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  • Friday October 01, 2010

    Obama Tax Hikes: Bad for All Americans

    President Obama’s tax plan will, famously, end the 2001 and 2003 tax relief for Americans earning $250,000 a year or more. But, far from raising taxes only on the “rich,” the widespread effects of the Obama plan will hurt Americans at every income level. If Congress adopts the President’s plan, it will eliminate all the growth-promot¬ing policies in the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages, slowing down economic growth and job creation at a time when the economy is struggling to recover from the Great Recession. Heritage Foundation tax policy expert Curtis Dubay reminds that higher taxes have never closed budget deficits, and explains why the Obama plan is bad for all Americans.

    Click here to read the Heritage web memo.

  • Thursday September 30, 2010

    Seniors and Thousands of Others Will Lose Their Current Health Insurance Under ObamaCare

    On Wednesday, The Boston Globe reported that ObamaCare will cause 22,000 seniors in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire to lose their current Medicare Advantage health insurance plans.        

    Meanwhile, The Principal Financial Group announced Thursday that it will no longer sell health insurance and all its customers will lose their current health plans.

    How is this possible?  Just six months ago, President Obama promised that people could keep their existing health insurance plans under ObamaCare.
     

  • Wednesday September 29, 2010

    The Hill: Rep. John Kline - Education is a jobs issue

    According to the so-called experts, the Great Recession that began during the winter of 2007 ended in June of 2009. This should be welcome news, but many Americans find it hard to believe.

    More than 14.8 million workers are still unemployed, and 27 states recently reported an increase in unemployment.

    Earlier this month, the Department of Labor issued another bleak jobs report, which was greeted with understandable anxiety about rising unemployment and the loss of 54,000 jobs. What failed to make headlines were the statistics showing the correlation between employment levels and workers’ educational achievement. The numbers are startling and should serve as yet another reminder of the urgent need to fix our broken education system.

    Click here to read my op-ed published today in the Hill newspaper.

  • Tuesday September 28, 2010

    President Obama's Straw Man Arguments About Education Funding Rejected

    President Obama’s claims about Republican support for education is concerning. Instead of having an honest discussion about bringing fiscal responsibility back to Washington, D.C., the president is setting up a straw man with his claims about education funding. Republicans believe it is time to have a serious debate about setting priorities and living within our means. With our Pledge to America, we proposed bringing the federal budget back to where it stood before the bailouts, government takeovers, and failed stimulus. Like any family or small business does with its spending, the federal government should start with a budget it can afford and fund specific priorities within those limits. The president and his party are resorting to baseless claims in order to distract the public’s attention from their fiscal recklessness and inability to even propose a budget this year. Republicans are focused on doing what’s right for our children – that begins by stopping Washington’s out-of-control spending spree.

  • Monday September 27, 2010

    Obama Tax Hikes: Economic Harm to All Americans

    by William Beach and John Ligon
    Heritage Foundation

    The end of the August recess brought with it the beginning of a historic tax debate. Congress soon will decide whether to extend tax relief passed in 2001 and 2003 to all income-earning groups or to only some. In the course of making that decision, Congress may set the fate of the U.S. economy for the next decade.

    Politically speaking, President Obama and the congressional leadership have framed this debate as one about the “haves” and the “have nots.” But economically speaking, the debate is about something altogether different. Anyone who sees this tax debate as one between the “haves” and the “have nots” is watching the wrong debate. Rather, this is a contest between those who want the blessings of strong economic growth versus those in Washington who would willingly sacrifice those blessings solely to satisfy their appetite for more revenues.

    Click here to read more.

  • Friday September 24, 2010

    VIDEO: 'Pledge to America' Preamble - America Is More Than a Country

    Click here to view the Pledge preamble.

    This week, I joined House Republicans in unveiling “A Pledge to America,” a new governing agenda built by listening to the American people and focused on creating jobs, cutting spending, and changing the way Congress works. The Pledge begins with a preamble that speaks to the principles we stand for, the priorities of our nation, and the people’s right to alter the agenda of the government when it defies their will.

     

  • Thursday September 23, 2010

    Happy Six-Month Anniversary of ObamaCare, Part VI

    Six months ago today, ObamaCare was enacted into law. During that time, Congressional Democrats and the President have been traveling the country attempting to tout the “positive” effects of their new health care overhaul. Americans, however, are not buying it, with more than 50 percent believing the health care law is bad for the country and an even greater number percent favoring a repeal of this devastating law. Today, I will be posting six egregious flaws with ObamaCare.

