Storified by Brian Empric· Wed, Mar 27 2013 19:14:47
“Since 1974, Capitol Hill's ‘baseline’ has automatically increased spending every year according to Congressional Budget Office projections, which means before anyone has submitted a budget or cast a single vote. Tax and spending changes are then measured off that inflated baseline, not in absolute terms.”
“The baseline scam also exists in many states, and no less a Democrat than New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denounced it in 2011 as a ‘sham’ and ‘deceptive.’ He wrote in the New York Post that state spending was ‘dictated by hundreds of rates and formulas that are marbleized throughout New York State laws that govern different programs—formulas that have been built into the law over decades, without regard to fiscal realities, performance or accountability.’ Then he proceeded to continue baseline budgeting.”
“In Washington, Democrats designed this system to make it easier to defend annual spending increases and to portray any reduction in the baseline as a spending ‘cut’… Republicans used to object to this game, but in recent years they seem to have given up…”
“If Republicans really want to slow the growth in spending, they need to stop playing by Beltway rules and start explaining to America why Mr. Obama keeps saying he's cutting spending even as spending and deficits keep going up and up and up.”
“Clearly, the budget process is broken. In four of the past five years, the president has missed his budget deadline. Senate Democrats haven't passed a budget in over 1,400 days. By refusing to tackle the drivers of the nation's debt—or simply to write a budget—Washington lurches from crisis to crisis.
“House Republicans have a plan to change course… We stop spending money the government doesn't have. Historically, Americans have paid a little less than one-fifth of their income in taxes to the federal government each year. But the government has spent more.”
“Under our proposal, the government spends no more than it collects in revenue—or 19.1% of gross domestic product each year… On the current path, we'll spend $46 trillion over the next 10 years. Under our proposal, we'll spend $41 trillion. On the current path, spending will increase by 5% each year. Under our proposal, it will increase by 3.4%...”
“Yet the most important question isn't how we balance the budget. It's why. A budget is a means to an end, and the end isn't a neat and tidy spreadsheet. It's the well-being of all Americans. By giving families stability and protecting them from tax hikes, our budget will promote a healthier economy and help create jobs. Most important, our budget will reignite the American Dream, the idea that anyone can make it in this country.”
“The other side will warn of a relapse into recession—just as they predicted economic disaster when the budget sequester hit. But a balanced budget will help the economy. Smaller deficits will keep interest rates low, which will help small businesses to expand and hire…”
“Anyone who attacks our Medicare proposal without offering a credible alternative is complicit in the program's demise.”
“All we need is leadership. Washington owes the American people a balanced budget. It isn't fair to take more from families so government can spend more… We House Republicans have done our part. We're offering a credible plan for all the country to see. We're outlining how to solve the greatest problems facing America today.”
“A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 35% of Likely U.S. Voters favor the Republican plan proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan. Half (49%) of all voters oppose the Republican plan, but another 16% are not sure…”
“However, only 19% favor the Democrats' option proposed by Senator Patty Murray. Sixty percent (60%) of voters oppose the Democratic plan. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure…”
“Sixty-three percent (63%) of Republicans agree with the plan that balances the budget in 10 years without raising taxes. Seventy percent (70%) of Democrats and a plurality (49%) of voters not affiliated with either party are opposed.
“However, only 26% of Democrats support their party’s plan while 40% are opposed. Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans and 64% of unaffiliated voters oppose the plan.”
“Seventy-two percent (72%) of Tea Party voters favor the GOP plan, and 89% oppose the Democratic plan.”
“What in the world is going through the minds of European officials with their crazy, destructive demands with Cyprus? Seizing a portion of peoples’ bank deposits is the kind of thing one would expect from Argentina or other kleptocratic third-world governments. It sets an awful precedent shredding the rule of law, which is the bedrock of a free and vibrant society…”
“What the Europeans are doing here guarantees that there will be disastrous runs on banks and money market funds when we have another financial crisis – which we will, since authorities today really don’t know what they are doing on the economic front…”
“The Cyprus move is portrayed as a way to recapitalize that island’s shaky banks. But stealing deposits guarantees banks’ failures as soon as their doors re-open – if they ever do. After all, the Cypriot government may reject their agreement with the European Commission, European Central Bank and the IMF out of fear of both apoplectic voters and angry Russian depositors. Make no mistake, this deal is about as voluntary as those famous gangster words, ‘We have an offer you can’t refuse.’”
