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Report: Bush illegally helped reelect Geoff Davis

The Enquirer has the story:

Several area lawmakers, including Reps. Steve Chabot and Geoff Davis, benefited from 28 politically motivated trips made illegally by the George W. Bush White House in 2005 and 2006, according to a new government report.

The independent Office of Special Counsel said that the trips made by Bush administration Cabinet officials were purported to be official, which meant taxpayer dollars paid for them. But they were actually part of a targeted campaign orchestrated by the White House to help vulnerable Republicans in tight races, the report said.

According to the report, Chabot, Davis and former Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., were considered "Tier 1" targets, meaning that they were "considered to be more important" than other lawmakers asking for visits by Cabinet officials.

President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama called Orion Energy Systems in Manitowoc, Wisconsin an example of how America can win the future by being the best place on Earth to do business. Orion was able to open with the help of small business loans and incentives that are creating demand for clean energy technologies. By sparking innovation and spurring new products and technologies, America will unleash the talent and ingenuity of American workers and businesses, which will lead to new, good jobs.

Paul's meat ax

The Courier-Journal also takes on Rand Paul's radical budget plan:

As President Obama delivered his State of the Union address to the nation, newly elected U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., let drop his competing vision for how to deal with the country's deficit challenge. The President proposed a five-year federal government spending freeze; the senator proposed $500 billion in spending cuts in fiscal year 2011.

...A senior analyst for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative Washington think-tank, described the senator's prescribed cuts as “a meat ax approach to the government, with no real effort to look at costs and benefits of programs, and the huge unintended consequences” of the cuts.

With his first piece of legislation, Sen. Paul is demonstrating to Kentuckians the huge, unintended consequences of sending a guy with a meat ax to Washington.

Rand Paul's warped fiscal priorities

There's a must-read editorial in today's Herald-Leader:

Sen. Rand Paul's plan for cutting $500 billion from the federal budget is more parlor game than serious proposal, as evidenced by its lack of co-sponsors.

...Like many Republicans, Paul seems not to understand that the national debt always rises in recessions. Without the temporary spike in federal spending since 2008, the economy would be much weaker and many more Americans would be jobless and poor.

Paul pines for a land built on libertarian theory. But the country of his ideals is a place that few Americans would want to leave their children.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Fact-Checking the Republican SOTU Response

The nonpartisan folks at FactCheck.org examine the Republican responses to President Obama's State of the Union address:

We found two new claims that we haven’t covered before:

• In the official response, Rep. Paul Ryan said that "trust in government is at an all-time low now that the size of government is at an all-time high." He’s wrong on both counts. Trust has been lower, and government has been larger, in the past.
• In her own rebuttal to Obama, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that the bailout cost "$700 billion." The net cost actually is estimated to be much less — $25 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

In addition, the two Republicans repeated several false and misleading charges we’ve already written about. Our readers will be familiar with many of them, such as claims that the stimulus didn’t create jobs (it did), that the health care law hurts job growth (experts say the impact will be small), and that "16,500 IRS agents" will enforce that law (that’s based on a flawed, partisan analysis).

A Long Island tax cut backfires on the Tea Party

A special report from Reuters:

Nassau's ills exemplify the growing tension across the country as dozens of freshly-elected Tea Party lawmakers, many of whom promised to cut taxes, must find ways to slash record budget gaps as revenues dwindle.

"A lot of people who got elected on this type of anti-tax platform are running into the brick wall of fiscal reality," said Matthew Gardner, executive director of the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in Washington.

Besides being a cautionary tale, the setback in Nassau County is a black eye for the Tea Party, the grassroots movement built around the core principles of constitutionally limited government, free-market ideology and low taxes.

Video: The 2011 State of the Union Address

Did you miss last night's State of the Union Address? Here's the video:

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President Obama's weekly address

President Obama used his weekly address to highlight the steps his administration is taking to make America more competitive. As a result of the deals made with China this week, U.S. exports to China will increase by more than $45 billion and China will increase its investments in America by several billion dollars. These deals will support some 235,000 American jobs. Also, the President named GE CEO Jeff Immelt to head up the new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which will help find ways to grow the economy by investing in American businesses.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Fudging the Facts on Health Care and Deficits

Today's column by Joe Conason is a must-read:

[T]he Republican leaders in Congress are now insisting on their own "facts" concerning health care and deficits, which directly contradict the careful studies of the Congressional Budget Office. They have gone so far as to denigrate CBO, among the most respected agencies in Washington since its founding in 1974, by accusing its analysts of using "rigged" assumptions to reach its conclusions.

