Montana Main Street Blog

Federal Attempts to "Create Jobs"

Over the next ten months Congress and the President will be debating budgets, bills, tax revisions and more to supposedly "create jobs." Thomas Oliver of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a great article about the difficulties in this line of thinking. The federal government can make all the new tax credits it wants, but that is not going to create jobs.

I don't know who originally coined the axiom, "First, do no harm," but that is what the government needs to do in order to get us even close to thinking about an economic recovery. As Congress debates and the President presses for sweeping changes in health care, climate change (cap & trade), card check, different tax rates for investors, different rates for income tax payers, death tax revisions, huge financial and banking reforms, and record deficit spending, my question is this - who would want the risk of hiring new people in a time of record uncertainty? And not just economic uncertainty, but uncertainty largely created by government officials and regulators.

It's not an easy time to be a business owner right now, especially a small business owner. I think most are thinking they are safer just treading water than trying to expand, and it's due in large part to many things being debated in Congress right now. If we want to get our people back to work, we must first understand what's been keeping businesses from hiring new people. Tax credits aren't going to get people back to work in any large numbers.

Is Medical Liability Reform in the Senate Health Bill?

The latest from NAM:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s manager’s amendment to the Senate health care bill, available here as a .pdf file, proposes actual statutory language for federal grants to states to establish demonstration projects on medical liability, but it's not what you think.

The provisions run from page 344 to 359: "SEC. 399V-4. STATE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS TO EVALUATE ALTERNATIVES TO CURRENT MEDICAL TORT LITIGATION." The previous versions of the bill had simple "Sense of the Senate" language that only suggested federal support for demonstration projects.

The new amendment is much more detailed and authorizes $50 million over five years, beginning in Fiscal Year 2011 (Page 358). Many provisions would favor participation in the demonstrations by the plaintiffs' bar, including the targeting of medical errors, which is the gist of AAJ's latest arguments against medical liability reform.

At Overlawyered.com, Walter Olson reports a Capitol Hill source’s insightful analysis of the language, which concludes: “Sen. Reid’s bill spends 50-million taxpayer dollars on a grant program run by trial lawyers for the benefit of trial lawyers. The money will be spent to establish “alternatives to litigation” that are even more lucrative for trial lawyers and costly for doctors than the current broken system.”

New Poll Out on Montanans' Views of Economy, Business and Elections

 

Poll Shows Pulse of Montana Voters

Respondents Give Answers on Economic, Political and Business Issues

The Power Base (P-Base) is an annual scientific poll of 600 Montana voters on a variety of business and political issues with a margin of error of 4.1%. The poll is commissioned by the Montana Chamber of Commerce and other business groups to determine what regular Montanans think about important economic issues facing our state. Here are some of the results:

Economic Development

The unemployment levels are a top concern for Montanans. 40% listed it as the top problem facing our state, and the next highest problem, health care, was a third of that level at 15%. Montanans want to get back to work, and they are looking for businesses, not government, to provide the jobs.

As in prior surveys, the P-base shows Montanans want to see more business growth, especially in high wage businesses like the natural resource industries. For example, 78% of Montana voters want the state to encourage more timber harvesting, 76% want more oil & gas development, 71% want more coal development and 70% want more mining. Almost two-thirds of Montanans say the state Land Board should go forward with the Otter Creek coal tracts leasing as well, which is an issue the Board will take up at its December 21^st meeting.

“The message from the survey is clear: Montanans want to see the state move towards long-term, sustainable growth by increasing natural resource development, improving our business climate, and creating more good-paying jobs,” said Jon Bennion, Government Relations Director for the Montana Chamber.”

Montanans are still pessimistic about the national economy. 53% of voters believe the U.S.’s economy is on the wrong track as opposed to 24% who think we are on the right track. Voters believe the state’s economy is better off with 41% saying we’re on the right track versus 34% saying wrong track. 

Health Care

Respondents in the poll expressed significant satisfaction levels with their own health care insurance. Almost three-quarters of those polled (74%) said they were satisfied, while only 15% said they were dissatisfied. Half of Montanans want Washington, D.C. to scrap the current health care proposals and draft new legislation that would address rising costs.

Concerns of Voters

The P-base is also a good opportunity to see what financial concerns are on the minds of voters. For the fourth straight year, health care costs continue to be a top concern at 24% and high taxes came in second at 18%. Additionally, addressing the unemployment situation is the top issue (18%) voters want addressed in the coming elections, and health care (17%) is a not-so-distant second concern of voters at 15%. 59% said government in general is getting too involved and spending too much money, while only 31% said government wasn’t doing enough on issues like education, health care and the environment. 

Elections

When it comes to candidate endorsements, voters respect candidates who get stamps of approval from business groups, like chambers of commerce, agriculture groups and more.

