Where are our priorities?

As a nation we must decide what our priorities are. Do we ensure that children and adults with disabilities receive necessities such as a proper education and roofs over their heads, or is it more important to maintain tax breaks for the wealthiest individuals, such as the mortgage deduction on vacation homes and yachts? We cannot indiscriminately cut crucial services for the vulnerable when there are alternative and less harmful options.

Once Upon a Trickle Down: The Rise and Fall of Supply Side Economics

After thirty years of an economy geared toward the wealthy, the rest of us are waking up to the fact that a strong middle class is critical for robust economic growth.

Move over "Trickle Down," there's a new game in town. It's an economy that begins with the middle class.





Produced by the Center for American Progress (http://www.americanprogress.org/)
 and Mark Fiore (http://www.markfiore.com).

Hallowed Grounds

From the E-Newsletter of Congressman Rush Holt:

Earlier this week, I joined six fellow members of Congress, representatives from the Civil War Trust, and Princeton University Professor James McPherson on a tour of Gettysburg National Military Park to promote our American battlefield protection legislation. Professor McPherson, a preeminent Civil War historian, guided us through the hallowed grounds of the battle. 

We visit these battlefields and study our history in order to honor, to learn from, and to gain from the sacrifices of generations of Americans.  Unfortunately, urbanization, sprawl, and development are constantly encroaching on many significant historic sites.

I introduced the American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2011 to protect American battlefields that are in danger of being lost forever. The bill would allow federal officials to collaborate with state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and concerned individuals to preserve and protect endangered historical sites, and it would provide up to 50 percent of the costs of purchasing battlefield land threatened by sprawl.

My bill was recently approved by the House Committee on Natural Resources and is awaiting consideration by the full House. As the centennial of the War of 1812 approaches and as we continue to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, now is an opportune moment to recommit ourselves to the protection of our nation's hallowed grounds.

Saturday: Town Halls in Cranbury and Ewing

On Saturday, I’ll host town halls in Cranbury and Ewing to hear directly from you about issues affecting you and our community, such as job creation, health care, college affordability, and any other issues that you may wish to raise.  I hope you will come to share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

10:00 a.m.
Cranbury Town Hall
23-A North Main Street
Cranbury, New Jersey 08512

1:00 p.m.
Ewing Township Municipal Building
2 Jake Garzio Drive
Ewing, New Jersey 08628

How Will Kicking 100,000 Kids Out of Head Start Help Our Economy?

How will kicking 100,000 kids out of Head Start help our economy?  How will firing researchers at the National Institutes of Health create jobs?  How will eliminating nutrition assistance to 700,000 children and mothers help to make our nation fairer?

According to the acting director of the Office of Management & Budget, these are representative of the cuts that would be required next year if domestic programs are slashed by 8 percent, as called for in the deal that Republicans demanded last year to avert a government shutdown.

It would be difficult under the best of circumstances for federal programs to absorb an 8 percent cut.  But the language of last year’s deal is particularly onerous and foolish.  It requires that the same percentage must be slashed from every “program, project, and account,” meaning that federal agencies cannot shield urgent or crucial priorities by focusing cuts on less-important programs.  A recent Center for American Progress analysis found that, due in part to these restrictive terms, cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration could result in the closure of as many as 106 U.S. airports.

Last week, I led more than 70 of my colleagues in writing a letter to House and Senate leaders demanding that crucial domestic programs not bear the unjust burden of spending cuts.

Sincerely,

Rush Holt
Member of Congress

P.S. Just a reminder: I always want to hear from you, but to ensure a prompt response, please don’t reply to this e-mail.  Instead, please visitholt.house.gov/contact or call 1-87-RUSH-HOLT (1-877-874-4658).

Pallone Letter Calls for Executive Order Protecting LGBT Workers from Workplace Discrimination

For Immediate Release:
April 4, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), along with 71 Members of Congress, sent the following letter to President Obama on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, calling for an executive order prohibiting contractors from receiving federal funds unless they have sexual orientation and gender identity anti-discrimination policies in place.

The letter was prompted by several examples of LGBT workplace discrimination, including one where a former employee at DynCorp, a military contractor profiting from billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars, reported that he was a victim of continual anti-gay discrimination and harassment while working at the corporation.  In 1965, President Johnson established an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

 “I am pleased to join so many colleagues and reputable organizations to call for an executive order that ensures all Americans are afforded the same protections in the workplace,” said Congressman Frank Pallone. “This action by the President will send a clear sign that we will not tolerate such discrimination and serve as a step forward in our efforts to ensure LGBT equality.”

“Americans recognize that discrimination is bad for business and they want our government to take action,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “An executive order is the best step we can take right now to ensure that what matters is how you do your job, not who you are.  We thank Representative Pallone and all of the cosigners of this letter for their leadership and their continued commitment to LGBT workplace equality.” 

“Extending the current executive order to cover the LGBT population is good and fair policy. Good because it would require federal contractors to follow a common and efficient best HR practice, and fair because it helps put LGBT workers on equal footing with all other employees at these businesses, said Jeff Krehely, Vice President for LGBT Progress at Center for American Progress. Thank you to Congressman Pallone for his leadership on this letter and all cosigners for their commitment to LGBT equality.”

“Having worked with Rep. Frank Pallone and his staff on persuading nearly half of the Democratic Caucus to sign this congressional letter to President Obama, I know firsthand that our LGBT community owes Mr. Pallone a debt of gratitude for his strong leadership promoting workplace fairness,” said Tico Almeida, the founder and President of the national LGBT organization Freedom to Work.  “More than 110,000 people have signed the Freedom to Work online petition proclaiming that ‘We Can’t Wait’ any longer for President Obama to sign this executive order.  The right time is now.”

