Representative Government Works
Nothing was as devastating to representative government in the last four years as U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’s pledge that his party would make President Obama a one-term president. Americans knew they were in trouble by the time Obama took office. At times of crisis we come together as a nation. In retrospect, it is clear that every elected Republican everywhere in the country, at every level of government took the … Continue reading »
This is one of the best summaries of the conventions and public opinion. Please read the Sept. 10 posting at http://www.mikeswashingtonwatch.com/
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Posted September 11, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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Robert Samuelson explains what the experts are thinking about the ability of the American economy to generate jobs in the next four years. I am, at best, a political economist with a couple predictions. First, there are already more than 3 million American jobs available and no qualified American applicants. We are most likely in a new economy, as yet undefined, which is more dependent on educating a new workforce and building new trust in … Continue reading »
A: Each understands just enough about health care, health policy and health reform to be capable of agreeing on how best to reform and implement Obamacare. They also know from experience you can’t get it right unless you are willing to provide the political leadership essential to ridding health reform of its disabling political partisanship.
Much is made on the right of Paul Ryan speeches on consumer directed health care, private Medicare, and repeal of Obamacare. … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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For more than the 33 years since I was elected to the U.S. Senate, members of Congress have been working to bend the national health care cost curve. Mainly by changing how the Medicare program pays health care providers. In 1993, President Clinton focused both on Medicare and on other policies to reduce the impact of cost drivers in health care. For example, he sought to expand insurance coverage to every American. He was defeated … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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Each tapped into the genius of partnering willing health care leadership with helpful and understanding public coverage policy at the state and community level. Of course it takes an act of the Massachusetts Legislature or of the Congress of the United States. But it’s not “government- run health care” or a “socialist effort to put third parties between you and your doctor.” That crap was invented by the American Medical Association back in the 1930s … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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Every five years a rather large number of “farm state” members of Congress focus on re-authorizing the government’s role in agriculture – the oldest economy in America and still one of our most reliable and least costly businesses. It’s low cost to Americans because the costs of production are largely borne by small family businesses of varying size in every one of 50 states. It’s reliable because, despite the vagaries of weather (as in drought), … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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We already know that Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) is the only Republican with a “plan.” See Ryan Lizza’s article in the New Yorker on 8-6-12 or David Wessel’s article in the Wall Street Journal on 8-16-12. It is a budget plan approved by Republicans in the House, meaning it achieves all its federal spending reductions from reducing what many Americans consider earned benefits. In addition, it greatly reduces federal financial support for state Medicaid efforts to reform … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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The Republican Party of NO’s policy of using fiscal and economic crises to assure government deficit reduction, means Congress is forced to deal with spending and tax policy reform early in 2013 or face automatic cuts in both entitlement and national defense spending. Since Republicans oppose any reduction in the growth of defense spending, and Democrats oppose reduced growth in entitlement spending unless accompanied by tax increases on the very wealthy, we have a chance … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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Is it any wonder that the president has acknowledged the fact that his biggest mistake so far has been his failure to translate what has been happening to us in America into a “narrative,” as he calls it? As readers of this “Commentary” know, I count myself as one American who believes we have been living through epochal times since about September 2008. That’s when we discovered that the “old American economy” that enabled my … Continue reading »
Posted August 23, 2012 in: Elections, Opinion Page |
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