Archives for February 2014

A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report shows the new health care laws are expected to eliminate the equivalent of 2.3 million jobs over the next decade, a huge jump from original estimates and opponents of the law say it’s more proof that repeal is the only solution.

The CBO report states the estimate is based on reduced working hours for some employees and the elimination of other positions by employers who want to avoid being required to provide health coverage to their employees.

Georgia Rep. Tom Price, a longtime physician and author of a repeal and replacement bill, says this news is awful but not surprising.

“You’ve got fewer jobs that are being created because of the 3-hour threshold for full-time employees.  You’ve got employers with 50 employees who are trying to get under the 50-employee threshold so they don’t come under the oppressive nature of Obamacare.  There are all sorts of disincentives for employment within the law itself and I think that’s one of the things CBO finally recognized,” said Price.

Price adds that this report not only confirms the new law is a hindrance to job creation but actively eliminates existing jobs.

“People are losing their job because of Obamacare.  The number of employers that are increasing the number of employees as well as the number of hours worked are having a huge effect on the economy,” said Price.

“And then the requirements for employers to provide a level of health coverage greater than their employees either desire or need or the employer provided before, what that means is there’s more money taken out of businesses and employers, the job creators in this country, so that they have fewer jobs that they are able to cover from a financial standpoint,” said Price.

Coincidentally, defenders of the new law also consider the CBO report to be good news.  Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, says the job numbers simply show that millions more people will have the option of having health coverage without depending upon an employer to provide it.

“The report estimates that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the total number of hours worked, on net, by about 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent from 2017 to 2024. This reduction is almost entirely because workers will choose to supply less labor, which translates to a reduction in full-time-equivalent employment of about 2.0 million in 2017, rising to about 2.5 million in 2024,” said Van Hollen in a statement.

“This effect is not driven by a reduction in the demand for employees, but is the result of employees choosing to supply less labor because of the option to get affordable, quality health insurance through the new health insurance Marketplaces. The Affordable Care Act empowers individuals to make choices about their own lives and livelihoods, like retiring on time, choosing to spend more time with their families, or even opening their own businesses. Americans are no longer trapped in jobs just to provide coverage for their families,” he said.

Other supporters see additional good news here as well.  Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik says the report shows the new law will end up being cheaper than expected, result in more American having health coverage and that risk-adjustment provisions will turn a profit for the U.S. Treasury.

Rep. Price is not swayed.

“Our goal ought not to be returning a profit to the U.S. Treasury.  It ought to be allowing for individual American dreams to be realized as opposed to stifled by Obamacare.  That’s the problem with our friends on the left is that they view everything through the prism and the lens of government as opposed to through the prism and the lens of individual Americans.  This is destroying real people’s lives,” said Price.  “Although our friends on the left are excited when government expands, the fact of the matter is when government expands, liberty shrinks.”

While Price and his allies worry about the impact of the new health law on the freedom and bottom line of employers and employees alike, the congressman says even more problems are coming for patients because of a looming exodus of the best physicians.

“So many physicians now are just disheartened.  I’m 59.  The vast majority of former medical colleagues my age are looking for the exit doors.  It’s so sad because what we’re doing as a nation as a matter of public policy is taking this incredible intellectual power of the physicians of this land and those that are near retirement and telling them, ‘Look, just go away.’  And we as patients are losing the expertise at a time when all these folks ought to be able to practice medicine and care for their fellow citizens fr another 10-15 years,” said Price.

“They’re looking to get out of the system because of Obamacare, not because they’ve forgotten how to care for people or they’ve lost their passion for caring for people but because the president’s health care law is destroying their ability to care for patients in a responsible way,” he said.

Price says today’s CBO report helps sets the stage for a clear choice for voters this year.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review discuss the reasons for New Jersey Rep. Rob Andrews’ resignation.  They note how former Obama strategists believe Hillary Clinton is in danger of making the same mistakes that cost her the 2008 election.  They also lament Mayor DeBlasio’s choice to defund NYC charter schools.  Finally, they sound off on how Cover Oregon bamboozled the federal government into believing the state insurance exchange was making progress in advance of the Obamacare rollout.

Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston says his record in Congress proves he’ll be a reliable conservative if elected to the U.S. Senate this year, claims he’s accomplished more tangible results than his fellow congressional rivals for the nomination and he insists growing jobs and strengthening national defense are at the top of his agenda.

Kingston was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 and is currently a member of the House Appropriations Committee.  He is one of eight Republicans seeking the Senate seat currently held by retiring Republican Saxby Chambliss.

Kingston is also one of three GOP House members in the race, joining fellow Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey.  Broun presents himself as the most consistent conservative in the race while Gingrey claims to be the most conservative candidate who can win in November.  Both describe themselves to the right of Kingston, but he says the numbers speak for themselves.

“I think on some of the things we split the differences.For example, I’m 100 percent with National Right to Life and I’m an A+ with the NRA.  That’s the highest rating of the three of (us),” said Kingston.

“On other things, Club for Growth, Paul Broun is higher than me, but my American Conservative Union rating is 95 percent lifetime and National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is 100 percent,” he said.

Kingston says specific actions also show his conservative bona fides, including cutting $1.3 million from expenditures in his own office during his congressional tenure through frugality in salaries, mailings and other methods.  As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, Kingston says he cut$3.6 billion in real money while his opponents can only talk about what they would do.

