Policy Papers
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Paycheck Fairness Act: Another Election Year Distraction
For almost 50 years, workers have been protected against sex-based pay discrimination through the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) and Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was recently amended through the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (Pub.L. 111-2). Despite these laws, Democrats are pushing a new political vote -- the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 3220). They expect to schedule a floor vote next month. The bill was last brought before the Senate for a vote in November 2010, when the... Continue Reading
May 25, 2012
Senate Democrats Choose Dysfunction over Solutions
The Senate is a unique legislative institution, designed to guarantee that the minority party – and the large block of Americans it represents – has a voice. Traditionally, this body functions well when the majority party works to find consensus with the minority party on the process and substance of legislation. Consultation and compromise with the minority party historically has been the rule, not the exception it has become in recent years. Senator Robert Byrd understood the... Continue Reading
May 24, 2012
Obama’s Folly: Gambling Billions on Green Energy
On October 7, 1903, reporters, photographers, and sightseers gathered on the banks of the Potomac River near Quantico, Virginia, to witness the first manned flight. Samuel Pierpont Langley, a prominent professor and secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, constructed the airplane with $50,000 ($1.4 million today) in federal government funds. Catapulted from the roof of a houseboat, Langley’s airplane collapsed and tumbled 16 feet into the water. A second attempt on December 8... Continue Reading
May 23, 2012
Any Way You Measure: Obama’s Jobs Claims Don’t Add Up
“The good news is, is that over the last two years we've created more than 4 million jobs…” – President Obama May 15, 2012 Number of Unemployed Americans Record 88.4 Million Americans Out of Labor Force Obama Predicted 250k jobs per month in 2012 Average Weeks Unemployed Continue Reading
May 23, 2012
Obama’s Fiscal Fantasyland
The White House, relying on a recent news column, is portraying the President as a responsible budgeter and declaring an “Obama spending binge never happened.” The administration says “the president has demonstrated significant fiscal restraint.” On the contrary, the past 3 ½ years demonstrate fiscal irresponsibility. The President’s last two budgets both received zero votes in the Senate. The President distanced himself from recommendations of his... Continue Reading
May 22, 2012
Democrats Fight to Silence Critics in Election Year
The Senate Democrats’ DISCLOSE Act of 2012 (DISCLOSE II) looks to silence political opposition for short-term electoral gain, no matter the long-term harm to free speech. Modeled after failed legislation in the 111th Congress, the bill is not a boon for more disclosure; it is a ban on political opposition. It favors unions, ignores the Supreme Court, and wraps more red tape around speech in America. DISCLOSE II is aimed at groups that could pose a threat to Washington politicians, while... Continue Reading
May 21, 2012
Medicare Actuary Tells Congress: It Is Worse Than You Think
On April 23, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its official 2012 Medicare Trustees Report [RPC Analysis]. The trustees report made assumptions about cost reductions that are mandated under current law. However, some of the assumptions are unlikely to occur such as the projected physician reimbursement cuts under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. On May 18, the CMS actuary released the Medicare “alternative projection,” which looks at the... Continue Reading
May 21, 2012
Supreme Court Update 052112
The Supreme Court decided three cases this morning. In the first case, Holder v. Gutierrez, the Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Under federal law, aliens who are facing deportation may be able to avoid leaving the country if they have lived continuously in the United States for at least seven years and have been a lawful permanent resident (“Green Card”) for at least five years. Today’s decision means that an alien must satisfy these requirements... Continue Reading
May 17, 2012
Barrasso: Obamacare Device Tax Crushes Jobs, Increases Health Costs
Instead of creating jobs, the President’s health spending law is destroying jobs across the country. In fact, the health law includes a $20 billion medical device tax that is expected to kill at least 43,000 American jobs and decrease research and development into new lifesaving medical devices. Recently, columnist George Will wrote about how this tax will impact Cook Medical, the world’s largest family-owned medical devices company. He explains that this tax will lead... Continue Reading
May 15, 2012
Obama’s War on Coal
In January 2008, then-presidential candidate Obama said coal-fired power plants would go “bankrupt” and “electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket” under his plan to tax greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade system. After Congress rejected that policy, President Obama defiantly announced there were other ways of “skinning the cat.” His administration bypassed Congress and the will of the American people by drafting environmental regulations that... Continue Reading
