Karen Diebel Running For Congress

Conservative blogger Sarah Rumpf writes that former Winter Park City Commissioner Karen Diebel (R) is running for Congress. Diebel is running for District 26 This is a new district that will be created. The only question is will the district be created before the Florida legislature's foot-dragging and legal challenges on redistricting from the Left and the Right.

Erick Erickson of Redstate.com is not a fan of Diebel. (Or maybe he is.) Erickson made a list of tax increases Diebel voted for as a commissioner. What Erickson actually list are fee increases.

* Voted for an increased fee schedule in 2007 that included a $15 fee to process a business certificate, a 2% increase in garbage service, 12% increase in storm water rates, and a 3.09% increase in water and sewer rates.
- Winter Park Commission Minutes, 9/24/2007

* Voted to allow an increase in taxicab fares.
- Winter Park Commission Minutes, 2/25/2008

* Voted for increased fee schedule in 2008.
- Winter Park Commission Minutes, 3/24/2008

* Voted for a fee schedule in 2008 that increased utility meter and recreation fees.
- Winter Park Commission Minutes, 3/24/2008

* Voted to allow a taxicab trip surcharge and an emergency fuel surcharge.
- Winter Park Commission Minutes, 8/25/2008

Diebel is a social conservative. She does not believe that the Obama executive order preventing federal dollars from funding abortion will work Diebel claims that federal dollars will find their way to fund abortions.

Q: Do you believe that it is possible (or even likely) that federal funds could be diverted to abortion providers via the Healthcare Reform Act?

Diebel: Yes. This is just one reason why it should be repealed and replaced with something else.

Q: Do you believe that the President's executive order was sufficient to address these concerns?

Diebel: The president's executive order does not preempt the provisions of the Healthcare Reform Act.

Read more »

Obama to Propose Spending Freeze in SOTU Address

Hear is another reason I do not consider President Barack Obama a policy wonk. The Guardian reports Obama is going to propose a partial spending freeze in his State of the Union address.

Barack Obama is expected to call for a five year partial freeze on spending in his State of the Union address today as he gears up for a battle with Republicans over budget cuts and maps out a path to re-election.

But Republicans rejected the call, even before it was made, as "not enough".

Obama attempts to pander to Republicans. The result is Republicans still diss his partial spending freeze proposal.

The last economic genius that put a spending freeze on the federal government was President Herbert Hoover. The result was less money going into an already weak economy. Matt Yglesias was part of a conference call with an Obama administration official and confirms that a spending freeze will be in the State of the Union.

The Defense Department, the State Department and Homeland Security will not be cut. Obama and Republican Paul Ryan both like giving ballpark numbers about how much they will cut. When asked specifically what domestic programs they would cut they retreat.

Economist Brad Delong breaks down how Obama's proposal will have Hoover-like effects on unemployment.

But in a country as big as this one even this is large stakes. What we are talking about is $25 billion of fiscal drag in 2011, $50 billion in 2012, and $75 billion in 2013. By 2013 things will hopefully be better enough that the Federal Reserve will be raising interest rates and will be able to offset the damage to employment and output. But in 2011 GDP will be lower by $35 billion--employment lower by 350,000 or so--and in 2012 GDP will be lower by $70 billion--employment lower by 700,000 or so--than it would have been had non-defense discretionary grown at its normal rate. (And if you think, as I do, that the federal government really ought to be filling state budget deficit gaps over the next two years to the tune of $200 billion per year...)

And what do we get for these larger output gaps and higher unemployment rates in 2011 and 2012? Obama "signal[s] his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit," Jackie Calmes reports.

Obama extension of the tax cuts was about politics and a lack of seriousness about the federal deficit. The deficit needs a scalpel to cut wasteful spending. Getting more people back to work would increase tax revenue. Instead Obama decides to make Republican rhetoric of spending freezes into fiscal policy because it is easier than taking risky positions.

It's the Economy, Obama People

Economist Brad Delong served in the Clinton administration. Delong knows several people in the Obama administration and is amazed by how out of touch they are.

When people in the White House ask me whether I think Obama's SOTU address should be about tax reform or Social Security reform (i.e., 2/3 Social Security benefit cuts, 1/3 tax increases offered by the administration--and God alone knows what happens after that), I want to say: Why not make the SOTU address about jobs and economic recovery?

Perhaps the Obama administration need to watch the documentary The War Room. The movie chronicles the successful 1992 Bill Clinton campaign. James Carville wrote the words "the economy. Stupid." Many Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. President Obama needs to talk about the economy and jobs. If Obama claims the tax cuts will stimulate the economy then he and the American people will be sadly disappointed.

