More on Economy and Jobs
Feb 21, 2013
Hoosier GOP push for sequester
INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosier Democrats like U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky view the next eight days heading into the unprecedented $85 billion sequester as an exercise of “mindless cuts.” For Republicans such as U.S. Sen. Dan Coats and U.S. Rep. Todd Young, March 1 is an inevitable reality. “Many of my colleagues in the House and the Senate find themselves at the point where across-the-board cuts are sub-optimal, to say the least, as opposed to cutting spending,” Young told HPI Wednesday. “We also feel resigned to the fact that we’re not getting any cooperation from the administration in addressing our spending challenges. This administration isn’t producing a budget. We don’t feel like we have an honest broker.” “So I believe, tragically, this sequester will go into effect on March 1. I just haven’t seen indications that the President giving his campaign speeches around the country is prepared to get as serious as he should.” Speaking in the Indiana Senate Monday, Coats said he sees the sequester as the point where someone in Congress finally gets serious about spending. “I think it’s going to go forward and needs to go forward,” said Coats, who has made a number of speeches from the U.S. Senate floor in recent weeks imploring spending cuts. “It’s the only leverage we have to try to force the President and the Democrats into a long-term package that will put us on the path to fiscal health and a balanced budget. It’s much better if we do it another way. We’re ready to do it another way, but the President got his take on taxes; we think the problem is spending, and if this is the only way we can get the leverage to get to a big package, we’re going to do it.” U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita told HPI late Wednesday afternoon that he, too, believes sequester will become a reality. “Will it change after it kicks in?” Rokita asked. “Will they hold the line in the face of tactics similar to those during the government shutdown?” This is the prevalent attitude in the Indiana congressional delegation which is 8-to-3 Republican. U.S. Rep. Marlin Stutzman explained, “President Obama proposed an automatic cut, or sequester, of nearly half a trillion dollars to the Defense Department. Now he’s campaigning against his own proposal, relying on fear instead of facts. Rather than working with Congress to responsibly replace defense cuts with matching cuts to wasteful spending, President Obama is calling for yet another oppressive tax increase. House Republicans have passed legislation twice to avoid gutting defense and instead cut real government waste. Instead of working in good faith, President Obama is counting on tax hikes to fix the problem he caused and in the process will punish middle class families and small businesses. With less than 10 days left, President Obama should get serious about our nation’s $16 trillion debt by cutting spending responsibly.” Pentagon impact Asked about the $46 billion in spending cuts to the Pentagon, Young explained, “Republicans remain ardent proponents of national security. It’s not quite the same thing as being ardent defenders of the Pentagon.” Young added that little effort has been made to explore the mission of the Department of Defense in the coming years and then designing a budget to meet those needs. “In a world of ideal Washington policy making, you would ideally make cuts to the defense budget in conjunction with strategy,” Young said. “Former Secretary (Robert) Gates said not long ago, ‘We’re prepared to cut defense spending in this budget. But first you’ve got to tell us where you no longer want to go and what missions you no longer want us to perform.’ That sort of strategic analysis has not been forthcoming from the administration. That’s the job of the Commander-in-Chief.” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday that 800,000 civilian jobs would be lost. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported that 170 jobs at the Air Guard base would be lost. “There is no mistaking that the rigid nature of the cuts forced upon this department, and their scale, will result in a serious erosion of readiness across the force,” Panetta said in a memo. Visclosky, the Merrillville Democrat, told the NWI Times that America’s armed forces and border security will be especially hard hit by the “mindless” cuts, which apply across all government spending regardless of importance. “The safety and security of the American people should not be bargaining chips in high-stakes budget negotiations,” Visclosky told the Times. “Instead of mindlessly cutting defense and border security programs that keep Americans safe from harm, we must make thoughtful, deliberate decisions about the country’s fiscal future.” But Rokita emphasizes, “We’re talking about a 3% reduction in the government budget and that doesn’t negate the coming increases. The federal government will take in $2.7 trillion in taxes in 2013, an all-time record.” So as members of the Indiana delegation began weighing in, President Obama was lining up TV interviews with local stations and stumping in campaign style events, believing that public opinion will ultimately back his position and potentially damage the GOP brand further. A new Pew Research Poll released Wednesday shows 40% of Americans say it would be better to let the automatic spending cuts go into effect, while 49% say it would be better to delay the cuts. Both Republicans and independents are divided evenly over which approach is better, and even among Democrats, roughly a third favor letting the sequester take effect over any delays. Gallup had congressional approval at just 15% on Tuesday, with Obama’s job approve/disapprove at 51/42%. Rasmussen Reports had Obama approval/disapprove at 52/46%. A Bloomberg News Poll has Obama’s approval at 55%, a three-year high, compared to 35% for GOP lawmakers. CBS Political Director John Dickerson observed, “The White House thinks they have the upper hand. Polling shows the President with a much better approval rating than Congress.” Speaking while surrounded by first responders on Tuesday, President Obama said that the military and local emergency personnel would be hurt “if Congress allows this meat-cleaver approach to take place.” “Changes like this affect our responsibility to respond to threats in unstable parts of the world,” Obama said. “These cuts are not smart, they are not fair, they will hurt our economy, they will add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls. This is not an abstraction – people will lose their jobs.