The former head of the IRS’ Exempt Organizations division has asked the agency to revoke the tax-exempt status of the conservative nonprofit ALEC. Marcus Owens, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale, who for a decade directed the division responsible for approving organizations’ charity status, accused the American Legislative Exchange Council of illegally lobbying state lawmakers…
Category: Law
Everything you ever wanted to know about Canadian health care in one post
The Canadian health care system was built around the principle that all citizens will receive all “medically necessary and hospital physician services.” To that end, each of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories finance and run a statewide health insurance program. There is no cost-sharing for the health care services guaranteed under federal law. While…
Justice Scalia should resign
Justice Antonin Scalia needs to resign from the Supreme Court. He’d have a lot of things to do. He’s a fine public speaker and teacher. He’d be a heck of a columnist and blogger. But he really seems to aspire to being a politician — and that’s the problem. So often, Scalia has chosen to…
11 facts about the Affordable Care Act
In the past week, both Alec MacGillis and Sabrina Tavernise have written articles touching on how little the uninsured actually know about the Affordable Care Act. Given that polling shows the law remains unpopular even as its component parts — with the notable exception of the individual mandate — are very popular, it seems they’re…
Awaiting The Court Ruling, A Consumer Guide To Health Reform Law
The Supreme Court is expected to rule within a week on some key constitutional challenges brought by states against the 2010 health care overhaul law. The decision will have sweeping ramifications for consumers, state officials, employers and health care providers, including hospitals and doctors. While some of the key features don’t kick in until 2014, the still-controversial…
Health insurance plans owe $1.1 billion in rebates
In a new report, the Obama administration found that 12.8 million Americans will receive rebates this year, with an average value of $151 per household. “The big improvement here is a better value for the premium dollar,” said Mike Hash, interim director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. “What this standard encourages…
In Florida, Scott Administration Vows To Accelerate Voter Purge: ‘There Will Be More Names’
The massive voter purge order by Governor Rick Scott in Florida has been plagued with errors, resulting in election officials notifying hundreds of eligible U.S. citizens that they are ineligible to vote. In response, the Scott administration has vowed to intensify their efforts to remove registered voters from the rolls. Initially, the state created a…
U.S. slaps tariffs on Chinese panels. Is this the end of cheap solar?
On Thursday, the Commerce Department ruled that China’s solar manufacturers are engaged in “dumping” — that is, they’re selling their panels for below-market rates in order to drive their competitors out of business. In response, the Commerce Department has slapped a 31 percent tariff on imports of silicon photovoltaic cells from China. That’s on top…
Republicans Likely Renege On Their Pledge To ‘Replace’ Obamacare
The GOP’s internal disagreement and unwillingness to offer a unified comprehensive plan suggests that they consider health care a low legislative priority. For instance, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) — the GOP’s spokesman on economic issues — told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the party will “articulate our vision” to replace the law, but wouldn’t…
Insurers Face $1 Trillion Revenue at Stake in Health Law
Health insurers will gain $1 trillion in new revenue over the next eight years under the 2010 health- care law, assuming it’s upheld by the Supreme Court, according to a Bloomberg Government study. The amount is equal to about one-half percent of the nation’s estimated gross domestic product from 2013 to 2020, and insurers led…
Charter School Lobby Group Quits ALEC Two Days After Being Identified By Republic Report
NACSA worked closely with ALEC to promote charter schools. As we’ve reported, ALEC legislation allows for-profit charter school companies to siphon tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. In many cases, the ALEC-authored legislation provides for unproven online school companies to administer the charter schools. A few hours ago, NACSA released a statement announcing that it…
Republicans: Cut Programs For The Poor, Not The Military
As Congress returns from recess this week, House Republicans are set to advance legislation to replace automatic defense spending cuts they agreed to last year with cuts to programs for the poor and working class. The controversial measure is expected to pass the House and die in the Senate, making it largely a political exercise…
New Report: Health Care Law Makes Community Health Centers Stronger
The President’s health care law gives hard working, middle-class families the security they deserve. The Affordable Care Act forces insurance companies to play by a new set of common sense rules, prohibiting them from dropping your coverage if you get sick, billing you into bankruptcy through annual or lifetime limits, and, soon, discriminating against anyone with…
80 Rapes; County Prosecutor’s Concern? “Heavy hand” and “overreach” of Federal Government
Fred Van Valkenburg, Missoula County chief prosecutor, vehemently defended his office and the police officers involved in the investigations. “We adamantly deny that we have done any such thing and we are deeply disturbed with the allegation that we have done so,” he said, according to the Missoulian newspaper. “While we have no choice, given…
In Digital Finance Race, Senate Uses Horse And Buggy
Checking a candidate’s contributors has become critical for understanding the candidate’s politics. It’s also easier than ever before with regular deadlines and electronic records — unless the legislator you are tracking is a member of the U.S. Senate. For more than a decade now, the Senate has kept itself exempt from rules other federal candidates…
The Federal Tax Code and Income Inequality
From 1979 to 2007 there were a number of major tax changes, but the cumulative effect was to render the federal tax code less progressive and therefore less able to dampen income inequality. By one measure of inequality, the federal tax code in 2007 was about one-third less effective at reducing income inequality than it…
KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut’s Owner Is The 12th Corporation To Drop ALEC
Yum! Brands, the owner of fast food brands KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut told Color of Change that they will no longer support the American Legislative Exchange Council, the right-wing front group that, until recently, was a driving force behind state voter suppression and “stand your ground” gun laws. Yum!’s decision means a dozen…
ALEC to Right-Wing Bloggers: We Need Your Help!
As PR Watch reported, Caitlyn Korb, ALEC’s director of external relations, told attendees at a Heritage Foundation “Bloggers Briefing” on Tuesday that the campaign against ALEC was “part of a wider effort to shut all of us down.” She asked the bloggers for “any and all institutional support” in ALEC’s fight against progressive groups, especially…
The Health Care Law is Helping Small Businesses
Small businesses are the engine of the American economy. Over the past 17 years, they have generated 65 percent of all net jobs and today the 27.5 million small businesses in the U.S. employ about half of all private sector workers. The Affordable Care Act is helping fix a health care market that has been…
Report: Mass. Health Law Not A ‘Budget Buster’
Outside Massachusetts, talk show hosts and politicians frequently blast the state’s health coverage law as a “budget buster.” “It has been an abject failure,” candidate Rick Santorum told the audience during a presidential primary debate in January, directing his comments toward former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. “He’s stood by the fact that it’s $8 billion…