The Democrats' "Plan" for Medicare -- Day Lee Briefing 8/14/2012

Aug 14, 2012

From the Senator’s Desk

Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:

Ezra Klein has a post this afternoon in which he claims that Democrats have a plan to reform Medicare, but that this plan is fundamentally different from the vision conservatives have put forward.  To which only two questions show the incomplete nature of Democrats’ supposed “plan:”

1.     How does the Democrat plan deal with changing demographics?  As we previously noted, CBO has estimated that changing demographics represent at least half, and up to three-quarters, of the shortfall in entitlement programs over the coming generation.  What this analysis means is that, even if the growth of health costs does manage to slow (and both CBO and the Medicare actuary think Obamacare’s cost reductions will not be sustainable in the long-term), slowing health costs alone won’t solve Medicare’s financial problems. 

(Spending growth chart)

The House Republican budget addresses the demographic bulge in part by raising the Medicare retirement age for future generations.  How does the President propose to address this issue?  He doesn’t – he has consistently ducked it.  Does he want to raise taxes (again) to address the demographic concerns?  He won’t say.  Will the President agree to raise the retirement age?  Maybe – but he hasn’t said so publicly, and he most likely won’t before November 6.  So the President’s views on how to address the “Baby Boom bulge” are unclear – because he has avoided these issues for political gain.

2.       Where are the IPAB nominees?  Klein’s post admits that the “most famous” way the President would reduce Medicare costs is through the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).  Klein also notes that the President has proposed “expanding IPAB’s mandate such that it can change Medicare’s benefit package” and lowering Medicare’s overall growth rate.  But here’s the interesting thing:  According to page 426 of the statute, the law appropriates funds for IPAB (originally $15 million, but lowered to $5 million last December) “for fiscal year 2012” – that’s the fiscal year ending this September 30.  So Obamacare contemplates IPAB being up and running NOW – yet President Obama has failed to nominate any appointees to the board.  If the President wants to save Medicare so badly – and IPAB is so critical to saving Medicare – what’s he waiting for?  And if IPAB is so innocuous and won’t harm seniors, why is he waiting until AFTER his re-election campaign to announce who he wants to put on the board? 

Klein would probably argue that conservatives will oppose whomever the President nominates, so there’s no point in the President putting forward appointees now who are going to get attacked.  But it’s more than a tad hypocritical for Democrats to be gleeful about running “Mediscare” attack ads against conservatives – only for these same Democrats to claim they can’t put forward IPAB nominees whose records will be subject to similar public scrutiny.  And given the massive powers of the IPAB officials – the rulings of these bureaucrats will be exempt from both administrative AND judicial review – there’s a good government argument to be made that the American people should have full knowledge of who these powerful people will be BEFORE they make their choice in November.

When it comes to both the demographic challenges facing Medicare, and the specific IPAB officials who will implement the lynchpin of Obamacare’s plan to lower costs, President Obama has failed to offer any specifics or any vision – meaning that even under favorable circumstances, the best grade one can offer for the President’s Medicare “plan” is an Incomplete.

 

On Twitter

SenMikeLee

This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP 
 

SenLeeComs

GOP Budget leaders say lack of Senate budget a failure of 'moral leadership' http://ow.ly/cSUYu  @BudgetGOP #3YearsNoBudget

SenLeePressSec

Lee: One year ago the S&P downgraded the US credit rating. Cut, Cap, and Balance would have preserved the AAA ratinghttp://on.fb.me/gICihR 

SenLeeResearch

How #ObamaCare creates incentives for employers to stop expanding and stop hiring: http://on.wsj.com/MSRYWa  #jobs#unemployment #tcot #tlot

 

Around the Water Cooler

Social Security surplus dwarfed by future deficit

As millions of baby boomers flood Social Security with applications for benefits, the program's $2.7 trillion surplus is starting to look small.
 

Investors prepare for euro collapse

Otmar Issing is looking a bit tired. The former chief economist at the European Central Bank (ECB) is sitting on a barstool in a room adjoining the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. He resembles a father whose troubled teenager has fallen in with the wrong crowd. Issing is just about to explain again all the things that have gone wrong with the euro, and why the current, as yet unsuccessful efforts to save the European common currency are cause for grave concern.