Why? The agency's conclusions are irritating to the Republicans, especially Speaker John Boehner and Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan, because the CBO found that health care reform will reduce the federal deficit by more than $230 billion during the first decade after it goes into effect—and then by trillions of dollars in the decades that follow.

...The present Speaker and his cronies know that their partisan attack on the CBO is patently hypocritical. Unless afflicted with early Alzheimer's, they can surely remember that two years ago, the Republicans and other opponents of reform were crowing loudly because the CBO had found that the Senate Finance Committee's health care bill would increase the deficit. Although Democrats grumbled, they accepted the CBO findings and rewrote the bill extensively to ensure that it reduced the deficit, as promised.

What Seniors Groups Are Saying

Courtesy of The White House:

As Congress considers legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, it’s important to take a look at who is opposing repeal. Here’s what organizations representing seniors are saying:

AARP
“As the House prepares to vote this week on repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), I am writing to make clear AARP's position. While we respect that there are those who do not support the ACA, AARP opposes repeal because the new law includes many vital provisions important to older Americans and their children.”

Leadership Council of Aging Organizations
“Millions of Americans have already benefited from provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including millions of seniors who received $250 towards the cost of their prescription drugs when they entered the Part D doughnut hole. The economic and physical health of seniors and their families will continue to benefit as the law is implemented further. We urge you not to deprive them of the protections created by the Affordable Care Act, and to vote against repeal.”

National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care
“Repeal of the Affordable Care Act would eliminate all of these urgently needed improvements in long-term care and protection of the elderly. Please vote against the bill to repeal the law.”

Center for Medicare Advocacy
“Health care reform is helping families struggling to deal with illnesses, age, unemployment, and under-employment. The law advances family values. It’s time to implement, not repeal health care reform!”

Alliance for Retired Americans
“The proposal to be voted on in the U.S. House this week to repeal the 2010 health reform law is unconscionable. Seniors are clear on this: DO NOT raise our prescription drug costs; DO NOT re-open the Medicare Part D prescription drug doughnut hole; and DO NOT take away our free preventive screenings by repealing this law.”

Generations United
“It is imperative that lawmakers not pass H.R. 2 and repeal the Affordable Care Act. It will be devastating to children, young adults and older people.”

National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
“Not only is a repeal fiscally irresponsible, it takes away crucial Medicare improvements for seniors in the new law.”

Medicare Rights Center
“As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares for floor debate and a vote next week on a bill (HR 2) that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare Rights Center expresses concern that repealing health care reform would sacrifice Americans’ wellbeing for the sake of political gain. Health reform extends the solvency of the Medicare trust fund, reduces the federal deficit, introduces initiatives to enhance quality and coordination of care, and provides real benefits to Medicare consumers by eliminating cost-sharing for many preventive services and closing the coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Knowing what the Medicare Rights Center knows from our clients, repeal of this legislation would hurt older adults and people with disabilities.”

National Council on Aging
“The National Council on Aging (NCOA), the leading nonprofit service and advocacy organization for older Americans, is urging the 112th Congress not to repeal the landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA). Already, the ACA is providing critical benefits for seniors and their families, including a 50% discount on brand-name prescription drugs in the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” or coverage gap, a free annual wellness visit to help older adults develop a personal prevention plan, and full coverage of important preventive services such as diabetes tests and prostate cancer screenings.”

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
“If repeal is allowed to go forward millions of older Americans would be deprived of new prescription drug benefits for those individuals who fall into the Medicare Part D "donut hole" and all working Americans would stand to lose benefits provided under the new CLASS program that would help them pay for long-term care when they need them. Repeal also means older adults will not be able to take advantage of new Medicare prevention and wellness benefits to help them better manage their chronic conditions and stay healthy. We urge all Members of Congress to vote against repeal and allow key provisions of the ACA to be implemented that will improve the health and security of our nation’s older adults.”

