Washington Report: Debt Ceiling: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Also, a Senate committee approved two pieces of legislation last week pertaining to clean energy technologies and alternative fuel vehicles.

July 18, 2011

Week Ahead
Both Republicans and Democrats have dug their heals in on debt ceiling negotiations. The Republicans have walked away from the table stating they will only listen to a negotiation dealing with cuts and no new taxes. The Democrats are coming to the same table saying, "We need to raise taxes." President Obama is busy inviting the leaders of both parties to Camp David; however, he has not put a plan forth. With all of the legislation piling up, members from both parties have their mind on one thing: August 2 is the date America could default on their own guarantees if a compromise is not reached.

Week in Review
Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved two pieces of legislation pertaining to clean energy technologies and alternative fuel vehicles.

The first bill, the Clean Energy Financing Act of 2011, would reform the Department of Energy's existing loan program to create a separate Clean Energy Deployment Administration that would provide loan guarantees and other financial incentives to clean energy technologies that could have difficulty obtaining funding through traditional channels.

The second bill, the Alternative Fuel Vehicles Competitiveness and Energy Security Act of 2011, is designed to increase the use of alternative fuel vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them through the use of loan guarantees.

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