Category: Politics

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PRESS MEMO: New Estimates of the Loss of Federal Funding to Pennsylvania from the Senate Health Care Bill

  By ACA, Health Care, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center, US

The Manatt Health Group and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have released a study on the impact of the Senate health care bill, the Better Reconciliation Act of 2017, on the states. Their estimates of the impact of the bill confirms our recent study showing that Pennsylvania will suffer devastating reductions in federal funding for Medicaid. It also offers some more fine-grained detail on the nature of these reductions. MEMO To: Editorial Page Editors, Editorial Board Members, Columnists, and Other Interested Parties From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Date: July 7, 2017 Re: New Estimates of the Loss of Federal Funding to Pennsylvania from the Senate Health Care Bill The Manatt Health Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have released a new study of the impact of the Senate health care bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, on the states. Their estimates of the impact of the bill confirms… Continue reading

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The Republicans Of My Youth Didn’t Encourage Vice

  By Politics, US

Marc Stier | 06/30/2017 Blog Note: This is the second of two pieces on the Republicans of my youth.. Part II: Encouraging Vice The Republicans of my youth were not only men of fiscal rectitude, they were men of moral rectitude. I can’t say what they did in private. I’m sure some of them drank from time to time and some drank too much. They probably also gambled from time to time either on a trip to Las Vegas or at the local trotter track, or maybe with a local bookie. But in public they frowned on these vices. They believed that people had a right to make their own choices, but they believed that government had a responsibility to direct people away from behavior that could be dangerous to themselves or others.   And they certainly didn’t think the government should be encouraging drinking or gambling. When the lottery… Continue reading

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The Republicans of My Youth Didn’t Borrow to Balance Budgets

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Politics, US

First of two pieces of why I miss the Republicans of my youth.  There are times when I miss the old-fashioned Republicans of my youth, in the small-town America in which I grew up, about 40 miles over the Pennsylvania border in rural New York. Those mostly Protestant Republicans were the bankers, the insurance agents, the ministers, as well as many of the doctors and lawyers. They were a little stiff and formal in their suits and ties, horn-rimmed glasses, grey suits and deep voices—and the hats they all wore in the early 60s. They were men (no women were among them) who carried themselves with an easy dignity and a concern for propriety. Some of them were no doubt louts or adulterers behind closed doors. Some drank too much in private—or sometimes even in public in the evening. Some may have cheated in business or on their taxes. But… Continue reading

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Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

  By PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Taxation, US

Sam Brownback became governor of Kansas in 2010 just as Tom Corbett became governor of Pennsylvania. Brownback and Corbett, with the help of Republican majorities in their legislatures, embarked on an extremist Wizard of Oz economic agenda of cutting taxes, especially for large businesses, and reducing spending on education and human services. Spending as a share of the state’s economy dropped by 10% in our state. Faced with slow economic growth, stark budget deficits, and citizens who were demanding better public services, a bi-partisan majority in the legislature in Kansas this week stood up for common sense against Wizard of Oz extremism and, over Brownback’s veto, rolled back many of those tax cuts. Is this the year that state legislators in Pennsylvania also embrace common sense and reject extremism?   Continue reading

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Pennsylvania’s Budget Choices This Year

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget, Take political action

As we head into what everyone hopes will be the last month of the Pennsylvania budget season, this is a good moment to take stock of where we are and what’s at stake in the decisions the governor and General Assembly will make this year. Doing so will also explain why the Pennsylvania’s Choice campaign is urging people to attend a tele-town hall on the budget at 7:15 on June 1, a budget rally at noon on June 5 in Harrisburg, and lobbying days later in the month. (More information and registration for these events can be found here.) Continue reading

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It’s Not Just a Number but Lives–the CBO Score of the AHCA

  By Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Tump, US

Originally published at ThirdandState. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of the Republican health care plan, the ACHA, released today shows the danger of Congressional action in advance of a serious analysis of the impact of legislation. Though it was touted as a new and improved version of the bill that failed in March, the CBO analysis shows the bill that passed the House is no better, and in some ways, far worse. The CBO estimates that, at the end of ten years, 23 million fewer Americans will have health insurance because of the legislation, which is one million less than the estimate of their earlier bill. Most of the lost health insurance created by the AHCA is the result of the slow repeal of the Medicaid expansion and the replacement of the federal entitlement to traditional Medicaid by a per-capita cap on federal funding of the program. These devastating… Continue reading

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Terrorism Will Get Nowhere in Great Britain

  By Great Britain, International politics, Terrorism

I’m listening to the BBC and marveling at the resolve and sensibility of the folks in Manchester. Young women are saying, “Some things we can’t control. So we just go about our lives.” If there are any people who history shows can’t be terrorized it is the English, Welsh, and Scots. They have stood guard at the gates of our civilization before and never given up. Continue reading

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Another Term for Alan Butkovitz

  By 2017 Controller race, Philadelphia

In all excitement about the DA’s race, a lot of Philadelphians have not paid much attention to the Controller’s race, also on the ballot. My choice in that race, as it was four years ago, is Alan Butkovtiz. Four years ago I wrote this in support of him against an opponent who had a strong record as an independent thinker on budget matters: “If you actually read the reports of our Controllers, as I have for many years, you will see that under Alan Butkovitz, the office of the Controller has done some exemplary work. His report on emergency medical response and the follow up reports are fabulous (and address an issue I care a great deal about and campaigned on in 2007.) He’s revelations of corruption in the Sherriff’s office has led to criminal investigations and civil action to recover millions of dollars. He’s issued many other reports pointing to wasteful spending and sources… Continue reading

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About That Letter About Larry

  By 2017 DA Race, Philadelphia, Politics

  There is a letter from 12 “former Assistant DAs” calling on voters not to vote for Larry Krasner on the grounds that he has never been a prosecutor, that he has been misleading in criticizing the culture of the District Attorney’s office, and that our safety will be at risk. Not only do I not find the letter plausible, for a number of reasons, large and small, the more I read it and learn about those who signed it the more appalled by it I get. To start with the big reasons. First, we don’t need to take Larry Krasner’s word for the problems in the DA’s office. There is plenty of independent evidence. We know that mass incarceration, especially of black men, is a serious problem across America and the rate of incarceration in Philadelphia is among the highest in the country. We know that the Philadelphia DA’s… Continue reading

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ACA Repeal Puts Pennsylvanians Who Work for Large Corporations At Risk

  By ACA, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, US

The disastrous implications of the GOP health care bill are becoming ever more apparent, especially for those who get their insurance from large national corporations. Under the bill, even if Pennsylvania does not opt-out of the federal essential benefits regulation, large multi-state employers could choose to deny Pennsylvanians coverage for pre-existing medical conditions or particular conditions, such as pregnancy. Or they could impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage. Over 62% of Pennsylvanians have employer-based coverage, one of the highest rates in the country. Millions of Pennsylvanians get their insurance from large, multi-state corporations that also operate in states that are likely to opt-out of the federal essential benefit rule. So all of these scenarios could happen: Someone from Pittsburgh who works for Wal-Mart gets pregnant and discovers that pregnancy is not covered by Wal-Mart’s health insurance. When she leaves, she is responsible for the entire bill. A pregnancy with… Continue reading