War Bonds in the Second World War: A Model for a New Iraq/Afghanistan War Bond?
The high costs of fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have rekindled congressional interest in the concept of the sale of a Treasury security to help finance these war costs. In the 111th Congress, three bills have been introduced that would permit the issuance of a war bond: S. 2846, H.R. 4315, and H.R. 4385. Although these bills are silent on any relationship between the proposed “war bonds” and World War II-era war bonds, the question has been raised whether or not the issuance of war bonds during the Second World War serves as a good model for a new “war bond.” During the Second World War, war bonds were sold to help finance the cost of national defense. War bonds were simply a new name for already existing U.S. savings bonds. War bonds were aggressively marketed through well organized campaigns, which appealed to citizens' sense of patriotism. Their primary purpose was to reduce consumer spending in order to lessen inflationary pressures and black market activity. Also, campaigns to sell war bonds were intended to raise morale by creating a sense of participation in the war effort. The sale of war bonds did reduce consumer spending. Current economic and financial conditions differ from those of the early 1940s. During the Second World War, high inflation and over-employment prevailed. The federal government imposed price and wage controls, production controls, rationing, controls on the level of interest rates on Treasury securities, and regulations on installment loans. As mentioned previously, war bonds were marketed primarily to reduce consumer spending. Today, despite concern about a personal savings rate below historical norms, most federal officials are more concerned about raising consumer spending, because of high unemployment and inadequate aggregate demand. To date, no savings bond or any other Treasury security issue has ever had its funds earmarked for any specific purpose; rather, all funds raised have been placed in the general fund. In summary, the prior war bonds program in the Second World War is a problematic model for Iraq/Afghanistan “war bonds.” This report will not be updated.
GAO-10-249, Telecommunications: Information Collection and Management at the Federal Communications Commission, January 29, 2010
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates industries that affect the lives of virtually all Americans. FCC-regulated industries provide Americans with daily access to communications services, including wireline and wireless telephone, radio, and television. To ensure FCC is carrying out its mission, the commission requires a significant amount of information, such as ownership and operating information from radio and television …
GAO-10-242, Medicare Part D: Spending, Beneficiary Cost Sharing, and Cost-Containment Efforts for High-Cost Drugs Eligible for a Specialty Tier,…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allows Part D plans to utilize different tiers with different levels of cost sharing as a way of managing drug utilization and spending. One such tier, the specialty tier, is designed for high-cost drugs whose prices exceed a certain threshold set by CMS. Beneficiaries who use these drugs typically face higher out-of-pocket costs than beneficiaries who use only lower-cost drugs. GAO was …
GAO-10-323R, Group Purchasing Organizations: Research on Their Pricing Impact on Health Care Providers, January 29, 2010
Hospitals and other health care providers use purchasing intermediaries–group purchasing organizations (GPO)–as a way to control the cost of various medical products. Through GPO-negotiated contracts, hospitals and other health care providers can purchase everything from commodities, such as cotton balls and bandages, to high-technology medical devices, such as pacemakers and stents. By pooling the purchases of these products for their …
GAO-10-356R, Conversions of Selected Employees from Political to Career Positions at Departments and Selected Agencies, January 29, 2010
Political appointees in the federal government sometimes seek appointments to career competitive and other positions which, unlike political appointments, do not terminate at the end of an administration. Conversions of political appointees to career positions must conform to merit system principles requiring that selection be determined solely on the basis of merit after fair and open competition. Sometimes, however, circumstances surrounding …
Recognizing What Historically Black Colleges and Universities Mean to America
Click here to see the video. As I stood watching the Virginia State University drum-line perform in the White House this week (likely the first time an HBCU drum-line has ever perform ed at the White House), I was reminded of how far we have come as a nation and hopeful about where we are heading. The nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities have served our nation since 1837.
Information on the Chilean Earthquake and Tsunami Warnings
The President made the following statement on the earthquake in Chile and preparations for a possible tsunami that could reach American shores later today: Click here to see the video. Tsunami warnings are in affect for Hawaii, N. Marianas, American Samoa, Marshall and Solomon Islands.
Weekly Address: The Olympic Spirit, the Spirit of Bipartisanship, and Health Reform
The President takes a moment to congratulate our Olympic athletes.