    6. The cost of ObamaCare keeps growing & growing and America can’t afford it:

    • Obama Administration’s own actuaries predict that the Democrats’ new health law will increase national health care spending by over $300,000,000,000.
    • CBO predicts that federal health care-related spending could increase by an additional $115,000,000,000 or more over 10 years to just to implement the Democrats’ new health care law.
    • The Obama Administration recently asked Congressional Democrats for $250 million in additional funding to “increase the primary care health workforce” after finally admitting their new law will lead to a shortage of doctors.

  • Thursday September 23, 2010

    Happy Six-Month Anniversary of ObamaCare, Part V

    Six months ago today, ObamaCare was enacted into law. During that time, Congressional Democrats and the President have been traveling the country attempting to tout the “positive” effects of their new health care overhaul. Americans, however, are not buying it, with more than 50 percent believing the health care law is bad for the country and an even greater number percent favoring a repeal of this devastating law. Today, I will be posting six egregious flaws with ObamaCare.

    5. Massive tax increases:

    • The Democrats’ health care law contains $570 billion in tax increases and a dozen violations of the President’s pledge to not raise taxes on Americans earning less than $200,000 for singles and $250,000 if married.
    • Through the individual mandate, Americans are forced to buy health insurance they may not want or be able to afford.  The Democrats’ bill empowers the IRS to verify if you have “acceptable” health care coverage, and, if you fail to prove you have purchased “minimum essential coverage,” the IRS has the authority to fine you up to $2,085 or 2.5 percent of your income (whichever is greater).  The IRS will need to hire up to 16,500 new employees to enforce this and other tax increases in the bill.

  • Thursday September 23, 2010

    Happy Six-Month Anniversary of ObamaCare, Part IV

    Six months ago today, ObamaCare was enacted into law. During that time, Congressional Democrats and the President have been traveling the country attempting to tout the “positive” effects of their new health care overhaul. Americans, however, are not buying it, with more than 50 percent believing the health care law is bad for the country and an even greater number percent favoring a repeal of this devastating law. Today, I will be posting six egregious flaws with ObamaCare.

    4. ObamaCare jeopardizes seniors’ health care:

    • The Obama Administration’s own actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated the Medicare cuts contained in the Democrats’ health law could threaten seniors’ access to care and cause providers to stop treating Medicare patients.
    • 7.4 million Medicare beneficiaries who would have been enrolled in a Medicare health plan will lose their plan because of the $206 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA) in the Democrats’ health law.  Next year alone, 1.2 million seniors will be forced out of their MA plan or prescription drug plan.
    • Obama Administration officials predict nine out of 10 seniors will lose their employer-sponsored retiree drug coverage and seniors enrolled in a MA plan can expect to see their benefits slashed by $816 a year in just a few short years as a result of the Democrats’ health law.
    • CBO has estimated that Medicare prescription drug coverage premiums will increase by 9 percent as a result of the Democrats’ health law.

  • Thursday September 23, 2010

    Happy Six-Month Anniversary of ObamaCare, Part III

    Six months ago today, ObamaCare was enacted into law. During that time, Congressional Democrats and the President have been traveling the country attempting to tout the “positive” effects of their new health care overhaul. Americans, however, are not buying it, with more than 50 percent believing the health care law is bad for the country and an even greater number percent favoring a repeal of this devastating law. Today, I will be posting six egregious flaws with ObamaCare.

    3. ObamaCare discourages employers from hiring new workers, increasing wages, or retaining existing employees:

    • The Democrats’ health care law slams employers with job killing taxes and increased costs, providing less money to small businesses to hire new workers and retain existing ones.
    • Leading employer groups such as National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as Business Roundtable & Business Council call the Democrats’ health care law “destructive” and “dangerous” due to the fact it has created massive economic uncertainty, will increase the cost of doing business, and does nothing to control the cost of health care.
    • With unemployment continuing to hover close to 10 percent, Congress should work to ease the heavy burdens our small businesses have been facing.  But buried in their health care law, Democrats included a $17 billion tax increase that requires small businesses to file a 1099 tax form for every business to which they make total payments in excess of $600 for all goods and services during the tax year.  According to NFIB, “at $74 an hour, tax paperwork is the most expensive paperwork burden placed on small businesses by the federal government.”