Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Sweeping Tobacco Legislation Goes Into Effect This June (New York Times)
Fifteen years after the Food and Drug Administration first proposed banning the sale and marketing of tobacco products to teenagers, top government officials announced Thursday that they would finally put the rule into effect.
The rule was hugely controversial when first proposed in 1995 and was never adopted by the agency because of a Supreme Court [...]
Cornhusker Kickback May Be Gone, But Still Plenty of ‘Backdoor’ Spending In Exchange For Votes (MSNBC/AP)
Bye bye, Cornhusker Kickback. Hello, special treatment for Tennessee and North Dakota.
Democrats unveiling revisions Thursday to their health care overhaul bill decided to kill the extra $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska that has become a symbol of backdoor deal making.
But the 153 pages of changes to the massive health care package include extra [...]
Highlights Of Health Care Compromise Bill (CNN)
Democratic congressional leaders unveiled their long-awaited $940 billion compromise health care plan Thursday, setting the stage for a vote Sunday.
Here are highlights:
• New health insurance subsidies would be provided to families of four making up to $88,000 annually, or 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
• Health insurance exchanges would be created to make it [...]
Obama’s Approval Rating Lowest Yet, Congress’ Declines (Gallup Poll)
President Barack Obama’s job approval is the worst of his presidency to date, with 46% of Americans approving and 48% disapproving of the job he is doing as president in the latest Gallup Daily three-day average.
Obama’s approval rating has hovered around 50% since November, but in the last two days has declined to the point [...]
House Democrats Release ‘Fixes’ Senate Health Care Bill (USA TODAY)
The House Rules Committee has posted a 153-page reconciliation bill that “corrects” the Senate health care bill. Here it is.
Reviewing it now. More details to come.
Updated at 3:35 p.m. ET. Let’s take the changes one by one.
Individual Mandate:
Most Americans would be required to buy health care insurance or face penalties.
Senate bill:
Those without insurance would pay either [...]
Fine-Tuning Led To Health Bill’s $940 Billion Price Tag (New York Times)
Love it or hate it, one thing that is indisputable about the Democrats’ big health care legislation is that the cost figures are going to come out right where President Obama said he wanted them.
When the president finally came forward with an outline of his own proposal, aimed at bridging differences between the House and [...]
Jobs Bill Signed, But Job-Creation Advocates Say Obama Just Doesn’t Get It (Huffington Post)
This morning in Washington, President Obama was in the Rose Garden trying to make the jobs bill he was signing sound like a big success, chief economic adviser Larry Summers was at the National Press Club trying to make the administration sound tough on financial regulatory reform — and a critical bunch of economists, policymakers [...]
Mr Obama, When Will The Public Get To Read This Health-Care Bill? Hopefully Before The Vote (Fox News)
As of Thursday afternoon, the final version of the health care bill had not yet been posted to a congressional Web site and the highly touted Congressional Budget Office cost estimates were still listed only as “preliminary.”
President Obama pledged in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that the final provisions of his health care [...]
New Wall Street Journal /NBC Poll: 48% Still Think ObamaCare A “Bad Idea” (The Wall Street Journal)
Democratic lawmakers may be tempted to vote against the health-care overhaul plan pending in Congress because it remains unpopular with a broad swath of the public. But a new poll suggests that those who do so risk further dispiriting the core supporters who Democrats need to energize for the November mid-term elections.
The Wall Street Journal/NBC [...]
GOP Calls ‘Foul’ On Obama & Pelosi Efforts To Pass Health-Care Without A Vote (USA Today)
Democrats defended plans to push massive health care legislation through the House without a direct vote and Republicans assailed the strategy Tuesday, as both parties fenced ferociously over the health overhaul end game.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that no final decision had been made on the complex parliamentary strategy, which would allow House Democrats [...]