What Health Care Providers Are Saying

This press release was issued by The White House today:

As Congress considers legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, it’s important to take a look at who is opposing repeal. Here’s what organizations representing doctors, nurses and health care providers are saying:

American Nurses Association
“…[W]e believe that a vote for repeal would be a devastating step backward.”

American Medical Association
“The AMA does not support initiatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Expanding health coverage, insurance market reforms, administrative simplifications and initiatives to promote wellness and prevention are key parts of the new law that reflect AMA priorities.”

American Academy of Family Physicians
“A repeal of all provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will return our health care system to its previous trends of unsustainable, increasing costs and ever-growing numbers of under- and uninsured Americans. It will have negative consequences on Americans’ access to needed health care for years to come.”

American College of Physicians
“ACP believes that Congress should preserve and - as necessary - improve on these and other important reforms created by the Affordable Care Act, not repeal them.”

Association of American Medical Colleges
“The nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals stand behind the Affordable Care Act. Ensuring that all Americans have health care coverage is a moral imperative for our nation, and enactment of the Affordable Care Act was an important step toward that goal.”

National Association of Community Health Centers
“From the perspective of community health, however, the new law moves our nation to the goal of more affordable and accessible health care for all people and we stand strongly in support of it.”

American Osteopathic Association
“The Affordable Care Act made fundamental and important changes in our health care system that will improve the health of our patients individually and our nation as a whole.”

Catholic Health Association
“On behalf of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), the national leadership organization of more than 2,000 Catholic health care systems, hospitals, long-term care facilities, sponsors, and related organizations, I strongly urge you to maintain support for efforts to improve and strengthen our nation’s health care system by opposing the legislation before the House to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA).”

American Public Health Association
“Implementation of the Affordable Care Act is critical to addressing a number of the biggest challenges facing our health system including the escalating costs associated with our health care system, uneven quality and more than 100,000 deaths due to medical errors, discriminatory practices by health insurance providers and the shrinking ranks of the nation’s primary care providers. The enactment of the Affordable Care Act begins to shift our health system from one that focuses on treating the sick to one that focuses on keeping people healthy and addresses these challenges.”

Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
“Almost 60 percent of Asian Americans receive health care coverage through their employers and the last thing we should be doing is weakening the ability of small business owners to provide quality health care to their employees. We must not place the interests of insurance companies ahead of small businesses, our communities, and our families. When insurance companies are free to pursue profit without accountability, people have fewer choices, fewer options, and little recourse. We can’t let that happen.”

Doctors for America
“As doctors, we see how our broken health care system is failing patients and health care providers. Passing and implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an important first step to fixing a broken system, and we must continue to move forward. Repealing the health care reform law will only move our health care system backward – and millions of patients simply can’t afford that. We urge the new Congress to work with patients and providers to improve the health reform law so we can build a health care system that works for everyone.”

National Hispanic Medical Association
“NHMA supports the Affordable Care Act as it is a step forward in caring for the health of the underserved communities and all Americans. Investing in the health of Americans, our most valuable resource, is sound policy and a wise course of action when so many diseases are preventable and treatable. For this reason we ask you to cast a vote against H.R.2.”

What Patient Groups Are Saying

Today The White House issued this press release:

As Congress considers legislation that would repeal the Affordable Care Act, it’s important to take a look at who is opposing repeal. Here’s what organizations representing patients with disease and illness are saying:

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network:
“Repeal of the law without a meaningful alternative that includes critical patient protections would resurrect the broken ‘sick care’ system that denied lifesaving care to people with cancer and their families. The evidence is clear that lack of access to meaningful health care is linked to later stage cancer diagnoses, which are more expensive to treat and harder to survive.”

Easter Seals:
“The goal of the health care reform law is to assure that all people have access to quality, affordable health care and long term services and supports that meet their individual needs. It is through these types of changes to the health care system that we can hope to enable all Americans, including people with disabilities and chronic conditions, to be healthy, functional, live as independently as possible and participate in their communities. Please vote NO on HR 2.”

