Today’s Agenda
Today, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of Orthodox Union and the National Youth Leaders Conference. He will also attend a Foreign Relations Committee hearing at 9:00 AM EDT (7:00 MDT).
From the Senator’s Desk
Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:
Writing in this morning’s Washington Post, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has a must-read op-ed outlining how Obamacare’s poor policy prescriptions will harm his state. Among the bad side effects of the law:
- 100,000 people will be dropped by their employer-sponsored health insurance;
- 59 percent of people who buy their own health insurance will experience an average premium increase of 31 percent;
- 150,000 people will stop buying health insurance in the private sector and will instead become dependent on the government and taxpayers; and
- Between 2014 and 2019, Obamacare could cost Wisconsin taxpayers $1.12 billion; after all federal aid and tax credits are applied, the state’s portion of the bill will be $433 million.
These aren’t conclusions reached by Walker himself – they are among the conclusions of an actuarial analysis conducted in part by Jonathan Gruber, who served as a paid consultant to HHS in developing the Obamacare law. And the fact that even supporters of Obamacare admit the law will raise both insurance premiums and dependence on government programs is as strong an argument as any for the measure’s repeal.
On Twitter
Here is my mobile office schedule for July.We invite all Utahns to take advantage of this great resource: ow.ly/bZXwo #utpol
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 9, 2012
.@asheschow what are we up to now? #LOST
— Brian Phillips (@SenLeeComs) July 12, 2012
@AllisonCroghan Love that you used Sen Lee’s tweets in last night’s newscast. Really shows that Fox 13 is innovative in their reporting
— Emily Bennion (@SenLeePressSec) July 7, 2012
Jobs report “kind of disastrous”, employment “not even keeping up with demographics”: bit.ly/N4iVTv #ObamaIsntWorking #tcot #tlot
— Joe Tauke (@SenLeeResearch) July 6, 2012
Around the Water Cooler
Study: $15 trillion in welfare spending has had little impact since 1964
A policy analysis released by the Cato Institute in April shows that despite nearly $15 trillion in total welfare spending since President Lyndon Johnson began the “war on poverty” in 1964, the poverty rate in the United States has remained relatively constant.
Rising costs push California cities to fiscal brink
Facing the same financial stressors that pushed San Bernardino toward bankruptcy, cities across California are slashing day-to-day services and taking other drastic actions to skirt a similar fiscal collapse.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow, Senator Lee will be back in Utah to meet with constituents.