Policy Papers
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Dems’ Filibuster Fraud
On November 21, Majority Leader Reid broke his promise not to employ the nuclear option when he and Senate Democrats eliminated the filibuster on nominations. They did so based on what Senator Hatch once described as a filibuster fraud. They did it in an attempt to divert attention away from the Obamacare nightmare, and to ensure that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will be able to rubber stamp the President’s agenda. Rather than abandon their extreme, liberal, agenda in favor of... Continue Reading
December 10, 2013
HealthCare.gov Headaches Continue
Last week the Administration issued a dubious Obamacare progress report claiming HealthCare.gov now “runs smoothly for the vast majority of consumers.” Just 10 weeks after the website’s disastrous rollout, President Obama declared victory – suggesting that the worst of HealthCare.gov’s problems are fixed. In fact, the Obama Administration’s eight-page progress report, comprised mostly of charts, makes unsubstantiated and often vague claims, while leaving key... Continue Reading
December 10, 2013
December 2013: Policy by the Numbers
The key number last week was 10 percent. According to the Obama Administration, one in 10 enrollees in the federal exchanges will have some type of error. This means people who think they have insurance may not really. Other recent numbers that have major policy implications. Continue Reading
December 6, 2013
November 2013 Unemployment
November 2013 Unemployment Rate: 7.0 percent Unemployed Americans: 10.9 million “Real” Unemployment The “real” unemployment or U-6 rate is 13.2 percent for November 2013, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points. This is the total percentage of unemployed and underemployed workers. The “real” number of unemployed Americans is 20.7 million. These are people who... Continue Reading
December 3, 2013
Tip of the Iceberg
November 22, 2013
The Fundamental Shift in Senate Operation
“[T]he proper way to change Senate rules is through the procedures established in those rules, and I will oppose any effort in this Congress or the next to change the Senate’s rules other than through the regular order.” -- Majority Leader Reid, January 27, 2011 Yesterday Senate Democrats took the brute force approach to governance and decided that it now only needs a simple majority vote to allow for confirmation votes of executive and judicial nominees. In so... Continue Reading
November 22, 2013
The Obama Administration’s Blatant Incompetence
In the months leading up to HealthCare.gov’s launch, Obama Administration officials claimed that the Obamacare exchanges would be tested, secure, and ready to start enrolling people on October 1. Despite repeated warnings that the Federal Data Hub and other website components were not ready for primetime, the Obama Administration insisted it was “on track.” Just 19 days before the exchanges went live, the Administration’s Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park, declared that... Continue Reading
November 21, 2013
Reid: Breaking Promises and Grabbing Power
“There is no way that I would employ or use the nuclear option. I want every Republican to hear that.” Majority Leader Reid, 2009 Today, Majority Leader Reid and Senate Democrats – 33 of whom have never served in the Senate minority – eliminated the filibuster on judicial nominations in the Senate by the very method Reid twice promised he would not use. Why? For the immediate and temporary political purposes of diverting attention from the national Obamacare... Continue Reading
November 20, 2013
Ending Democrats’ Drive for More Debt
As the budget conference committee seeks to produce a bipartisan budget resolution, the nonpartisan CBO has reported on options to reduce the deficit. Several of their findings would be good starting points, if Democrats can get over their insistence in raising tax rates. Chained-CPI This more accurate inflation measure was included in President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal. It accounts for the fact that people change the products they buy in response to changes in prices. This... Continue Reading
November 19, 2013
Policy by the Numbers
Healthcare.gov launched seven weeks ago, and going into this week the White House says there are still 50 priority fixes needed for the website. Now the White House has lowered expectations on the “vast majority of users,” saying “roughly 2-in-10 won’t get through the system.” “That is absurd. First, it’s another broken promise. The president and his advisers responded to the disastrous rollout last month by vowing to deliver an Amazon.com-quality... Continue Reading
November 19, 2013
Obama Administration Rigs the Market Against Coal
The Obama Administration seeks to set unattainable carbon emissions standards to ensure that no new coal-fired power plants are built in America. The Administration has been writing rules that create new market conditions to discourage coal use. Then, trying to shield itself from criticism, it cites the new market conditions as justification for additional rules. And it cooks the books of the rules’ cost-benefit analysis by including a fabricated “social cost of carbon.”... Continue Reading
November 19, 2013
Obama’s Fake Fixes, Special Deals, and Delays
Under extreme political pressure from his own party, President Obama reluctantly stepped into the White House briefing room last week to address the millions of Americans who lost their insurance plan due to the Democrats’ health care law. The President announced the Department of Health and Human Services will use its dubious administrative “enforcement discretion” to “fix” Obamacare by allowing some people buying health insurance in the individual market to keep... Continue Reading
November 19, 2013
More than 4.7 Million Health Insurance Cancellations in 32 States
November 18, 2013
New Leadership at the FCC
The Senate confirmed Tom Wheeler to be the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and Michael O’Rielly to fill the vacant Republican seat on the Commission on October 29, 2013 by unanimous consent. This gave the FCC a full slate of five commissioners (three Democrats, two Republicans) for last Thursday’s meeting for the first time in nearly six months. “Keep an eye on the Wheeler-O’Rielly relationship. This could be interesting.” --Medley Global... Continue Reading
November 14, 2013
Americans Can’t Trust Healthcare.gov with Their Personal Information
In the months leading up to HealthCare.gov’s launch, Administration officials claimed that the Obamacare exchanges would be tested, secure, and ready to start enrolling people on October 1. Republicans and outside observers repeatedly questioned how well the Federal Data Hub and other Obamacare website system components would protect Americans’ private information. The Obama Administration ignored the warnings and simply said, “trust us,” we’re “on... Continue Reading
November 13, 2013
Democrats’ Minimum Wage Gimmicks Cost Jobs
The national unemployment rate is 7.3 percent, with 11.3 million Americans unemployed – the rate has been above seven percent since President Obama took office. The labor force participation rate has sunk to 62.8 percent, the lowest in more than 35 years. And job growth has sputtered all year. Yet, as the country struggles to recover economically, Senate Democrats with misplaced priorities are pushing for an increase in the minimum wage, knowing that it will cost jobs. Their economic... Continue Reading
November 13, 2013
Labor Force Participation Hits 35-Year Low
Employment rose by 204,000 jobs in October and the jobless rate increased 0.1 points to 7.3 percent. While job growth for October beat expectations, there remain 11.3 million Americans unemployed and hundreds of thousands dropping out of the labor force altogether. Labor Force Participation Lowest Level Since 1978 In October, labor force participation fell by 720,000 people, to a rate of 62.8 percent -- a decrease of 0.4 percent from last month and the lowest rate in more than 35 years.... Continue Reading
November 13, 2013
More than 4.2 Million Health Insurance Cancellations
November 13, 2013
The Demise of the Dual-Track Approach on Iran?
The Obama Administration has consistently described its policy on Iran as a “dual-track” approach of both engagement and pressure, i.e, carrot and stick. It is being reported Secretary of State John Kerry will ask at a briefing of the Banking Committee today to abandon the pressure side of that equation, so that the United States can make capitulations to Iran in exchange for steps Iran already has a legal obligation to take. Here are some questions Senators can ask the Secretary to... Continue Reading
November 8, 2013
October 2013 Unemployment
October 2013 Unemployment Rate: 7.3 percent Unemployed Americans: 11.3 million “Real” Unemployment The “real” unemployment or U-6 rate is 13.8 percent for October 2013, an increase of 0.2 percentage points. This is the total percentage of unemployed and underemployed workers. The “real” number of unemployed Americans is 21.8 million. These are people who are... Continue Reading