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a list of potential effets on Indiana: Sequester would cut 23,942 jobs in Indiana; it would cost Hoosiers $1.2 billion in total lost income; 13,800 mothers and young children would lose access to food assistance and critical health care; 4,300 fewer children would receive vaccinations; 30,000 fewer women, children and families would receive critical preventive health care. A balanced approach Young noted that Obama has called for a “balanced approach” and observed, “We just saw a massive tax increase at the first of this year, much of it on middle class families” he said of the payroll tax. “We’ve got a middle class tax increase in the Obama health care plan. We’re looking at the other side of the balanced approach which is spending reductions. We’re just not getting what we’re looking for. “I believe I speak for the majority of our conference in this regard. We have no problem with and enthusiastically embrace the notion that we need to close a lot of deductions, eliminate some credits that benefit only narrow interests at the expense of other Americans. But Republicans prefer to do tax reform in a comprehensive manner, meaning putting every single provision in the corporate code and individual code on the table, and then negotiating in good faith in the end with Democrats to come up with a bipartisan, comprehensive plan.” Young said there is little difference between Democrats and Republicans on tax simplification and broadening the base. “There are differences where we end up on breaks,” Young added. “Republicans want a 25% corporate rate,” noting that the U.S. has the highest rate (35%) in the industrialized world, and a 25% personal rate (now at 39.6%). Risks and payoffs Americans are entering uncharted territory here. There has been speculation that the military will be harmed, the stock market – now near record heights – could tank, that we could face a double-dip recession, that the jobless rate will spike upward. Rep. Young said that he’s hearing far more from constituents on the gun violence proposals in the wake of Newtown, Conn. Rokita said that he’s hearing equally from constituents on guns and sequester. “What I’m hearing is, ‘Stay the course.’ he said. No one in the Indiana delegation is holding out much hope that sequester will be avoided. Republicans are seeking leverage. Democrats believe a rigid GOP will simply inflict even more damage on their brand. It will be interesting to see whether the public and the credit rating agencies will equate sequester with the government shutdown of 1995. The one notion that might bring consensus is: This is a lousy way to govern, but few offer a compelling path to find the right way.
Feb 21, 2013
Union Landscape Continues to Change
Nearly everyone likes lists. Most people (we're making a bit of an assumption here) enjoy some aspect of flying — the convenience, the free peanuts when you get them, having an empty seat next to you.
Feb 15, 2013
Release - Rokita Votes to Freeze Bloated Federal Employee Pay, Override Obama-Ordered Raise
U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita today released the following statement after casting his vote in support of the Federal Employee Pay Freeze Act, H.R. 273, which passed the House of Representatives with a 261-154 vote.
Feb 12, 2013
Release - Rokita: President Obama “Offers More Empty Promises”
Rep. Rokita's response to the State of the Union offered by the president on February 12, 2013.
Feb 7, 2013
Release - Rokita Fights for Hoosier Jobs; Cosponsors Medical Device Repeal
U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, a member of the House Budget Committee and the House Medical Technology Caucus, cosponsored legislation introduced yesterday to repeal the job-killing Medical Device Tax that was included as part of ObamaCare.
Feb 1, 2013
Release - Rokita on Jobs Report: Washington Should Follow Indiana’s Lead with Pro-Growth Policies
U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, a member of the House Budget Committee, today issued the following statement on the Department of Labor’s report on the January employment numbers:
Jan 26, 2013
DOUG ROSS: Uncertainty hurts economy, that's for certain
If Congress and President Barack Obama were serious about wanting to stimulate the economy, the best thing they could do is end the uncertainty over taxes and spending. If you don't believe me, just listen to some local business leaders.
Jan 25, 2013
Release - Rokita: Federal Court Made Right Call on Obama Labor Appointments, in Line with January 2012 Letter
Rep. Todd Rokita today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Appeals Court decision that ruled ‘recess’ appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by President Obama in 2012 were unconstitutional. In January 2012, Rokita led 26 House colleagues in the 112th Congress in sending a letter to the president in protest of the appointments, calling them “unconstitutional and an egregious display of executive overreach.”
Jan 23, 2013
Labor Unions: Declining Membership Shows Labor Laws Need Modernizing
Union density in the American workplace fell to another new post–World War II low of 11.3 percent in 2012. Private-sector union membership fell to 6.6 percent—less than when President Franklin Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
Jan 4, 2013
Release - Rokita: Getting Fiscal House in Order is Only Way to Ensure Real Economic Growth
U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita today issued the following statement on the December 2012 jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