The ACLU views this executive order as the single most important step that President Obama could take this year to eradicate anti-LGBT discrimination from American workplaces,” said Ian Thompson, ACLU Legislative Representative.  With the impressive number of signers on this letter, it is clear that this view is widely shared on Capitol Hill.  We thank Representatives Pallone, Frank, and Capps for their outstanding leadership on this letter and on issues of workplace fairness generally.

Public Opinion Snapshot: Public Holding Steady on Key Elements of Health Care Reform

By Ruy Teixeira, The Center for American Progress

In the last month, the public’s view of Congress’ health care reform efforts has certainly darkened. But it’s striking how little change there has been in the public’s view of the basic elements of health care reform as articulated by President Barack Obama and progressives. These essentials of health care reform remain not just popular, but very popular. Consider these data from the just-released August edition of the Kaiser Health Care Tracking poll.

In the poll, 68 percent favor “requiring all Americans to have health insurance, either from their employer or from another source, with financial help for those who can’t afford it.” One month ago, the figure in the Kaiser tracking poll was an identical 68 percent. Similarly, 70 percent favor “offering tax credits to help people buy private health insurance,” which is actually up a point from July’s 69 percent. And 68 percent favor “requiring employers to offer health insurance to their workers or pay money into a government fund that will pay to cover those without insurance,” up 4 points from July’s 64 percent.

Finally, what about the public health insurance option that conservatives have attacked mercilessly and about which there has been so much controversy? Surely here the public has been scared away from their previous level of support. Nope. In the Kaiser poll, 59 percent favor “creating a government-administered public health insurance option similar to Medicare to compete with private health insurance plans,” exactly the same as July’s 59 percent.

It’s also worth noting that the public remains hopeful about the health care reform efforts in Washington (63 to 36 percent in the Kaiser poll). Perhaps that’s because the public knows that somewhere in that legislative logjam in Congress, the basic elements of health care reform as outlined above are still alive. Let’s hope Congress keeps health care reform on track and doesn’t disappoint them.

Why Americans Need Health Reform

Without health reform, businesses’ costs will continue to increase, families’ out-of-pocket costs will rise, and American workers will not receive the health care they need to be healthy.

We need health reform, and we need it now. Here's why:

Cost of uninsured adds $1,100/year to premiums of insured families.

I often get into heated debates with a co-worker of mine over the need for some sort of universal health care coverage for all U.S. citizens.

My co-worker is dead set against it, he argues that health care would be rationed and he would have to wait to see a doctor. He tell of how his cousins from Canada came across the border to seek medical treatment because they had to wait so long to be treated in Canada for what ailed them.  

He buys into the old GOP argument that government bureaucrats would  be deciding what was best for himself and family rather than his doctors.

I show him the irony to his argument by pointing out that instead of government bureaucrats making health care decision for us, we have insurance companies making those decisions for us today.    

When I point out to him that there is close to 100 million people in this country that have no health insurance at all and because of this, we and our employer pay for it through our insurance premiums, he says he does not care, he is only interested in the facts. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to discuss thing with him.

So for my co-worker, here are some facts. I found this information on Think Progress's  The Wonk Room. The study was done by the Center for American Progress:

When the uninsured cannot pay for the care they receive, health care providers shift costs to Americans with insurance in the form of higher premiums. A new report from The Wonk Room’s Ben Furnas and Peter Harbage concludes that a failure to continuously cover all Americans accounts “for roughly 8 percent of the average health insurance premium“:

This cost-shift amounts to $1,100 per average family premium in 2009 and $410 per average individual premium. By 2013, assuming the cost shift remains the same percentage of premium costs, the cost shift will be approximately $480 for an individual policy and $1,300 for a family policy.

Read the full report>>>Here

Why a Stimulus Package Must Be Big and Targeted

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON - January 6 - Read more on CAP's stimulus plan: How to Spend $350 Billion in a First Year of Stimulus and Recovery

Before federally sponsored electric cooperatives extended the magic of electricity to rural America, many in our country got their water by using a backyard hand pump. These pumps were simple yet remarkable tools. They could produce gallons upon gallons of water from deep below the surface of the earth without great exertion. But before any water would flow, the users of these pumps had to make certain that there was a solid column of water from the level of the underground reservoir to the base of the pump. Sometimes, they had to pour water into the ground before they could pump larger quantities out.

"Priming the pump" is a metaphor that economists have frequently used to explain a policy of using government deficits to restore the circulation of goods, services, and money in a struggling economy. As our economy continues to deteriorate after nearly a year in recession, the question of pump priming becomes a central issue in public discourse. But there are a number of questions that need to be addressed before enacting any economic stimulus plan. These include:

Won't economic stimulus add to the federal budget deficit when our total public debt is already out of control?
Who will lend the federal government the funds to cover the expected increase in the budget deficit?
How much economic stimulus is necessary?
How should a stimulus package be structured?

In the pages that follow, this paper will examine each of these questions in turn, beginning with a historical analysis of government deficit spending and ending with an analysis of what exactly needs to be done. The purpose: to explain why a large but targeted economic stimulus package is critical to cope with an even more severe recession in 2009 than we've already experienced in 2008.

Read the full report (pdf)

Read more on CAP's stimulus plan: How to Spend $350 Billion in a First Year of Stimulus and Recovery

CONTACT: Center for American Progress

John Neurohr, Deputy Press Secretary
202.481.8182

The Center for American Progress is a think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action. We combine bold policy ideas with a modern communications platform to help shape the national debate, expose the hollowness of conservative governing philosophy, and challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter.