economics

Ben Domenech, a truly gifted thinker and writer, has a great post about Obama’s recess appointment of Donald Berwick to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). (Ben also has additional comments here.)  After the passage of the Democrats’ health care bill, the director of CMS is like the third most powerful person in the country over your life.  So how that person views your health care is pretty important.  Read Ben’s post, which includes the video, but I’ve included it here as well.

It just makes you shake your head and wonder how in the world…

The American people can’t say that they weren’t warned about the misinformation that Obama and the Democrats continued to push during the debate over their health care bill.

One warning was that the bill would essentially lead  to a government take-over of health care because the government would force employers to change coverage plans they currently provide to their employees.

Obama and the Democrats knew that if the American people thought the government could force coverage changes, they would oppose the bill even more.  That is why one of the most repeated claims by Obama was the line, “if you like your current coverage, you can keep it.”

Well, now Obama’s own administration is projecting that a majority of workers will have a change in coverage within the next three years.

This is just one of the big lies about the health care bill that will be exposed in the months and years to come.

It would be useful for us to remember this pattern in future debates - if something is being repeated so often, it must be a lie.

I receive news alerts from the New York Times. This morning, I received this news alert related to job numbers:

U.S. Economy Adds 290,000 Jobs in April; Jobless Rate Rises to 9.9%

Three minutes later, wunderkind Senate Policy Committee staffer Chris Jacobs sent out an email:

169,000 Jobs Short…

While it’s welcome news that the economy created jobs last month, it’s worth putting it in context.  Not only do the jobs figures reflect a temporary bump in hiring of short-term government bureaucrats for this decade’s census, but they also fall far short of the number of jobs Democrats themselves promised during the health care debate.  In her opening statement at the White House summit, Speaker Pelosi noted that passage of the health care bill “will create 4 million jobs – 400,000 jobs almost immediately.”  But today’s jobs figures for April show that the private sector created only 231,000 jobs during the month – meaning that this month’s employment figures miss Democrats’ own mark for job creation by nearly half.  And job growth within the health care sector actually declined from March to April by 16,000 workers, according to the BLS survey.

Of course, it’s hard to argue that any legislation imposing over half a trillion dollars in tax increases will create jobs in the first place.  In other words, the Speaker – having taken her own advice that “we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it” – may well find that passing a $2.6 trillion government takeover of health care will kill jobs, rather than create them.

The Gray Lady must have felt squeamish – or they got a call from Capitol Hill - because 11 minutes later another news alert came across the transom:

Four-Month Rise Strengthens U.S. Job Outlook

It’s kinda cool that one smart Senate staffer can who offers instant response to news can rattle the cage of the self-proclaimed “most important” newspaper in the world.

This is just downright inappropriate and disgusting, even for Harry Reid:

“You can find the Republicans are having difficulty determining how they’re going to continue making love to Wall Street.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by ABC News, explaining why the financial regulation reform bill is stalled.

And Harry Reid is a shameless hypocrite. In a story about Washington’s Sen. Patti Murray, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, we find this nugget:

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., another member of the Senate’s Democratic leadership, has received $1.58 million from the securities and investment industry during the current campaign cycle. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has taken $902,000, even more than he has received from the gaming industry. (emphasis added)

To put that in perspective, there is this tidbit from the Wall Street Journal:

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Democrats have received nearly two-thirds of the $34.7 million donated by the entire securities and investment industry since Jan. 1, 2009. Democrats took in 57% of Wall Street’s donations in the 2008 campaign and 52% during the 2006 midterm elections.

The last time Wall Street contributed more money to Republicans than Democrats was during the 2004 presidential election cycle when the GOP collected 52% of their donations, according to the center.

Reid needs to look in the mirror and recognize that if what Republicans are doing equates to making love to Wall Street, than what he is doing is just a cheap trick.

Democrats in the Senate are trying to stop a Republican filibuster of the financial services regulatory bill.  They think that forcing a vote today, tomorrow, the next day and so on will make Republicans look bad, because EVERYBODY hates Wall Street and should be clamoring for more regulation.

The problem for Democrats is that the American people aren’t stupid. They know a permanent bailout when they see it.  The Democrats can claim they are getting tough on Wall Street, but it just doesn’t sell because so much of Wall Street is a part of the Obama Administration now.  Goldman Sachs employees gave more money to Obama’s campaign (more than $900,000) than any other private sector employees (only employees from the vast University of California coughed up more dough.)

This is just a partial list of the Goldman Sachs connections: Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; Mark Patterson, a former Goldman lobbyist who is chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; and Robert Hormats, the undersecretary of state for economic, energy and agricultural affairs.

On a slightly different note, check out this video from the folks at Americans for Prosperity.

April 15 of an even numbered year is always an interesting day.  Yes, it’s tax day, which is awful for those of us who work hard to earn a living for our families, but it’s also when FEC 1st quarter reports are due, and these will be good indicators of how races shape up.

To add to the mix this year is a massive wave of tea parties.

More to come tomorrow…

Already there are consequences of the passage Obama’s government takeover of health care.

Dr. Joseph Scherzer is informing patients that he will close his practice by 2014 – when the bill goes into full effect – if it hasn’t been repealed or struck down by the courts.

