Policy Papers
Currently showing results in the 113th Congress. See all results
‘You can’t keep your doctor’
Thanks to the Obama Administration’s grandfather regulation, more than 3.5 million Americans have lost their health insurance plan. Led by Senator Mike Enzi, Republicans tried to overturn the Administration rule that put strict tests in place employers and individuals must meet in order to keep their health plan. Senate Democrats voted in lockstep to keep the rule on the books. Washington Democrats believe the federal government knows better than individual Americans what kind of health... Continue Reading
November 7, 2013
Obama’s Economy Underwhelms Again
The economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2013. This comes on the heels of an already weak economy: growth in the first quarter of 2013 was 1.1 percent and second quarter growth was 2.5 percent. It has now been six consecutive quarters where growth has failed to break three percent. And still the Obama Administration fails to focus on jobs. Washington Democrats have made it clear that they would like to cancel the sequester and replace it, in whole or in part,... Continue Reading
November 5, 2013
Fiscal Path Forward
Over the next several months, Congress will need to fund the government for the rest of fiscal year 2014 and will be asked to raise the debt limit. This must be done in a way that lowers future deficits, bends the curve on our national debt, and fosters economic growth. Revenue Should Not Be Used to Offset Sequester Democrats are renewing their typical calls for tax hikes, but Republicans should not agree to revenue increases that would only serve to offset hard fought spending cuts. It is... Continue Reading
November 5, 2013
EPA’s Selective Hearing on Coal
The EPA recently announced that it will hold 11 “listening sessions” across the country to “solicit ideas and input from the public and stakeholders” about its rules to limit carbon emissions at existing power plants. The locations demonstrate the Administration’s selective hearing on coal. It will listen to the President’s supporters in major cities like San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Boston – all places that don’t rely on coal. It will... Continue Reading
November 5, 2013
Millions of Health Insurance Cancellations
Source: AP and other media reports “All we’ve been hearing the last three years is if you like your policy you can keep it… I’m infuriated because I was lied to.” -- Deborah Cavallaro, California “You don’t get to keep your premiums. You don’t get to keep anything.” -- Nikki Gibson, Washington “I had heard the... Continue Reading
November 5, 2013
Democrats Double Down on Dishonesty
On September 10, 2009, President Obama spoke about his health care reform plan and promised: “Nothing in this plan will require you, or your employer, to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Nothing will change for you if you have insurance. Nothing in the plan will require any changes.” But just yesterday, more than three years later, President Obama refined his pledge: “Now if you had one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really liked... Continue Reading
October 31, 2013
Democrats Knew Millions Couldn’t Keep Insurance Plan
Back on September 10, 2009, President Obama spoke about his health care reform plan – a plan that would later be signed into law. During his speech, President Obama promised: “Nothing in this plan will require you, or your employer, to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Nothing will change for you if you have insurance. Nothing in the plan will require any changes.” Senate Democrat leaders reaffirmed the President’s promise. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid... Continue Reading
October 29, 2013
Obama/Reid Court Stacking
Majority Leader Reid has made clear his intention to push for the confirmation of judicial nominees to stack the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. But the most underworked appeals court in the country should not be manipulated by the President and his political allies to advance their agenda. Rather than put more judges on a court with a dwindling caseload, Senate Republicans should coalesce around legislation that will equitably re-allocate judgeships to appellate courts that... Continue Reading
October 29, 2013
Delaying the Mandate Is a Start, not a Solution
Four weeks ago, Washington Democrats put on a united front – every single Senate Democrat voted against reasonable legislation passed by the House of Representatives delaying Obamacare’s individual mandate for one year. In the wake of HealthCare.gov’s failure, however, some of those same Senate Democrats are singing a different tune. Rapidly growing numbers now argue that because the White House cannot quickly fix the federal exchange website, the open enrollment deadline must... Continue Reading
October 29, 2013
Website Was Supposed to Be the Easy Part
Months before their launch, top Administration officials and lead contractors insisted Obamacare’s insurance exchanges would be tested, secure, and ready to start enrolling people on October 1. A week before the launch, in a desperate sales pitch to college students, the President claimed that signing up would be as easy as a few simple keystrokes: “Don’t take my word for it, go on the website. … If you’ve ever tried to buy insurance on your own … I promise... Continue Reading
