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Dems, Many GOP Reject Spending Cut Plan

June 7, 2019 by GregC

Listen to “Dems, Many GOP Reject Spending Cut Plan” on Spreaker.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly rejected Sen. Rand Paul’s plan to cut spending by two percent per year over five years, with all Democrats present opposing the plan and a majority of Republicans in the chamber voting against it.

Early in the week, the Senate defeated a procedural motion on the so-called Pennies Plan, 69-22.  All 43 Democrats present in the chamber opposed the plan.  Among Republicans, 26 voted against the bill while 22 supported it.  The plan would make an exception for Social Security expenditures.  It also calls for making the Trump tax cuts permanent and expanding access to Health Savings Accounts.

OpentheBooks.com CEO Adam Andrzejewski is dismayed that a Republican-controlled Senate could not advance the Paul legislation, noting that cutting two cents on the dollar is far more modest than the five cents per dollar that President Trump advocates.

Andrzejewski says every penny that the government spends has a constituency and supportive lawmakers who will fight vigorously to save it.  But with the nation now more than $22 trillion in debt, the current pace of deficit spending cannot be sustained, especially with the bankruptcy of Medicare and Social Security inching ever closer.

So where could we actually start to cut costs?

“Grant making in the federal agencies amounts to over $600 billion and it’s a target-rich environment.  To put that amount of money in perspective, that’s nearly as much money at the Department of Defense on our military budget every single year,” said Andrzejewski.

And while some grants are vital, Andrzejewski says millions are wasted on frivolous projects like one million dollars to Cornell University to find out where it hurts most to get stung by a bee or another million for NASA to address religious concerns if we discover extra-terrestrial life.

Listen to the full podcast to hear more of Andrzejewski’s ideas for addressing bloated spending, including how much can be saved in Medicare and Social Security just by keeping track of who is dead.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: debt, news, Paul, spending

Three Martini Lunch 3/16/17

March 16, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/3-Martini-Lunch-3-16-17.mp3

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleased to see conservative priorities in Pres. Trump’s budget, even though they concede the final appropriations will look nothing like this.  They also shake their heads as John McCain accuses anyone opposing NATO membership for Montenegro of doing Vladimir Putin’s bidding.  And they react to a tweet from the McDonald’s account that slams Pres. Trump.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: budget, Martini, mccain, McDonald's, National, Paul, Putin, Review, Trump

House Conservatives Push Quick Action on Obamacare

February 21, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/2-21-MEADOWS-BLOG.mp3

The conservative House Freedom Caucus is pushing for quick congressional action to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and says the plans it supports will mean better coverage, lower costs and more control for patients.

And House Freedom Caucus Chairman says if Republicans don’t follow through on their promises to repeal and place the law, voters ought to send them packing next year.

“I am confident we can do that, and I am confident that if we don’t do that, everybody should send us home and they would have every right to send us home if we don’t deliver on a real promise to make it affordable,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who leads the House Freedom Caucus in the current Congress.  “We promised to do that.  We’ve got to deliver.”

Reports vary widely as to how soon Congress may tackle the repeal, with some lawmakers wanting to get it done in President Trump’s first 100 days and others thinking repeal and replacement may not be completed until later this year or even early 2018.

Meadows says the GOP consensus is to get this done quickly, but a debate is brewing about whether to repeal now and replace later or pass the two bills at the same time.

“It’s that replacement plan that really is providing a great anxiety among some of the Republican members, what it should include and what it shouldn’t include.  There’s still some disagreement there but I’m optimistic that we will go ahead in the next 30-45 days and vote on something in the House and the Senate and move this along,” said Meadows.

“If it waits until next year, it won’t get done, so [Americans] need to weigh in with their member of Congress to say, ‘We want them to act now,'” said Meadows.

Meadows also rejects the idea  of allowing the current system to fester for another year as a means of building public demand for repealing and replacing current law.

“I can tell you from a principle standpoint, to suggest that we allow it to continue to spiral down so that more people are hurt is not something that would be prudent,” said Meadows.

But Meadows also dismisses the alarm from Democrats that repealing Obamacare will means tens of millions of Americans will lose their coverage.

“The Affordable Care Act, the way it is now, is not sustainable.  A lot of those people who may have gotten coverage won’t be able to keep their coverage on the current trend,” said Meadows.

Many of those Americans who now have coverage got it through the expansion of Medicaid.  Meadows admits that will be one of the thornier issues to navigate.

“It is a critical component that we have to address in some shape, form, or fashion.  But whether they get this done with block grants on a per capita basis or some other mechanism, I believe that we can come up with a workable solution that doesn’t leave anybody behind and provides an adequate safety net,” said Meadows.

Last week, the House Freedom Caucus threw its support behind legislation from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., that is designed to repeal the current law and simultaneously replace it with legislation that will patients much more freedom in choosing their coverage.  Paul is fiercely urging GOP leaders not to blow a hole in the deficit by repealing the law and only then getting to work on a replacement.

Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., is offering a companion bill in the House that Meadows says goes a step farther than Paul’s approach in the effort to break up monopolies in the insurance market.

Meadows says there are some must-haves for conservatives  in any replacement legislation.

“It’s one of the few plans that is out there that won’t blow a hole in the deficit, actually will bring down costs, and hopefully will not only address the concerns about pre-existing conditions that many of my constituents and people across America have been concerned about, but do it in a way that actually drives the cost of health care down,” said Meadows.