When asked whether a Montana Chamber endorsement of a candidate would influence their voter, 51% of voters said it would have a positive effect compared with only 16% who said it would have a negative effect (35% net postitive). Even more popular are agriculture groups with 68% positive to only 7% negative (61% net positive). Trial lawyers (-40% net negative), environmental groups (-18% net negative) and labor unions (-9% net negative) scored low in the poll.

When asked about the upcoming elections for the Montana state legislature, voters are more likely (46%) to want to replace their local legislator rather than re-elect them (34%). Additionally, Republicans have a slight edge going into the legislative elections. 32% prefer GOP candidates for the legislature while 25% prefer Democrats.

“Candidates for the legislature need to focus on the economy, jobs, and growing the business sector,” explained Bennion, “Voters are worried about how much the government is trying to do, so candidates need to offer solutions that center around responsible development of our natural resources, controlling government deficits, and free enterprise.”

Far Left Slams Baucus on Health Care

After months of negotiating with Democrats and Republicans, Montana's senior senator Max Baucus is prepared to move forward with a health care reform bill. Republicans have not signed off on it yet, and many are not likely to do so. Democrats from the left are not happy with the bill either, and Baucus may hear the most objections in the coming weeks from people in his own party.

Throughout his career, and especially as Chair of the Finance Committee, Baucus has routinely carved out a middle ground on important tax and spending issues. He doesn't always make Democrats happy, and Republicans aren't always fond of him either. That's probably a pretty good sign that he is charting a moderate course on this very important issue.

Now the far left is unleashing its anger on Baucus for not being a brainless partisan who rubber stamps their extreme agenda. Check out this article from San Francisco and this one from the Missoula Independent. Before this is all done, Baucus will take a lot of heat from the most liberal faction in his party. However, I don't expect that he'll buckle on this issue.

Why Tort Reform is Not in the Health Care Reform Mix

So says Howard Dean.

Montana Chamber Health Care Op-Ed

Webb Brown, President/CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, has a health care op-ed in the Billings Gazette today. To read the op-ed, click here.

Baucus Talks Health Care at Economic Outlook

Yesterday I was in Great Falls for the Mid-Year Economic Outlook presentation we organized with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Senator Baucus was there to hear the presentation and accept an award from the U.S. Chamber for his voting record in 2008. He took the opportunity to briefly speak about the big issue of the year: health care.

Montana's senior senator expressed a bit of frustration with some folks who have decided to follow him around as protesters. He said that many of them continued to yell at him even when he attempted to engage them in conversation. I don't know if these were right or left wingers, but he didn't seem all too impressed either way. He mentioned that he is glad people are engaged in the issue, even if they are protesting.

So far, Baucus' committee (Senate Finance) has not come out with a proposal yet. How do you protest something that doesn't exist yet? In addition, he seems to be one of the only people who is taking a thoughtful, bi-partisan approach to the situation. I know the single-payer folks are mad that he's not serious about that plan, but there weren't too many politicians, including Baucus, that were elected on a platform of nationalized, government health care. Even Obama has said (at least now) that he wouldn't support such a bill. Many of these people are jumping on the public option band wagon, which they see as more of a slower march towards their end goal, and Baucus has said the public option is still on the table.

I also know that many people are very much opposed to more government involvement, bigger deficits and higher taxes. Baucus seems to be taking a lot of these views into account as he crafts a bill that can get support from both sides of the aisle and still get Americans covered.

In short, I'm impressed with his thoughtful, careful approach to this big, big issue. Protesters or not, I'm glad we've got someone right out of Montana who's a big player in this debate.

Rushing to Pass Health Care Reform

I realize that health care didn't just become a problem overnight and that many have pushed for reform for years. But sometimes it seems like there is a rush to pass something overnight.

The Senate health committee just barely passed their version of health care reform today. The House Democrats just released their plan yesterday. The Senate Finance has yet to endorse a bill or come up with one of it's own. President Obama has said he wants something on his desk before Congress' August recess, which is just two weeks away.

Can Congress really work out all the differences in these bills, figure out how to cover 46 million Americans, agree on how it will be paid for, and still ensure that we have quality health care in just two weeks? That seems like a stretch to me. There are still so many questions about how much this will cost and how it will be funded.

Anyone think they aren't going to make it by August? Something will pass regarding health care, but it seems fairly rushed to try and railroad it through in the next two weeks.

Baucus Told to Stop Compromising on Health Care Reform

It appears the Senate Democratic leadership is growing tired of our senior senator's efforts to achieve a bi-partisan vote on the number one priority of the Obama administration: health care. Senator Baucus, who is also chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, has a good reputation for crafting legislation that gets support from both sides of the aisle. He and his Republican counterpart, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, appear to have a great deal of respect for each other, which is why Baucus would prefer not to railroad a major health care reform bill.

Baucus = Health Care

Time Magazine has done quite the article on Montana senior U.S. Senator, Max Baucus, and his power and interest on the issue of health care. You can read the article here.