August 14, 2020
This week we have a special ‘Cleaning off the Desk’ version of Heard on the Hill. Ramona Lessen covers a recent House Subcommittee hearing discussing the urgent need for a national plan to contain the novel coronavirus. Jesse Weathington gives us an update on the elections this week and the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report. As always, make sure to check out the Infographs for an in-depth look at current hot topics. Our Total Spectrum colleagues are taking some time off, as well as preparing for and managing the education of their children. We will be back right after Labor Day, or before if circumstances warrant.
Read MoreAugust 6, 2020
In this week’s Heard on the Hill, Steve Gordon, Erik Paulsen, and Todd Smith cover the process, negotiations, and progress toward the next COVID-19 recovery legislation. They share an interview with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and provide updates on bringing pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the U.S., Tuesday evening’s Kansas Republican primary election – the first battle for control of the U.S. Senate – and they report on the race for a COVID-19 vaccine in an update that’s appropriately titled ‘The Cavalry Is REALLY coming.’ Al Jackson brings us up to date on defense issues, while Ramona Lessen reports on a hearing held before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on the PACT ACT and Section 230, the law that helped create the Internet and an examination of proposed reforms. Jesse Weathington gives us an update on legislative vetoes and signings by Governor Kemp and the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report.
Read MoreJuly 23, 2020
The overriding subjects consuming Washington are COVID-19, the shutdown that has caused economic distress and hardship for millions of Americans, the development of vaccines that will lift us out of this fog, and the upcoming elections. Steve Gordon, Erik Paulsen and Todd Smith cover the beginning of negotiations for the next legislative response to COVID-19 and the first important election in the race for control of the U.S. Senate in Heard on the Hill. Ramona Lessen covered Tuesday’s hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee entitled ‘Efforts to develop a safe, effective, and accessible COVID-19 vaccine’, and she’s included key portions of the three-hour hearing in her report. We are pleased to introduce Patrick Robertson. He is new to the Total Spectrum family, but he is not new to Washington, D.C. Patrick is a licensed attorney who served on the staff of former Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) for nine years, the last five as the Senator’s Deputy Chief of Staff. Patrick has now been in Washington’s private sector for more than 12 years representing a range of clients including Fortune 50 companies, small associations, the government of a U.S. territory, and other companies and entities. He is an expert on tax, commerce, trade, telecom, and transportation issues, and we asked him to write his first article for This Week in Washington on independent restaurants – and a way to help them. Jesse Weathington gives us a look at the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report.
Read MoreJuly 9, 2020
The Senate is working in-state, and the House is in pro-forma session. The Senate and the House of Representatives will return to Washington on July 20, and among the things they will work on is the next stimulus program, dubbed CARES 2. Heard on the Hill will return next time. For this edition of TWIW we have prepared two special articles. Sean Callinicos is a policy expert and government relations expert in health care, but he has a special focus in the vaccine industry. He was Assistant Vice President for Federal Government Affairs for Sanofi Pasteur during the avian and swine flu crises, and his work helped open the door for the development of America’s vaccine industry. Steve Gordon and Ramona Lessen interviewed Sean to learn about his experiences at Sanofi Pasteur and to discuss the current state of our vaccine industry. The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee held an oversight hearing last week on the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve’s response to the pandemic. The invited guests were Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell. John McKechnie, Total Spectrum’s Senior Partner and financial services expert, provided a summary and overview, and Ramona Lessen monitored the entire hearing. As usual, Jesse Weathington gives us a look at how the Georgia General Assembly finished up and the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report.
Read MoreJune 12, 2020
Steve Gordon, Erik Paulsen and Todd Smith discuss the first economic reports from America’s reopening, Congress and the Administration’s view on additional COVID-19 legislation, last week’s signing of changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, two Executive Orders, and a new feature we’re calling ‘This and That’ – all that in Heard on the Hill. Jesse Weathington gives us a look at the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report. Steve Ruhlen, our appropriations expert, provides an update and predictions on the federal appropriations process during this election year. Steve Gordon responds to protests in his former home state of Minnesota, in Washington, D.C., and throughout most of the country with a special article he calls A Cry for Change.
Read MoreMay 28, 2020
The Senate is out of Washington on a planned home state work week. The House of Representatives is in session, although 70 members of the House have filed public letters with the House Clerk asking to vote by proxy so they would not have to travel to Washington during the public health emergency. Steve Gordon, Erik Paulsen, and Todd Smith talk about the mood in Washington in this most unusual year, the first signs of economic recovery, the next major COVID-19 legislation and more in Heard on the Hill. With his years of experience working with the Pentagon, defense contractors, and defense appropriation legislation, Al Jackson, Strategic Consultant to Total Spectrum, has filed a report on defense and defense appropriations issues. Jesse Weathington gives us a look at the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report. As always, make sure to check out the Infographs for an in-depth look at current hot topics. Stay safe, healthy AND sane…
Read MoreMay 12, 2020
COVID-19 continues to impact our families, our communities, our state, and our country. It created a health crisis, which in turn created an economic crisis – and Washington’s necessary response to both may indeed cause a fiscal crisis. Steve Gordon, Erik Paulsen, and Todd Smith bring you up to date on how the Administration and Congress continue to respond to these crises in “Heard on the Hill.” Jesse Weathington gives us a glimpse at what may be a "new normal" as well as the most recent economic figures in Georgia with his “Gold Dome Report”. As always, make sure to check out the Infographs for an in-depth look at current hot topics.
Read MoreApril 30, 2020
Welcome to our second Georgia edition of This Week in Washington. Thank you for your interest in politics and policy from the Peach State to the Potomac. It is a pleasure to welcome former Congressman Erik Paulsen to Total Spectrum and to This Week in Washington. Those of you who met Erik when he represented Minnesota in Congress and served on the House Ways and Means Committee know of both his intellect and uncommon common sense. There has been a great amount of discussion about the significant amount of our healthcare needs that are manufactured overseas. A bipartisan group of Senators passed a bill – which ultimately became part of the CARES Act – that asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to assess the vulnerability and dependence that overseas production of our healthcare products puts on our country. Steve Gordon and Erik Paulsen interviewed Joe Carson, a supply side expert, to get his thoughts and ideas. It’s a lengthy Q&A, but worth the read. In Heard on the Hill, Todd Smith and Steve Gordon write about our health crisis, our economic crisis, and our fiscal crisis and how Congress and the Administration are reacting to them. Jesse Weathington gives us a look at the latest in Georgia with his Gold Dome Report. As always, make sure to check out the Infographs for an in-depth look at current hot topics. Stay safe, healthy AND sane…
Read MoreApril 17, 2020
Greetings to our friends from the Peach State to the Potomac… On behalf of the Total Spectrum team, we would like to welcome you to the inaugural Georgia edition of This Week In Washington, a publication of Total Spectrum/Steve Gordon & Associates. This periodic newsletter will contain insights and insider information that is relevant to anyone who lives, works, or plays in Georgia, or who has an interest in the national political scene and how It impacts your lives and businesses. In each edition, you can expect to hear from a team of experts with deep connections on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and under the Gold Dome.
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