Opinion: Weekly remarks: Obama offers new savings ideas; GOP’s Kline urges healthcare debate reset
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Well, the wily, not-so-old president decided to pull a fast one on this otherwise slow news holiday weekend and make a little news. Even though he’s actually again on vacation, this time up at Camp David.
First, as his Vice President Joe Biden did the other day, Obama makes claims of seeing significant improvement in the economy because the number of jobs lost each month is less bad than before and banks are repaying some of those federal loans.
His news is that he’s found another dangerous road that Americans cannot continue to go down: The not-saving-enough-for-the-future road.
The Democrat, who now lives in free government housing, thinks Americans should save more for their future -- college, retirement, whatever. He wants to ease procedures for small businesses to have workers enroll in 401(k) programs.
He wants to enable Americans to send federal income tax refunds directly back to the federal government by purchasing U.S. savings bonds to help cover the gargantuan budget deficits coming down another dangerous road. That bond idea will be particularly popular among people certain they’ll live sufficient decades to earn significant interest if current rates continue.
Obama also wants tax rules written in plain English so that people like his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Democratic ex-Sen. Tom Daschle can understand them and not inadvertently fall behind in paying some for years.
And Obama wants politics bloggers and presumably others with unused sick and....
...vacation days to be able to deposit that money into tax-free retirement accounts. The president offers more details below.
In case you haven’t heard enough about healthcare reform in the -- what’s-it-been? -- two years since that debate launched back in June, Minnesota’s Republican Rep. John Kline repeats the need for a bipartisan plan that won’t encourage more government intrusion, threaten thousands of jobs and, in effect, force millions into a single-payer government plan.
Kline has the silly notion that Democrats, who handily control both houses of Congress, should work with Republicans on some agreements, given all the anger and disfavor shown in recent polls and town halls.
Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will go for that as soon as Kline’s homestate University of Minnesota Gophers win the Big Ten football championship. Which is to say, not during the lifetime of anyone currently breathing.
Kline’s full remarks are below too.
-- Andrew Malcolm
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As we spend time with family and friends this Labor Day weekend, many of us will also be thinking about the state of working America. Yesterday, we received a report showing that job losses have slowed dramatically compared to just a few months ago. Earlier in the week, we learned that the manufacturing sector has posted its first gains in eighteen months, and that many of the banks that borrowed money at the height of the financial crisis are now returning it to taxpayers with interest.
These are only the most recent signs that the economy is turning around, though these signs are little comfort to those who’ve experienced the pain of losing a job in the previous month, or in the previous two years of this recession. That’s why it is so important that we remain focused on speeding our economic recovery.
Throughout America today, tens of thousands of recovery projects are underway, repairing our nation’s roads, bridges, ports and waterways; renovating schools; and developing renewable energy. We’re putting Americans back to work doing to the work America needs done – and mostly in private sector jobs.
But even as we take aggressive steps to put people back to work, it is also important that we keep faith with men and women looking back on a lifetime of labor; hard-working Americans who deserve to know that their efforts have resulted in a secure future, including a secure retirement. For this recession has not only led to the loss of jobs, but also the loss of savings.
The drop in home values, for example, has also meant a drop in the value of the largest single investment most families have. And the decline in the financial markets has led to a decline in the value of 401(k)s and other sources of savings and retirement security. As a result, over the past two years, the American people have lost about $2 trillion in retirement savings.
This carries a painful toll. I’ve heard from so many who’ve had to put off retirement, or come out of retirement, to make ends meet. I’ve heard from seniors who worked hard their whole lives but now, in their golden years, are unsure of where to turn to pay the bills, afford the prescriptions, or keep the home in which they raised a family. And having too little in savings not only leaves people financially ill-prepared for retirement, but also for whatever challenges life brings. It places in jeopardy so many dreams, from owning a home to attending college.
The fact is, even before this recession hit, the savings rate was essentially zero, while borrowing had risen and credit card debt had increased. Many were simply struggling to stay afloat as incomes were stagnant – or falling – and jobs were scarce; that’s important to remember.
But there were also those who spent beyond their means. And more broadly, tens of millions of families have been, for a variety of reasons, unable to put away enough money for a secure retirement. Half of America’s workforce doesn’t have access to a retirement plan at work. And fewer than 10% of those without workplace retirement plans have one of their own.
We cannot continue on this course. And we certainly cannot go back to an economy based on inflated profits and maxed-out credit cards; the cycles of speculative booms and painful busts; a system that put the interests of the short-term ahead of the needs of long-term.
We have to revive this economy and rebuild it stronger than before. And making sure that folks have the opportunity and incentive to save – for a home or college, for retirement or a rainy day – is essential to that effort. If you work hard and meet your responsibilities, this country is going to honor our collective responsibility to you: to ensure that you can save and secure your retirement. That is why we are announcing several common-sense changes that will help families put away money for the future.
