At the height of campaign season, and while under extra scrutiny as a potential vice presidential pick, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is on a quixotic bid to reform how the miscellaneous tariff bill is crafted.
In the process, he’s going against the Republican Ways and Means Committee chairman — a close friend, as it happens — while giving bipartisan cover to a vulnerable Democratic Senator.
“I’m just trying to get something done here that helps the country,” Portman said in an interview in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building.
The miscellaneous tariff bill, or MTB as it is known inside the Beltway, is a collection of scores of narrowly targeted bills that temporarily suspend taxes on importing chemicals and other goods U.S. manufacturers hope to use for less cost.
Although relatively obscure, it’s a top priority of the business lobby. But the bill is in limbo because many critics of Congressional earmarks say the limited tariff benefits that make up the law are banned under House and Senate rules.
Read more: http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_8/Rob-Portman-Push-Not-Too-Popular-216263-1.html?pos=hftxt
In the process, he’s going against the Republican Ways and Means Committee chairman — a close friend, as it happens — while giving bipartisan cover to a vulnerable Democratic Senator.
“I’m just trying to get something done here that helps the country,” Portman said in an interview in his office in the Russell Senate Office Building.
The miscellaneous tariff bill, or MTB as it is known inside the Beltway, is a collection of scores of narrowly targeted bills that temporarily suspend taxes on importing chemicals and other goods U.S. manufacturers hope to use for less cost.
Although relatively obscure, it’s a top priority of the business lobby. But the bill is in limbo because many critics of Congressional earmarks say the limited tariff benefits that make up the law are banned under House and Senate rules.
Read more: http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_8/Rob-Portman-Push-Not-Too-Popular-216263-1.html?pos=hftxt
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