Though the Stanford men’s basketball team failed to make the big dance this year, the university got a prominent showing from two of its professors this morning in The Wall Street Journal. John F. Cogan and John B. Taylor wrote about the critical connection between reining in our national debt and everyday Americans’ finances. An obvious, yet often neglected assumption of theirs is that “recognition that the resources to finance government expenditures aren't free—they withdraw resources from the private economy.”
Though the Stanford men’s basketball team failed to make the big dance this year, the university got a prominent showing from two of its professors this morning in The Wall Street Journal. John F. Cogan and John B. Taylor wrote about the critical connection between reining in our national debt and everyday Americans’ finances. An obvious, yet often neglected assumption of theirs is that “recognition that the resources to finance government expenditures aren’t free—they withdraw resources from the private economy.”
When applying this notion to the House Budget Committee’s proposed budget with its “proposed tax reform included, the immediate [financial] impact would be even larger. The entire plan would raise gross domestic product by one percentage point in 2014, equivalent to about a $1,500 increase for each U.S. household.” And after a decade, GDP is expected to grow three points, which puts $4,000 in the pockets of American households. This is the message that conservatives can really double down on. Balancing the budget responsibly can tangibly help people both now and in the near future.
Matchup Breakdown: Seemingly, these two teams look pretty similar on paper, but when you check out their X’s and O’s (especially the 00000′s), it’s pretty clear that the team adding $24.4 trillion of gross debt has a debt-to-GDP ratio of about 94 percent. That’s far too high to go far in this tournament. Instead, the plan that adds only 79 percent of gross debt, is one coaches and economists believe is a more sensible plan.
On Tap For Today11:00 AM: Press Secretary Jay Carney briefs the press.1:00 PM: House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the release of criminal immigrant detainees by Immigrations And Customs Enforcement.
5:45 PM: President and Mrs. Obama host a St. Patrick’s Day Reception.
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@nytimes “As Obama Prepares to Visit, Many Israelis Are Wary http://nyti.ms/XWlrlR”
@BloombergNews “Ben Bernanke tightens hold on Fed stimulus message against regional bank hawks | http://bloom.bg/Yok9fN”
@TheRock “15hr flight. Straight to my suite. Mahalo @FourSeasons for always making it my “home”. (GI Joe doll - a cool touch;) pic.twitter.com/9btFQvHYSw”
@AP “AP VIDEO: Pope Francis stops his inauguration motorcade to bless a handicapped man: http://apne.ws/149hmyr -AB”
On The Radar
Economic Growth
CEOs Set Tax Reform Goal: 25 Percent Corporate Ratefrom The Hill by Bernie Becker and Kevin Bogardus. “A prominent lobby group for chief executives is launching a campaign to build public support for reducing the corporate rate to 25 percent and limiting the taxation of offshore income. John Engler, the president of Business Roundtable, and other officials at the lobby shop say the campaign’s purpose is to educate the public about America’s outdated tax system and the drag it places on U.S. businesses.”
EPA Mandate Spikes Fear Of Gas Spike from Politico by Darren Goode. “Congressional committees are taking note of a massive spike in the price of corn ethanol credits that refiners use to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s renewable fuels mandate — amid concern it could increase gasoline prices. House and Senate energy panels are eyeing the price of ethanol renewable identification numbers, or RINs, which have skyrocketed from pennies a gallon to more than $1 per gallon in recent weeks. That could cost the refining industry $7 billion this year, according to a Barclays analyst as cited by the Financial Times.”
‘Leading By Example’ And The Keystone Pipeline from AEI by Jonah Goldberg. “This fact should have relevance below the 49th parallel. Right now, we’re all waiting for President Obama to decide on whether the Keystone pipeline can go forward. The pipeline would take oil from the tar sands of northern Alberta and deliver it to refineries in the U.S. It would extend all the way down to ports in Texas. … While it’s true that President Obama brags about how oil and gas production are up, his policies have nothing to do with it. A new report from the Congressional Research Service confirms: ‘All of the increased [oil] production from 2007 to 2012 took place on non-federal lands.’ Since 2010, federal oil production is down 23 percent.”
Immigration
Rand Paul To Endorse Immigrant Path To Citizenship from AP. “Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky will endorse a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s illegal immigrants, a significant move for a favorite of Tea Party Republicans who are sometimes hostile to such an approach.”
Evangelicals Support Path To Citizenshipfrom AP by Erica Werner. “Evangelical leaders said Monday they will support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants as part of immigration legislation, the first time they’ve taken an affirmative stance on the contentious issue. Jim Wallis, head of the Christian social justice group Sojourners, said it’s part of a ‘sea change’ in the evangelical community, driven in part by the increasing numbers of immigrants in congregations. He said evangelical leaders have concluded that ‘we don’t believe there are second-class images of God, and therefore we don’t believe in a second-class status for people who are willing to follow an earned path to citizenship.’”
Senate’s Gang Of 8: We’ll Have Bill In Aprilfrom The Hill by Alexander Bolton. “Members of the Senate’s Gang of Eight say they are on track to reach a deal on immigration reform by the end of March, despite skepticism and sniping among outside groups. Sources familiar with closed-door talks between the four Democratic and four Republican senators said members hope to unveil a bill when the Senate returns from a two-week recess in early April.”
Health Care
U.S. Drug Costs Dropped In 2012, But Rises Loomfrom The New York Times by Katie Thomas. “Spending on prescription drugs nationwide has been slowing for years because of the increasingly widespread use of low-cost generics. But in 2012, something unheard-of happened: money spent on prescription drugs actually dropped.”
California Scores Poorly On Posting Healthcare Prices, Report Says from The Los Angeles Times by Chad Terhune. “California consumers don’t have easy access to prices for medical care, according to a national report card that gave the state a letter grade of D for its dismal showing. Overall, 36 states received grades of D or F in the report issued Monday by two nonprofit healthcare groups that analyzed government efforts to make pricing information widely available to consumers. This issue has taken on added importance in recent years as patients shoulder a growing share of healthcare costs from higher deductibles and other insurance changes.”
A Study Raises Doubts That Workplace Wellness Programs Save Companies Money from The Washington Post by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. “Your bosses want you to eat your broccoli, hit the treadmill and pledge you’ll never puff on a cigarette. But a new study raises doubts that workplace wellness programs save the company money. Independent researchers tracking the wellness program at a major St. Louis hospital system for two years found that while hospitalizations for employees and family members dropped dramatically — by 41 percent overall for six major conditions — increased outpatient costs erased those savings.”
X-Factor
Americans Favor More Pressure on Palestinians Than Israelis from Gallup by Lydia Saad. “The White House appears to be keeping expectations low for how much President Barack Obama will do on his visit to Israel and the West Bank this week to jump-start peace talks in the region. However, should he attempt to do so, Americans, by 48% to 25%, say the United States should increase pressure on the Palestinians to compromise, rather than on the Israelis. An additional 18% think the U.S. needs to ramp up pressure on both sides, or on neither.”
Obama Underwater In New Pollfrom Politico by Donovan Slack. “President Obama’s approval rating has fallen 8 points and his disapproval rating jumped 7 points since the beginning of the year, leaving him underwater, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll. Some 47 percent of respondents approve of the job he’s doing, while 50 percent disapprove, the poll found.”
