Following reports that a government-run plan would not be included in the Senate Democrats’ health care bill, those attempting to predict the end-game on health care reform might wonder how to reconcile that with the oft-stated commitment by House Progressives to block any bill that does not contain a “robust public option.”  57 House Progressives on July 30: “Any bill that does not… Read more

Madame Speaker, let me be blunt: we should be and can be doing much more to advance our trade agenda and create much needed jobs for American workers.  This year, America’s trade agenda has stalled, and it has had a chilling effect on our economy and on global commerce – in some cases even weakening our national security interests.  The delay in considering the Colombia Trade… Read more

With the White House on the attack today against the Congressional Budget Office and Medicare official's findings that Democratic reforms don't control health care costs, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is not helping their cause. He said today: “Can I sit up here or stand here with a straight face and say, 'We have got strong… Read more

Madame Speaker, It is the tradition of this House to annually extend certain tax relief items; everything from a Research and Development tax credit, to incentives for the manufacture, purchase and use of alternative fuels to credits that help offset out-of-pocket expenses teachers incur buying materials for their classrooms.  I helped write many of these provisions and if the bill… Read more

In considering the merits of President Obama’s latest stimulus proposals, it’s important to consider the reality of what the president and his economic team think and have said about the effects of his last such plan -- the stimulus plan he signed into law in February 2009:   What President Obama Said Today About the Effect of the 2009 Stimulus Bill in Terms of Jobs: “(W)e learned on… Read more

Today, 17 state and national medical societies, representing 92,000 physicians, including 3 past presidents of the American Medical Association, sent a letter to Senator Reid opposing the Senate Democrats’ plan for government-takeover of health care.  This news follows on the heels of hundreds of thousands of physicians who have also publicly opposed the Senate bill. Specifically, these… Read more

          Source: Ways and Means staff calculations, using Department of Labor and Department of Treasury data.     ###      Read more

Washington, DC – According to today’s jobs report, another 11,000 jobs were eliminated in November as the unemployment rate was 10%.  While these data may indicate that the worst of the jobs losses may be behind us, there is little indication that strong job growth is coming soon.  Yet at yesterday’s White House jobs summit, President Obama said “we've seen a significant turnaround in… Read more

We tend to think the White House's forays into media criticism are the sincerest form of flattery, so we're glad to join the ranks of Politico and Fox News as a target. In a White House blog post Tuesday, Obama economic adviser Jared Bernstein writes that "somebody over at the Wall St. Journal's editorial page has a whole lot of explaining to do" about our criticisms of the $787 billion… Read more

CAMP: “Madame Speaker, death should not be a taxable event.  Death should not force the sale of family farms or the dissolution of small businesses.” Washington, D.C. - Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today voted against H.R. 4154-the Democrats’ Estate Tax Bill. This bill seeks to permanently extend an excessively high tax rate (45%) on an individual’s estates, hurting… Read more