Dec 26 2012

Ninety-eight percent of US held hostage by “chuckleheads” in Congress

Still time for Boehner to put country before politics

Just before Christmas, 40 or so House Republicans embarrassed House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio by sinking his so-called “Plan B” for deficit reduction. These members – whom Ohio Republican congressman Steve LaTourette called “the same chuckleheads who have screwed this place up” – made it clear they won’t increase taxes even on those earning more than $1 million per year. Never mind that these millionaires and billionaires constitute less than 3/10 of 1% of the population. Never mind that every mainstream economist, whether Republican or Democratic, says deficit reduction should include new revenue as well as spending cuts. And never mind that every public opinion poll taken since the November election shows that at least 60% of the American people want to see tax rates increased for the richest Americans. For Tea Party Republicans, “compromise” means “my way or the highway.” (For analysis on how the Fiscal Cliff would affect Ohioans, see our recent report.) So what now? House Speaker Boehner says its “up to the Senate and the President” to come up with a solution. But there are now only a handful of days left before the country hurtles over the fiscal cliff. And Mr. Boehner’s extremist wing has amply proved that it will not accept ANY solution that involves new revenue. In other words, Tea Partiers believe every dime of deficit reduction should come from budget cuts. But cuts that large would be all but certain to cast the economy back into recession. Neither the President, the Senate, nor the American people themselves will stand for a “cuts only” approach. Which means that if the country is going to avoid the December 31 cliff, only one course of action is left. Boehner and the President should cut a deal along the lines they were so close to agreeing on before the ill-fated Plan B debacle. Boehner should then bring that agreement to the House floor for a vote – and use Democratic as well as non-Tea Party Republican votes to get it passed. Roughly 200 House Republicans seemed prepared to vote for Plan B. Most of them would likely also support a “grand bargain” worked out between Speaker Boehner and the President. Combined with the roughly 200 House Democrats who would likewise support it, the plan could be sent to the Senate for approval, with the President’s signature quickly following. There’s still time to avert the Cliff. The question is whether Speaker Boehner is prepared to put the good of the country over politics as usual.

Dec 12 2012

Republican fiscal cliff proposal to cap deductions protects the rich by harming middle-class Americans

On Friday, our sister organization, Innovation Ohio Education Fund, released a report that, among other things, compared and contrasted the fiscal cliff proposals of President Obama and Congressional Republicans. A portion of the report focused on the Republican proposal to cap deductions and close loopholes to generate $800 billion in new revenue over the next two years. The report concluded that the plan would not raise the estimated $800 billion and could lead to the elimination of other deductions that millions of Ohio families rely upon. The report focused on Speaker Boehner’s proposal which included $800 billion in new revenue. While the proposal from Speaker Boehner was strikingly absent of details, some key Republicans have publicly stated capping deductions at $25,000 a year for those making over $250,000 a year would help raise $800 billion over ten years. While on paper this may work, in reality it is much less likely to do so. [Read more…]

Nov 27 2012

Three reasons for states (Ohio) to accept health reform’s Medicaid expansion

As the Kasich Administration decides whether or not to participate in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, an analyst at the Center for Budget & Policy Priorities provides three essential reasons why saying ‘yes’ would be good public and economic policy. January Angeles of CBPP testified before a New Jersey state senate committee and recaps three points in a blog post today:

State and local spending on health care services for the uninsured would fall because many uninsured residents would have Medicaid coverage, largely financed by the federal government.

The expansion could strengthen New Jersey’s economic recovery. For every $1 that the state spent on the expansion, it would receive $9 from the federal government. That would equal between $9 billion and $11.1 billion in additional federal dollars coming to the state between 2014 and 2019, according to the Urban Institute.

Research shows that people on Medicaid are more likely to get preventive care than people without insurance. Better health care, in turn, leads to better health. “State Medicaid expansions to cover low-income adults were significantly associated with reduced mortality as well as improved coverage, access to care, and self-reported health,” according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Just replace “New Jersey” with “Ohio.”

Oct 18 2012

Debate analysis: how do Obama, Romney compare on women’s issues?

In the second presidential debate held this week, for the first time, we were offered a direct contrast between the two candidates’ position on two issues important to women. Pay Equity in the Workplace Responding to the question “In what new ways to you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?”, President Obama spoke of his very first legislative accomplishment:

“… the first bill I signed was something called the Lily Ledbetter bill. And it’s named after this amazing woman who had been doing the same job as a man for years, found out that she was getting paid less, and the Supreme Court said that she couldn’t bring suit because she should have found about it earlier, whereas she had no way of finding out about it. So we fixed that. And that’s an example of the kind of advocacy that we need, because women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family. This is not just a women’s issue, this is a family issue, this is a middle-class issue, and that’s why we’ve got to fight for it.”

Governor Romney did not address the question of whether he would have supported the Lily Ledbetter Act, but his campaign has — after some misdirection yesterday — finally stated that he would not have signed it. [Read more…]

Oct 05 2012

The numbers are the numbers …

Quick Friday note on today’s good news that the unemployment rate in the U.S. is below 8 percent for the first time in quite awhile. According to the New York Times:

The unemployment rate fell because more people were working, not because discouraged job seekers stopped looking, the numbers showed. Adding to the positive news, job gains were revised upward by 40,000 for July (to 181,000) and by 46,000 for August (to 142,000), casting a slightly rosier light on what had been perceived as a summer slump.

Then there’s this according to former General Electric CEO Jack Welch: [Read more…]

Oct 04 2012

The Day After: There’s Still a $5 Trillion Hole in Romney-Ryan Plan

If you’re tuned in to the ongoing presidential election race, you might have still been scratching your head this morning given Gov. Mitt Romney’s performance in last night’s debate versus President Barack Obama. There’s no confusion over the perceived winner. In our style-first culture, Romney won last night hands down. His answers were sharper, shorter and more pointed than the president’s. He smiled a lot – although that smile was called smug by some, confident by others. Romney looked and sounded great. But, we’re not hiring a Ken doll, we’re deciding on the near term future of the entire country. [Read more…]