“The poor judgment of the political and economical leadership of the West today rivals that of their predecessors of the 1930s and 1970s. Under their misguided policies the wealth-creating private sector is continually squeezed with growth-killing taxes and regulations and the power of Big Government expands. Most countries have made, at best, small reforms when big ones – especially on the tax cutting front – are needed.”
“[I]f Republicans plan to place entitlements in their cross hairs, they will be risking a high-profile and explosive fight with President Barack Obama, who has said there is no way he’ll consider changes to entitlement programs without corresponding tax increases. House Republicans have said they compromised on raising tax hikes in the fiscal cliff deal on Jan. 1.”
“House GOP leadership is also eyeing several bills to hike the debt cap with different budgetary reforms — those bills might hit the floor as soon as May. One option under discussion includes trying to tie tax reform to the debt ceiling. Republicans are also mulling another path, which would tether entitlement reforms Obama has previously supported to the debt ceiling. Those reforms include increasing the Medicare eligibility age, means testing Medicare and changing the formula for calculating government benefits.”
“Of course, the House is not alone in deciding how the debt ceiling issue is resolved… Obama has said he’s not interested in negotiating over the debt ceiling, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) still has control over his chamber. Reid’s strategy often lines up with Obama’s.”
“The House-side maneuvering on the debt ceiling also plainly displays that the talk of a grand bargain, for now, is just that: talk. The ability to come to some sort of massive fiscal deal is still a pipe dream, of sorts, for those who deal with the reality of legislating on Capitol Hill.”
“This legislation would not only result in the termination of current tax delinquent federal employees, but would prohibit the future hiring of federal employees with tax liens.”
“The legislation also requires federal agencies to conduct reviews of public records to determine if tax liens have been filed against current employees or applicants.”
“Nearly 312,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3.5 billion in back taxes as of Sept. 30, 2011, the (Internal Revenue Service) agency reported earlier this month…”
“The IRS says most residents who owe back income taxes file returns but cannot pay the full amount at tax time. Others have their tax bills increased through audits and cannot pay the higher bill.”
“Most Americans want to end government subsidies for these ‘too big to fail’ institutions, and half want to see those megabanks broken up.”
“The government currently provides nearly $100 billion in subsidies to the largest banks because they are deemed ‘too big to fail’. Just seven percent (7%) of Americans support continuing these subsidies, while 76% are opposed. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.”
“Fifty-three percent (53%) still prefer a financial system with more competition and less regulation. Twenty-six percent (26%) would rather have more regulation and less competition in the financial system. Another 21% are not sure…”
“Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats and 51% of adults not affiliated with either major political party support breaking up the megabanks, a plan that just 40% of Republicans favor.”
Storified by Brian Empric· Sun, Mar 17 2013 15:48:42
“That’s up six points from a month ago and the highest level of pessimism to date. Twenty-two percent (22%) think the system is more likely to get better, while 13% expect it to stay about the same.”
“Democrats remain much more upbeat about the direction of the health care system than Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party. Eighty-four percent (84%) of GOP voters and 53% of unaffiliateds think the health care system is likely to get worse over the next couple of years. At the same time, a plurality of Democrats (39%) expect it to get better.”
“Anyone can criticize. Where is the Republican alternative?”
“Think about the special interests Republican politicians are likely to talk to. Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, drug companies, device manufacturers, employers, etc. Their interests are all different. I doubt if you can come up with any significant health reform that won’t be vigorously opposed by at least one of these. Since heath care is a $2.6 trillion industry, special interests are willing to spend megabucks to oppose reforms they don’t like.”
“Overall, think tanks on the right have a habit of ignoring each other. Often, they don’t even footnote each other. We proposed the idea of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) in the early 1990s... Today, HSA plans are the fastest growing products in the health insurance marketplace and I think it’s safe to say that the idea is no longer even controversial…”
“The NCPA web site is about the only place on the Internet where you will find a continuing, ongoing interest in how we can create a genuine market for medical care in which providers compete for patients based on price, quality and convenience… In my ideal world, health insurance companies would have a shrinking role — eventually becoming no more active than a garden variety life insurance company.”
“The conservative think tank problem is not their belief in free markets. It is that each think tank seems to have a different idea about how markets can solve problems… Bottom line: there is no common health policy vision on the right.”
“Imminent elements of Obama's grandest policy move, the health-care overhaul known as ObamaCare, are calculated to screw his most passionate supporters (the youth) and to transfer wealth to his worst enemies (the elderly).”
