The Daily Dish
May 15, 2015
May 15th Edition
The House voted 400-25 to give lawmakers the opportunity to review and potentially reject any nuclear deal with Iran. This comes after the Senate also overwhelmingly voted in favor of the measure with a 98-1 vote. As the House was voting, the President was at Camp David with Arab leaders trying to sell the potential deal. Rep. Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was not cavalier when describing the importance of the vote, “Instead of Iranian negotiators knowing that they can wear down the administration, this now injects Congress as an important backstop.”
Don’t miss it: AAF’s new Policy in 60 Seconds video explains the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Companies that were supplying their employees with some of the most generous health care coverage are now shifting to avoid extra taxes. According to a new survey, 62 percent of companies that provide a plan that would be hit with the “Cadillac Tax” will change their coverage. Most say they will shift to higher deductible plans. One third of the businesses in the survey believe that 2016 will be their costliest year ever.
Eakinomics: Hope is not a Plan, nor a Growth Strategy
March was the worst month for economic growth since the Great Recession. While official Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures are computed and released quarterly, the private firm Macroeconomic Advisers produces a monthly estimate of GDP. It estimates that real GDP fell a full percentage point in March, consistent with the expectation that first quarter GDP growth will be revised into negative territory when the next estimate comes out May 29. On the heels of this disappointment, economists still anticipate that the economy will pick up positive momentum in the remainder of the year. Unfortunately, the Wall Street Journal reports “The economists’ first-quarter rethink brought down the forecast for all of 2015 to 2.2% from 2.7% expected in the April survey. That means growth for all of 2015 is expected to be another disappointment, falling below 2014’s 2.4% rate instead of eclipsing it as many economists originally expected.”
Even worse, even at 2.2 percent growth will be above the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the economy’s long-run growth potential. Faster growth now and in the future is the top domestic priority.
Unfortunately, the current strategy in the White House appears to continue the same economic playbook and hope for a better result. And, when there is a tangible change in policy direction like Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Congressional Democrats appear willing to vote in defiance of their economic self-interest. When the left does focus on growth (“inclusive prosperity”), it does so only as a stalking horse for even more redistribution and other policies that negate the basic objective.
Better growth is the top domestic priority. If something is not good growth policy, it is not good policy for the U.S. right now.
From the Forum
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) and Its Effects by Brittany La Couture, AAF Health Policy Counsel
Final Tank Car and Train Safety Standards by Dan Goldbeck, AAF Research Analyst
