Happy Friday folks,
Yes, it’s always good to welcome a new month with the feeling of TGIF.
Unless some sort of negotiation at the buzzer occurs, sequestration will go into effect today. President Obama has been warning about the drastic effects of the sequester, which will force the federal government to operate as it did in 2009. As House Majority Leader Eric Cantor remarked yesterday, “His cabinet secretaries are holding press conferences and conducting TV interviews, making false claims about teacher layoffs.” It seems that the administration is yelping about everything except the kitchen sink, which in this case is the implementation of Obamacare. As Brett Norman of Politico wrote this morning, “they haven’t been issuing a lot of warnings about how it’s slowing down the rollout of Obamacare. Because sequester or no sequester, the administration is trying to keep work on the core elements full steam ahead.”
Strange how the President warns of impending mass hysteria due to the spending reductions, but hasn’t budged on the implementation of the enormous healthcare bill. We’ve already seen the negative impacts it has taken on the economy, from people losing their employee-sponsored insurance, to the medical device industry getting taxes loaded on, to the rise of premium prices. Now, as Allan Sloan of The Washington Post has pointed out, there is a new tax found in Obamacare will affect middle class families.
It is a .9 percent tax surcharge on incomes over $200,000 and 3.8 percent surcharge on investments over $200,000. This tax sounds like it’s just for those with high incomes, but because it is not tagged to inflation, it will spill over to more people over time. Obama warns of the disastrous effects of sequestration, while remaining mum on sneaky taxes that will infiltrate their way to the middle class. Palm-To-Forehead.
Seize the day,
Mark Bednar
@MarkBednar
Important Things On Tap For Today
10:05 AM: President Obama & Vice President Biden meet with congressional leaders about sequester.
10:40 AM: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius & Education Secretary Arne Duncan hold media availability.
Tweet Tweet
@davidfrum “Only Half of Americans Think the U.S. has the ‘Number One Military’ in the World http://thebea.st/XeNz33 via @thedailybeast”
@jaketapper “Rahm gets a new chief of staff http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130228/BLOGS02/130229708?template=mobile&X-IgnoreUserAgent=1 …”
@SportsCenter “ZAGS SURVIVE! No. 2 Gonzaga withstands upset bid from BYU, 70-65. Bulldogs are seeking first No. 1 ranking in school history.”
@PounderFile “Russ Feingold organization goes after OFA for selling access http://is.gd/z3hY9s”
@ByronTau “Mitt Romney for emergency city manager of Detroit. http://slate.me/XdIOqC”
On The Radar
Economic Growth
Student-Loan Delinquencies Among The Young Soar from The Wall Street Journal by Ruth Simon and Rachel Louise Ensign. “The number of young borrowers who have fallen behind on their student loan payments has soared over the past four years, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a report released Thursday. According to the report, 35% of people under 30 who have student loans were at least 90 days late on their payments at the end of last year, up from 26% in 2008 and 21% at the end of 2004.”
Freddie Mac Posts Its Largest Profit Ever Last Quarter from The Wall Street Journal by Nick Timiraos and Andrew R. Johnson. “Freddie Mac, buoyed by the housing market’s rebound and an improving economy, reported an $11 billion annual profit for 2012 on Thursday—its largest ever annual gain and first profitable year since 2006. Freddie’s profit compares with a year-earlier loss of $5.3 billion. The fortunes of Freddie and its larger sibling, Fannie Mae, have turned around as home prices have stabilized and mortgage delinquencies slowed. That has allowed the government-controlled companies to set aside less money for loan losses.”
A.F.L.-C.I.O. Backs Keystone Oil Pipeline, If Indirectly from The New York Times by Steven Greenhouse. “The A.F.L.-C.I.O., the nation’s largest federation of unions, has issued an apparent endorsement of the Keystone XL oil pipeline — apparent because it enthusiastically called for expanding the nation’s pipeline system, without specifically mentioning Keystone. And while some union leaders said the federation’s stance stopped short of an official endorsement, the nation’s building trades unions — eager for the thousands of jobs the pipeline would create — issued a statement saying the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s stance was a clear endorsement of the Keystone pipeline.”
