Research

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) Says That The President Is Going To Be Judged On The Results Of The Super Committee And Should Be Part Of The Fight For A Solution

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV):  “Well, you know, Mika, it's the leader – if – I was the governor of the state of West Virginia, people relied on me to make, set the tone of what we were going to do and push it through and everybody has a different style. I'm not going to criticize it, but people are going to judge the results we receive, and if we don't get results, we're in trouble. Right now, if the committee of 12 is not able to come to an agreement, we have about 140 members of congress, about 44 senators and about a 100 members of the house that are saying go big, be bold, stand tall, let’s pull out Simpson and Bowles and let's vote on this thing, let's move it forward for the next generation.”

Mika Brezinski:  “Do you want the president – I mean, I'm just looking at your comments made on "Face the Nation" for the president, that ... more

On CNBC This Morning, Warren Buffett Said It Was “An Absolute Tragedy” That Simpson-Bowles Was Ignored

CNBC’S BECKY QUICK: “So is that an argument for a tax code that is stripped down the way Simpson and Bowles laid out?”

WARREN BUFFETT:  “Well it – you go back to what, you know, Kemp-Roth and all that that too that they were working on that. I think what happened with Simpson-Bowles was an absolute tragedy. I mean here are two extremely high-grade people. They have somewhat different ideas about government but they're smart. They're decent. They’ve got good senses of humor, too. They're good at working with people.
They work like a devil for ten months or something like that. They compromise. They bring in people as far apart as Durbin and Coburn to get them to sign on and then they're totally ignored. I think that's a travesty.” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 11/12/11)

Buffett: No Super Committee Would Be Necessary If Simpson-Bowles Was Not Ignored

QUICK:  “Why are we starting over with ... more

The Obama administration is now planning to establish a commission to take on the rising budget deficit. But Lori Montgomery of The Washington Post points out this morning that the proposed commission comes at a curious time:  

After a year in which [Obama] advocated spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a huge economic stimulus package and a far-reaching overhaul of the health-care system, Obama has pledged to redouble his effort to rein in record budget deficits …

This isn’t a new political tactic from the Obama administration. They have a history of holding summits, creating commissions and doing events to try to distract Americans from economic and fiscal reality.

But it’s the policies behind this deficit commission that should worry Americans more than the political tactics. As we pointed out last month, this deficit commission will just be an excuse for Obama to raise taxes, forcing Americans to pay for his binge spending habit.

Last night, the people of Massachusetts ... more

Recognizing the American public’s growing frustration with Washington Democrats’ out-of-control spending, President Obama today tried to show concern over government spending by saying:

But as I've said, in the long run, we can't continue to spend as if deficits don't have consequences; as if waste doesn't matter; as if the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly money.

The only question is, exactly when does the President plan to stop treating taxpayer dollars like Monopoly money?  Last week he signed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that increases discretionary spending by 12 percent! With Congressional Democrats he is also rushing to pass a massive government-run health care plan, and a $154 billion Stimulus II spending bill. Last week the House voted to raise the debt ceiling by $290 billion and the Senate is expected to follow suit next week.  Once again, Obama is saying one thing while doing the opposite: continuing his out-of-control ... more

Lael Brainard, President Obama’s nominee for undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, is the latest Democrat to have tax problems. The Associated Press reports that Brainard was late paying real estate taxes in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  She also seems to have gotten too creative with her deductions, making her the “fifth presidential nominee to reveal tax issues during the congressional vetting process,” according to the AP.  Her potential boss, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was another one of those nominees, having failed to pay $34,000 in back taxes and interest.  Is the president letting Charlie Rangel choose his nominees?

While Obama has no problem placing tax-inept individuals in high end Treasury posts that will deal with international tax issues, he takes great issue with businesses that defer taxes on profits earned overseas. By seeking an end to this practice, Obama is making it more difficult for U.S. companies to compete with businesses in other ... more

Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, explains today in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee how the Democrats’ “cap-and-trade” scheme will mean higher costs and a reduced international competitiveness for American farmers:

Increased input costs will put our farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage with producers in other countries that do not have similar Greenhouse Gas (GHG) restrictions.

Increased production costs and lost competitiveness will result in reduced food production and higher food costs domestically and abroad.

Cost increases incurred by utilities and other providers resulting from climate change/energy legislation will ultimately be borne by consumers, including farmers and ranchers. Electricity costs are expected to be one-third higher than would otherwise be the case by 2040.

The impacts of the legislation go far beyond just the farm and ranch community. Families will be hit hard with higher energy costs under any ... more

Despite President Obama’s promise not to increase any taxes on the middle-class, experts testifying to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing yesterday provided further evidence that “cap-and-trade” is just a “great big” tax, as Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) has said previously:

• Dr. Chad Stone of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (a liberal think tank) explained how “Cap-and-Trade” legislation places a “disproportionate burden” on low-income households and drives other households into poverty.

• Gilbert E. Metcalf of Tufts University made clear that “Cap-and-Trade” is really just a fancy name for a “broad based energy tax” that will hurt low-income families.

• Denny Ellerman , formerly of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at MIT, reveals cap-and-trade allows the government to pick “winners and losers” among energy producers.

• And Dr. Karen Palmer of Resources for the Future added that they way carbon emissions allowances are allocated ... more
  
  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), today in an interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo:

BARTIROMO: On the tax issue, allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire would essentially be a tax increase.

PELOSI: It isn't a tax increase, it is eliminating a tax decrease that was there.

Only in DC …

They can run, but they can’t hide. And from Virginia to Nevada, we made sure Americans knew what Democrats were really up to today.

With Al Gore holding a fundraiser for Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, we took the opportunity to show how the “Goracle” must love the fact that “Cap-And-Trade Creigh” supports a job-killing national energy tax.

But not all Democrats play well together. In fact, throughout this whole government-run health care debate, the debate has chiefly been between Democrats. So we produced our 23^rd edition of CHAOS, noting that Democrats, labor unions and left-wing organizations are launching attacks on Sen. Max Baucus’s version of government-run health care.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is writing Obama’s government-run health care plan behind closed doors with White House aides. So Biden is holding a fundraiser today for the embattled senior Senator from the Silver State. Our research shows that deploying Biden on health ... more

Democrats are taxing everything in sight to pay for their new government-run health care experiment.  A tax on the health insurance industry will likely be in whatever final bills the House and Senate end up voting on, and the Senate Finance Committee bill included a $6.1 billion annual levy on the insurance industry. 

In their haste to tax, Democrats haven’t thought through the implications of this policy.  The tax would start immediately in 2010, so insurance companies would have very little time to adjust their rates and policies to compensate for the new expense.  This tax would have a large effect on the smaller companies with less money. Those smaller insurers would have to raise their premiums, which will help entrench the largest insurers, leading to less competition. InsideHealthPolicy.com (subscription required) explains:

“‘In the worst case, United and WellPoint certainly have the capacity and the capital to pay the tax,’ the analysts write in an Oct. 6 note obtained by ... more