ObamaCare Employer Mandate Delayed
WH delays ObamaCare employer mandate for an additional year. NYT: "'I am utterly astounded,' said Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University and an advocate of the law. 'It boggles the mind. This step could significantly reduce the number of uninsured people who will gain coverage in 2014.' At the White House, Tara McGuinness, a senior adviser on the law, disputed that. 'Nothing in the new guidance regarding employer reporting and responsibility will limit individuals’ eligibility for premium tax credits to buy insurance through the marketplaces that open on Oct. 1,' she said."
TPM's Brian Beutler argues the move will mean less deficit reduction: "...CBO estimated that the employer penalty would reduce the deficit by about $4 billion in fiscal year 2014. But by zeroing out the penalty, the administration will not only forfeit the revenue it would have collected, but it will have removed an incentive for employers to provide coverage themselves. That probably means more workers than expected will land in the exchanges, many of whom will receive subsidies to purchase insurance themselves, which will increase spending under the law and diminish its deficit reducing potential."
W. Post's Ezra Klein argues the employer mandate should be scrapped altogether: "By tying the penalties to how many full-time workers an employer has, and how many of them qualify for subsidies, the mandate gives employers a reason to have fewer full-time workers, and fewer low-income workers ... the worker-based employer mandate got passed in part because employers preferred it to a payroll-based mandate — a fact that puzzled Senate health aides at the time, but that they made peace with in order to pass the bill. Part of the reason is that the mandate, as written, affects relatively few employers [who] employ around one percent of American workers."
"Full steam ahead" on ObamaCare centerpiece, health insurance marketplaces, says WH adviser Valerie Jarrett: "We are on target to open the Health Insurance Marketplace on October 1 where small businesses and ordinary Americans will be able to go to one place to learn about their coverage options and make side-by-side comparisons of each plan’s price and benefits before they make their decision."
Regulators Signal Tough Bank Capital Rules
Bank regulators plan to tighten capital requirements. Bloomberg: "Lenders will be forced to maintain a ratio of capital to assets that exceeds the 3 percent floor set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo said yesterday. Another measure would compel banks to hold a minimum amount of equity and long-term debt to help authorities dismantle failing lenders, Tarullo said ... People with knowledge of the matter have said U.S. regulators may want to double Basel’s 3 percent capital threshold, known as the leverage ratio. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said a proposal may be published next week ... 'If the leverage ratio is raised to six, that would be a major tightening by the U.S. above and beyond the global agreement,' said Stefan Walter, the Basel committee’s [former] secretary general..."
Less than half of the Dodd-Frank law has been implemented. W. Post: "In its rush to fix the market mess in 2010, Congress imposed an extremely ambitious timeline for writing hundreds of rules, many of which were due within a year ... the Securities and Exchange Commission paid the deadlines little heed, leaving it with the largest pile of rules outstanding ..."
Pressure Builds On House For Immigration Reform
Rep. Luis Gutierrez warns GOP not to bury immigration bill. Politico quotes: "When they understand the magnitude of the demand and the depth of this demand…they’re going to understand that our community really embraces this in a way that it’s going to be very unforgiving to them ... If they want to be a party of localities and provinces and maybe some states, then don’t allow a vote. They will never be a national party ever again."
Labor-immigrant coalition plans major push. Politico: "The Center for Community Change, a grass-roots organization based in Washington, said Tuesday that it is investing north of $1 million in an effort that includes paid radio ads, voter registration drives for the 2014 midterm election, and town hall events. The Service Employees International Union, which launched a seven-figure ad buy in advance of the Senate immigration debate, said it will continue its radio, TV and online ad campaign on immigration reform."
House conservatives claim they're not feeling pressure. The Hill: "From Karl Rove to Jeb Bush to Grover Norquist, an array of Republican heavyweights have called on the House GOP to embrace immigration reform. Yet the response from many House conservatives has been little more than a shrug ... many rank-and-file Republicans see danger in voting for a bill that could hurt them in districts that in most cases are dominated by conservative white voters."
Breakfast Sides
"Sequestration Slashes Benefits For The Long-Term Unemployed" reports ThinkProgress: "The long-term unemployed, those who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, are seeing a big reduction in unemployment benefits thanks to sequestration, according to a new report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP). Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits, which help workers after they exhaust state-level programs around 26 weeks, have been reduced by nearly 15 percent ... 8 percent of this year’s sequestration cuts are being taken out of the modest benefits provided to these workers ..."
Solar industry linking up with Tea Party to help win local battles. WSJ: "...as the industry grows in states with heavily Republican populations, such as Arizona and Georgia, it is trying to broaden its base of support by framing the dispute on solar reimbursement rates as one of free markets and greater consumer choice ... Arizona could lower what utilities pay residential customers for excess power generated by solar panels, while Georgia could set requirements to promote solar."
"Not all kinds of inequality are created equal," observes W. Post's Harold Meyerson: "From the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to last week’s Supreme Court decision striking down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, legal barriers against racial and sexual minorities as well as women have crumbled ... But while social and legal inequality has diminished over the past century, economic inequality has been on the rise since Ronald Reagan’s presidency ... The challenge isn’t to persuade the majority to embrace a minority but, rather, to embrace itself. [But] Americans tend to blame themselves..."
