President Obama’s choice of a Michigan trial lawyer to serve on the Consumer Product Safety Commission would shift the balance of power at the agency and ensure a pro-regulatory majority through most of 2013, regardless of who is in the White House next year. Last week Obama nominated Marietta S. Robinson to take the seat of Thomas H. Moore, who left the CPSC last fall. The commission is currently operating with four members — two Democrats and two Republicans. If confirmed by the Senate, Robinson would give Democrats a 3-to-2 …
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus made headlines this week for something other than healthcare. On October 27 Senator Baucus said he has “serious reservations” about the cap and trade bill, especially the increased near-term target of 20 percent carbon dioxide reduction below 2005 levels by 2020 – up from 17 percent in the passed House bill. No changes can be made within the cap and trade approach can alleviate his concerns. Changing the targeted emissions reductions for 2020 from 20 percent to 17 percent might reduce the near-tem economic impact, …
After thousands of Americans attended hundreds of townhalls this summer, after the President of the United States delivered a rare speech to a Joint Session of Congress, after endless coverage of legislative markups in the relevant congressional committees, what if the Senate began actual floor votes on the health care overhaul and the drive-by media refused to cover it? Couldn’t happen? It already is. This week the Senate is set to vote on a measure that would approve spending for almost one quarter of Obamacare’s $1 trillion price tag. Sen. …
According to the Associated Press, at the direction of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senate Democrats are plotting to pass a bill, by as early as next week, that grants doctors a $247 billion increase in Medicare fees over a decade. This will no doubt add to the deficit. Why are the Democrats so intent on spending $247 billion in one week? To pave the way for the White House to claim that Obamacare is deficit neutral. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Democratic Leadership are meeting, …
Congress passed the Cash for Clunkers program in order to increase automobile employment and save jobs. As Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow – a key supporter of the law – put it, “This is a jobs program first.” Cash for Clunkers has done many things. It has given hundreds of thousands of Americans vouchers worth between $3,500 and $4,500. It has encouraged many Americans to trade in old cars now instead of waiting a few years. It has destroyed valuable used cars that dealers would have resold to low-income Americans. It …