Backroom Negotiations -- Day Lee Briefing 8/13/2012

Aug 13, 2012

Today’s Agenda

Today, Senator Lee will be a guest on KSL Radio at 9:45 AM EDT (7:45 MDT).

 

From the Senator’s Desk

Courtesy of the Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee:

Politico Pro reports this afternoon (subscription required) that the Administration and outside groups have begun a series of backroom discussions regarding long-term care and the CLASS Act.  Among the topics being discussed – how to enact something similar to a participation mandate.  One participant said “there have been discussions about incentivizing enrollment in ways that would ‘come close enough to mimicking a mandate.’”  One way could involve taxing all Americans who do not participate in CLASS – a policy the Supreme Court upheld as constitutional not two months ago.

This movement towards a de facto CLASS mandate is entirely predictable – in fact, was predicted – once HHS admitted the program could not be made solvent without a mandate.  After all, Peter Orszag, the former Obama Administration budget director, first referenced the idea of mandatory participation in CLASS last summer; other liberal bloggers have agreed.  The Justice Department likewise conceded in a Pennsylvania courtroom that mandatory long-term care insurance would be constitutional.  And now, mere months after the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare’s individual mandate as a tax – forcing all Americans to purchase a product for the first time ever – the Obama Administration is already wondering how close it can come to enacting yet another purchase mandate on the American people.

It’s also worth noting the “closely guarded” nature of these secret negotiations, and the fact that most participants won’t even say who’s in the (back)room:

Participants wouldn’t discuss which federal officials have attended the meetings.  HHS did not respond to a request for comment by deadline….[One participant] declined to say whether federal officials have joined in the discussions.  Other group members POLITICO spoke with also declined to say who’s participating, citing directions…

Negotiations on C-SPAN, it ain’t, that’s for sure.  But one thing is fairly certain: If HHS is conducting secret backroom discussions, and not telling Republicans, let alone the public, about them, you can practically bet the policy the Administration will try to ram down Congress’ throats – or implement unilaterally – will be government-centered, and far from bipartisan.

 

On Twitter

SenMikeLee

This article does a good job explaining my opposition to the UN's disability convention: http://ow.ly/cNANP 

SenLeeComs

If Ryan plan is "radical", but passed House twice and got 40+ votes in Senate, what does that makes O's budget w/ 0 votes in 2 years?
 

SenLeePressSec

No surprise here! Gallup poll reveals #Utah poised to be the best state to live. @SenMikeLee shares reaction: http://politi.co/RkkPSm  #utpol

SenLeeResearch

How #ObamaCare creates incentives for employers to stop expanding and stop hiring: http://on.wsj.com/MSRYWa  #jobs#unemployment #tcot #tlot

 

Around the Water Cooler

House files suit against Holder over govn’t records

The Republican-run House has asked a federal court to enforce a subpoena against Attorney General Eric Holder. The subpoena demands that Holder produce records related to a bungled gun-tracking operation known as Operation Fast and Furious.
 

Greece sinks again, more cuts to save bailout in store

Greece's economy shrank 6.2 percent on an annual basis in the second quarter, a slump that is expected to persist as the government scrambles to nail down billions in additional cuts to keep international bailout funds flowing.

KOHL, LEE OUTLINE ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSAL-EMI MERGER IN LETTER TO FTC

Aug 3, 2012

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Mike Lee (R-UT), chairman and ranking member of the Senate Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee, today outlined their analysis of the pending acquisition of EMI Group by Universal Music Group in a letter to the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is currently reviewing the merger.  The subcommittee convened a hearing on June 21, 2012 to consider the sale of EMI’s recorded music business to Universal, and its impact on competition, artists, and consumers.
 
“This letter summarizes the findings of our investigation into this transaction. In brief, without reaching any final judgment as to the legality of the deal under the antitrust laws, we believe this proposed acquisition presents significant competition issues that merit careful FTC review to ensure that the transaction is not likely to cause substantial harm to competition in the affected markets.  In the course of this review, we also urge the Commission to be mindful of the changes in the music industry in the last decade, particularly the shift to online distribution as the preferred way consumers purchase music,” the Senators wrote.

Senators Introduce Bipartisan Pay for Printing Act

Aug 3, 2012

This bipartisan legislation simply requires senators to take responsibility for paying for the cost of printing these symbolic resolutions out of their own office budgets.