Meadows says the final legislation needs to require insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions and forbid carriers from cancelling policies when people get sick.  He also wants more flexibility and freedom for people in their Health Savings Accounts, but is shying away from mandating that children be allowed to stay on their parent’s policies until they are 26 years old.

“We think the private sector can actually address that probably better than making it a mandate,” said Meadows, who also strongly endorses a plan from Sen. Paul to provide tax deductions for doctors who work a lot with low income patients.

“They don’t get to write that off now, so this will actually be an incentive to provide health care on a more philanthropic basis,” said Meadows.

Meadows says the cooperation between the White House and Congress has been excellent and that GOP leaders are showing respect for conservative ideas and strategies.  At the same time, Meadows expects an intra-party clash over tax credits.

“Probably the biggest stumbling block right now is the leadership’s desire to use an advanceable, refundable tax credit, where a number of us probably don’t feel that’s the best approach to address it,” said Meadows.

Meadows urges his fellow Republicans to move intelligently but swiftly towards their top legislative priority.  He says lawmakers need to stand on principle and let the political chips fall where they may.

“I think it’s more important that we act now to put forth not only a repeal but a replacement of all of it and make the tough decisions.  As members of Congress, if we make the right decision and it sends us home, so be it,” he said.

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Meadows, news, Obamacare, Paul, repeal, replace, Sanford

‘We Have A Once in A Century Opportunity’

January 17, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/1-17-brat-blog.mp3

Congressional Republicans began the process to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last week and Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., says the party needs to keep moving with urgency towards fulfilling the GOP’s top campaign promise.

“We have a once in a century opportunity for real to get this right.  Medicare and Social Security are insolvent in 15 years if we don’t get this right.  The kids will be left with nothing,” said Brat, a former college economics professor.  “I taught those kids for 20 years at the college level.  That’s why I got into this business, to make sure we get this right.”

“We promised the American people this repeal and replace.  It’s our number one promise since 2010,” said Brat.

Brat says some people are mistaken in believing that the votes Congress took last week already repealed the law.

“All we did last week was have the budget resolution vote.  You have to have a budget to move forward on what’s called reconciliation,” said Brat.  “Reconciliation is what allowed Obamacare to be passed in the first place with just 51 votes in the Senate.”

“Now Republicans are going to use the same reconciliation process to repeal and replace,” said Brat.

Much of the talk on the GOP side centers on whether to have the repeal take effect in two or three years.  Brat hopes it’s much sooner than that.

“Some folks are getting a little wobbly.  The problem with the two-year is that will occur as our re-election occurs.  So politics is going to get mixed in with policy and that’s never a good model to do what’s in the best interest of the country,” said Brat.

He says waiting three years to trigger he repeal is an even worse idea since the 2020 presidential race will already be underway.

Brat says some congressional Republicans are getting skittish about moving so quickly and passing a repeal without a formal replacement attached.

“The details of that have not been worked out to put it mildly, so there’s a little angst from all sides on that.  What’s the repeal going to look like?  What’s the time frame?  Is it going to be done in two years or three years and what’s the replacement?” said Brat.

Brat dismisses claims by Democrats that repealing Obamacare will take coverage away from up to 30 million Americans, calling it “nonsense.”

“People are nervous about being left in the lurch.  They shouldn’t be.  There’s all sorts of plans out there that show we’re actually going to end up with a better product,” said Brat.

What is unsustainable, says Brat, is the soaring cost of health care for Americans right now.  He says the typical family pays $17,000 in premiums a year for coverage while still confronting much higher deductibles.  He is working with Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., on expanding Health Savings Accounts.  Brat says allowing people to choose simple catastrophic plans while building up their Health Savings Accounts would provide peace of mind while also showing people the exorbitant cost of health care.

Brat also says ideas like allowing people to pool together can bring down costs.

As Republicans throw out different ideas, Democrats often allege that seven years after Obamacare was passed, Republicans still don’t have an alternative.

“The Democrats say we don’t have a plan.  That’s true.  We have nine of them,” said Brat, who doesn’t expect the GOP to take long in compiling a replacement.

He says it’s the Democrats who have their heads in the sand.

“The entitlements, Medicare and Social Security, are going insolvent and not a word from the Democrats’ side on these major issues, when the kids will end up with no systems whatsoever in 50 years.  Not a word, just crickets,” said Brat.

But the start of the repeal and replace effort also has Republican critics.  Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. and other Republican fiscal hawks are pointing out the budget used to trigger the reconciliation process blows a $9.7 trillion hole in the budget and adds greatly to an already out of control national debt.

Brat, who voted for the resolution, says Paul and his allies are technically correct.

“They’re right.  We chose the current CBO baseline and it blows huge holes in the budget.  I think that was done to offer the Senate a little bit of latitude to get the vote right here,” said Brat.

But Brat, a member of the House Budget Committee, says GOP budgets will fix that in the coming months.

“We’re going to do another budget in four months and that one will get back to normal balancing in ten years, maybe sooner than that,” said Brat.  “That’s the hope of some of us.”

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Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Brat, congress, news, Obamacare, Paul

Three Martini Lunch 6/11/12

June 11, 2012 by GregC

Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review enjoy the Obama campaign’s damage control efforts in the wake of the president’s comments on the private sector. They are also concerned where Ron Paul support is going to go after Rand Paul has been slammed for his endorsement of Mitt Romney. They also laugh at the update of ‘Obamagirl’ and her hesitation to endorse Obama again this year.

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Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Axelrod, Martini, obama, ObamaGirl, Paul, Rand, Ron

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