What Should the New Congress Do First?

No More Mister Nice Blog
THE $100 BILLION QUESTION What will Orange Julius slice from the Budget to keep his $100 billion spending reduction promise? Here's a hint: it's not going to be from defense. Republicans view their midterm electoral victory as a mandate to cut spending, and cutting $100 billion from a $3 Trillion federal Budget sounds like a reasonable goal. But GOP leaders say they will focus only on non-security Discretionary Spending, and won't slash funding for defense, Social Security or Medicare. That ...

How not to be taken seriously on budget issues
HOW NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY ON Budget ISSUES.... At face value, the pledge from congressional Republicans to slash $100 billion from the federal budget is itself superficial and shallow. It's not as if GOP leaders identified $100 billion in unnecessary spending and vowed to eliminate it, or identified some specific policy benefit associated with these cuts. Rather, Republicans picked $100 billion as an arbitrary figure -- apparently chosen because it's a round number -- and then started work...

NYT editorial: Deficit Hypocrisy
It was not long ago that Republicans succeeded in holding Unemployment Benefits hostage to a renewal of the high-end Bush-era Income Tax cuts and — as a little Bonus — won deep Estate Tax cuts for America’s wealthiest heirs. Those cuts will add nearly $140 billion to the Deficit in the near term, while doing far less to prod The Economy than if the money had been spent more wisely. That should have been evidence enough that the Republican Party’s one real priority is Tax Cuts ̵

Social Security reform is key
The main achievements of the lame-duck session of Congress were reminders of what might have been. President Obama gave something to get something. To secure a second stimulus, he accepted Republican economic methods. To pass the New START Treaty, Obama offered assurances to Republican senators on nuclear modernization and Missile Defense. Contrast this to Healthcare Reform, imposed in party-line maneuvers that left an aftertaste of ideological radicalism. The American political system, it turns...

Bushwacking Obama: Conservatives Call for "Fixing" Social Security
Robert L. Borosage HuffPost Beware of Conservatives bearing gifts. Today in the Washington Post, former Bush policy advisor Michael Gerson echoes a growing chorus of conservative pundits in offering up "Social Security reform" as "the answer to Obama's problems." The advice is illogical on its face, pernicious in its consequence, and poisoned from its source. Gerson argues that Obama faces a major strategic decision in his coming State of the Union address, which must take the "first cut at th...

Tiff puts Missouri's clean water program in jeopardy
Robert Cohen July 24, 2010 -- "Swim at your own risk" signs that warn swimmers about possible water contamination were erected two months ago at Kiefer Creek in Castlewood State Park by the Department of Natural Resources. For years state and local officials have known about the high E. coli levels in the creek, a popular swimming hole, but because it is not classified as a designated swimming area -- but as an urban stream -- DNR officials claim they can do little to keep people out o...

Iraq's oil output up but snarls continue
BAGHDAD, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Iraq's new Oil minister says production has hit the highest level in two decades as Baghdad drives to challenge Saudi Arabia as the world's top Oil producer. But the going is going to be tough. Iraq plans to boost production to as much as 12 million bpd by 2017, which would put the Iraqis more or less alongside Saudi Arabia's current capacity. But that's a target many in the global energy industry say is far too ambitious and unlikely to be met. Iraq has signed 15 Oil a...

Medicare to swell with Baby Boomer onslaught
WASHINGTON — Baby Boomers are about to create a record population explosion in the nation's Health Care program for seniors. Starting on Saturday, 20 years of Baby Boomers begin turning 65 and qualifying for Medicare — one every eight seconds. A record 2.8 million will qualify in 2011, rising to 4.2 million a year by 2030, projections show. In all, the government expects 76 million boomers will age on to Medicare. Even factoring in deaths over that period, the program will grow from 4...

Investing in Math and Sciences First Requires Entitlement Reform
Investing in math and science is the way to solve The Economy. A great idea. And somehow liberals have co-opted it to make it sound like their own. Today’s Los Angeles Times for instance contains an article entitled, “Fixing the Economy the Scientific Way,” arguing that the Federal Government must spend more money on math and science education. They point to the fact that over the last 40 years the government’s support of science has declined 60% as a portion of GDP. They then argu

Top Ten Virginia political stories of 2010
Lest we forget all that was 2010, the Bearing Drift team identified the following stories in 2010 as being critical to Virginia politics. If you were abducted by space aliens last Dec. 31, read this “Cliff’s Notes” version and you’ll be right back up to speed. 1. GOP landslide Republicans regained in Virginia everything that they lost in 2008. Well, at least numerically. The Virginia GOP delegation held a majority in the 110th Congress with 8 Republicans to 3 Democrats o...

Charity CEO Picked to Head Minn. Transit Board
(St Paul, Minn-Tim Pugmire, Dan Olson, MPR) Minestota Governor-elect Mark Dayton filled a key transportation cabinet post Wednesday with his selection of Susan Haigh as Metropolitan Council chair. Metropolitan Council is the board that runs the Twin Cities transit system. Haigh is currently CEO of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, where she said she plans to continue her work. She also served 10 years as a Ramsey County Commissioner and 12 years as a chief deputy county attorney. In a news...

New Year's Resolutions For The 112th Congress
It's almost 2011. In some ways, the "hope," "change," and "yes we can" shenanigans of the 2008 Presidential Election seem like they were born just yesterday. But the actions of a President who has added more to our National Debt than George Washington through Ronald Reagan combined have been in progress for far too long. It's time for a new team of fiscally responsible leaders to enter the scene and start cleaning up the mess. In the spirit of a rapidly approaching 2011, here are a few New Year...