Deadline For Benefits E-Payments Is Here from The Washington Post by Alex Kane Rudansky. “It took 17 years, but Friday marks the deadline to switch federal benefit checks to electronic payments, an initiative Treasury Department officials say will save up to $1 billion over a decade. … As of May 2011, all new applicants for federal benefits are required to choose an electronic payment method. Those receiving Social Security payments, supplemental security income and veterans benefits have the option of receiving funds by direct deposit to a bank or credit union or on a pre-loaded debit card.”
Baby Boomers Take Biggest Career Risks from Fox Business News by David Mielach. “If you think that baby boomers are just looking to reach retirement, you may want to think again. New research has found that baby boomers are more entrepreneurial and take more risks than younger counterparts at work. Forty-three percent of baby boomers described themselves as high risk in a recent survey, compared with just 28 percent of Generation Y respondents and 40 percent of Generation X. In the survey, people between ages 18 and 29 were considered Gen Y, people between ages 30 and 49 were considered Gen X, and people between ages 50 and 69 were considered baby boomers. Researchers say that Gen Y workers may be less willing to take risks because they see their jobs as temporary. Fifty-five percent of Gen Y respondents say their job is only a step in their career while just 26 percent say they will stay at their job for a long time.”
Immigration
Republican Group Readies Immigration Blitz from Politico by Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman. “While Republican leaders continue to talk – and talk – about how best to update the party’s hard-line image, one of the country’s most prominent conservative outside groups is ready to put real money into the effort. The American Action Network is poised to launch a major advocacy campaign aimed at winning support for immigration reform on the right – the first significant effort within the Republican coalition to create an atmosphere in which it is safe for GOP lawmakers to support an immigration bill.”
Immigration Reform Primer from The Detroit News by Charles Ownes. “From the White House to Capitol Hill, immigration reform has been a hot topic lately – but Congress has yet to introduce any legislation. When they do, you’ll need to know the lingo so you can follow along. Herewith, an immigration reform primer.”
Health Care
Hospital Executive Bracing For Budget Cuts Says ‘We Need To Deal With Medicare’ from KHN by Mary Agnes Carey. “Can we live with it? Yes. I think we’re able to live with it because we’ve anticipated it for some time. What I’m concerned about is even this sequestration won’t be enough. So what is the next thing we’ll be living with to deal with this national debt situation? To deal with the national debt, we need to deal with Medicare. I’m talking about Medicare incentives to focus on wellness and chronic disease management, coordinating the care for the dual eligibles (a costly population of low-income elderly and disabled people who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid). There is a whole variety of things that can have an impact on Medicare and the federal deficit.”
How Much Does It Cost To Go To The ER? from The Atlantic by Lindsay Abrams. “These numbers don’t represent how much of the charges were ultimately covered by insurers. The researchers, did, however, also find that uninsured patients are typically charged the least, followed by privately insured patients, and finally by those on Medicaid, who saw the highest bills.”
Why Failing Med Students Don’t Get Failing Grades from The New York Times by Pauline W. Chen, M.D. “About a quarter of the course directors surveyed believed that grade inflation occurred because senior doctors were loath to deal with students who could become angry, upset or even turn litigious over grades. Some confessed to feeling pressure to help students get into more selective internships and training programs.”
X-Factor
Woodward Is New Hero for the Right (Yes, Really) from The New York Times by Christine Haughney and Brian Stelter. “Mr. Woodward would not say whether this White House was more sensitive about being challenged than the past administrations he has covered. But he said, ‘I can’t recall an instance when somebody in the White House said I was going to ‘regret staking out’ a position that they disagreed with, but were not that factually challenging.’”
This & That
Even More Photos Of D.C. From Outer Space from DCist by Benjamin R. Freed.
Dog’s Death After Westminster Leaves Handler Suspicious from The New York Times by Mary Pilon.
Fired Groupon CEO’s Refreshingly Blunt Memo To Employees from The Washington Post by Lillian Cunningham.
Overwhelmed And Creeped Out from The New Yorker by Ann Friedman.
MAMA JUNE & HONEY BOO BOO: You Can’t Stop Us from Selling Girl Scout Cookies!!! from TMZ.