Research Briefing

On This Cinco De Mayo, Here’s How Obama Leaves All Generations In The Hispanic Community At A Disadvantage

OBAMA’S AGENDA TAKES AWAY OPPORTUNITIES FROM HISPANIC-AMERICAN STUDENTS …

Obama’s Budget Killed Funding For DC Opportunity Scholarship That Helped Several Minority Students And Their Families.  “[I]t’s clear that President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress have already written the epilogue to this worthy program. Their disregard for how vouchers have helped children is so complete that it seems that the best chance, perhaps the only chance, for the program’s survival is for local officials to step in. The latest evidence of the administration washing its hands of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program is seen in the 2011 budget proposal it unveiled this week. It targets $9 million for the program but specifies that this will be ‘the final request’ for federal funding.” (Editorial, “D.C. Support Needed To Pressure Congress On School Vouchers,” The Washington Post, 2/4/10)

• Even Though Obama’s Own Education Department Said DC Opportunity Scholarship Students Perform Better In Reading Than Non-Voucher Students. “Overall, those offered a scholarship were performing at statistically higher levels in reading equivalent to 3.1 months of additional learning … Parents were more satisfied with their child’s school (as measured by the percentage giving the school a grade of A or B) and viewed their child’s school as safer and more orderly if the child was offered a scholarship.” (“Evaluation Of The DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impact After Three Years,” Executive Summary, National Center For Educational Evaluation And Regional Assistance, 3/09)

Obama’s Takeover Of Student Loans Will Put Government Bureaucrats In Between Students And Financial Aid They Need. “The Obama plan calls for the U.S. Department of Education to move from its current 20% share of the student-loan origination market to 80% on July 1, 2010, when private lenders will be barred from making government-guaranteed loans … The news from Washington now is that rather than scaling back federal involvement, the pols want the U.S. Department of Education to be the exclusive banker to America’s college students … parents will soon have no choice beyond a Washington bureaucracy to borrow money for their college-bound children.” (Editorial, “The Quietest Trillion,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/12/09)

• College Administrators Fear House Dems’ Takeover Of Student Loans Will Hurt Students. “The fear is that the bureaucrats will not be able to pull off a takeover in just eight months. ‘Any delay in getting funds to schools on behalf of students will result in our needing to find resources at a time when credit is difficult to obtain,’ warns the letter [from three dozen college administrators].” (Editorial, “The Quietest Trillion,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/12/09)

HURTS LOW-INCOME HISPANIC-AMERICAN FAMILIES WITH FEWER JOBS AND HIGHER TAXES …

Obama Has Been No Help To The Hispanic-American Community, With Their Unemployment Rate Increasing From 11 Percent To 12.6 Percent Since The President Signed His $862 Billion Stimulus. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 5/4/10)

• Now Obama Has Signed A Health Care Bill With Regulations Making It More Difficult For Small Businesses To Hire “Lower-Income People.” “[E]mployers who do not offer ‘affordable’ coverage to employees would have to help pay the cost of such benefits for their low-income workers ... The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research and advocacy group, said this proposal ‘could unintentionally discourage the hiring of lower-income people,’ by adding a new ‘health surcharge’ to the cost of employing them.” (Jeff Zeleny and Robert Pear, “Obama Says Government Health Coverage Plan Would Not Hurt Private Insurers,” The New York Times, 6/23/09)
  
  
• And Is Pushing Financial Regulation Bill With So-Called “Consumer Financial Protection Agency” That Would Reduce “The Number Of Net New Jobs Created In The Economy By 4.3 Percent.” “Under plausible yet conservative assumptions the CFPA would... increase the interest rates consumers pay by at least 160 basis points... reduce consumer borrowing by at least 2.1 percent... reduce the net new jobs created in the economy by 4.3 percent.” (David S. Evans and Joshua D. Wright, “The Effect Of The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act Of 2009 On Consumer Credit,” 10/7/09)

Obama Said Value-Added Tax Would Be “Novel For The United States,” Is Among Options To Pay For Binge Spending. JOHN HARWOOD: “[C]ould you see the potential for value-added tax in this country?” OBAMA: “I know that there’s been a lot of talk around town lately about the value-added tax. That is something that has worked for some countries. It’s something that would be novel for the United States. And before, you know, I started saying, ‘This makes sense or that makes sense.’ I want to get a better picture of what our options are.” (CNBC’s “Str eet Signs,” 4/20/10)

• A European-Style Tax Would Fall “Heavily On The Poor.” “[S]ome Washington policymakers are taking a fresh look at a money-making idea long considered politically taboo: a national sales tax. Common around the world, including in Europe, such a tax … -- has not been seriously considered in the United States … It is also hugely regressive, falling heavily on the poor.” (Lori Montgomery, “Once Considered Unthinkable, U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look,” The Washington Post, 5/27/09)

Obama’s Energy Agenda Still Includes “Cap-And-Trade” National Energy Tax. “Riding a political hot streak with health care and a new arms deal with Russia, President Obama tries today to revive his energy agenda... The president also continues to push a ‘cap and trade’ program to restrict production of greenhouse gases. Republicans are not as crazy about either idea, saying cap and trade in particular would cripple American industry, and Obama’s energy package has been stalled in Congress.” (David Jackson, “Obama Looks To Energize His Energy Agenda,” USA Today, 3/31/10)

• That Will Hit Low-Income Households The Hardest. “Low-income households bear a disproportionate burden of the costs associated with effective policies to reduce the use of carbon-based energy because they spend a higher proportion of their budgets on energy and energy-intensive goods and services than higher-income households do.” (Chad Stone, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, Testimony, 10/21/09, p. 1)

AND TAKES BENEFITS AWAY FROM HISPANIC-AMERICAN SENIORS WITH CUTS TO MEDICARE

Hispanic-Americans Without Medicaid Or Employer-Sponsored Coverage Are More Likely To Depend On Medicare Advantage. “Many low-income and minority populations rely on Medicare Advantage plans because they are more affordable and include benefits not found in Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service program, according to a new study released Tuesday. … According to the study, 40 percent of African American and 53 percent of Hispanic beneficiaries without Medicaid or employer coverage rely on Medicare Advantage, as compared with 33 percent of non-Hispanic, white beneficiaries.” (“Study: Low-Income And Minority Populations Use Medicare Advantage Plans,” The Commonwealth Fund, 9/20/05)

But Obama’s Health Care Bill Will Slash Medicare Advantage By $118 Billion Over 10 Years. “Setting payment rates in the Medicare Advantage program on the basis of the average of the bids submitted by Medicare Advantage plans in each market, yielding savings of an estimated $118 billion (before interactions) over the 2010–2019 period.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Senator Harry Reid, 11/18/09)

These Cuts Will Lead To Many Seniors Seeing Benefits Cut In Half. SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID): “So approximately half of the additional benefit would be lost to those current Medicare Advantage policy holders.” ELMENDORF: “Those who would be enrolled otherwise under current law, yes…” SEN. CRAPO: “So the current plan holders would recognize about half the benefits that they see under today under the current law.” ELMENDORF: “Yes, that’s right.” (Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) And CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf, Senate Finance Committee Markup Hearing, 9/22/09)

Related post:

How Obama’s Policies Hurt Hispanic-Americans