“And while one of ObamaCare's earliest provisions was a boon to the young, allowing them to stay on their parents' insurance through the age of 26, what follows may come as an unpleasant surprise to many of the president's supporters. The provisions required to make any kind of health insurance plan work — not just ObamaCare, but really any plan of its sort — require healthy young people to pay more in health insurance than they consume in services, while the elderly… consume far more than they pay in…”
“In an interview, AARP legislative policy director David Certner (@DavidCertner) didn't contest the suggestion that young people would be forced to pay more, but argued that it was a matter of the common good, not simply the interest of his constituents.”
“It's about having a big insurance pool because everyone benefits from it,” Certner said. “If a younger, healthier person is spending a little more now, it's OK because at some point they're going to be a less healthy, older person too.”
“This is a reasonable policy argument, though it's worth noting that every interest group argues its interests are identical to the common good…”
“The near-total silence on this issue is a mark of a class that is either utterly selfless (hard to believe, honestly) or, as usual, singularly bad at seeing and defending its interests.”
The supporters of the law think that subsidies will keep premiums down, while the mandate keeps them in the market to avoid penalties, but the penalties are relatively weak and the subsidies will not be able to cover the premium increases.
“[A]s ObamaCare's official launch date approaches, even its backers are beginning to admit that the law could actually create powerful incentives for millions of people and thousands of businesses to drop their coverage, despite the mandate.”
“A February survey of major health insurance companies in five cities across the country found that they expect premiums for this (young & healthy) group to climb an average 169%.”
“We are very concerned,” California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones told federal health officials at a December meeting, “if there is so much rate shock for young people that they're bound not to purchase (health insurance) at all.”
“The five-city survey, for example, found that while the law will jack up rates for the young, it will lower them an average 22% for older and sicker customers.
“At the same time, ObamaCare also forbids insurance companies from turning anyone down — a reform called ‘guaranteed issue’ — which also will provide an incentive for some to drop coverage, knowing they can get it back any time.”
“The problem is that if the young and healthy drop coverage, the result would be what the industry calls a ‘death spiral.’ Premiums will climb as the pool of insured gets sicker, causing still more to cancel their policies… This is just what happened in states that imposed strict community rating and guaranteed issue reforms in the past. In fact, of the eight states that did so, most ended up either dropping the reforms or loosening the rules after they saw enrollment decline and premiums climb.”
“[T]he annual penalty for not buying insurance will be as low as $95 in 2014, and even when the mandate penalty is fully phased in by 2016 it will be modest relative to the cost of buying insurance.”
“The same problem threatens to undermine ObamaCare on the business side, if companies decide that paying a penalty is cheaper than providing an increasingly expensive benefit to workers.
“The Congressional Budget Office now expects that employers will dump coverage for 7 million workers as a result of ObamaCare, nearly double its previous forecast. And it says the figure could be as high as 20 million.”
“Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala. and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, @budgetgop), who requested the report, revealed the findings... The report, he said, ‘confirms everything critics and Republicans were saying about the faults of this bill…’”
“The big-government crowd in Washington manipulated the numbers in order to get the financial score they wanted, in order to get their bill passed and to increase power and influence,” he said. “The goal was not truth or financial responsibility, but to pass the bill. This is how a country goes broke.”
“Obamacare was the one issue that most pegged Obama as a big government liberal in the eyes of the American citizenry. By refusing to emphasize it, Romney allowed Obama to move to the center in voters’ minds. Obamacare was the centerpiece of Obama’s first term. By not emphasizing it, Romney suggested to voters that it really wasn’t all that much of a concern — and hence neither was having Obama continue in office. Obamacare was the least popular aspect of Obama’s first term. By failing to hammer away at it, Romney handed Obama a pass. Obamacare is a horribly misguided and statist attempt to deal with genuine health care concerns that sorely need to be addressed. By failing to put forward (and to emphasize) a serious replacement, Romney prove to be the latest, and perhaps the most unfortunate, example in a long history of Republicans’ failure to make themselves heard on an issue that’s not only extremely important in its own right, but which (at least in the present day) probably has more bearing than any other issue on the size and scope of government.”
“In short, there is nothing attractive about Obamacare. One hopes that in 2016 the Republican party will nominate someone who understands this, and who will make Obamacare’s replacement a — perhaps the — centerpiece of his or her campaign. If Republicans are to be the party of limited government and liberty, they must do nothing less.”
Storified by Brian Empric · Mon, Sep 03 2012 12:45:03
