Obama and Congressional Democrats Contemplate Expanding Help to Jobless Americans

JACKIE CALMES and CARL HULSE report in the New York Times that: “President-elect Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are considering major expansions of government-assisted health care insurance and unemployment compensation as they begin intensive work this week on a two-year economic recovery package. One proposal, as described by Democratic advisers, would extend unemployment compensation to part-time workers, an idea that Congressional Republicans have blocked in the past. Other policy changes would subsidize employers’ expenses for temporarily continuing health insurance coverage to laid-off and retired workers and their dependents, as mandated under a 22-year-old federal law known as Cobra, and allow workers who lose jobs that did not come with insurance benefits to be eligible, for the first time, to apply for Medicaid coverage.” In his weekly YouTube and radio address on Saturday Obama explained the need for swift action. “Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don’t act swiftly and boldly,” Mr. Obama said, “we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double digit unemployment and the American dream slipping further and further out of reach.” In describing his economic plan, Obama said he intends to use government spending and tax incentives to increase renewable energy production; prioritize energy efficient government buildings; make infrastructure repairs and improvements; and bring modernized methods to health care and he pledged to “put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow.” Obama also intends to “reshape the economy, especially for the good of low-wage and middle-class workers.” One of Obama’s goals is “that he would seek money to develop a national energy grid to harness and distribute power from wind, water and other local alternative energy sources.” Congressional Democrats plan to be very aggressive in keeping “...the emerging legislation free of the pork-barrel projects that could invite criticism from Republicans and foster public skepticism.” House leadership has pledged that: “Every dollar will have to be justified as to whether it is targeted to our economy,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said last week. “This is not a bill that will be an excuse to put things in that otherwise might not be justified.” Democrats are under extreme pressure to produce meaningful results without overspending. “...officials said the size of the proposed two-year stimulus, equivalent to nearly a year of federal discretionary spending, had tested imaginations both in Congress and the Obama camp. Aides and advisers are struggling to identify enough projects that would meet Mr. Obama’s criteria that they be truly stimulative, create jobs and not be open to being branded as pork. This has really forced people to think outside the box,” one aide on the House Appropriations Committee said, “because this is more money than anybody expected to be spending.” There have also been: “Tensions on the opposite side involve demands from fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats in the House and from some Senate Democrats — notably the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Kent Conrad of North Dakota — for provisions imposing budgetary controls on future spending and tax cuts for the long-term health of the economy. According to both sides, Obama officials have assured the fiscal conservatives that Mr. Obama would propose long-term controls in his first five-year budget, which is due by late February.” Conservative democrats “support deficit spending to jump-start the economy” but they also make the case that proper planning must be in place to retire the creation of increased debt. An idea that is making its way among Democrats is the creation of “a bipartisan commission to propose limits on future benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the entitlement programs whose projected future costs would squeeze out all other spending; a nonpartisan entity to designate infrastructure projects, like roads and public buildings, based on merit, and federal pay-as-you-go rules requiring offsetting savings for spending increases and new tax cuts.”