On Oct. 3, 2008, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was signed into law. At $700 billion, this bank bailout was unprecedented. Perhaps more striking at the time, however, was the complete lack of meaningful guidelines, measurable benchmarks, and strings attached to the bailout money. In essence, the only restriction placed on the secretary of the Treasury was that he had to spend… Read more

Yesterday, during a Ways and Means Committee hearing, Ranking Republican Member Dave Camp (R-MI) highlighted a non-partisan, independent analysis  of the House Democrats’ health care legislation.  The study found the Democrats’ bill would result in $3.5 trillion in added federal spending over the next decade and force 64 million Americans to lose their current health care coverage.  It… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) issued the following statement today in response to the dangerous changes proposed to U.S. trade laws in the Waxman-Markey climate change bill: “The proposed ‘fix’ misses the mark and I fear it will be seen as an opening salvo in the trade war that the entire global… Read more

Background:  “In his new book, Positively American: Winning Back the American Middle Class One Family at a Time, Senator Charles Schumer reveals the imaginary constituents that have long informed his political career: Joe and Eileen Bailey. The Baileys live in a suburb of Long Island with their three kids, they both work, and they earn about $75,000 annually….Schumer says that the… Read more

Mr. Chairman, I am not sure what to focus on this morning: all that we do know about this bill or all that we don’t know about it.  Both are fairly disturbing.   Let me begin with what we don’t know: how much CBO says it will cost or how you will pay for it.  Hopefully, everyone can see page 162 of the bill on the TV screens.  Now, I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but I… Read more

Today, HSI Network, a non-partisan, independent health care research firm that has worked with research universities, the federal government and the private sector, released the estimated costs and impacts of the House Democrats’ tri-committee health care discussion draft.  The analysis predicts the House Democrats’ bill will result in $3.5 trillion of new federal spending. … Read more

"But when framed with an explicit counterargument, support (for the public option) dropped sharply, to 37 percent." A majority of Americans see government action as critical to controlling runaway health-care costs, but there is broad public anxiety about the potential impact of reform legislation and conflicting views about the types of fixes being proposed on Capitol Hill,… Read more

While House Democrats have not revealed the cost of their health care reform “discussion draft,” CBO has already said the Senate HELP Committee Democrats' draft would cost $1 trillion (before adding the massive Medicaid expansion) and the Senate Finance Committee's draft would cost $1.6 trillion.  The House Democrat bill is, on many fronts, more liberal and likely more costly than either… Read more

Last week’s initial UI benefit claims data [1] from the U.S. Department of Labor set off a common refrain in the media that the number of individuals collecting UI benefits supposedly “plunged,” which is touted as “evidence the job market is starting to thaw.” [2] Headlines included “Continuing Claims Fall for Jobless Benefits” (Washington Post), “Unemployment Rolls Post Decline” (Chicago… Read more

Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today issues the following reaction to President Obama’s press conference: “It is very disturbing that the President refused to stand by his promise that Americans would be able to keep their doctor and health care plan if they wanted to.  If there is a government-run plan that pays at Medicare rates, which is what the House… Read more