Progressives Realize Obama Is Not A Policy Wonk

Matt Yglesias points out that Obama is not being truthful when the President says he was more focused on policy than politics.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was deeply shaped by a desire to avoid politically damaging accusations of waste, fraud, and abuse rather than shaped to maximun stabilization bang for the buck. The administration forgot to appoint anyone to FED vacancies for over a year. And the Affordable Care Act is providing zero (if not negative) short-term stimulus out of a politically motivated desire to achieve a deficit-negative 10-year CBO score.

Brad Delong, economist and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department, during the Clinton administration, wrote of Obama's failure to immediately appoint new members to the Federal Reserve governing board.

I think that the general rule in the future should be that nobody who has not served a full term as a state governor or managed a similarly large organization should be supported in any presidential run. FDR and DDE are certainly class acts of the twentieth century.

Joe Klein wrote in his book Primary Colors that Gov. Stanton (based on Bill Clinton) viewed Senators as "lesser breeds." Stanton thought Senators were unserious about governing. Obama is showing that trait. Obama can't be taken seriously about wanting the economy to recover if he can't even be bothered with FED appointments.

I talked to progressives on Twitter. I tweeted Jodi Jacobson of RH Reality Check

The preident that created this deficit commission and hired Lawrence Summers should not be called a policy wonk.

Jacobson's tweet back to me.

sir you are totally correct!

Steve Hynd of Newshoggers and I sent each other several tweets about Obama having no exit strategy for Afghanistan. I sent this tweet on Obama's lack of substance.

I think Dems elected their version of Charlie Crist. All feel good style and no substance. Obama('s) West Point speech was disaster.

Hynd tweeted me that he realized earlier that Obama lacked substance.

I said at the time they were electing another Tony Blair -say anything as long as you get elected

Doesn't not having an exit strategy for Afghanistan rule out being called a policy wonk? Especially since Obama has made it clear he intends to withdrawal troops from Afghanistan. To do that requires an actual plan for withdawal.

Obama cannot be taken seriously on financial reform when Lawrence Summers was his cheif economic policy adviser. In the Clinton administraton, Summers pushed for the the Commodities Futures Moderation Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The former barred derivatives from being regulated. The later repealed the Gless-Steagall Act and allowed investment and commercial banks to merge. Anyone paying attention knows derivatives helped lead to the 2008 Wall Street crash. The investment banks had to be bailed out because Americans put their savings accounts into the commercial banks whose investment branches made horrible deals. The Gless-Stegall Act was signed by Roosevelt to protect people from losing their savings. Obama went into the White House facing a financial crisis. The man he chose as his chief economic adviser was the person who helped laid the ground work for the 2008 crash. What serious policy wonk would put Summers back in power?

The reason many Americans can not afford health insurance is because of cost. Blue Cross and Blue Shield have raised premiums 20 percent this year. If you are counting on the state legislatures to set fair health insurance exchanges then you will be sadly disappointed.

"The pressure that the industry can bring to bear in state legislatures is unbelievable," said Robert Hunter, former insurance commissioner in Texas. "They pretty much get what they want."

The CBO never took in account the health insurance industry raising premiums. Obama never intended to lower the costs of health care. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had to sue the White House to get visitor logs. What was revealed is that Obama met 27 times with health care industry lobbyists. Obama violated his own loobyist ban and vow for transparent government. The health care industry wanted an insurance mandate and a promise from Obama to veto Medicare being allowed to negotiate for lower drug prices.

This is not about a President being 100 percent progressive. Obama policies (or lack of) will keep troops in Afghanistan, will force Americans to buy increasingly expensive health insurance and ignores the financial problems facing America. Obama is turning out to be a horrible President. Mitt Romney could have made the same horrible health care reform and lack of seriousness on Afghanistan. The American public doesn't like Obama's health care or financial policies because they are bad. Not because the country misses George W. Bush.

Who Will Replace Summers?

Excuse me if I don't get excited about Anne Mulcahy replacing Lawrence Summers as director of the National Economics Council. The business community feels more comfortable with Mulcahy because she is the former CEO of Xerox Corp. Mulcahy has also served on the Board of Directors of the Washington Post, Johnson & Johnson, and Citigroup. She certainly has an impressive business resume. However, there are bankers and economists who have a better nuts and bolts understanding of the economy.