First, we’re going to make it easier for small businesses to do what large businesses do: allow workers to automatically enroll in a 401(k) or an individual retirement account. We know that automatic enrollment has made a big difference in participation rates by making it simpler for workers to save – and that’s why we’re going to expand it to more people.
Second, we’ll make it easier for people to save their federal tax refunds, which 100 million families receive. Today, if you have a retirement account, you can have your refund deposited directly into your account. With this change, we’ll make it easier for those without retirement plans to save their refunds as well. You’ll be able to check a box on your tax return to receive your refund as a savings bond.
Third, we’ll make it possible for employees to put payments for unused vacation and sick days into their retirement plan if they wish. Right now, most workers don’t have that option.
And fourth, the IRS and the Treasury Department are creating a plain-English, easy-to-follow guide, as well as a website, to help folks navigate what are often very complicated waters, especially for workers changing jobs who often are unsure how best to continue saving for retirement. Because the rules ought to be written to encourage people to save – instead of discouraging them.
We’ll also build on these steps by working with Congress. As part of my budget, I’ve proposed ensuring that nearly every American has access to a retirement savings account through his or her job. This plan would make it possible for workers to automatically enroll in IRAs through payroll contributions.
And the budget simplifies and expands a tax credit for millions of families, matching half of a family’s savings up to $1,000 per year and depositing the tax credit directly into a retirement account.
This is a difficult time for our country. But I am confident that we can meet the challenges we face and leave behind something better; that we are ready to take responsibility for our future once again – as individuals and as a nation.
I hope that all of you have the chance to enjoy this Labor Day weekend with family and friends. But my larger hope and expectation is that next Labor Day, the economic storms we’re weathering now will have given way to brighter and more prosperous times. Thank you. ###
Hello, I’m Congressman John Kline from Minnesota’s Second Congressional District. I serve as the Senior Republican on the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, a panel that represents the intersection between families, jobs and health care.
I’ve spent a lot of time these last few weeks meeting with workers, small business owners, health care professionals, and hardworking families from rural and suburban Minnesota. What I hear from them is what my colleagues are hearing from Americans all across this great nation – a sense of uncertainty about the health care legislation moving through Congress like a runaway freight train.
They ask: What will happen to my coverage, and my choice of doctors? Will I have to stand in line to receive treatment? Or get approval from someone in Washington before getting a knee replacement or filling a prescription for the latest diabetes medication?
Access to quality care and the comfort of a familiar physician isn’t the only thing on my constituents’ minds. With trillion dollar price tags becoming almost commonplace in Democrat-controlled Washington, American families are worried about what all this spending means for their jobs - and their children - and their children’s children.
One report from the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation estimated that a national health care mandate would eliminate 1.6 million jobs over a five-year period. To add insult to injury, two out of three of those jobs would be shed from the small businesses that drive our economy.
If you think that’s frightening, I’m sorry to say it could get even worse. Using a model developed by Dr. Christina Romer, the head of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, it is estimated that 4.7 million jobs could be lost as a result of health-related taxes most businesses simply cannot afford to pay.
No wonder Americans are scared. Health care reform is being imposed upon them, rather than developed with them, and the potential costs are far too high. And, sadly, monetary costs are only part of the picture.
Many are concerned that Democrats’ plans may cost patients the right to see their family doctor or have any input into a life-altering - if not life-saving medical treatment. They also fear -- and rightly so -- that it may cost them their jobs – a devastating prospect in an economy that has already lost 6.7 million jobs since this recession began.
Democrats have crafted this legislation behind closed doors, creating a partisan blueprint that – at last count – clocked in at more than 1,000 pages. It’s complicated, it’s convoluted and it’s quite simply not going to work.
It’s time to press the ‘reset’ button.
Health care reform doesn’t have to be a partisan battle. It doesn’t have to take away coverage from Americans who like what they have. It doesn’t have to put federal bureaucrats in charge of what procedure is covered and what medication is not.
Our goal must be to fix what’s broken in our health care system while preserving those features that work well. We can drive down costs without sacrificing quality. We can expand coverage without orchestrating a government takeover. And we can do all of these things without squeezing small businesses and destroying more jobs at a time when our economy needs them most.
In June, Republicans introduced a plan that would do exactly that. Our plan is designed to make health care more affordable, reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and increase quality at a price our country can afford.
We’ll make sure Americans who like their health care coverage can keep it – a stark contrast with the Democrats’ plan, which the Congressional Budget Office has said will shift millions of Americans out of their current coverage.
Unfortunately, Democrats have rejected our overtures and decided to go it alone. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It could be, and should be, a bipartisan solution.
It’s not too late to start over. It’s not too late to do better. This Labor Day, the folks running Washington should honor American workers by hitting the ‘reset’ button on health care reform and stopping the government takeover that threatens American jobs. I’m Congressman John Kline, and I want to thank you for listening. ###
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Photo credits, from top: Ron Edmonds / Associated Press; Associated Press; Rep. Kline’s office.