

“I’m not going to make a timeframe right now.”

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

MBA Mortgage Index: The Mortgage Bankers Association releases its weekly report on mortgage application volume.

ADP National Employment Report: Automatic Data Processing (ADP) will release its November report on private-sector job growth.

Trade balance: The Commerce Department releases its October data on exports and imports of U.S. goods and services.

New home sales: The Commerce Department releases its September and October reports on new privately owned one-family houses sold and for sale. New home sales usually have a lagged reaction to changing mortgage rates, which are still hovering near historic lows. The reports were delayed by the 16-day government shutdown in October.

ISM Services Index: The Institute for Supply Management will release its November index that measures the service sector’s pace of growth. The sector employs 90 percent of all workers, including those at restaurants, hotels and retailers, and has been responsible for the bulk of hiring during the recovery.

Beige Book: The Federal Reserve will be out Wednesday with the latest version of its Beige Book, which is published eight times a year. The report is a collection of anecdotes from businesses across the nation that helps the central bank get a clearer economic picture as Fed officials figure out the best time to roll back its monthly stimulus program.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Hoyer: No stopgap to avoid shutdown

— Rogers hopeful despite blown budget deadline

— Audit: O-Care subsidies susceptible to fraud

— IRS nominee gets hearing next week

— Issa threatens FBI with subpoenas

— US, Japan express optimism to finish Asia-Pacific trade deal this year

— Waters second-guesses SEC agenda

— CBO report lifts Dems argument for extending federal jobless benefits

— Republicans: FBI stonewalling IRS probe

— Hatch suggests US ink Asia-Pacific deal with only countries that meet high standards

— Schumer: Wall Street ‘hatred’ on left is ‘counterproductive’