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Morning Briefing
For January 3, 2014
1. Death, Taxes, and Obamacare
Democrats
plan to make 2014 about the minimum wage. Several news reports suggest
the party plans to coordinate with unions to get ballot initiatives
going around the nation to raise the minimum wage. They think this will
incentivize turn out for them in 2014. It is an admission against
interest they think Obamacare is hurting them.
It is also foolhardy. Gay marriage
initiatives drove Christian conservatives out to vote for President Bush
and against gay marriage in 2004. Barack Obama is not on the ballot in
2014. There is no guarantee people will turn out to vote for the minimum
wage and there is no guarantee, even if they did, that they’d also vote
for a Democrat for Congress who will keep Obamacare.
As best the Democrats might try to change the subject, the horror stories about Obamacare will keep coming. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. Things Go From Bad To Worse As UAW’s General Shoots New Wife
Just
when UAW Vice President General Holiefield probably thought things
couldn’t get any worse, he goes and accidentally shoots his new wife.
Just two days before the New Year, Monday
night’s accident marks what must have been a tough two years for the
UAW’s vice president in charge of the union’s Chrysler Division.
In 2011, General Holifield, was arrested in a domestic ‘incident’ involving his now-ex wife. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3. New Year Opens With Big Spending Bang
Congress plans to kick off the new legislative session the same way it ended the last one. They will continue to spend more money.
When
Congress voted on the Ryan-Murray budget deal before adjourning for
Christmas, members were only signing off on the topline discretionary
spending figures, not the individual accounts for all the departments
and agencies. They agreed to repeal part of the sequester for the next two years. Consequently,
discretionary spending will increase from $967 billion to an annualized
level of $1.012 trillion for the remainder of FY 2014. Congress
will now work on passing an omnibus bill with 12 appropriations bills
rolled up in one massive piece of legislation, which will reflect the
topline figure in the Ryan-Murray deal. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4. Incentives to work
Michael Strain at National Affairs has a long article in which he proposes “A Jobs Agenda For the Right.” Much
of his effort is devoted to getting conservatives comfortable with
smart, limited macroeconomic stimulus spending, rather than opposing all
such spending on principle. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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