Conservative Principles Now

House Cloakroom: March 22 – 26, 2010

Analysis:

House members are staying in town through the weekend as health care continues to hang over everyone’s heads.  The House Rules Committee is tentatively scheduled to meet tomorrow to consider the now infamous “Slaughter rule” which would deem the Senate bill passed before they move on to the reconciliation bill.  Speaker Pelosi summed up her approval of this measure by saying “I like it, this scenario, because people don’t have to vote on the Senate bill.” On Sunday the House is then expected to meet to pass the Slaughter rule and then immediately proceed to debate and soon after that vote on the House reconciliation package to amend the Senate bill with a previously House passed student loan bill.  It is important to note that the House will be doing this without a full economic score of the legislation from the Congressional Budget Office. Additionally, while the Rules Committee is getting ready for the big show on Saturday, the rest of the House will be focusing its attention on a $16.8 billion tax incentive bill targeted at small business and state and local governments.

Major Floor Action:

• Slaughter Rule to deem the Senate bill passed.
• House Reconciliation package (HR 4872) with revised Senate passed health care bill and student loan bill (HR 3221).
• HR 4849 Small Business and Infrastructure Jobs Tax Act of 2010

Major Committee Action:

• The House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold an oversight hearing on the fiscal 2011 budget requests for the Mineral Management Services, the Bureau of Land Management, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and the United States Geological Survey. A recent blog post outlines how these agencies impact the west.
• The Ways and Means will hold a hearing on china exchange rate policy.  Derek Scissors, Research Fellow for Asia Economic Policy outlined what won’t work with china and what might here.

Senate Cloakroom: March 22 – 26, 2010

Analysis:

The Senate stands on high alert, prepared for the equivalent of legislative nuclear war.  If the House successfully pulls off the deem-and-pass gimmick on Obamacare, the Senate will deal with a reconciliation measure that raises $155 billion in taxes, cuts sweetheart deals and takes over the student loan industry.  The House process clearly undermines the rule of law and the Senate process gimmicks are clearly undermining the will of the people.  Conservatives in the Senate, and those who respect the rule of law and their constituents, are likely to use every tool at their disposal to prevent the reconciliation measure from going to the President’s desk should the House succeed with deem-and-pass.

Major Floor Action:

• On Monday, the Senate will complete consideration of FAA reauthorization.
• If Speaker Pelosi successfully rams Obamacare through the House, the Senate will spend the remainder of the week debating and amending the reconciliation measure.

Major Committee Action:

Because of the potential for near constant voting that will be required during consideration of Obamacare’s reconciliation measure, major committee action is unlikely.  However, Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) has pledged to begin the markup of his latest problematic bank overhaul plan Monday afternoon.

America stands on the precipice of sweeping liberal health care reform that will radically reshape one-sixth of the U.S. economy, and a 153-page House bill is all that stands between us and a fundamentally changed America.

What will that change look like? Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” and President Barack Obama said, “By the time the vote has taken place, not only will I know what’s in it, you’ll know what’s in it.”

In other words, here’s a ticket to ride, get on board, we can’t tell you where it’s going, but you’ll like it once you get there. We promise.

A picture of America’s future under Obamacare can be revealed, though, after peeling away the pages and digging through the dirt. Here’s 10 things you can expect:

1. A Massively Engorged Government, to the tune of $2.5 trillion in new entitlement spending. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), new entitlement spending in the plan would cost $216 billion by 2019, then increase by 8 percent every year thereafter.
2. A Cornhusker Kickback for All. No, special deals aren’t removed from Obamacare this time around. Instead, the House bill extends new federal funding for Medicaid to all states. Incidentally, you’re paying for it.
3. A Freight train of taxes, slamming the American people in 2018. You’ve heard of the “Cadillac” tax on high-cost insurance plans? It will be pushed back to 2018, and given the way “high-cost” plans will be defined, a large segment of the middle class would get hit with the tax over time.
4. Beware the shape-shifting tax monster. New taxes will take many forms, including taxes on prescription drugs, medical devices (like wheel chairs), and health insurance.
5. Unconstitutional mandates, courtesy of Congress. Don’t want to buy health insurance? Congress will penalize you if you don’t, regardless of income.
6. Lock your back door. Higher health care costs will be sneaking in. The plan gives subsidies to low-to-moderate wage families, but the subsidies will increase at a lower rate than the rate at which premiums increase. In other words, those families will pay more every year.
7. Lights out for small businesses? Companies that hire certain low-income Americans will have to pay $3,000 per employee, per year, even if the company offers insurance.Oh, and if a company employs 50 or more workers, they’ll face higher tax penalties to the tune of $2,000 per full-time employee.
   
8. Abortions. You will pay for them, like it or not. The House bill includes major funding for community health centers with no restrictions on federal taxpayer funding of abortions.
9. Want to play the stock market? Maybe not, after you hear this. The House bill slaps a 3.8% tax on investment income.
10. It’s not a federal system, after all. States will have less power. They’ll no longer have authority to regulate health care premiums. Instead, the federal government will take on the job. States and local governments won’t be able to control their own employee health plans; they’ll have to abide by new federal regulations.