“It was not a decrease in the increase (in spending) but a real cut.  My colleagues cannot make that claim.  One of my colleagues talks about all his proposals to cut spending.  That doesn’t mean anything.  What did you bring home?  What can you claim you actually did?  I can say I cut spending and got it signed into law.  That’s a big difference,” said Kingston.

Broun and Gingrey both claim to be more fiscally responsible than Kingston, with Broun calling Kingston the most active in seeking earmarks among Georgia Republicans and being willing to raise the debt ceiling.  Kingston addressed both issues, first noting that his votes on the debt ceiling have been very responsible.

“When we’ve been at war, I have voted to increase the debt ceiling and usually that is in a trade-off for spending cuts or something to offset it,” said Kingston, who also says he is a staunch opponent of earmarks and some of the projects he gets the most criticism for don’t sound like wasteful spending to him.

“I was the first author of an earmark ban.  We introduced that in 2007.  We got 130 co-sponsors on it.  It was the first earmark moratorium that was introduced.  Certainly earmarks got out of hand both numerically and in substance.  Most of the earmarks I had been involved in were military,” said Kingston.

“One time, Fort Stewart wanted an IED simulator so that soldiers driving in Afghanistan and Iraq on Humvees would know how to react if an IED exploded under them.  I would challenge any of my opponents to denounce that as pork,” said Kingston, who says another earmark promises to provide a significant return on investment economically.

“Another project that I have worked on is the deepening of the Savannah River.  There’s 352,000 jobs related to the state of Georgia for that.  There’s a state match to it and the cost-benefit analysis is a dollar spent and a five-and-a-half dollar return.  I would love them to come out and say that’s a pork barrel project,” said Kingston.

As for what he would do if elected to the Senate, Kingston says he would advance his American Renewal Initiative, a six-point plan that says is far more detailed than anything his rivals are proposing.  The congressman says he wants to beef up military preparedness to the point our troops will never have a fair fight again because of their overwhelming superiority.  He also promises to push for balanced budgets and an end to addressing key economic issues on the brink of a fiscal cliff.  Eradicating job-killing regulations, restoring work requirements to public assistance and fostering energy independence in a way that helps to drive gas prices back below two dollars per gallon are also high priorities.

Also on the list is major simplification of the tax code.

“Whether it’s Fair Tax or flat tax or whatever, let’s have a tax code that’s transparent and competitive,” said Kingston.

With the first round of the Senate primary just over three months away and national midterm elections looming in November, national Republicans appear to be treading in dangerous waters.  The House Republicans are deeply divided over immigration policy.  Last week, House GOP leaders unveiled a set of principles that would allow for the legalization of many people currently in the country illegally.

While not directly stating where he stands on those principles, Kingston offered his own approach to how any reform should be handled.

“Here are my four principles.  Number one is no amnesty and number two is securing the border.  Number three is cracking down on employers who knowingly hire illegals and number four, no welfare for illegal workers,” said Kingston, who says border security takes on several components.

“Some people say that means a big, big fence.  Others will say it means putting predators (drones) and more Border Patrol agents down there.  But 40 percent of the people who come in here come in with papers that are legal.  It’s just that they let them expire.  So in my opinion, securing the border also means securing the people that are coming in here and breaking the law by letting their paperwork expire and staying too long,” he said.

In January, Kingston found himself in the midst of a brief media tempest after suggesting that students receiving taxpayer-funded lunches contribute tiny amounts of money or do some work at the school as a way to instill responsibility in kids and teach them that there is “no such thing as a free lunch.”  The congressman says he was stunned at the backlash.

“It’s sad that in today’s society you can’t even have a decent conversation without these gotcha moments.  When you were 14 or 15 years old, did you have a job in which you learned something that you still apply to your life today?  If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better if we had everybody at a younger age learning this great American work ethic?  I don’t care if your Bill Gates’ kid or my kid or your kid.  Chores inside and outside the household will help you,” said Kingston.

Four to five of the GOP Senate hopefuls seem to have a shot at the nomination.  Assuming no one gets a majority of the vote in the May 20 primary, the top two finishers will advance to a July 22 runoff for the nomination.  That winner will likely face Democrat Michelle Nunn in November.

Kingston says Republicans should spend a little less time sniping at each other and a little more time telling voters that Nunn is ducking the tough questions so far in this campaign.  He also thinks he matches up far better against Nunn than any other Republican in the field.

“What Democrats know is that I can appeal to voters that they feel they have to get to win.  They know that I’m competitive.  We’ve raised the most money.  We have the most number of donors,” said Kingston.  “My opponents, both in the House and outside of the House, no one has raised nearly the money that we have.  There are a couple of self-funders in there and I don’t think you can really buy a U.S. Senate seat.  Some of the candidates who spend a tremendous amount of time attacking me, they know they’ve got problems within their own campaigns.”

“I’m running against the Democrat.  I’m running against the Harry Reid machine.  I’m running for the United States of America.  It’s not about Jack Kingston.  It’s not about Georgia.  It’s about taking America back and getting us on the right track,” said Kingston.

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review cheer the positive environmental evaluation of the Keystone XL project.  They also groan as President Obama dodges and denies major controversies are a big deal.  And they react to a 9-11 truther somehow crashing the interview session for the Superbowl MVP.