rssWhat Health Care Debate?
Thursday, October 08, 2009 at 1:31 pm
- 8 Comments
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne today joins the ranks of those predicting that, a year from now, the health care debate will be a distant memory, lost in the raging political scuffle over who’s to blame for rampant unemployment.
While official Washington and much of the media focus on the great health-care struggle, the administration’s economic advisers have been busy reviewing proposals to create jobs, aware that pressure on them will grow to deal with high unemployment that threatens to persist through Election Day next year. President Obama’s aides insist that they knew all along that the original stimulus, as one of them put it, would “never fill the full gap from the recession.” Whether or not they anticipated this, they’re planning to act, even though — for political reasons — what comes next will not be called “a second stimulus.”
Instead, Democratic leaders are eying proposals more likely to gather support on both sides of the aisle, including an extension of the $8,000 new homebuyers’ tax credit, additional funding for unemployment insurance, Medicaid and food stamp assistance, and perhaps the launch of a new tax credit for businesses that hire new workers.
It won’t be easy. While employment figures are always among the last indicators to rebound from recession, the extent of the current job losses has caught many economists off guard. Indeed, the Labor Department last week revealed that employers shed 263,000 more workers than they hired last month, bumping the country’s unemployment rate to a 26-year-high of 9.8 percent. And experts on both sides of the aisle are predicting that the numbers will remain elevated through 2010.
If those projections play out, then the thorniest debates on the campaign trail a year from now will have very little to do with health care reform.
8 Comments
Pingback posted October 8, 2009 @ 1:40 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TMC Member Feed. TMC Member Feed said: Wash. Independent: What Health Care Debate?: Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne today join.. http://bit.ly/kcS6h [...]
Pingback posted October 8, 2009 @ 3:30 pm
[...] post: What Health Care Debate? « The Washington Independent Share and [...]
Pingback posted October 8, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
[...] more here: What Health Care Debate? « The Washington Independent Comments [...]
Pingback posted October 8, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
[...] What Health Care Debate? « The Washington Independent [...]
Pingback posted October 8, 2009 @ 5:39 pm
[...] post: What Health Care Debate? « The pedagogue Independent Posted in Health, Uncategorized | Tags: a-year-from, bill, blame-for, Health, not-increase, [...]
Comment posted October 9, 2009 @ 8:42 am
Rather than unemployment, the focus will be “how is the economy doing”
Everyone understands that employers don't start hiring until the economy has turned around.
So, as long as the economy looks like it's on the mend, voters know that it's just a matter of time before hiring starts to pick up.
If the economy keeps heading the way it is now, those of us who have been hurt by this recession will not be interested in voting to change directions mid stream.
If it ain't broke…don't fix it.
Comment posted October 26, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
END THE UNNATURAL MONOPOLY.
Dear Republicians:
You believe in “free market”, right. Monopoly equals restricted market, in favor of status quo and is exactly opposite of free market. End the unnatural monopoly created by congress for the health insurance industry to rape the public.
Dear Barack:
“Now hope has set us free, randsom paid in lives
I'm the first one to agree, our nation can still thrive.
With destiny in our hands, we curtain-called for you
to represent and understand what we know is true.
YES WE CAN change the world today
TAKE A LOOK AT MY RESUME …..”
http://www.sassyalternativemusic.com/downloads.
When are you going to be the change you promised? Seems like politics as usual to me.
and “Incite Social Evolution” and “Fiat Greed”.
Comment posted September 5, 2010 @ 1:09 pm
Its refreshing to come across a blog with such unique, interesting content.The internet is bogged down with bogus blogs with no real message but the post was fantastic and well worth the read.Thank you for sharing this with me.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
