Good morning folks,
On Wednesday, we made the case that “…conservatives should economic growth and job creation instead of austerity alone.” In a speech last night in Charlotte, Governor Bobby Jindal made a similar point.
“Today’s conservatism is in love with zeroes. We think if we can just unite behind a proposal to cut the deficit and debt…if we can just put together a spreadsheet and a power point and a TV ad….all will be well. This obsession with zeroes has everyone in our party focused on what? Government. By obsessing with zeroes on the budget spreadsheet, we send a not-so-subtle signal that the focus of our country is on the phony economy of Washington – instead of the real economy out here in Charlotte, and Shreveport, and Cheyenne. We as Republicans have to accept that government number crunching – even conservative number crunching – is not the answer to our nation’s problems.”
He didn’t end there. JIndal closed, “The health of America is not about government at all. Balancing government’s books is a nice goal, but that is not our primary objective. Our objective is to grow the private sector. We need to focus our efforts on ideas to grow the American economy, not the government economy.” Well said Governor.
The sooner the conservative movement returns to an aspirational message of growth and opportunity, the more likely it is that conservatives will be in a positon legislatively to institute real change.
TWEET TWEET
@BlakeHounshell “America’s lasting legacy in Afghanistan: 4G? http://tinyurl.com/a2h953t …”
@NationalJournal “Charlie Cook on the one things both parties have in common: wimping outhttp://njour.nl/WUwdFn ”
@RealJayWilliams “This young UCLA team is showing a ton a poise in a crazy environment & may be the best team in the West.”
@NPRpolitics “‘March For Life’ Rally Expected To Draw Huge Crowd In Washington http://n.pr/SLqiEJ ”
@Todayshow “In case you missed…check out shetland ponies wearing sweaters:http://on.today.com/WRtoVP ”
@Morning_Joe “Joe [on GOP and Jindal GOP comments]: We’ve got to stop being the stupid party. And you start by disciplining your most stupid members.”
ON THE RADAR
Economic Growth/Tax Reform
The Tax Man Cometh: Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the Senate Democrats’ chief political strategist, sees a joint budget resolution between the Senate and House as the key to raising another $600 billion in new tax revenues. Democratic leaders say that will be the minimum amount needed from tax reform to stop automatic spending cuts to social and defense programs mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.
Camp Releases Financial Products Tax Reform Discussion Draft. “Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released a financial products discussion draft as part of the Committee’s broader effort on comprehensive tax reform that significantly lowers rates. The proposal outlines changes to tax rules designed to provide greater simplicity and uniformity. Simultaneously, the proposal also seeks to modernize tax rules to minimize Wall Street’s ability to hide and disguise potentially significant risks through the abuse of derivatives and other novel financial products – an activity that was a contributing factor to the 2008 financial crisis.”
White House Official: Corporate Tax Reform Should Boost Green Energy. “A White House economic adviser said Thursday that any overhaul of the corporate tax code should provide a lift for green energy technologies. ‘The first headline of corporate tax reform will not be ‘corporate tax reform for the clean energy economy.’ But the way that corporate tax reform gets done could have a dramatic effect, long-term, [on] the incentives for investment in the United States for … technologies and renewable technologies,’ said Brian Deese, deputy director of the National Economic Council.”
Tax Hell: New Laws, New Reasons to Hire an Expert. If it’s any comfort to know someone is feeling your pain this tax season, look no further than Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate at the IRS. In her annual report to Congress, she told lawmakers that the tax system they’ve helped create requires almost 60 percent of us to hire professional tax preparers and another 30 percent to pay $50 or more for commercial software. The average taxpayer will spend 18 hours filling out a personal return, which is not surprise since Congress has made nearly 5,000 changes to the tax code since 2001 — an average of more than one a day. The code itself at more than 73,000 pages imposes a “significant, even unconscionable, burden on taxpayers,” Olson concluded.
Health Care
The Drawn Out Process Of The Medical Lawsuit. “The researchers then looked at the proportion of a doctor’s career spent on an open claim. They discovered that on average, doctors spent more than four years of their career — more time than they spent in medical school — working through one or more lawsuits. Certain specialists were more vulnerable than others. Neurosurgeons, for example, averaged well over 10 years, or over a quarter of their professional life, embroiled in lawsuits.”
Medicare Improperly Paid $120M To Ineligibles. “Illegal immigrants and prison inmates received more than $120 million in Medicare services from 2009-2011 despite federal law that makes them ineligible for the program, according to two new reports from the HHS inspector general.”
Immigration
Texas Federation Of Republican Women Lead Boldly With Call For Immigration Reform. “The resolution calls for securing the borders of the United States, establishing a legally legislated guest worker program and for establishing specific criteria under which young people brought to the U.S. illegally can earn a pathway to legal residency and eventual citizenship.”
How Lack Of Immigration Reform Harms Startups, US Economy. “As President Barack Obama begins his second term, small companies and the technology community are hoping for immigration reform to help them secure highly skilled foreign workers.”
Filibuster “Reform” Won’t Mean Much For Guns Or Immigration Reform. “WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama may hope the so-called changes to the Senate’s filibuster rules will result in ‘meaningful action’ on gun control and immigration, but don’t bet on it.”
Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick: Solving the Immigration Puzzle. Some want illegals to return to their native countries and ‘wait in line’ like everyone else. There is no line.
X Factor
Cordray Nomination Expected To Be Challenged By Senate Republicans. “President Obama on Thursday re-nominated Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, all but assuring a fight with Senate Republicans who oppose the agency’s sweeping powers to regulate the financial services industry.”
North Korea To Target U.S. With Nuclear, Rocket Tests. “(Reuters) North Korea said on Thursday it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test that would target the United States, dramatically stepping up its threats against a country it called its ‘sworn enemy’.”
Women’s Path to Ground Combat Strewn With Obstacles. The path to the front combat lines for women in the U.S. military may be long and complicated by demands from Army infantry to the Marines to the Special Operations Forces that killed Osama bin Laden. Even as the Pentagon announced it was lifting a ban on women serving in ground-combat units, defense officials said yesterday the plan may take as long as three years to complete and will require a methodical review of the physical standards needed for each combat job and whether some should remain closed to women.
THIS & THAT
Does Hillary Clinton have double vision?
Do you take pictures of your food? If so, restaurants don’t like you.
American Idol accused of racism
CNN says these 6 people will inspire you
12 major roles that almost went to other actors
This squirrel knows when to run
Seize the day, enjoy the weekend!
Brad Dayspring
Senior Advisor - YG Network
@BDayspring
Mark Bednar
@YGNetwork