ACA Repeal Puts Pennsylvanians Who Work for Large Corporations At Risk

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

The New Version of the GOP Health Care Bill Is Even Worse Than the Last One

Marc Stier | 04/26/2017 Blog Having failed to enact a plan that would lead 24 million Americans and 1.1 million in PA to lose health insurance, the House Republicans have returned with a new amendment, proposed by Representative Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), which would lead to larger losses.   Though this new proposal is being touted as a compromise between moderate and far-right Republicans, in reality, it is a surrender to the demands of those on the right who have repeatedly rejected the notion that the risks of illness should be shared by all of us, young and old, healthy and sick. The new proposal would place the burden of health care on those who, because of their age or medical condition, find that burden most difficult to bear: It allows states to opt-out of the rule that prohibits insurance companies from charging people with pre-existing medical conditions more. It allows states… Continue reading

Limitations on the State and Local Tax Deduction Hurt Pennsylvania in Two Ways

A major issue in the debate over the Republican tax cut bill is whether the deduction for state and local taxes (the SALT deduction) should be eliminated or reduced. The conference committee bill released on Friday proposes a “compromise” that would allow individuals to deduct up to $10,000 in some combination of state and local property and income or sales taxes. That compromise is deeply problematic for Pennsylvania and many Pennsylvanians, in two different ways. First, substantial numbers of upper middle-class Pennsylvanians will see their taxes go up as a result of the limitation on state and local tax deductions in the conference committee bill. These taxpayers are likely to be concentrated in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where a high percentage of taxpayers take the state and local deduction. Second, the state as a whole will suffer because the limitation on the state and local tax deduction will make it… Continue reading

New Data, Good News: Health Care

Most news is bad news. And political campaigns are more likely to flag what is wrong with our country than what is right with it. So, it’s not surprising that in the heat of a presidential election, we are more focused on what is wrong with our country than what is right with it. But as the federal government updates its statistics on income, poverty, and health care this week, we can take a moment to appreciate the good news—government at the federal and state level has been increasingly successful at encouraging prosperity. We start today with health care. The Affordable Care Act remains controversial and even those of us who support it recognize that further reforms are needed to guarantee that quality health care remains affordable to everyone. There can be little doubt that the ACA is working in Pennsylvania and beyond. Between those who bought health insurance on… Continue reading

Campaign Contributions and the Gun Control Issue

Here is a good exercise for those of you who think campaign contributions are the most important barrier to progressive legislation. How many of you would not vote for a candidate who agreed with you about everything else if they were wrong about gun control? How many of you would not vote for a candidate who agreed with you about everything else if they were wrong about abortion? I know there are a lot fewer of you in the second category than you think at first because Bob Casey is our Senator. We can’t get gun control through Congress because there are a lot of voters who would not vote for a candidate, especially in a Republican primary but also in a general election, if they support gun control. What the NRA does is not buy members of Congress but mislead those intense supporters of “gun rights” about the implications… Continue reading

Bernie Bros and Groupthink

I have been on the Philadelphia for Bernie Sanders 2016 page a bit in the last couple of days and I have to say that what I’m reading there is pretty horrifying. It includes the following claims: 1. Projections about how Bernie is going to win that are utterly crazy. Did you know that the polls are biased against Bernie and that, rather than being down ten points in California he is poised to beat Hillary 60%-40%? 2. Given how well Bernie is going to do in the last primaries, no candidate is going to have a majority of all delegates without super-delegates voters (which is barely conceiveable) which means that the convention is an open one and thus a majority of supervoters will turn to him. 3. That they should turn to him because he is clearly more electable nationally despite the fact that no one has actually raised all… Continue reading

The Responsibility for Trump

Even today 20% of American believe Obama was born outside the US and 29% of them believe he is a Muslim. (43% of Republicans believe he is a Muslim.) And my Republican / conservative friends, most of whom are reasonable and moderate, if conservative, people, still want to insist that opposition to Obama is just to the policies he puts forward and not the result of bigotry. I’ve got one thing to say to you: If you would have stood up and beat this back when you had a chance, instead of taking advantage of it, you would not be dealing with Trump’s imminent takeover of your party and the electoral devastation that is going to follow in November. And I predicted all of this, by the way. I told you that you would regret being quiet or, even worse, putting up all those stupid memes that echoed talking points… Continue reading

The Possibility of President Trump and the Limits of Nate Silver’s Thinking.

Google “Trump could win” and you will find out something I told you about two months ago, Trump has a real chance to win the Republican nomination. Nate Silver is still holding out. But as I’ll point out below, I think he is reasons are specious Why could Trump win? For all the reasons I’ve been saying. 1. His message resonates with a substantial part of the Republican electorate which is motivated by racial and anti-feminist resentment, and fear of a world that seems untethered, not economic issues. His tough guy act gives his angry, scared followers some faith that he will be leader who will protect them and stand up for them. Trump is making a classic fascist appeal and, given the circumstances of American life today, it is finding some resonance in about a third of the Republican electorate. 2. His lead in the polls-which he has sustained… Continue reading

Why I’m With Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz

Nate Kleinman, a former staffer for Josh Shapiro and activist with Occupy Philly, has decided to challenge Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz in the Democratic primary. I know Nate a little and he seems like a decent, smart guy. But I think he is making a terrible mistake. Normally I would just ignore his challenge, since I don’t think Nate will make much headway against Congresswoman Schwartz. But, as I will point out below, even the small distraction Nate may create is a problem for progressives and Democrats not just here but across the country. And as I will also point out, this is a revealing moment in our politics and a good opportunity for us to think through what progressive Democrats both in and outside of Congress should be doing and saying now. When primary challenges are a good idea I don’t oppose progressives running in primaries against Democrats who consistently… Continue reading

Why Occupy Philadelphia Needs to Continue

In the last few months, the Occupy Movement has had a dramatic impact on politics in America. At a time when even Democratic politicians and progressive newspapers have shied away from raising critical issues of inequality in income, wealth, and power, the Occupy Wall Street has moved them to the forefront of our public debates. Last week I joined a group from Occupy Philadelphia in a meeting at Senator Casey office in Washington. The Senator’s staff talked about the importance of the movement to their efforts on behalf of working people. Monday evening in Mt. Airy, Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz also praised the movement and pointed out that it has given new national prominence to the needs of cities. Now, after the city and its newspapers have been so supportive of Occupy Philadelphia, it is sad to see both Mayor Nutter and the Daily News turn against it. The arguments they… Continue reading