Policy Papers
Currently showing results in the 113th Congress. See all results
May 2014: Policy by the Numbers
The key number for May is $474 million. Four failed exchanges – Nevada, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon – wasted $474 million in federal funds for exchanges that must now either start over or shift to the federal exchange. Other recent numbers that also have major policy implications. Continue Reading
May 13, 2014
Democrats’ Energy Plan: Uncertainty and Unaccountability
President Obama’s policy on coal, oil, and natural gas projects keeps billionaire activists donating, radical environmentalists politicking, project supporters hoping, and potential investors hesitating. By slow-walking permit decisions or punting them past the next election, Democrats remain unaccountable to their constituents. By playing politics with American energy, the president jeopardizes desperately needed jobs. The administration has been exploiting its existing permitting... Continue Reading
May 13, 2014
Tax Extenders: Obamacare Taxes Destroy Jobs and Raise Premiums
This week the Senate will debate a tax extenders package drafted by Senator Wyden and the Finance Committee. As several Democrats have said, this bill includes many provisions that will promote jobs and economic growth. But Democrats failed to address two important tax laws that are having detrimental effects on job growth and the economy. Republicans sought votes in committee to postpone Obamacare’s medical device tax and health insurance tax. Finance Committee Democrats blocked... Continue Reading
May 9, 2014
White House Tries to Shift Surveillance Debate
On May 1, the White House released a 68-page report addressing the commercial use of “Big Data” – the large, complex collections of information that governments and technology businesses collect and analyze. The report correctly recognizes the enormous benefits of data and technological advances in our daily lives. However, the administration’s report appears to be an excuse for more regulation and an attempt to shift the surveillance debate to the private sector. The... Continue Reading
May 8, 2014
Obamacare’s Health Insurance Tax Costs American Jobs
President Obama’s health care law imposes more than $1 trillion in new taxes on employers, manufacturers, and middle class families. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the law violates the President’s pledge not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 per year. For example, section 9010 of the health care law imposes a tax on health insurance providers starting in 2014, based on net premiums in the fully insured market. The aggregate tax in 2014 is $8 billion.... Continue Reading
May 6, 2014
Partisan Transportation Policy, Only from Obama
On April 29, 2014, the Obama administration delivered a four-year transportation proposal to Congress, with a massive price tag of $302 billion. Blatantly disregarding the Senate’s bipartisan efforts to “promot[e] fiscal responsibility” in the transportation bill, the president’s proposal calls for an approximately 38 percent annual spending increase over the current two-year transportation funding bill, known as MAP-21. The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold... Continue Reading
May 6, 2014
“Have You Read The (Benghazi) Email?”
Last week, it was revealed that an email explicitly mentioning Benghazi had not been produced by the Obama administration in response to congressional requests for documents about Benghazi. Incredibly, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says that was because the document in question was not about Benghazi. Congressional investigators last year sought documents from the executive branch related to the terrorist attack on the diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya. When that happens, the... Continue Reading
May 6, 2014
Jobs Report: Declining Labor Force Participation
In April, the national unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent. It came, however, with a decline in labor force participation, which is now the level it was during the Carter presidency. While some of the decline is due to baby boomers retiring, declining labor force participation is concerning. “… wages remained flat, nearly 10 million unemployed people are looking for jobs, and millions more have become so disenchanted that they have given up on finding work... Continue Reading
May 6, 2014
May 2014 Policy Calendar
May 6, 2014
Obamacare on Mother’s Day: Higher Costs, Fewer Doctors, Less Care for Women
Sunday, May 11, is Mother’s Day. While the president pretends Obamacare is “working just fine,” women are losing coverage, losing doctors and pediatricians they trust, and paying more. Here’s what President Obama isn’t saying about how his health care law hurts women. Women Are More Likely to Lose Employer-Sponsored Insurance CBO estimates the president’s health care law will cause eight million people to lose the employer-sponsored coverage they have today.... Continue Reading
May 2, 2014
