Here in Washington, people are discussing two things: Jim Zorn’s job security as the Washington Redskins’ head coach and health care, in that order. But there’s a $3.6 trillion gas tax on the table that already passed the House and is making its way through the Senate, and cap and trade has Americans all over the country concerned. The $3.6 trillion gas tax figure, which includes gasoline and diesel gas, comes from a new report from Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Kit Bond (R-MO) on the effects of climate …
This week, the College Board released its annual report on Trends in College Pricing which found bad news for students and taxpayers. American colleges continue to hike tuition rates to record high levels—well ahead of the consumer price index. At 4-year public institutions, tuition and fees rose by 5.9 percent. At private 4-year (not for profit) colleges, tuition and fee costs rose by 4.4 percent. This year’s increases follow a trend that has lasted for decades with post-secondary education costs skyrocketing at rates well ahead of inflation. Policymakers on Capitol …
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) on WMUR last night: “I know that it has created some jobs but clearly but clearly not what we were anticipating.” [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Nu6TlbfME[/youtube] You don’t say:
In what appears to be an emerging ritual, Vice President Joe Biden is heading out to Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic ostensibly to talk missile defense. But in reality it looks like a mopping up operation after yet another faux pas by his Administration. The last time Biden was on an apologize-and-salvage mission was when he ventured to Ukraine and Georgia in July, two weeks after his boss, President Barack Obama, was busy pushing reset buttons in Moscow. But Biden, a serial bumbler, had decided to give the Ukrainian …
Yesterday the Washington Post reported: Federal economic recovery aid has created or saved 250,000 education jobs, the Obama administration announced Monday, although states and school systems continue to face enormous fiscal pressures. But earlier this year Vice President Joe Biden told the Brookings Institution: Two hundred days ago, President Obama signed into law the third piece of our economic plan: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And today there’s a growing consensus: The Recovery Act is, in fact, working. Don’t just take my word for it. Analysts from Moody’s to …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxQgqqnpxo4[/youtube]
Why trust Congress with health care when it messes up simple things like light bulbs? The new mandated light bulbs don’t save as promised; produce inferior quality light; and 90% of them are made abroad. The old ones were mostly made in America. The new law has led to General Electric’s August announcement that it was shutting down incandescent bulb factories in Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia. Light bulb researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute confirm that “A CFL can appear dimmer than expected.” It’s because the “equivalence” information on the packaging …
Sending the Vice President to Poland and the Czech Republic this week could easily be another misstep by the Administration when it comes to handling relations with Central and Eastern Europe. Despite his seniority, the famously gaffe-prone Joe Biden may not be the wisest choice to handle Washington’s “damage control” exercise in Warsaw and Prague. And damage has been done in abundance, not just to America’s diplomatic relations with Poland and the Czech Republic, but to its standing in this part of the world more broadly. President Obama’s abandonment of …
Politico‘s Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei report today: President Obama is working systematically to marginalize the most powerful forces behind the Republican Party, setting loose top White House officials to undermine conservatives in the media, business and lobbying worlds. With a series of private meetings and public taunts, the White House has targeted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the biggest-spending pro-business lobbying group in the country; Rush Limbaugh, the country’s most-listened-to conservative commentator; and now, with a new volley of combative rhetoric in recent days, the insurance industry, Wall Street …
While some prominent physician groups at the national level like the American Medical Association have suggested that the typical doctor on net would be better off if Congress’s health care legislation were to pass—mainly because of all the changes in Medicare payment methodology—those groups have generally failed to acknowledge a number of the critical issues. Based on the provisions of the House health care bill (H.R. 3200), here are the simple facts: • As millions of Americans are moved from private insurance to public coverage, with the introduction of a …