Former shell executive raises the specter of $5 per gallon gas
Gas Prices became a major topic of discussion this week after the former president of Shell said that the United States could see gas prices as high as $5 per gallon in 2012. "When American Consumers are short or prices are so high — $5 a gallon for Gasoline, for example, by 2012 — that's going to set a new tone. It's going to be panic time on behalf of the politicians," John Hofmeister, who was president of the company from 2005 to 2009, told Platts Energy Week. Platts Energy Week aired t...

Boehner's pledge: Where to cut $100B?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Incoming House Speaker John Boehner has made it very clear: When he takes control of the House, slashing the federal Budget by $100 billion will be priority number one. The stakes are high. Republicans view their midterm electoral victory as a mandate to cut spending, and cutting $100 billion from a $3 Trillion federal Budget sounds like a reasonable goal. But GOP leaders say they will focus only on non-security Discretionary Spending, and won't slash funding for def...

The $100 Billion Question
What will Orange Julius slice from the Budget to keep his $100 billion spending reduction promise? Here's a hint: it's not going to be from defense. Republicans view their midterm electoral victory as a mandate to cut spending, and cutting $100 billion from a $3 Trillion federal Budget sounds like a reasonable goal. But GOP leaders say they will focus only on non-security Discretionary Spending, and won't slash funding for defense, Social Security or Medicare. That makes their task a lot harder....

Long-term fixes needed
More great blogging from Ezra Klein, in this case two excellent items about the stimulus package. I think the real policy takeaway here, and in general from the events of 2007-2010, is that the anti-recession regime built after the New Deal could stand to use some tweaking. Some of the automatic stablizers either don't work as well as they did thirty or more years ago or aren't really as important any more. For a whole set of reasons, immediate direct employment is harder for the government to...

Faulconer appoints new chief of staff
On Monday, December 27, Councilman Kevin Faulconer named Katie Hansen his new Chief of Staff. Hansen replaces Aimee Faucett. Faucett is taking command of the staff at the Mayor's office as the deputy chief of staff, and will handle policy for the Mayor. Hansen will start work for Faulconer in District 2 on January 10, 2010. She will handle day-to-day operations, policy, communications, office management, and legislative affairs.  "Katie brings an impressive background in pubic policy, small...

Medicine for the Mendicants
WASHINGTON -- The nation's menu of crises caused by governmental malpractice may soon include states coming to Congress as mendicants, seeking relief from the consequences of their choices. Congress should forestall this by passing a bill with a bland title but explosive potential. Principal author of the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act is Rep. Devin Nunes, a Republican from California, where about 80 cents of every government dollar goes for government employees' pay and benefits. His ...

Microfinance faces hurdles in empowering Afghan women
Kabul (Reuters) - In a dimly lit room at the back of an Afghan house, 21-year-old Zahara is crouched on a plank of wood weaving a large carpet on a loom that she was able to buy using a microfinance loan of $1,100. Zahara started weaving carpets when she was 10 and did not go to school, but the loan from non-profit development group BRAC allowed her to start her own business about 18 months ago and she has since taken out two more loans of $330 each. "When I first got the money, the carpets I w...

Alfred Kahn, the Father of Airline Deregulation, RIP
Alfred Kahn, The Economist whose ideas and advocacy led to the Deregulation of Airline Ticket prices in the 1970s, has died at the age of 93. Aviation Week sums up his immense contribution to a massively freer market in transportation: Kahn was a vocal opponent to government control of industry, and in 1971, while a Professor at Cornell University, published “The Economics of Regulation,” a two-volume work that included a call to deregulate U.S. aviation. That book, and his relaxation of lo...

Tea Party's next local-level goals here
   Logically, the next local-level goals for the Tea Party here in Greensboro - and in central North Carolina generally - also will be about spending by Local Governments.  After all, there isn't another election at stake for two years - but the defeat of the proposed tax hike here last month, and now the School District talking drastic cutbacks as a result, has both the political elites and the Bureaucrats on the ropes.    The fact that the major tax base for local gove...

Housing Double Dip in Progress
The Case/Shiller Housing Index was released today, recounting how the US Housing Market fared through October 2010. The numbers were below expectations and confirmed that housing is dipping again after a brief respite. Month-to-month, the numbers were down 1%, with only Denver and Washington showing sequential gains. In the video below, Robert Shiller explains what this means for The Economy. My view is that the technical recovery can be self-sustaining if weak given the other economic data on j...

The public employe wage bubble
Image via Wikipedia IBD: A guest on Fox Business Network said last week that Public Employee Unions are bankrupting State Governments. Isn't it time that legislators outlaw Collective Bargaining for public-sector workers? Working for the government as a member of a union is an easy path to prosperity. On average, the yearly compensation for a Public Sector worker is, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data, $67,812. In the Private Sector, that average is $59,909. Put another way, when me...

Just Call Them "DEA"--It Doesn't Matter What the Initials Stand For
Just as Kentucky Fried Chicken became "KFC" to hide their connection to fried foods (and likely the state of Kentucky and the yardbird of chicken to boot), best not remember what the "D" in "DEA" stands for as you contemplate some new wikirevelations summed up in the New York Times: The Drug Enforcement Administration has been transformed into a global intelligence organization with a reach that extends far beyond narcotics, and an Eavesdropping operation so expansive it has to fend off foreign...

Suicide bomb attacks on Iraq government compound kill 17
guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 December 2010 20.12 GMT Nouri al-Maliki has ordered an investigative committee to be formed after the Ramadi compound was again targeted by bombers. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP Twin Suicide bombings hit a government compound in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi today, killing 17 people, a deputy Interior Minister said. It was the second attack on the compound - which houses the provincial council and police headquarters for Anbar Province - this month, and...