Biz groups on health reformers: They’ll come around
Posted on November 10, 2009 at 9:34 amHealth care trade associations are betting the Senate version of the health reform will win out in the tussle to come.
Many of the House-passed provisions may end up missing from the version being spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. If the Senate passes a separate bill, it will have to be merged with the House plan, giving industries weeks or months to whittle away at policies they don’t like.
“Passage of the House bill is historic,” said Paul Heldman, a health-policy analyst with Potomac Research Group in Washington. “But there’s a whole other chapter in the debate yet to be written.”
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GNAR on tax credit extension
Posted on November 9, 2009 at 9:40 amHmm, the Realtors like it. Says Mike Nichols:
For homebuyers, it creates the opportunity to seriously consider purchasing a home based on the fact that this significant help is available. It is even better news that the program is now being made available at the reduced rate of $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their home for 5 years.
For the economy, it is especially meaningful. Much has been said about the housing market helping lead the way out of the current economic recession. Clearly, when people purchase homes, they often purchase other items to help furnish, equip and decorate their homes, so the impact is felt well beyond those directly involved in the actual home purchase transaction.
This is also very good news for Tennessee, as it was noted recently that this state is among the top users of the tax credit to date.
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Why you’re not hearing from hospitals in the reform debate
Posted on November 5, 2009 at 12:07 pm
A former CMS boss tells Blake Farmer they’re quite satisfied, thank you, with the lukewarm, wishy-washy way things appear to be going.
“If you really want to do the right thing and finance this thing and pay for it, hospitals should probably be taking a bigger hit as should probably a lot of the providers, but that’s not likely to happen.”
Methinks we’ll need a 12-step program for this
Posted on November 4, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Dylan Ratigan gets on the soapbox and outlines a few steps Congress should follow to overhaul ‘too big to fail’ and produce some real financial regulatory reform. Among the thoughts guiding his plan: “Fortunes should not be made in minutes, but over years.”
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Putting health care reform in its place
Posted on November 2, 2009 at 10:22 amBehind job creation policies, that is. Robert Reich says the president has spent his political capital on the wrong priority.
The optimist in me says Obama can pivot off a health-care victory and launch some new initiatives that palpably and quickly spur job growth. The realist says there aren’t any such initiatives — at least none that can work fast enough to reverse the tide of unemployment before the midterm elections.
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Billions more for transportation?
Posted on October 30, 2009 at 1:53 pm
TRG analyst Kathryn Thompson says the latest political posturing over infrastructure spending could push the conversation to a more productive place.
What does this all mean? Perhaps the biggest roadblock to transportation reauthorization debate has been lack of guidance from the White House. Durbin’s unique political position (i.e., Senate majority whip & close ties to Illinois based President Obama) could help bring to light to the Obama administration that the transportation bill is, in fact, a politically worthy cause to address sooner rather than later. Overall, it is clear that the pressure is mounting, driven by state DOTs, industry, and rising unemployment.
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Think it’s too late to have your say in the health reform debate?
Posted on at 7:23 amIt’s anticipated that the outcry we heard from the public in August will be nothing compared to November and early December. We’ll see.
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How Delek already is suffering from climate legislation
Posted on October 27, 2009 at 9:52 am
Consulting firm Wood Mackenzie says climate legislation now being considered spells big potential trouble for oil refiners because of the limited availability of free emission permits. That helps explain why shares of Delek US Holding have trailed the S&P by some 50 points in the past six months. Brentwood-based Delek has since the end of 2005 booked 62 percent of its unit-level profits from refining.
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New home appraisal rules put on ice
Posted on October 23, 2009 at 7:57 amAs part of their vote on a new consumer finance regulation bill on Thursday, lawmakers placed an 18-month moratorium on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, a controversial new(ish) rule that governs the home appraisal process. The HVCC separated the mortgage broker from the appraiser, who instead reported to the lender. Not surprisingly, the broker community reviles the rule, which they say adds time and cost to the loan closing process.
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Why health reform should be like the civil rights movement
Posted on October 4, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Kim Fox at Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock relays some thoughts from a prominent industry conference, where political analyst Paul Begala made the case for incrementalism in health reform.
SEE ALSO: Bob Corker’s thoughts on this idea from a month ago
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Technicality could put federal road funds beyond reach
Posted on September 29, 2009 at 1:19 pm
The National Governors Association recently wrote to lawmakers calling for quick legislastive action that would restore $9 billion in federal money earmarked for transportation projects.
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Pennsylvania budget woes could help Murfreesboro’s Harley push
Posted on September 15, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Pennsylvania state lawmakers have irked Gov. Ed Rendell by approving less than half of the economic development incentive money he had proposed. That, says the Keystone governor, won’t allow him to put together a package that will persuade Harley-Davidson to keep a 2,300-employee plant in the state. Murfreesboro is one of three other sites pitching to land the factory.
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Legislating green construction
Posted on September 10, 2009 at 6:58 am
Their prospects for wholesale passage aren’t great, but the various versions of climate-change legislation include ambitious targets for lowering the energy usage of residential and commercial buildings. Baker Donelson’s construction practice breaks them down and says that, “if passed, the House bill will no doubt significantly increase the usage of the LEED rating system because all new buildings will already be meeting many of its provisions anyway.”
SEE ALSO: Our recent story on the legalities of green construction going bad, something that builders and developers will have to deal with more in the future
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‘If the economy is this country’s engine, this proposed change is like refusing to use motor oil’
Posted on September 4, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Miller & Martin attorneys Joseph McCoin and Larry Bridgesmith say the core idea behind the Employee Free Choice Act now before Congress would open the door for unions to “use illegal tactics that drag one business into another unrelated business’ labor troubles.”
Organized labor and its cadre of commentators have repeatedly made claims about the ineffectiveness of the NLRB’s remedial provisions in deterring employer misconduct. It would take a healthy dose of hypocrisy or Pollyannaism for these same voices to suggest that weakening the remedial provisions that apply to organized labor would not also promote misconduct.
Steelworkers: Buy American
Posted on March 11, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Well, they would say that, right? A group of local union members will tomorrow deliver to Metro Council a petition supporting the Buy American spending plan that is part of the recently passed federal stimulus bill.
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