Federal Interagency Members Meet with Public on Next Steps for the National AIDS Strategy
Cross-posted from the AIDS.gov blog . Approximately 200 people gathered on Wednesday to hear about progress on one of President Obama’s major initiatives—the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). This meeting provided an opportunity to update the public on the process for developing the Strategy, as well as current status and next steps. It allowed the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and HHS to share feedback from community discussions which began last summer, and offered participants the opportunity to meet with the Federal HIV Interagency Working Group – made up of representatives from agencies working on HIV/AIDS across the Federal government, including White House offices. The working group was brought together in an effort to establish a coordinated response to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. President Obama is committed to addressing HIV/AIDS in the United States and tasked ONAP, under the direction of Jeffrey Crowley , to develop the NHAS. The Strategy will allow ONAP to identify a small number of high-payoff action steps that can shift and improve our nation’s response to HIV/AIDS in order to achieve the President’s goals. A large component of developing this strategy involves public feedback. As Crowley said at the meeting, “We want to acknowledge the important role that you are playing. You helped us spread the word and get people to our community discussions. We are here today, in part, because we have heard you. In recent weeks, we have heard several questions about where we are in the process and what is happening and we wanted to take this opportunity to update you.” As part of the community discussions, members of the working group met directly with 4,200 people in cities all across the country, including members of the public health community, AIDS service organizations, and people living with HIV/AIDS. In Jackson, MS, discussions with people living with HIV/AIDS gave hope for better understanding what it’s like to live with HIV in the South. In Minneapolis, the working group participated in site visits to help them understand what African immigrants are experiencing. The public has been a crucial and active partner in all our efforts. We will continue to update you on our progress as we work to develop a strong roadmap to send to the President. Please visit www.AIDS.gov next week to watch a video of the meeting, view video feedback from community leaders, or get additional information on Wednesday’s NHAS meeting. Julia Eisman is the New Media Communications Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
150,000 Rays of Sunlight: More White House Visitor Records Posted Online
In September, the President announced that – for the first time in history – the White House would release visitor records.
Health Insurance Reform Will Help Small Businesses
As President Obama made clear at the bipartisan meeting on health insurance reform, and has emphasized all year, small businesses stand to gain substantially from his proposal for comprehensive health insurance reform . Small businesses are essential to the nation’s economy and its recovery from the recession. They are responsible for a disproportionate share of economy-wide net employment growth, and account for a large majority of jobs in start-ups, a key source of innovation and economic growth. Nevertheless, both a CEA report released last year and new analysis by the Council of Economic Advisers shows that the status quo of rising costs and declining coverage is unsustainable for small businesses. Over the past decade, average annual family premiums for workers at small firms increased by 123 percent, from $5,700 in 1999 to $12,700 in 2009, while the percentage of small firms offering coverage fell from 65 percent to 59 percent. As shown in the following figure, this insurance offer rate is especially low at small firms with fewer than 10, 25, or 50 employees. While opponents of reform have raised concerns that some of the provisions in the President’s proposal will harm small businesses and their employees, the facts, figures, and discussion below show that the proposal will mean tax cuts, no new requirements, and numerous other benefits for small firms and their employees: The President’s proposal makes more than 60 percent of small firms eligible for tax credits to help combat rising costs and declining coverage for their workers. CEA estimates indicate that more than 60 percent of small employers would be eligible for the new $40 billion small business tax credit in the President’s proposal. This represents a total of nearly 4 million small firms eligible for the credit. Moreover, millions of workers at small firms and their families would be eligible for their own tax credits to purchase coverage through the Exchange if their firms did not offer coverage. The President’s proposal exempts virtually all small businesses from any employer responsibility requirements. The proposal specifically exempts all firms that have fewer than 50 employees – 96 percent of all firms in the United States or 5.78 million out of 6.02 million total firms – from any employer responsibility requirements. These 5.78 million firms employ 33.8 million workers. More than 96 percent of firms with 50 or more employees already offer health insurance to their workers. Thus under the President’s proposal, less than 0.2 percent of all firms in the U.S. (approximately 10,000 out of 6.02 million) would face new employer responsibility requirements. And many of the firms not currently offering coverage are likely to do so because of the lower premiums and greater set of plan choices in the Exchange.
Direct Lending to Help Students, Not Banks
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s op-ed in the Washington Post today discusses the importance of providing direct student loans to help more poor and middle-class students attend college. He explains that under the current law, “working Americans pay while bankers get rich.” The banking industry is pushing against President Obama’s education proposal in order to protect its taxpayer subsidy, which has generated billions in profits for banks and compensation for executives. Secretary Duncan writes:
S. 1759, Water Transfer Facilitation Act of 2009
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on December 16, 2009