A major new report confirms the worst fears of many: Health care reform will raise the costs for most Americans—by about 18% on average. That is on top of existing inflation of health coverage. Once the plan is fully phased-in (by 2019), a typical family of four would pay an extra $4,000 each year. When combined with existing inflation, costs would rise from today’s $12,300 annual average to $25,900. Of that 111% increase, $9,600 is due to existing factors uncorrected by the legislation, and $4,000 due to additional costs created …
This Morning Bell is the first in a five-part week-long series on how Obamacare will affect you. Throughout his campaign, and even in to the first few months in office, President Barack Obama repeatedly promised the American people that his health care plan would reduce their health insurance premiums by $2,500 a year. It has been a while since President Obama made that promise, and any honest look at the health legislation being considered in Congress explains why. The Senate Finance Committee bill written by Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) (the …
Last night, Chris Frates of the Politico posted on Live Pulse a post “Unconventional Wisdom” where a “former House and Senate leadership aid” communicate to Frates that it is possible that Reid’s plan could be to “insert the merged health care reform language into a revenue raising House bill already languishing in conference committee. The Senate would pass it and send it to the House whereupon passage, it would go straight to the president’s desk – completely bypassing conference. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.” This would allow …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhOigjmCZls[/youtube] This past summer, hundreds of thousands of Americans attended townhall meetings and demanded their representatives be more upfront about the health reform legislation being crafted to overhaul one-sixth of the U.S. economy. But Congress continues to operate in a shroud of ambiguity. Members of the Senate Finance Committee even recently defeated an amendment that would have required Congress to post the actual committee bill (the committee currently is working on conceptual framework of a bill) online for at least 72 hours before voting on it. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOthXdxJbxc[/youtube] Yesterday, Governor Jeb Bush praised President Obama for ‘being on the right track’ regarding education reform. We think there’s room for improvement when it comes to President Obama’s education stance, although he has promised to ‘use what works’ when considering reforms. However, if the President was true to his word he would have intervened when Congress voted to phase out the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program in April, which ultimately resulted in 216 low-income D.C. families being told the federal government was rescinding the scholarships that they had already been awarded earlier in the year: …
Senate Analysis – This week, the Senate will continue work on more over-due appropriations bills. On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on its health care reform concept. Of course, the real work will continue behind closed doors where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and members of the Obama administration continue to craft the bill that will be debated on the Senate floor. Major Senate Floor Action – The Senate is poised to complete work on the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill. Several appropriations conferences …
Recent statements coming from the White House making distinctions between the Taliban and al-Qaeda and implying that the Taliban is somehow less inimical to U.S. interests are incongruous with developments on the ground, including a major suicide bombing in front of the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Thursday morning and another major bombing that killed at least 49 on the other side of the border in Peshawar, Pakistan. The back-to-back blasts straddling the border underscore the instability in the region and the need for President Obama to demonstrate decisiveness with …
According to the Fox News White House blog: The White House says that the President has decided to give the approximately $1.4 million prize accompanying his Nobel Prize to charity. They have not made a decision on which charity or charities will receive the money. Here’s an idea for the President: He could give the 216 low-income kids back the scholarships that his administration took away from them earlier this year. On April 6th of this year, after Democrats in Congress voted to end the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, Secretary …
Unemployment has risen sharply during this recession and has almost reached 10 percent of the workforce. However policy makers have paid relatively little attention to why unemployment has risen so sharply. With so much coverage of the collapse of the auto industry in Detroit, the finance industry in New York, and the deflation of the housing bubble nationwide much of the press has focused on job losses. And there is a lot of truth to this. Layoffs have increased significantly since the start of the recession. But that is not …
The House and Senate are clearly divided over how to pay for the massive new spending commitments the federal government is taking on. Right now, House and Senate Democrats are meeting behind closed doors to figure out who they will tax and how much they can cut Medicare to meet what will be at least a $1 trillion commitment in new spending. Assuming for just the moment that they can make them match, Congress should look to the example of what Medicaid has done to state budgets. Medicaid Mess. The …