American Heart Association:
“Patients have already benefited from the reforms that have been implemented in the last 10 months. We believe these reforms and the additional forthcoming patient protection provisions were long overdue and need to be given an opportunity to work and if necessary, improved upon. Repeal of ACA will have devastating consequences for patients and their families.”

LIVESTRONG:
LIVESTRONG supported passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act last year and we believe that repealing this law now would have a negative impact on the lives of many Americans living with cancer. Study after study has shown that those who lack insurance or who are underinsured have higher cancer mortality rates than those who have insurance therefore better access to care.

American Lung Association:
“The American Lung Association strongly opposes the repeal of this important law and urges Congress members to vote against the bill. The American Lung Association is particularly concerned about the impact the repeal of the Affordable Care Act would have on people with lung diseases. Changes required by the law are already making a difference to millions of people with lung diseases, such as lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).”

More than 100 AIDS Service Organizations:
“We the undersigned organizations write today to strongly urge you not to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). As a coalition of more than 100 national and community-based AIDS service organizations representing HIV medical providers, public health professionals, advocates and people living with HIV/AIDS, we urge you to consider the effect of repealing the legislation on people living with HIV/AIDS and those at risk for infection.”

Experts doubt claim that health care's a 'job killer'

McClatchy has the story:

Despite what Republicans say, the 2010 health care law isn't necessarily a job killer.

..."The claim has no justification," said Micah Weinberg, a senior research fellow at the centrist New America Foundation's Health Policy Program.

Since the law contains dual mandates that most individuals must obtain health insurance coverage and most employers must offer it by 2014, "the effect on employment is probably zero or close to it," said Amitabh Chandra, a professor of public policy at Harvard University.

Governor Beshear: Bad time to raise taxes

Governor Steve Beshear penned an op-ed column for today's Herald-Leader. Here's an excerpt:

There's lots of talk these days about tax reform.

However, if you ask 10 people what that phrase means, you will get 10 different answers. I am always open to ideas about how to make our tax laws more fair and more in tune with Kentucky's economy, but during this historic economic recession no such reform should include broad-based tax increases on Kentucky's families and businesses.

...Putting our people to work must be our top concern. That's been my strategy, and it's a strategy that's indisputably working.

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President Obama's weekly address

In this week’s address, President Obama said that once business resumes in Washington, he looks forward to working with members of both parties to meet the challenges facing the country. By working together in a spirit of common cause, the President and members of Congress can face these challenges in a way worthy of the voters who sent them to Washington.

Rand Paul Holds Debt Ceiling Hostage

From ThinkProgress:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has already made it abundantly clear that he expects Republicans to demand concessions in return for raising the nation’s debt ceiling, which will have to be done sometime in the coming months. Like a slew of equally irresponsible Republicans, Paul has issued demands that he wants fulfilled in return for his vote to increase the debt limit, essentially holding the credit-worthiness of the United States hostage to his brand of radical fiscal conservatism.

Last night, Paul was asked about his stance on the debt ceiling by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, where he replied that the only way he will vote to increase the debt limit is if Congress adopts “an ironclad rule that we will balance the budget from here on after.”

...House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) — who has some radical ideas about the federal budget himself — has said that failure to raise the debt ceiling is “unworkable.” “Does it have to be raised? Yes, you can’t not raise the debt ceiling,” Ryan said. Leaving aside the myriad disastrous consequences that would result if the U.S. failed to raise the debt ceiling — and the fact that the current Congress can’t tie the hands of a future Congress, as Paul seems to imagine they can — Paul’s demand shows that he’s completely out-of-touch with what the federal budget actually looks like.

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Rand gets fact-checked

From the folks at FactCheck.org:

Sen. Rand Paul distorted an old quote from Rahm Emanuel during an appearance on Fox Business, as he disparaged the reaction of liberals to last weekend’s shootings in Tucson.

Rand Paul, Jan. 12: Well, these are the kind of things that I think some on the left decide and manufacture even before the events occur. I mean, this is part of the playbook of Rahm Emanuel where they say any crisis should be used to their advantage to further their agenda. So I’m not surprised that they do it, I do think they should be ashamed of themselves for doing it.

