Jobs Bill Will Help Reverse Deficit, Say Senate Democrats

The Senate continued to look for ways on Wednesday to muster the votes needed to pass a jobs bill filled with tax breaks, unemployment benefits and aid packages to states.

With the House having passed a jobs bill before the Memorial Day recess, Senate Democrats this week have proposed making changes to their bill, such as restoring $24 billion in Medicaid funds, money that was dropped from the House’s package. Additionally, in a move designed to court moderate support, the Senate bill now features a softer approach on taxing investments than does its counterpart legislation.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) called on both parties to put aside their differences and bring relief to folks struggling to make ends meet.

“Families are going through an emotional roller-coaster...and everyone knows around here that nothing is done in the Senate anymore without a filibuster, or two or three...It’s pretty outrageous.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said the bill would extend provisions within other bills -- most notably the Recovery Act -- that have “already changed the direction from a huge hemorrhaging of jobs...to several months of job growth.”

"We’ve gotta keep the pedal to the metal, we can’t now pull back,” Reed added.

At stake are several programs that need funding legislation to stay alive. In addition to the Medicaid dollars for states, there are matching $23 billion initiatives to prevent education layoffs and to reimburse physicians that accept Medicare. Stabenow said she supports the so-called “Doc-Fix,” and added that she plans on putting forth an amendment to extend COBRA benefits for the unemployed. She also downplayed concerns that the bill, totaling over $100 billion in cost, would add to the nation’s already-massive deficit.

“The reality is that this legislation is part of turning things around and I would argue lowering the deficit,” she said. “When people are working, they are paying taxes...and that’s part of how you lower the deficit.”

Republicans, however, say Americans should be skeptical of Democratic attempts to spark economic recovery and take on the ballooning budget. In an email to Talk Radio News Service on Wednesday, Parish Braden, a spokesman for the RNC, took aim at Reed, calling him an irresponsible steward of his struggling state.

“Senator Reed isn’t up for reelection and has the luxury of not having to match facts to his rhetoric," Braden said. "It’s odd that the Senator would hold a news conference on the Democrats’ efforts to cut taxes and create jobs seeing as Rhode Island has lost over 18,000 jobs since the ‘stimulus’ became law and unemployment has jumped from 9.9% to 12.6% in the same period.

According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor, Rhode Island and Michigan possess two of the nation's four highest state unemployment rates.

New Report Calls For Social Security Reforms

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A new report commissioned by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) says that in order to keep the Social Security system stable, the Social Security Administration must lift the cap on the earnings from which workers and employers pay Social Security taxes, broaden the base for Social Security taxes and gradually lower some future benefits.

“We have to open the debate up and take the kind of fresh look that’s going to help us reshape our retirement income framework to do a better job overall. We want to push forward the social security part of that debate,” Janice Gregory, president of NASI, said Friday.

The report goes on to recommend balance in Social Security’s future finances, such as scheduling modest rate increases in the future when funds will be needed and dedicating progressive taxes to pay part of Social Security’s future costs.

Admiral Mullen: Our Future Is Guaranteed If We Take Care Of Our People

By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service

“Our future is guaranteed from a national standpoint If we take care of our people,” according to Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This was one of the central points of Admiral Mullen’s talk on the “Future of Global Engagement” at the Brookings Institution today.

Afghani presidential elections coming up in August are forcing the U.S. military to draft a report on the effectiveness of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.

In addition, the law passed by Afghani President Hamid Karzai which prohibits a woman from refusing sexual intercourse with her husband may have signaled the need for yet more work and presence from the troops, implying the road is still long for the soldiers who are stationed there.

On his priorities, Mullen said, “The main effort right now is in Afghanistan. Increase the growth of the Army and the Marine Corps. But now those forces must be put together to rotate in the theater.”

Mullen added that because of the need for troops in different missions, “The numbers (of repeated deployments per soldier) we are getting right now are 3 and 4 but we’ve talked to families that are on their fifth and sixth deployment.”

“Even in our eighth year of war we’re in the beginning of getting at what I consider to be a debt that needs to be repaid for those sacrifices (by the troops), it’s for injuries seen but it’s also for injuries unseen,” said Mullen.

Mullen said that “what we should buy for their future is to make sure we get it right for our people, that’s health care, that’s housing, that's benefits, that's the compensation packages, that's the bonuses... that's where I spend an awful lot of my time with the services chief."

House Social Security subcommittee hearing on Social Security benefits for economically vulnerable beneficiaries

The Social Security subcommittee held a meeting this morning to review proposals aimed at advocating policy changes to Social Security benefits for the needs of financially vulnerable Americans like low-income workers, elderly widows, people with disabilities, and some public employees.

Most of the panel members were promoting the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 147) of 2005 by Rep Howard McKeon [R, CA] with Senate companion S. 169 by Senator Diane Feinstein [D, CA], which aims to repeal two federal pension offsets that school employees have taken a huge hit from. For example, witness Peg Cagle, a public school teacher in Los Angeles, left her job in the private sector for a fulfilling career as a teacher; however, because of her transition, she now fears losing all of her social security benefits when she retires.

While members disagreed on the measures that should be taken to modify the current system, there was agreement amongst participants that the system is imbalanced. According to the Acting Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs, David A. Rust, the extent of Social Security coverage varies from state to state. For example, he noted that in Vermont, only 3% of employees are not covered by social security, where as in Ohio, 97% of employees are not covered.

Committee members also agreed that the economic challenges the country faces make it more difficult for the Bush administration to respond to Social Security reform. The committee will work on reaching a bipartisan measure that increases Social Security funding between 5 to 80 billion dollars during a 10 year period.