April 2014 Jobs Report
Unemployment Rate: 6.3 percent Unemployed Americans: 9.8 million Labor Force Participation The Department of Labor reported that the labor force participation rate in April was 62.8 percent, down 0.4 percent from March and tied for the lowest level in 36 years. Labor force participation fell by 806,000 in April. If the labor force participation rate were the same as when President Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 10.4 percent. The share of American adults with jobs in... Continue Reading
May 1, 2014
Obamacare’s Back End Nightmare
While the administration worked desperately to improve HealthCare.gov’s “front-end” consumer experience, the “back-end” administrative components (payment systems and enrollment application transfers) were put on the back burner. Today, critical system components remain unfinished – and the administration’s deadlines to fix them keep changing. In mid-November 2013, testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, CMS Deputy Chief Information... Continue Reading
May 1, 2014
Earned Income Tax Credit Can Help but not Obama's Way
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been the subject of several reform proposals recently. President Obama and Senator Patty Murray have proposed expansions of the EITC without further reforms. Republicans have proposed reforms that would provide a fairer and more efficient social safety net. The EITC provides refundable tax credits to people who work but earn less than the program’s phase-out amount (over $43,700 for a single parent with two chilren). Originally enacted in 1975, the... Continue Reading
May 1, 2014
Two Simple Trade Questions for USTR Froman; One Simple Trade Question for Senate Democrats
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will appear today at a Senate Finance Committee hearing concerning President Obama’s 2014 trade policy agenda. There are two simple questions he should answer: When will President Obama negotiate a trade agreement to completion? When will the president’s trade rhetoric match reality? In relation to this hearing, there is an equally pressing question Senate Democrats must answer: When will Senate Democrats act on President Obama’s... Continue Reading
April 30, 2014
Israel Checks Its Back, Obama Nowhere to Be Found
Remember when President Obama claimed in March 2012 that “I have Israel’s back”? That assertion has been belied by all the facts, including the last nine months of pressuring our ally Israel in peace negotiations rather than recognizing the Palestinians have demonstrated no interest in peace. Nine Months Later, Another Failed Timeline Nine months ago, on July 29, 2013, the State Department spokesman said the Israelis and Palestinians agreed “to engage in direct, final... Continue Reading
April 30, 2014
Obama Economy: Stalled Growth
Today the Commerce Department released the latest disappointing Obama economic numbers: first quarter GDP grew at 0.1 percent. This follows growth of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, and 1.9 percent growth for all of 2013. The economy has now grown at a 0.1 percent annualized rate in two of the last six quarters. This data comes on the same day as a report that China will likely overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest economy this year. This would be the first time since 1872... Continue Reading
April 29, 2014
The Obamacare Debate Isn’t Over
At press conferences on April 1 and 17, President Obama declared the debate on the health care law “over.” The White House can prematurely celebrate its questionable count of eight million sign-ups, but the end of the federal exchange’s open enrollment period doesn’t mean the Obamacare debate is over. The President says Democrats should “forcefully defend and be proud” of the law. But Americans are experiencing the pain of the president’s health care... Continue Reading
April 29, 2014
Democrats’ Keystone Policy: Uncertain and Unaccountable
Earlier this month, 11 Senate Democrats signed a letter requesting the president to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. On April 18, 2014, the Obama administration gave its response when it indefinitely delayed any decision. The president’s policy on the Keystone XL pipeline is to create uncertainty, not to clear it up. And Senate Democrats want to be unaccountable with any real votes. That keeps billionaire activists donating, radical environmentalists politicking, and... Continue Reading
April 11, 2014
A Timeline of Folly on Iran
April 10, 2014
Why the Obamacare Debate Isn’t Over
President Obama declared the national debate on the health care law “over.” The White House can prematurely celebrate its questionable 7.5 million sign-up number, but the end of the federal exchange’s open enrollment period doesn’t mean the Obamacare debate is over. Michael Gerson, in a Washington Post opinion piece, summed it up well: “The Obama administration is pausing to bow at mile two of a marathon”. Americans are going to see and experience ongoing... Continue Reading