May 15, 2012
FY 2013 Budgets: Senate Democrats Complicit in Obama’s Record Debt
President Obama and Senate Democrats have not provided solutions or results to America’s debt crisis. They have refused to make difficult decisions because they are concerned about their next election rather than the next generation. The President’s latest budget is full of tricks, accounting gimmicks and empty promises that encourage wasteful spending and skyrocketing debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the President’s budget would spend $1.2 trillion more... Continue Reading
May 8, 2012
Democrats Steer America Toward A “Fiscal Cliff”
“We have lots to do. We are going to be working in the evenings, Mondays and Friday --weekends, if necessary, to get all our work done.” – Harry Reid, July 6, 2009 In 2009, with a filibuster-proof Senate, Majority Leader Reid felt that the Senate had a lot of important work on its plate and that the American people expected it to get that work done. Today there are even more pressing issues before the Senate, but Senator Reid has apparently lost his sense of urgency. The Senate... Continue Reading
May 8, 2012
What's Next: Potential Supreme Court Outcomes
May 8, 2012
Obama’s Naïve Approach to Iran
Vice President Biden gave a speech today in which he said “we” (the United States) have been “the problem” on Iran. After three years of naivety in which Iran’s nuclear program has advanced, the Obama Administration chooses to apologize for America. In April, Iran met once again with the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council (United States, Britain, China, France, and Russia) plus Germany, known as the P5+1, to continue talks over its nuclear program.... Continue Reading
May 7, 2012
Obama Has Only Himself to Blame on Judges
President Obama has been blaming Senate Republicans for vacancies in the federal judiciary. He will continue the hype today at the White House in what the Washington Times has described as a “strategy session on judges” with his political supporters. The facts do not support the President’s hype and blame. Most of the vacancies that exist in the federal judiciary are due to the Administration’s continued failure to nominate qualified individuals. The Senate Is Keeping... Continue Reading
May 4, 2012
April 2012 Unemployment
Unemployment Rate: 8.1 percent Unemployed Americans: 12.5 million Employment The Department of Labor reported an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent for April 2012, down 0.1 percent from March, and an increase of 115,000 nonfarm jobs, which is the lowest number of jobs added in five months. Most of the new jobs were professional and business services, food services and drinking places, manufacturing, and health care positions. This makes 39 straight months under President Obama with unemployment... Continue Reading
April 26, 2012
Democrats Increased Student Loan Rates To Pay for Healthcare Law
Over the past three years, student loan borrowers benefited from a temporary interest rate reduction on their subsidized student loans. Unless taxpayers pay for a rate extension, the reduced rates will expire in July. As Congress works on a solution, it’s important to remember that the White House and Democrats in Congress took over the student loan industry in order to fund part of the President’s expensive health care law. Once again, it’s clear that the President’s law... Continue Reading
April 24, 2012
Arizona’s Immigration Law at the Supreme Court
On Wednesday, April 25, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on several provisions of Arizona’s immigration law (S.B. 1070). Former Solicitor General Paul Clement represents Arizona. Justice Kagan, who worked on the issue while with the Department of Justice (DOJ), has recused herself, creating the possibility of a 4-4 split. Overview Arizona enacted S.B. 1070 in 2010 and, in short time, the law drew sharp criticism and a legal challenge by DOJ. The U.S. District Court for the... Continue Reading
April 24, 2012
Obama’s Policies Bankrupting Medicare
On April 23, 2012, the Medicare Trustees issued their annual report outlining the financial status of the program. The report described a program headed for bankruptcy and severely damaged by the Obama Administration’s budget gimmicks and failure to lead. Runaway Deficits Medicare’s Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund continues to run annual cash flow deficits. Expenditures from the HI Trust Fund have exceeded annual income every year since 2008 – with a deficit of $27.7 billion... Continue Reading
April 20, 2012
Obama and Unions Ambush Job Creators
In November 2011, President Obama’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) approved final language for the controversial “ambush” or “quickie” election rule. This new rule will completely eviscerate employers’ rights and stack union elections in favor of labor organizations. The rule goes into effect in just 10 days -- on April 30, 2012. Rigging Elections to Favor Unions The Obama Administration’s new rules would limit employers’ ability to... Continue Reading