Boehner to Fly Commercial as House Speaker
FoxNews.com
Published November 10, 2010
AP – Nov. 10: House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner of Ohio accompanied by Republican Majority Transition Chairman Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill. Boehner announced he plans to fly commercial as House Speaker.
Presumptive House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday that he will not use the military jet provided to current Speaker Nancy Pelosi to fly from D.C. to his home district each week, but will board the same airlines as everybody else.
Pelosi had claimed after she became speaker in 2007 that a military aircraft was offered to her in light of position as second in line to the presidency. But Boehner said he’s not so concerned.
“I’ve talked to our security folks about the security involved in my new role. Over the last 20 years I’ve flown back and forth to my district on commercial aircraft and will continue to do that,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said.
U.S. Deficit Commission Recommends Changes to Social Security
FoxNews.com
Published November 10, 2010
AP – A draft proposal by the deficit commission suggests curbing Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age.
A draft proposal by the deficit commission suggests curbing Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age.
The co-chairmen of the panel appointed by President Obama to cut the U.S. deficit recommend raising the retirement age to 68. It is currently 67 years for retirees to receive full benefits. The panel leaders also propose reducing the annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security.
The increase to age 68 would be implemented by 2050 and then would increase again to 69 by 2075. A “hardship exception” would be provided for certain occupations where older retirement would be unrealistic.
According to a source who spoke to Fox News, the 18-member panel led by former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and former Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, also may propose reducing the base rate on corporate taxes, phasing in spending cuts over time, reducing foreign aid by $4.6 billion, freezing federal salaries for three years and banning congressional earmarks. It is unclear how the commissioners would define a congressional earmark.
Our Tax Dollars Are Funding Bureaucrats Who Advise Congress that Higher Taxes Increase Prosperity
BigGovernment.com
Posted Nov 10th 2010 at 4:44 am
by Dan Mitchell
I’ve already written about the terrible work of the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO did an awful job on the stimulus, for instance, repeatedly asserting that diverting money from the private sector to government somehow would create jobs. CBO also was a disaster on Obamacare, claiming that a giant new entitlement program would reduce budget deficits. And the legislative bureaucracy even has argued that higher tax rates boost growth.
That sounds absurd (and it is), but CBO is not the only taxpayer-funded bureaucracy on Capitol Hill producing this kind of nonsensical analysis. The Congressional Reserach Service just published a new report asserting that higher tax rates will boost economic performance. Here’s an excerpt from that CRS publication.
…it is ambiguous whether tax cuts lead to more or less work, saving, and investment. The expiration of the tax cuts would nevertheless reduce the budget deficit, absent other policy changes, which economic theory predicts would have a positive effect on the economy in the long run.
To be fair, CRS doesn’t actually claim higher taxes are good for growth. And neither does CBO. But CRS and CBO both assert that there is no clear evidence that higher taxes hurt growth. Budget deficits, however, supposedly have a very negative impact on economic performance according to these Capitol Hill bureaucrats. More specifically, CRS and CBO believe that government borrowing leads to higher interest rates, and they think that higher interest rates reduce investment. And since investment is a key to long-run growth, this leads them to endorse any policy – including higher taxes – that reduces red ink.
U.N. Rejects Iran’s Bid for Seat on Women’s Rights Panel
FoxNews.com – AP
Published November 10, 2010
The United Nations on Wednesday rejected Iran‘s bid for a seat to the board of the new U.N. agency to promote equality for women after fierce opposition from the United States and human rights groups to Tehran’s treatment of women.
But the U.N. accepted the bid of Saudi Arabia, which is also opposed by human rights groups.
Iran, which has been criticized for its record on women’s rights, received only 19 votes — short of the necessary 28 votes for approval.
In recent months, Iran sparked an international outcry by sentencing to death by stoning a woman convicted of adultery.
In Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to drive and are barred from many facilities used by men.
The new agency was formed after a General Assembly resolution adopted in July merged four U.N. bodies dealing with women’s issues into one with greater clout to represent half the world’s population. The resolution calls for a 41-member executive board, with 35 members chosen by regional groups and six representing donor nations.
The Asian group put forward an uncontested 10-nation slate that included Iran and Saudi Arabia,selected for one of two slots for emerging donor nations. The other nations selected by the Asian group for the board are Bangladesh, India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
CWNews Posted Comments