In context, though, Emanuel wasn’t talking about partisan gain or advancing any particular "agenda," as Paul claimed. Emanuel specifically urged addressing longstanding problems with "ideas from both parties" when a crisis presents the opportunity.

President Obama's speech at Tucson memorial

President Obama's weekly address

In his weekly address, President Obama looked forward to how the tax cut package he signed into law in December will benefit millions of Americans in the new year. For one year, any business, large or small, can write off the full cost of most of their capital investments. The payroll tax cut will mean $1,000 more this year for a typical family – 155 million workers will see larger paychecks because of that tax cut. Twelve million families will benefit from a $1,000 child tax credit and an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit. And eight million students and families will continue to benefit from a $2,500 tuition tax credit. Independent experts have concluded that the tax cut package should significantly accelerate the pace of the recovery.

FactCheck: 'Republicans misrepresent the facts'

From the nonpartisan fact-checkers at FactCheck.org:

When it comes to truth in labeling, House Republicans are getting off to a poor start with their constantly repeated references to the new health care law as "job-killing."

We find:

• Independent, nonpartisan experts project only a "small" or "minimal" impact on jobs, even before taking likely job gains in the health care and insurance industries into account.


• The House Republican leadership, in a report issued Jan. 6, badly misrepresents what the Congressional Budget Office has said about the law. In fact, CBO is among those saying the effect "will probably be small."


• The GOP also cites a study projecting a 1.6 million job loss — but fails to mention that the study refers to a hypothetical employer mandate that is not part of the new law.


• The same study cited by the GOP also predicts an offsetting gain of 890,000 jobs in hospitals, doctors’ offices and insurance companies — a factor not mentioned by the House leadership.

HYPOCRITICAL: See Republicans

A great ad from Americans United For Change:

Governor Beshear's weekly address

Mitch Misrepresents His Record on the Filibuster

A great catch by ThinkProgress:

Ever since President Obama took office, Republicans have waged an unprecedented campaign of obstruction against the president’s judges. As a result, nearly one in nine federal judgeships are vacant and federal judges are now retiring faster than new judges are being confirmed. Yet Senate Republicans Leader Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor yesterday to make the astounding claim that he has always been a champion against filibusters of judicial nominees.

...McConnell is simply not telling the truth about his record on judicial filibusters. While McConnell certainly joined his caucus in claiming that such filibusters were unacceptable when President Bush was nominating judges, McConnell literally filibustered the very first nominee named by President Obama. McConnell was one of 29 Republicans who joined a failed filibuster attempt against Judge David Hamilton, the first person nominated to a federal judgeship after Republicans lost the White House.

The Corporate House

There's a must-read editorial in today's New York Times:

John Boehner, the new speaker, promised the incoming House members of the 112th Congress on Wednesday to “give the government back to the American people.” But away from the camera, the chamber’s new Republican leadership is busy doing the opposite.

Darrell Issa of California, the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has sent out letters to 150 businesses and trade groups, asking them for suggestions on loosening what he called “job-killing” corporate regulations.

...The new Republican leaders love to insert the phrase “job-killing” in front of everything they oppose, hoping it might mask their true intentions. Mr. Boehner has been speaker for just one day. But it is already clear that the Republicans’ plan is to serve their corporate donors, above all else.

Get Ready for a G.O.P. Rerun

Be sure to check out the most recent column from Bob Herbert:

The fundamental mission of the G.O.P. is to shovel ever more money to those who are already rich. That’s why you got all that disgracefully phony rhetoric from Republicans about attacking budget deficits and embracing austerity while at the same time they were fighting like mad people to pile up the better part of a trillion dollars in new debt by extending the Bush tax cuts.

This is a party that has mastered the art of taking from the poor and the middle class and giving to the rich. We should at least be clear about this and stop being repeatedly hoodwinked — like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football — by G.O.P. claims of fiscal responsibility.

...We’ll see and hear a lot of populist foolishness from the Republicans as 2011 and 2012 unfold, but their underlying motivation is always the same. They are about making the rich richer. Thus it was not at all surprising to read on Politico that the new head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Fred Upton of Michigan, had hired a former big-time lobbyist for the hospital and pharmaceuticals industries to oversee health care issues.

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