The Democrat Bad Idea Factory: Still Failing to Produce Jobs

Despite a Few Recalls, Several Dangerous and Defective Ideas Remain in Production

• Just a day after President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services’ plan for a “stealth survey” with “mystery shoppers” to investigate the national doctor shortage gained national attention, HHS suddenly decided to retract the plan.
• It’s not the first time Democrats have had to recall one of the defective ideas they’ve floated publicly, or worse yet, made into law. In the past few months, they’ve had to repeal their 1099 reporting provisions passed under the government takeover of healthcare and walk back a proposal for a vehicle mileage tax.
• Unfortunately, several more of the Democrats’ ideas that destroy jobs or shred the social safety net remain in production or are already on the books.

BACKGROUND:

Just a day after President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services’ plan to hold a “stealth survey” with “mystery shoppers” to investigate the national doctor shortage gained national attention, HHS suddenly retracted the plan, apparently deciding it was a bad idea:

OBAMA “DUMPS ‘SECRET SHOPPER’ SURVEY” OF DOCTORS: “The Obama administration will not move forward on a controversial proposal to have ‘secret shoppers’ pose as patients to investigate how difficult it is for Americans to obtain primary care.”(Sarah Kliff, “W.H. Dumps ‘Secret Shopper’ Survey of Docs,” Politico, 6/28/2011)

It’s not the first time the administration has had to quickly recall a bad idea. Earlier this year, Democrats suddenly realized their job-destroying 1099 reporting requirements passed under the government takeover of healthcare were a burden to small businesses. And in May the administration tried to float a national mileage tax that would tax Americans for every mile they drive. That idea didn’t live long either:

WHITE HOUSE “DISOWNS PLAN TO TAX CAR MILEAGE”: “The White House on Thursday walked back a proposal to tax people based on how many miles they drive.

“The proposal was included in a draft of the administration’s Transportation Opportunities Act, but a White House spokesman said it ‘was not an administration proposal.'” (Keith Leing, “White House Disowns Plan to Tax Car Mileage,”The Hill, 5/5/2011)

76 HOUSE DEMS VOTE TO REPEAL 1099 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS DEMS PASSED: “The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal an unpopular tax-reporting requirement affecting small business owners, in what would be the first substantial change to the sweeping health-care package signed into law last year. …

“Seventy-six Democrats joined every single Republican lawmaker present in voting in favor of the repeal legislation, while 112 Democrats opposed it.” (Corey Boles, “House Votes to Repeal 1099 Provision,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/3/2011)

Although Democrats have managed to recall some of their most defective products, their bad idea factory has generated so many that several ideas that destroy jobs or “shred the social safety net” still remain in production or, worse yet, are already in effect. With Democrats continuing to defend their job-destroying schemes, what will it take to shutter their bad idea factory?:

EPA AGREES TO DELAY BOILER RULES, BUT THEY’RE STILL GOING FORWARD WITH THEM: “The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it would delay issuing final regulations aimed at cutting pollution from factory boilers until April 2012, amid pressure from industry groups and lawmakers. …

“The EPA faces increasing pressure from Congress and business groups to slow down a broad regulatory agenda, including proposals to curb carbon dioxide emissions using the Clean Air Act and several rules aimed at clamping down on emissions from coal-burning power plants.” (Ryan Tracy, “EPA Delays Rules for Factory Boilers,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/25/2011)

EPA ENGAGING IN “WAR ON JOBS,” PUSHING “MOST EXPENSIVE” RULE IN AGENCY HISTORY: “The EPA is currently conducting a campaign against coal-fired power and one of its most destructive weapons is a pending regulation to limit mercury and other hazardous air pollutants like dioxins or acid gases that power plants emit. …

“The real goal of the EPA’s rule is to shut down fossil fuel electric power in the name of climate change. The consensus estimate in the private sector is that the utility rule and eight others on the EPA docket will force the retirement of 60 out of the country’s current 340 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity. Reliability downgrades will hit the South and Midwest where coal energy is concentrated.American Electric Power recently announced that the rules will force it to shut down five plants in West Virginia and Ohio, a quarter of its coal fleet.” (Editorial, “EPA’s War on Jobs,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/13/2011)

“ROUGHLY 20 NEW RULES FROM EPA ALONE IN LAST TWO YEARS”: “The plan put forth by EPA is a good example. There have been roughly twenty regulations proposed or finalized over the past two years at EPA that the Chamber has weighed in on in one way or another, ranging from greenhouse gases to boiler emissions standards to numeric nutrient criteria. The costs to industry in these twenty rulemakings are steep, and in virtually each case EPA has not adequately performed statutorily-required analyses of job impacts, economic impacts, small business impacts, and other burdens. Yet EPA’s plan identifies only two of the twenty – the lead paint rule and vehicle greenhouse gas regulations – and in both cases still fails to address the fundamental complaints made by industry.” (Bill Kovacs, “One Small Step …”, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 5/26/2011)

USA TODAY: DEMS’ “DEMONIZATION” OF MEDICARE WHILE IGNORING THEIR PLAN WILL “SHRED THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET”: “Just as surely, Democrats know that the simple math of health care will eventually shred the social safety net they seek to protect. Demonization of the Ryan plan might be a short-term political winner, but unless the Democrats propose a viable money-saving alternative, the future of Medicare might be the least of their problems.”(Editorial, “Our View: ‘Mediscare Won’t Save Medicare,'” USA Today, 5/26/2011)

WSJ: OBAMA MEDICARE PLAN CREATED UNDER HEALTHCARE LAW IS “RATIONING,” WILL “THROW GRANNY OVER THE CLIFF”: “One place to start is by attacking the Democratic plan to cut Medicare via political rationing. …The ObamaCare bill goes to great lengths to shelter this 15-member, unelected board from Congressional review, with the goal of letting these bureaucrats throw granny over the cliff if Medicare isn’t reformed.” (Editorial, “The GOP’s New York Spanking,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/2011)

OBAMA TO MAKE BUREAUCRAT BOARD EVEN STRONGER THAN UNDER GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “The president, for his part, answered Ryan’s budget by proposing an even stronger version of the board than the health reform law created.” (Jennifer Haberkorn, “Medicare Pay Board Is Losing Vital Support,” Politico, 6/8/2011)