Last night, the Senate voted 61-39 in favor of a $26 billion bailout for states and government unions financed in part by an $11 billion tax hike that will kill American jobs at U.S. companies that compete overseas. Worse, before that final vote was taken, the Senate also defeated two amendments by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), both by 58-42 votes, that would have prevented the largest tax hike in American history. And earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden told ABC News that the only thing wrong with President Barack …
The American people made it clear during the recent health care debate that they were leery of a public option. But included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed by Congress is the CLASS Act, a public option of a different sort: a government-run long-term care entitlement. In recent research, Heritage analyst Brian Blase lays out why the CLASS program will not offer a better alternative to plans available in the private market but will instead suffer from severe adverse selection, either necessitating a taxpayer bailout or …
Yesterday, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) spoke at Heritage on the urgent need to rein in federal spending and reform the budget process. As Thune explained, there are 26 committees and subcommittees dedicated to spending, but not one to cutting spending. Afterward, he sat down with us for a short interview about his proposal, his position on the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, and the new START treaty.
If you do a quick read of the Medicare Trustees Report, it would seem that Medicare’s finances have dramatically improved since last year. The 2010 report shows that Medicare has a $30.8 trillion shortfall (net present value terms of excess costs over revenues over the 75-year time horizon). Last year it was $38 trillion. Big improvement, right? Not so fast. Over the past six years, Congresses have twice passed—and two Presidents have signed—major legislation affecting Medicare. President Bush signed legislation creating a new drug benefit that provided an important modernization …
Today the Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court. Yet the vote breakdown is telling. Even with a Democrat stronghold in the Senate, Kagan received more “no” votes [37] than any Democrat Supreme Court nominee in 100 years, and with bipartisan opposition to top it off. With liberals expected to loose seats in the Senate this November, the number of senators who are likely to seriously scrutinize Obama judicial nominees will only increase. This should send a resounding message to President Obama, who may well have one …
The city of Bell, CA paid their former city manager nearly $800,000 a year. There was so much community backlash to the exorbitant salary, that he resigned. They had good reason to be outraged. The city manager was making nearly 20 times what the average family household income is in Bell. There is a gross disconnect between the City Manager and the city he manages. However, the problem is not over yet. It’s only just beginning. Robert Rizzo is due a pension of nearly $600,000 a year for the rest …
Google and Verizon, two of the leading antagonists in the long-running drama over FCC net neutrality regulation, may be about to call a truce. According to numerous media reports, the two firms have or will soon agree to a compromise framework for regulation, which would provide for a limited degree of regulation by the FCC. The exact provisions of the compromise are unclear. Reportedly, however, the plan would ban Internet access providers such as Verizon from blocking content outright, while allowing them to offer prioritized service for a fee. The …
And so we have finally arrived at the heart of the matter. In recent days, Peter Orszag, the now-former director of the Office of Management and Budget (he left the position at the end of last week), and Ezra Klein, the like-minded liberal blogger for The Washington Post, have weighed in — again — on Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Roadmap.” Orszag did so in a farewell speech at the Brookings Institution, and Klein in a blog post that went up yesterday. Their takes on the “Roadmap,” and specifically how it would …
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees today released their annual reports on the fiscal condition of the programs, and the situation for these programs is still dire. Although the programs’ fiscal health hasn’t worsened since last year, both programs are still on an unsustainable course. Most significantly, the programs are running trillion-dollar shortfalls because they’ve promised more benefits than they can afford: Social Security has a $7.9 trillion shortfall (up $0.1 trillion from last year), which means the program would require $7.9 trillion in cash—today!—to afford its promises. Alternatively, closing …
There is nothing like economic hardship to make a country step back and take a fresh look at its priorities. When faced with a need for drastic budget cuts and job creation, countries such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic have all made the decision to reduce subsidies for green energy programs such as wind and solar energy. These nations could not have made a better choice for either the economy or the environment unless they removed subsidies all together. After all, greening the world …
