Research Briefing

In Desperate Attempt To Battle Growing Angst Over His Experiments, Obama Goes On “Unprecedented” Sunday Show Blitz

“On Sunday, The President Is Scheduled To Appear On ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN And The Spanish Language Network Univision. The Five Sunday Appearances, To Be Filmed Friday At The White House, Are Unprecedented For A Sitting President.” (Elizabeth Williamson, “TV Blitz Will Test Obama’s Star Power,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/16/09)

WILL OBAMA KEEP HIS TAX PLEDGE AND OPPOSE BAUCUS’ “BIG, BIG TAX” BILL?

Obama Pledged “Middle Class Will Realize Greater Security, Not Higher Taxes.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks To A Joint Session Of Congress On Health Care, Washington, DC, 9/9/09)

• As Presidential Candidate, Obama Made “Firm Pledge” That  “No Family Making Less Than $250,000 A Year Will See Any Form Of Tax Increase. Not Your Income Tax, Not Your Payroll Tax, Not Your Capital Gains Taxes, Not Any Of Your Taxes.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks In Dover, NH, 9/12/08)

And Obama Attacked McCain Over Supposed Tax On Health Benefits During Campaign. “And once you’re out on your own with this $5,000 credit, Senator McCain for the first time is going to be taxing the health care benefits that you have from your employer. And -- and this is your plan, John: for the first time in history, you will be taxing people’s health care benefits.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Third Presidential Debate, Hofstra University, 10/15/08)

But Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) Says Sen. Max Baucus’ (D-MT) Bill As “A Big, Big Tax.” “He should understand that (his proposal) means that virtually every single coal miner is going to have a big, big tax put on them … So that’s not really a smart idea … in fact, it’s a very dangerous idea …” (Teddy Davis, “Dem Senator Warns Of ‘Big, Big Tax’ On Middle Class In Baucus Bill,” ABC News’s “The Note” Blog, 9/16/09)

• Baucus’ Bill Includes Tax On Health Insurance Policies Over $8,000 Per Individual ($21,000 Per Family). “The thinking behind the tax is that it would raise hundreds of millions of dollars while at the same time curbing health-care spending by leading insurers or employers to stop offering the costliest plans to avoid the tax, or passing the tax on to employees in the form of higher premiums, which might lead employees to seek cheaper plans.” (Chairman’s Mark, “America’s Healthy Future Act Of 2009,” Introduced 9/16/09; Alec MacGillis, “Ahead Of Obama’s AFL-CIO Appearance, Labor Officials Express Concern Over Excise Tax,” The Washington Post’s “Daily Dose” Blog, 9/15/09)

• Steep Taxes On Americans Who Can’t Afford To Buy Insurance. “Mr. Obama and most Democrats support a proposal that would require most Americans to carry health insurance. Under Mr. Baucus’s proposal, a family that went without coverage would be subject to a penalty of up to $3,800 a year.” (Robert Pear and David Herszenhorn, “New Objections To Baucus Health Care Proposal,” The New York Times, 9/14/09)

• And New Innovation Tax On Medical Devices, Raising Costs For Health Care Services. “The medical-device industry is organizing companies that make everything from CT scans to contact lenses to fight a proposed $4 billion annual fee on device makers, arguing that companies across the board could get hit with the fees. And the industry is trying to rally companies that make even mundane items like condoms and Q-tips to fight the fee, as well. … ‘They’re going to get walloped upside the head with a new tax during a struggling economy,’ he [AdvaMed’s Brett Loper] said. ‘Hopefully, we can convince enough people that a medical products tax will only increase the costs.’” (Chris Frates and Carrie Budoff Brown, “Medical-Device Makers Launch Blitz,” Politico, 9/14/09)

WILL OBAMA CONTINUE TO MISREPRESENT HIS GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE PLAN?

52 Percent Of Americans Disapprove Of Obama’s Health Care Experiment. “Following President Obama’s speech to Congress last week, support for his health care reform plan increased steadily to a peak of 51% yesterday. However, the bounce appears to be over. The latest daily tracking shows that support has fallen all the way back to pre-speech levels. Forty-five percent (45%) of all voters nationwide now favor the plan while 52% are opposed.” (“Health Care Reform,” Rasmussen Reports, 9/15/09)

And 54 Percent Of Americans Say The More They Learn About Dems’ Health Care Experiment, The More They Oppose It. “Americans by 54-41 percent say that the more they hear about health care reform, the less they like it.” (Gary Langer, “POLL: Obama’s Speech Doesn’t Turn The Tide,” ABC News, 9/14/09)

Obama’s Pitch Still Doesn’t Match His Product As He Continues To Claim Government-Run Health Care Will Decrease Costs, Not Ration Treatments And Not Affect Seniors’ Quality Of Care. “The plan I’m announcing tonight ... will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government ... Some of people’s concerns have grown out of bogus claims … that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens.  Now, such a charge would be laughable if it weren’t so cynical and irresponsible.  It is a lie, plain and simple … don’t pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut ... That will not happen on my watch.  I will protect Medicare.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks To A Joint Session Of Congress On Health Care, Washington, DC, 9/9/09)

• But New Regulations On Health Insurance Causes Price Of Coverage To Rise. “Each benefit mandate raises the price of health insurance a little bit. These increases accumulate ... Because the House and Senate bills contain versions of community rating and guaranteed issue mandates, they would benefit those with predictably high costs.  At the same time, the President wants to slow the growth of overall (total/average) private health insurance premiums, and we need to understand how much the mandates in these bills would exacerbate that problem.” (Keith Hennessey, “New Health Insurance Mandates Would Increase Premiums,” KeithHennessey.com, 7/23/09)