Perverse Incentives of Obamacare -- Day Lee Briefing 8/02/2012

Aug 2, 2012

These are the effects of just one of Obamacare’s more than trillion-dollars in new taxes. With job creators openly admitting that the law’s perverse incentives are discouraging them from hiring, it’s obvious that the economy will not fully recover from its current downturn unless and until Obamacare is fully repealed.

It Worked? -- Day Lee Briefing 8/01/2012

Aug 1, 2012

Today’s Agenda

Today, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of the Western Energy Alliance. He will also host a Jell-O bar for office visitors at 3:30 PM EDT (1:30 MDT).

 

From the Senator’s Desk

On Twitter

Around the Water Cooler

The new minority: Millions of long-term unemployed looking for hope

Joe Carbone can't sleep — and the odd thing is, he deals in hope. Carbone is the President and CEO of The WorkPlace, Inc., a non-profit workforce and economic development organization in Bridgeport, Conn. He developed an experimental program to help the long-term unemployed that was recently featured on "60 Minutes."

 

Eurozone unemployment hits record high, while Mario Monti sees ‘light at end of tunnel’

EU data agency Eurostat said the seasonally-adjusted rate was the same as an upwardly-revised May toll but noted another 123,000 people lost their jobs going into the European summer, bringing the total to nearly 18m, more than 2m up on a year earlier.

 

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with Lt. Gen. Bruce Litchfield of the Air Force.

Lee Introduces Cut, Cap, Balance Act

Aug 1, 2012

It’s not right to ask the American people to pay for the debt Congress created, especially if it has not taken significant steps to reverse overspending. We have to identify our priorities, set responsible spending levels to meet them, and eliminate the trillion dollar deficits that are sapping the economy of precious resources. Cut, Cap, Balance moves us in the right direction so we can restore confidence in our economy, create jobs, and get the country moving again.

Time for the Leahy-Thurmond Rule -- Day Lee Briefing 7/31/2012

Jul 31, 2012

Today’s Agenda

Today, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of the Salt Lake City Police Department. He will also attend a Steering Executive Committee meeting at 4:15 PM EDT (2:15 MDT).

 

From the Senator’s Desk

On Twitter

Around the Water Cooler

 

The new minority: Millions of long-term unemployed looking for hope

 

Joe Carbone can't sleep — and the odd thing is, he deals in hope. Carbone is the President and CEO of The WorkPlace, Inc., a non-profit workforce and economic development organization in Bridgeport, Conn. He developed an experimental program to help the long-term unemployed that was recently featured on "60 Minutes."

 

Eurozone unemployment hits record high, while Mario Monti sees ‘light at end of tunnel’

 

EU data agency Eurostat said the seasonally-adjusted rate was the same as an upwardly-revised May toll but noted another 123,000 people lost their jobs going into the European summer, bringing the total to nearly 18m, more than 2m up on a year earlier.

 

Looking Ahead

 

Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of the Western Energy Alliance. He will also host a Jell-O bar for office visitors at 3:30 PM EDT (1:30 MDT).

Lee: Senate Must Protect Its Institutional Rights and Impose the Leahy-Thurmond Rule

Jul 30, 2012

The Constitution assigns to the Senate the right and duty to advise and consent to the President’s judicial nominees. During President Obama’s term in office, the Senate has acted responsibly in carrying out this role. Indeed, numerous measures demonstrate that the Senate has treated President Obama’s judicial nominees fairly, confirming them at a greater rate and more quickly than the Democratic Senate confirmed President Bush’s nominees.

More Deficits -- Day Lee Briefing 7/30/2012

Jul 30, 2012

Today’s Agenda

Today, Senator Lee flies back to Washington.

 

From the Senator’s Desk

 

On Twitter

Around the Water Cooler

Administration projects budget deficit to be $1.2 trillion

The White House predicts this year's federal budget deficit will end up at $1.2 trillion, marking the fourth consecutive year of trillion dollar-plus deficits during President Barack Obama's administration.

 

Businesses blame government for the mess in Texas

Another of the regional Fed business surveys shows what everybody already knows: the economy’s luffing, slowing down as the tailwinds die. The Dallas Fed’s manufacturing index fell to -13.2 from 5.8 a month ago. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

 

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, Senator Lee will meet with representatives of the Salt Lake City Police Department. He will also attend a Steering Executive Committee meeting at 4:15 PM EDT (2:15 MDT).