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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the White House’s rosy predictions for job growth, the Burr-Coburn Medicare reform plan, and what it will take to get real reform from Washington.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

White House predicts 2 million more jobs in 2012
Burr-Coburn: The Best Medicare Reform Proposal Yet
Coburn, Burr Unveil Plan to Save Medicare, the Seniors’ Choice Act

Follow Brad on Twitter
Follow Ben on Twitter
Follow Francis on Twitter

Subscribe to The Transom

The hosts and guests of Coffee and Markets speak only for ourselves, not any clients or employers.

Download audio here

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss the White House’s rosy predictions for job growth, the Burr-Coburn Medicare reform plan, and what it will take to get real reform from Washington.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

White House predicts 2 million more jobs in 2012
Burr-Coburn: The Best Medicare Reform Proposal Yet
Coburn, Burr Unveil Plan to Save Medicare, the Seniors’ Choice Act

Follow Brad on Twitter
Follow Ben on Twitter
Follow Francis on Twitter

Subscribe to The Transom

The hosts and guests of Coffee and Markets speak only for ourselves, not any clients or employers.

This week’s legislative schedule in both houses of Congress will provide Republicans (and faux moderate Democrats) a unique opportunity to efface farm welfare by eliminating ethanol credits/tariffs and direct farm subsidies.

On the House side, the annual Agriculture Appropriations bill is expected to hit the floor as early as Tuesday.  Earlier this month, the Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2012 Ag bill, cutting $2.6 billion from 2011 spending levels, and most notably, $686 million from the WIC program.  The committee also approved an amendment by Jeff Flake to cut off direct subsidies for farms owned by those with more than $250,000 in gross adjusted income.

The bill is a good start, however, there are still more cuts that need to be introduced during the floor amendment process.  The committee-passed bill appropriates $17.25 billion in discretionary spending, while providing an additional $116.9 billion in “mandatory spending”, for a total of $134.15 billion.  The USDA is one of the most profligate departments, surpassed only by HHS and DOD as the largest recipient of taxpayer dollars.  19% of all federal subsidies and welfare programs are promulgated from the USDA.  Most of the appropriations come from mandatory food subsidies and will need to be cut through welfare reform bills, but there is no reason why we should reauthorize so much spending in this bill.

In addition to the $5 billion in annual direct payments to farmers – predominantly those who grow corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and cotton – the federal government spends billions more for crop insurance, conservation and export programs, and marketing loans.  The $5 billion in direct subsidizes should be completely eliminated for all income levels, while the other programs should be seriously curtailed.

Ethanol will get its day of judgement in the Senate.

Read More →

This week’s legislative schedule in both houses of Congress will provide Republicans (and faux moderate Democrats) a unique opportunity to efface farm welfare by eliminating ethanol credits/tariffs and direct farm subsidies.

On the House side, the annual Agriculture Appropriations bill is expected to hit the floor as early as Tuesday.  Earlier this month, the Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2012 Ag bill, cutting $2.6 billion from 2011 spending levels, and most notably, $686 million from the WIC program.  The committee also approved an amendment by Jeff Flake to cut off direct subsidies for farms owned by those with more than $250,000 in gross adjusted income.

The bill is a good start, however, there are still more cuts that need to be introduced during the floor amendment process.  The committee-passed bill appropriates $17.25 billion in discretionary spending, while providing an additional $116.9 billion in “mandatory spending”, for a total of $134.15 billion.  The USDA is one of the most profligate departments, surpassed only by HHS and DOD as the largest recipient of taxpayer dollars.  19% of all federal subsidies and welfare programs are promulgated from the USDA.  Most of the appropriations come from mandatory food subsidies and will need to be cut through welfare reform bills, but there is no reason why we should reauthorize so much spending in this bill.

In addition to the $5 billion in annual direct payments to farmers – predominantly those who grow corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and cotton – the federal government spends billions more for crop insurance, conservation and export programs, and marketing loans.  The $5 billion in direct subsidizes should be completely eliminated for all income levels, while the other programs should be seriously curtailed.

Ethanol will get its day of judgement in the Senate.

Read More →

Club for Growth’s reaction.

The Hill:

Eight GOP senators voted to preserve earmark spending, including Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), James Inhofe (Okla.), Dick Lugar (Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Richard Shelby (Ala.). Retiring Sen. George Voinovich (Ohio) and defeated Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah) also voted against it.

Politico:

Thirty-nine senators voted Tuesday in support of a three-year moratorium on appropriations earmarks, the strongest showing ever by opponents of the current process and a potential game changer in the year-end budget debate.

Read More →