The White House wants another round of elite tax cuts masquerading as a$214-billion "stimulus" plan for the economy. Now, even the nonpartisanCongressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov) has issued a report that underminesthe bulk of the plan. For a good, reader-friendly summary of the CBO's debunking,check out the report of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities(www.cbpp.org). According tothe center, certain tax breaks would actuallyenergize the economy--but not the ones offered by the White House. Here's how theCBO ranks tax breaks according to their "bang for the buck" criteria.
Large bang for the buck:
Medium bang for the buck:
Small bang for the buck:
Few in Congress are proposing to address another aspect of therecession--the effect on poor and working people. The Democrats want mainly toincrease unemployment-insurance benefits and health insurance for theunemployed--fine, but only part of the story. The National Governors Associationcalculates that state budgets will be $40 billion to $50 billion in the red thisyear, and nearly all of that will come out of programs--already bare bones--thatserve the poor. A holiday on state taxes for the sake of "stimulus" would onlymake problems worse.
Medicaid, which provides health coverage to about 44 million Americans, is onthe chopping block. Last year, Medicaid costs rose 11 percent, with 20 percent ofthe increase attributed to the rising cost of prescription drugs. One remedy:Increase the federal Medicaid share--but that means more federal spending andless tax cutting.
Families USA (www.familiesusa.org) wants Congress to boost the federalshare.Throughout February, in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, theHenryJ. Kaiser Family Foundation (www.kff.org) will be following health-care issues discussed in state-of-the-state addresses.
Another widely ignored tax-cut casualty is welfare reform. Until this year,several states were using welfarereform money--TANF funds--saved from decliningcaseloads to pay for extended child care and for career-ladder programs. Now,withnew people losing low-wage jobs and coming onto the welfare rolls, TANF issqueezed and these innovations are evaporating. The Center for Law and SocialPolicy (www.clasp.org)offers a good summary of this bleak story. For background,check out The American Prospect's special "Making Work Pay" issue, archivedonline at www.prospect.org.
If you're tired of reading about various stimulus proposals, the inventivefolks at United for a Fair Economy (UFE) have allowed you to create yourown. Goto RecoveryWatchdog.org, where you're given $100 billion and alist of spendingoptions. UFE has already collected around 500 homespun plans, many of which aremore plausible than most of what Congress is debating.Unlocking Immigration
Anti-immigration conservatives have used the post-September 11 climate topush their protectionist agenda. Nearly completed in the days before the attacks,a U.S.-Mexico deal that would have allowed millions of Mexicans to obtaintemporary visas to live and work in the United States was put on hold as theWhite House moved to tighten border security.
Upon Congress's return from its holiday recess, pro-immigration groups will bepushing for passage of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act.Introduced by Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy ofMassachusetts with 39co-sponsors, the bill would tighten security without penalizing immigrants. Thelegislation enjoys broad, bipartisan support but lacks political momentum orWhite House backing.
Also on Congress's plate are the reorganization of the U.S. Immigration andNaturalization Service into two parts, enforcement and services, and thereopening of discussions with Mexico on a new immigration agreement. Republican moderates, including INS Commissioner James Ziglar and Secretary of StateColinPowell, find their agenda undercut by "lock the door" extremists likeAttorneyGeneral John Ashcroft and Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.
Web activism is complementing the grass-roots lobbying and phone campaigns onbehalf of immigration reform. The National Immigration Forum's Web site(www.immigrationforum.org) features useful background. TheAmerican CivilLiberties Union's Immigrants' Rights Project (www.aclu.org/issues/immigrant)includes information on resisting "expedited removal," judicial review, mandatorydetention, and workers' rights.
The AFL-CIO will also be promoting liberalization of entry restrictionsandbetter protection of immigrant rights, starting with a national round of publicforums. The National Immigration Law Center (www.nilc.org) and the NationalCouncil of La Raza (www.nclr.org) Web sites are two other valuable resources.