President Barack Obama is not going to select a progressive. Laura Tyson is on the shortlist. Tyson is an economic realist. In Bob Woodward's book "The Agenda," Tyson was not afraid to bring up bad news in the Clinton White House. Obama doesn't another NEC director more conserned with access and politics than good policy. Tyson would be a good fit for the job. The question is does Obama want to hear what Tyson has to say.

Other candidates on the shortlist Diana Farrell and Ann Fudge.

Update: Brad Delong proposes that Tyson become Treasury Secretary and Tim Geithner become the director of the NEC. Delong also gives Summers underserved praise. Summers is Delong's mentor.

John Edwards Gets His Wonk On

What I love about John Edwards is he is running such a wonkish campaign. That probably won't make a great deal of difference to the voters. But it is refreshing to see a presidential candidate make clear policy proposals.

Edwards stated why NAFTA has been a disaster.

He focused his day on an aggressively un-flashy subject, the 14th anniversary of the passage of NAFTA, condemning the deal as a "particularly clear example of... big corporate powers getting exactly what they want in Washington, at the cost of over a million American jobs and incredible damage to the middle class in this country."

I'm more sympathic to free trade. One reason is so developing countries can lift themselves out of poverty. Longtime NAFTA proponent Brad DeLong notes that the agreement has not helped many Mexicans out of poverty. Wages have not kept pace with the nation's productivity.



Edwards outlined his College for Everyone plan.

Creating a National "College for Everyone" Initiative: Edwards will create a national initiative – based on the Greene County program – to pay one year of public-college tuition, fees, and books for more than 2 million students. In return, students will be required to work part-time in college, take a college-prep curriculum in high school, and stay out of trouble.

Overhauling the Student Loan Program: Edwards will let all students borrow directly from the Department of Education. By eliminating bank subsidies on student loans, he will free up billions of dollars to make college more affordable.

Simplifying Financial Aid: Edwards would dramatically simplify the application process by using information the federal government already has, eliminating two-thirds of the questions.

Giving Students the Tools They Need to Apply for College and Aid: Edwards will help every low-income high school eligible for Title I hire a new college counselor, helping students choose college-track courses and navigate the admissions and financial aid process.

Financial aid has become a corrupt system that enriches universities and lending companies at the expense of students. Conservatives make the argument that the market takes care of itself. This kind of conservative told Hebert Hoover not to do anything during the stock crash.

The 'leave-it-alone liquidationists' headed by Secretary of the Treasury Mellonfelt that government must keep its hands off and let the slump liquidate itself. Mr. Mellon had only one formula: 'Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate'.He held that even panic was not altogether a bad thing. He said: 'It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people'

Regulation is needed because human nature involves people lying, cheating and stealing from others. Lending companies don't care if students get an education. They are concerned about profit. As a society, America should be concerned it will produce a workforce that can maintain it's status as a leading industry nation.

Plan For Opportunity For All Americans is a plan to increase education spebding for prodominetly black schools and provide health care for the African American community. Edwards wants to reform criminal sentencing guidelines for non-violent offenders. The Left and libertarians will agree will that. Conservatives will frame Edwards as soft on crime.

A proposal I love is Edwards wanting to restore voting rights for felons. It's nice to know Edwards has been paying attention to what is going on in places like Florida.

Edwards believes we should allow voters to register on Election Day, ending the fiasco of purge lists, provisional ballots and voter registration intimidation, and he opposes voter photo identification legislation, which disproportionately disenfranchises racial and ethnic minorities.

Stuff like this is why I haven't jumped on the Obama bandwagon. I can't stand Obama's Social Security rhetoric. The Obama campaign is now attacking Paul Krugman for pointing out that his health care proposal won't work if everyone doesn't pay into it.

And it’s not just a matter of principle. As a practical matter, letting people opt out if they don’t feel like buying insurance would make insurance substantially more expensive for everyone else.

Krugman gives Edwards props for making people require to show proof of health insurance when they go to the doctor.

Well, John Edwards has just called Mr. Obama’s bluff, by proposing that individuals be required to show proof of insurance when filing income taxes or receiving health care. If they don’t have insurance, they won’t be penalized — they’ll be automatically enrolled in an insurance plan.

That’s actually a terrific idea — not only would it prevent people from gaming the system, it would have the side benefit of enrolling people who qualify for S-chip and other government programs, but don’t know it.

Obama is proposal a shiny happy people version of universal heath care. Americans can have health care and not having to pay for it. The only problem with Obama's plan is reality.