While it may be years before most Americans feel the impact of President Obama’s health-care bill, a few patients in Scottsdale, Ariz., got a small taste of life under Obamacare last week when they arrived at their Dermatologist’s office only to see a sign with the following taped to the front door:

“If you voted for Obamacare, be aware these doors will close before it goes into effect.” The note is signed Joseph M. Scherzer M.D. and includes the following addendum: “****Unless Congress or the Courts repeal the BILL.”

Scherzer, who attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, has been a practicing Dermatologist in Scottsdale, Ariz., since 1976. Reached yesterday at his office, Dr. Scherzer, 63, said he plans to stop practicing before 2014 when the bill’s full impact will be felt because he refuses to deal with the headache of increased government involvement in health care.

“I’m absolutely serious [about stopping practicing] and it’s not just because I’ll be nearing 65,” Scherzer said. “The stress is what would push me out the door. From what I’ve gathered hearing from my friends and peers, most physicians I’ve heard from feel the same way.”

Scherzer said the bill’s emphasis on punitive measures for physicians not following government-prescribed treatment methods under Medicare would increase his anxiety level to the point he would no longer be able to practice medicine. The maximum fine was previously $10,000; under the bill it will now be capped at $50,000. Scherzer said the fine system makes seeing a Medicare patients a difficult and stressful exercise.

This is just the beginning of what is to come as the bill is fully implemented. It wasn’t just rhetoric during the debate when there were warnings of fewer doctors, longer wait times and the rationing of care. That is coming, and the proponents of government-run health care know it. Watch how they spin in the months to come.

The Arizona Republic reports that it costs taxpayers an average of $100,000 per City of Phoenix employee. That’s not to say that some City of Phoenix employees don’t deserve to be paid appropriately for their work, they should. The rub is paying full-time employees for things that could easily be outsourced – like auto repair. How many companies do you know of that employ their own auto mechanics? Yeah, yeah, I’m sure Swift Transportation or Knight Transportation does, but that’s apples and oranges.

There is nothing wrong with sending cars that need to be serviced or repaired to a private auto shop. It would save taxpayers money, and the private company would have incentive to do a good job for a good price because they would want the repeat business.

The second rub is that we have City of Phoenix employees making more money than comparable jobs in the private sector. That doesn’t seem to make sense.

City Councilman Sal DiCiccio has been one of the few voices trying to educate people about what is going on, and he’s taking on some powerful interest groups, including the employee unions. It’s refreshing to see someone on the council who has the courage to take on the establishment and actually stand up for the average taxpayer.

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Republic story:

“Public-sector employees should not get paid more than their boss, the taxpayer,” DiCiccio said. “It’s skewed so far it’s almost embarrassing.”

The councilman has upset Mayor Phil Gordon, some council members and labor groups by proposing to outsource certain “non-strategic” city jobs to the private sector. For example, Phoenix spends $31 million a year to have city mechanics repair vehicles, he said; only $10 million is outsourced. He would like to see more work sent to private mechanics.

Luis Schmidt, a spokesman for the union that represents mechanics, said outsourcing those jobs could put police officers, firefighters and other employees who drive city vehicles at greater risk. Schmidt argues that city mechanics are better trained and more accountable than their private-sector counterparts.

So DiCiccio has upset the Mayor, other council members and the unions. And the mechanics union spokesman says police and firefighters would face greater risk if their vehicles were repaired by mechanics in the private sector. Seriously? That has to be one of the most absurd arguments I’ve ever heard.

We need more Sal DiCiccio’s standing up for the taxpayers. As a resident of Phoenix, I offer my personal thanks to the Councilman.

One of Obama’s main arguments for passing his health care proposal is that it will reduce the deficit and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Pelosi has even made the claim that the bill would create 400,000 jobs “almost immediately” (really, immediately?)

However, a study released today by Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and Beacon Hill Institute, a part of Suffolk University, blows a hole right through that claim.

Beacon’s study shows that rather than creating jobs, the Democrat health care bill will cost more than 700,000 jobs.

Ron Bonjean, communicator extraordinaire, takes the bark of this tree in this piece.

The national unemployment rate is fluctuating from double digit figures to the current rate of 9.7 percent. Millions of Americans haven’t had a job in more than a year and still receive unemployment benefits from the federal government. And now our nation’s debt is threatening our worldwide credit rating due to the trillions of dollars in runaway spending.

So given this drastic situation, why has the Democratic leadership tackled this fundamental problem of economic growth by proposing a massive government takeover of healthcare? It will threaten to place our country further in debt with billions in government subsidies to cover unfunded mandates and the federalization of the healthcare insurance industry. Businesses will be forced to pay major fines for not covering employees. Translation: The healthcare proposal will be a mammoth job killing terminator with a federal license to destroy American small business.

Every day that the White House spends on other issues besides working to create the right conditions for positive job growth is another day that millions of unemployed American voters grow angrier. A better idea would be for the majority to just call in sick to work since they aren’t doing the job voters want them to perform. Faking a head cold might be a better approach because if they pass this healthcare bill, many Democrats who vote for it will probably be looking for work after November.

Arizona Republic reporter Dan Nowicki writes that Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl oppose the sales tax increase that the legislature referred to the May 18 election ballot.

I’m not surprised. Both McCain and Kyl have been pretty darn solid on not raising taxes.

What is more surprising, as I have blogged before, is that a Republican Governor is supporting a tax increase, particularly in this economic environment.

Predictably, the Yes on 100 crowd “couldn’t be more disappointed.”

Eh, what do you expect? Did you really think that two Senators with fairly consistent “A” ratings from National Taxpayer’s Union would support a tax increase?