Humble Submission For the CAP-Inclusion Debate

Responding to the new CAP anti-poverty plan, the folks at Inclusionist.org have started up an interesting debate on how to talk about, think about, and address poverty. This post should get you caught up. Call me a kool-aid drinker, but I'm taken in by the Inclusionist people. I like the way they think, perhaps more so than the way they name things. I mean, the term "inclusion" just sounds too social, when we're really talking about pocketbook, security, and opportunity issues. Their work's cut out for them on that front, if they ever want the term and their definition of it to become mainstream.

read in full

Free Market Follies: The Medicare Advantage Program

Kevin Drum, commenting on a New York Times story about a Medicare program that pays private insurers more per patient than they pay directly to doctors:

read in full

There May Be Problems with the Baucus Amdt., But...

This today from CTJ: Congress Considers Taking Money from Social Security to Extend Tax Breaks

read in full

Responsibility in Lending

Responding to the subprime lending market meltdown, Charles Schumer (D-NY) is proposing legislation that would give $300 million to community groups that can help troubled borrowers restructure their mortgage debt. And not only would Shcumer's bill change some mortgage lending regulations, it asks for mortgage lenders to kick in $600 million of their funds. Of course mortgage lenders, as spoken for by Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman John M. Robbins, are having none of this.

read in full

Democrats Weigh Supp. 2.0 "A La Carte" Funding

An AP story this morning, Democrats not backing down on Iraq, not only flatly contradicts yesterday's Washington Post front-page headline, which drew a blog swat from us. It also details the short-term, "a la carte" approaches now under consideration by various House leaders. Under another a la catre plan, military functions would get funds identified as money for "troops," through Sept. 30. But it would guarantee other funding, generally described as "combat" functions, for only two months and create a mechanism for fencing off funding for those operations beyond mid-July.

read in full

BudgetBlog - Now in RSS!

If you use a newsreader, you can subscribe the BudgetBlog. You can find the feed here. RSS? What's that?

read in full

Tax, Spend and PAYGO

Chris Hayes of The Nation writes that state politicians are "taxing and spending," and being rewarded for it. Will their success encourage Washington to do likewise?

read in full

Michigan to Cut Medicaid

Medicaid cuts in Michigan... Paulette Howell's son receives treatment for cerebral palsy through Medicaid. Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed 6 percent cut across the board in state Medicaid funding has created a wave of fear among the disabled and family members like Howell that it'll be harder to get treatment. "It's a dangerous situation for people who are disabled," said Howell, 58, of Waterford Township. Medicaid pays for the treatments for her 35-year-old son, Joe.

read in full

Budget Resolution: Timing and Issues

Word on the Hill is that House and Senate negotiators are close enough to a final agreement on a joint budget resolution for confereees to be appointed and to meet next week, and for appropriations bills to start moving on the House floor the week of May 14. House budget resolution conferees are expected to be appointed next Monday, May 7. According to Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND), the Senate will do likewise on May 9.

read in full

Sinkholes: Sign of the Apocalypse, or Result of Diminished Taxbase and Inadequate Investments in Public Infrastructure?

Rick Perlstein over at the Campaign for America's Future is keeping a watchful eye on a growing epidemic of sinkholes opening up all over the country. Decaying water and sewer pipes are to blame. Yes, sinkholes. Yes, in America. Yes, it's weird and gross. Perlstein also makes the connection to the anti-tax movement, in the sense that a smaller tax base has diminished the capacity of government to respond to public needs, like having level ground that doesn't cave in.

read in full

Pages

Subscribe to The Fine Print: blog posts from Center for Effective Government