Day: July 24, 2012

Be Careful What You Ask For: CBO Tells Boehner That Obamacare Saves Money and Its Repeal Would Cost More

Trish
BoehnerCry
Don't cry, John!

Pity poor John Boehner. The Republican House Speaker from Ohio asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which exists to measure all things mathematical for the legislative branch, how much the most recent bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act would save.

The answer? Nada. In fact, the CBO found that the ACA will decrease the deficit while its repeal would increase it. Here are parts of the letter sent to the honorable JB.

As you requested, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have estimated the direct spending and revenue effects of H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on July 11, 2012…

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Can Romney Win the Presidency with a Favorable Rating in the 30s, Cont’d.

Jon Ponder

chart-romney-favorables

Can a candidate — any candidate — whose favorables or likability consistently polls in the high 20s and low 30s be elected president? We have asked this question recently (here and here) as it relates Mitt Romney, recently, and now Kevin Drum at Mother Jones addresses it in a post titled, “Romney’s Big Problem: People Just Don’t Like Him Much”:

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The King of the Back-Handed Endorsements

Buck Banks

Mr. Carnahan is a plodder, but his record shows little evidence of corruption. He hasn’t been as effective as Mr. Clay in bringing home the bacon to his constituents, but he hasn’t sold out his constituents, either. We choose the plodder over the pal of predatory profiteers.

— The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, endorsing Rep. Russ Carnahan (D) over Rep. Lacy Clay (D) in their primary battle with, to say the least, faint praise indeed.

Americans Fed Up with Negative Campaigns

Buck Banks

78%

Of Americans say they are “frustrated” by the tone of political campaigns and 74% believe that the tone of political campaigns has “gotten more negative” than in past election years, according to a new Marist poll. In addition, 66% believe candidates spend more time criticizing their opponents than addressing the issues, while almost as many (64%) say negative campaign ads “harm the political process” either “a great deal” or “a significant amount.” And by a nearly 20 point margin (56% to 37%), the public says the tone of political campaigns is “mostly uncivil and disrespectful.”

Nearly Half of All Bottled Water Comes from a Municipal Tap

Buck Banks

40%

Of all bottled water comes from a city water system (tap water), according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. According to Food and Water Watch, bottled water produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. That plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year to produce. While some bottles do get recycled, over 80% of plastic bottles are simply thrown away.

NYT: California Republican Party ‘Caught in Cycle of Decline’

Jon Ponder

The slow-mo death spiral of the California Republican Party may have accelerated last week with the release of three separate economic reports. First, a new jobs report found that 38,300 net new jobs were added in California in June, with gains in most industries, including construction and professional services. Next, a report from Zillow indicated that house prices nationwide appear to have bottomed out and have risen slightly over the past four months, while another report found that the number of California homes entering foreclosure was down to 2007 levels. And finally, an assessment of commercial real-estate trends suggests that the office market appears to be bouncing back in Southern California.

Analysts predict the California Republican Party could drop to No. 3 in six years, behind Democrats, who currently make up 43 percent, and independent voters, with 21 percent.

This is all worrisome news for state GOP leaders who have pinned their strategy for turning around their party’s woes on hopes that the state will continue to suffer under a stagnant economy. Unfortunately for California Republicans, they do not have enough seats in the Legislature to deliberately obstruct economic recovery in the state as their counterparts in Washington have done to the national economy.

Making all that just a wee bit worse, just what the California GOP didn’t need — publicity. The national media — in this case, the New York Times’ Adam Nagourney — has noticed that the state party is withering on the vine:

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