October 29, 2013
Tip of the Iceberg
Cancelled Coverage President Obama promised that Americans could keep the health insurance they had and liked. The Administration said the law’s “grandfathering” policy would protect people. What the President didn’t say is that there was fine print. The “grandfathering” policy doesn’t apply if an insurer stops offering coverage or if people make changes to their policy. If there’s any change like that, the President’s promise vanishes.... Continue Reading
October 22, 2013
September Unemployment Report
Unemployment Rate: 7.2 percent Unemployed Americans: 11.3 million “Real” Unemployment The “real” unemployment or U-6 rate is 13.6 percent for September 2013, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points. This is the total percentage of unemployed and underemployed workers. The “real” number of unemployed Americans is 21.5 million. These are people who are unemployed (11.3 million), want work but have stopped searching for a job (2.3 million), or are... Continue Reading
October 17, 2013
Obama Refused to Delay Awful Exchange Rollout
It has been nearly three weeks since the Obamacare exchanges went live, and HealthCare.gov remains broken. The Administration feigned surprise at the exchange rollout’s epic failure. President Obama claimed the system was temporarily overwhelmed by a large volume of interested shoppers. Prior to the launch, top HHS officials had insisted that the exchanges were “on track,” and the President never wavered from his position that the law was “working the way it is supposed... Continue Reading
October 15, 2013
The Timeline
U.S. Treasury cash outflows and inflows are lumpy – varying significantly day to day. Over the next several weeks: Government spending will average approximately $10 billion a day for ongoing programs. Government receipts will average approximately $7 billion a day, primarily remittances by employers and payroll taxes (does not include corporate tax payments that are made quarterly; last received in September). Significant Dates Sources: CBO and the Bipartisan Policy Center Continue Reading
October 11, 2013
HealthCare.gov: An Inexcusable Train Wreck
President Obama’s bungled health insurance exchange rollout has been all over the news. This week, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer commented, “They had three years to get this ready. If they weren’t fully ready, they should accept the advice Republicans are giving them, delay it for a year, get it ready and make sure it works.” Even information technology experts who support Obamacare viciously condemned the HealthCare.gov user experience saying, “It appears the people who... Continue Reading
October 9, 2013
Senate Democrats Block Bipartisan CRs
Since the government shut down last week, the House has sent to the Senate twelve individual CRs. These bills would open up different parts of the government right now – including parks, the National Institutes of Health, and many more agencies. The President and Senate Democrats have insisted that they will not pass the House’s clean appropriations bills for individual functions of the federal government (with the exception of the bill paying our military). Last week, fifty-seven... Continue Reading
October 8, 2013
Obamacare Exchanges: System Failure
For months the Obama Administration claimed that Obamacare’s insurance exchanges would be tested, secure, and ready to start enrolling people on October 1. The President promised they would work just like Amazon.com. Last Tuesday, the exchanges went live. Americans quickly discovered that Obamacare exchange shopping did not resemble Amazon. Customers experienced a laundry list of system failures: exchanges not opening on time or launching at all; long wait times online and at call... Continue Reading
October 8, 2013
Debt Limit Often Used for Reforms
The President keeps saying that he will not negotiate on the debt limit. He also leaves the false impression that there have never been negotiations with Congress over the debt limit on “issues that have nothing to do with the budget and nothing to do with the debt.” The Washington Post fact-checker gave the President four Pinocchios on that claim. Negotiations have actually occurred many times on the debt limit. From 1978 to 2013, the debt limit has been raised 53 times.... Continue Reading
October 8, 2013
Obamacare: Not Settled Law
A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report confirmed that President Obama signed 14 laws that amend, rescind, or repeal components of his health care law – and also delayed at least five key provisions of the law by administrative fiat. While the President and Washington Democrats say Obamacare is settled law, that’s not the case. The President has unilaterally rewritten the law on five different occasions. Consumer Out-Of-Pocket Costs Cap Delayed In 2009, President Obama... Continue Reading
October 8, 2013
Policy by the Numbers
The “most transparent Administration ever” has the country guessing on the number of the week. Americans want to know how many people actually got health coverage during the first week of the Obamacare exchanges. The Administration says the number of enrollees won’t be coming anytime soon. Other recent numbers [or lack thereof] that also have policy implications. Continue Reading