Senators Tom Coburn (R–OK) and Joseph Lieberman (I–CT) unveiled a major Medicare proposal. Based on preliminary estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the proposal would reduce total Medicare spending by more than $600 billion in the next 10 years and cut the program’s long-term (75-year) unfunded liability by approximately $10 trillion. This is a serious start. Without remedial action, Medicare faces a long-term unfunded liability of almost $37 trillion. The Medicare hospitalization trust fund is running a deficit of $34.1 billion this year alone. While the program has …
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is out with a new video that highlights the significance of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides low-income students with a scholarship to attend a private school. Today the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the SOAR Act, which restores funding that President Obama and Democrats eliminated. Boehner’s video highlights the congressional testimony of Lesly Alvarez, an eight-grade student who is benefiting from a scholarship at Sacred Heart School. Lesly shared her story about the program before the House Oversight and …
Wednesday, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) was the subject of a hearing held by Senators Joe Lieberman (I–CT) and Susan Collins (R–ME). Although the program is boosting the graduation rates of students who use a scholarship to attend private school and is overwhelmingly popular among parents and D.C. residents, the last Congress blocked new students from entering, and the Obama Administration has offered no support. Today, Senators, media, and proponents and opponents alike were once again reminded of the vital role this program plays for children and their families. …
Compiled below are comments made by various experts regarding the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Be sure to follow our continuing coverage of the New START and the impact it will have on America’s security. GENERAL CONCERNS: Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ): “First, it’s not clear that the treaty’s verification provisions are adequate. Second, the treaty’s failure to take into account Russia’s enormous tactical nuclear weapons arsenal (more than 10 times larger than that of the U.S.) and the limitations it places on U.S. conventional global strike capabilities are serious …
In the midst of a crisis in the Gulf, some Senators are making a final push to pass energy and climate legislation this year. Senators John Kerry (D–MA) and Joe Lieberman (I–CT) are introducing a scaled-back version of their original cap-and-trade bill but still want to maintain a carbon cap. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) wants to bring an energy bill up for debate the week of July 26 that addresses the oil spill response and a greenhouse gas reduction plan for utilities only. A draft leaked from Senator …
Here’s a principles-of-economics question: Suppose the U.S. gross domestic product (national income) is currently $14 trillion. Then suppose the U.S. raised all tariff, income tax, and sales tax rates to 100 percent. How much money would the government collect? If you realized that nobody would generate taxable income under such a regime and answered “zero,” congratulations. If, instead, you answered $14 trillion, you may have a future at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), because that is how they analyze (score) the fiscal impacts of the Kerry–Lieberman climate change bill. In …
Senators Kerry and Lieberman have introduced their “compromise” climate change legislation that relies largely on a “cap and trade” scheme to reduce carbon emissions. Even assuming there was a need for carbon limits, the Kerry-Lieberman bill gets the mechanism all wrong, apparently because the Senators either don’t understand or don’t trust markets. Kerry and Lieberman propose that the government manage a carbon market because controlling pollution is really important. This will work about as well as the government running grocery stores because everyone needs food. The insight underlying the use …
Last year Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) rolled out a companion cap and trade bill to the Waxman-Markey version that passed in the House of Representatives. Boxer-Kerry was essentially dead on arrival so Senator Kerry went back to work, this time with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Although Senator Graham is urging his colleagues to slow down, Senators Kerry and Lieberman are trudging forward and have introduced the American Power Act – the latest big climate change bill. Subtitled, “A New Start for Clean …
Senator’s John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are set to release the Senate version of a cap and trade bill tomorrow that will call for a 17 percent cut in emissions below 2005 levels by 2020. But if cap and trade cannot garner enough support, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is prepared with a backup plan. Over the weekend Senator Reid told Spanish television network Univision, “I can do one this big because I have a couple of Republicans who would help me on that. But the big bill that …
Last week Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), along with co-sponsors Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Robert Byrd (D-WV), and George Voinovich (R-OH) filed an amendment to the tax extenders bill to reauthorize the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which is currently being phased-out by Congress and the Obama administration. The amendment however, was blocked by Senator Reid, despite the Nevada Senator having pledged over the summer of 2009 to give Lieberman’s reauthorization measure floor time. Lieberman is continuing to push for an opportunity to have his amendment considered. The next …