• Congressional Dems Want New Health Insurance Czar That Would Dictate What Treatments Would Be Funded. “A qualified health benefits plan shall meet a medical loss ratio as defined by the Commissioner. For any plan year in which the qualified health benefits plan does not meet such medical loss ratio, QHBP offering entity shall provide in a manner specified by the Commissioner for rebates to enrollees of payment sufficient to meet such loss ratio ... Such methodology shall be set at the highest level medical loss ratio possible that is designed to ensure adequate participation by QHBP offering entities, competition in the health insurance market in and out of the Health Insurance Exchange, and value for consumers so that their premiums are used for services.” (H.R. 3200, “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009,” Introduced 7/14/09)

• And Medicare Cuts Could Force Doctors To Decline Senior Patients. “Rep. Eric Massa [D-NY] said tightening provider payments could lead to access problems for patients. ‘We will force doctors to decline Medicare patients,’ he said after a raucous town-hall meeting in Upstate New York. ‘If we believe these savings are there, let’s test the concept. But we can’t hinge the entire funding of this bill on these not-yet-seen savings.’” (Ceci Connolly, “Seniors Remain Wary Of Health-Care Reform,” The Washington Post, 8/9/09) 

IF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS WAS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC DOWNTURN, WHY HAS OBAMA PUT OFF FINANCIAL REGULATION REFORM?

70 Percent Of Americans Are Not Confident That Government “Has Taken Enough Steps To Ensure That A Meltdown Of The Financial Industry” Does Not Happen Again. (Jim Kuhnhenn, “AP Poll: Confidence In Stewardship Of Economy Remains Low A Year After Meltdown,” The Associated Press, 9/14/09)

That’s Because Financial Overhaul Been “On The Back Burner” All Of This Year. “Financial overhaul. Now on the back burner are a rewrite of lending and investing laws and a restructuring of government regulations. The goal is to prevent a repeat of last year’s financial and credit market collapses.” (Andrew Taylor, “To-Do List Largely Undone,” The Associated Press, 8/9/09)

Why Did Obama Wait A Whole Year After Financial Collapse To Urge Passage Of Stronger Financial Regulations? “President Obama came to Wall Street on Monday to tout how the nation’s economic outlook has improved from a year ago, but he called on Congress to pass stronger financial regulations this year, as he offered a sharp admonition that ‘there are some in the financial industry who are misreading this moment.’” (Jeff Zeleny, “On Wall Street, Obama Pushes Stricter Finance Rules,” The New York Times, 9/14/09)

¿DÓNDE ESTAN LOS TRABAJOS QUE OBAMA PROMETIÓ EN EL PLAN DE ESTÍMULO ECONÓMICO? (WHERE ARE THE JOBS OBAMA PROMISED FROM THE STIMULUS?)

57 Percent “Of Adults Say The Stimulus Package Is Having No Impact On The Economy Or Making It Worse.” (Brad Heath, “Poll: 57% Don’t See Stimulus Working,” USA Today, 8/17/09)

That’s Because In August, Unemployment Hit 26-Year High Of 9.7%. (Sudeep Reddy, “Job Losses Weigh On Recovery,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/9/09)

• Since Stimulus Was Passed In February, Over 2.4 Million Americans Have Lost Jobs.  (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 9/4/09)

And Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Says There Will Most Likely Be A Jobless Recovery. “Now, having said that, there’s -- I’ve seen some agreement among the forecasting community at this point that we are in a recovery, that we will see growth in the third quarter continuing, and that growth will continue into 2010 … And the arithmetic is that unless the economy grows, you know, significantly faster than its longer-term growth rate, it’ll be relatively slow in creating jobs over and above those needed to employ people coming into the labor force, and therefore the unemployment rate would tend to come down quite slowly.” (Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, “One-Year Anniversary Of The Lehman Brothers Collapse,” Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., 9/15/09)

IS OBAMA’S SILENCE ON AFGHANISTAN CONTRIBUTING FALLING SUPPORT FOR U.S. EFFORTS THERE?

New Poll Shows Public Losing Faith In Obama’s Handling Of Afghanistan. “Less than half (48 percent) of those questioned now say they approve of President Obama’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan, down from 56 percent in April.” (“Public Losing Faith in Obama’s Afghan Plan,” CBS News, 9/1/09)

Is It Because Of Obama’s Silence? “He may be presiding over two wars and facing a terror threat at home and abroad, but you’d hardly know it from listening to President Barack Obama speak. Obama has uttered more than a half-million words in public since taking office Jan. 20 — and a POLITICO analysis of nearly every word in this vast public record shows that domestic topics dominate, so much so that Obama sounds more like a peacetime president than a commander in chief with more than 100,000 troops in the field.” (Zachary Abrahamson and Eamon Javers, “Obama’s Words Downplay Wars,” Politico, 8/13/09)

Is His Silence Due To Pressure From Anti-War Democrats? “White House officials are increasingly worried liberal, anti-war Democrats will demand a premature end to the Afghanistan war before President Barack Obama can show signs of progress in the eight-year conflict, according to senior administration sources.” (Mike Allen, “White House Fears Liberal War Pressure,” Politico, 9/1/09)