WHAT’S NEXT?

1.) Economy (Short-Term): Now that the stimulus bill has passed, there are three immediate economic concerns that President Obama will have to deal with soon.  First is aiding the banking industry – for banks, Pres. Obama will have to allocate the second $350 billion authorized in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and he said he may need Congress to authorize more money to prevent banks from failing.  Second is housing, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner last week announced a multi-pronged plan to help homeowners bring down mortgage rates.  Third is the auto industry – struggling companies General Motors and Chrysler last week submitted plans for restructuring, and the president’s economic team must soon decide whether the auto companies will receive government aid.

2.) Economy (Long-Term): This Monday, Pres. Obama convened a “fiscal responsibility summit” and is promoting his long-term budget plans.  He plans for deficits to rise this year and next year, but has pledged to cut the 2008 deficit of about $1 trillion in half (down to $500 billion) by 2013.  He plans to raise more revenue by increasing income and capital gains taxes on individuals making over $250,000 a year (he has reiterated his campaign pledge that individuals making less than that will not face a tax increase).  He plans to cut spending by withdrawing troops from Iraq, cutting Medicare Advantage payments to insurance companies, and eliminating what he calls “wasteful spending.”  But he said that his budget will contain spending increases for three major areas that he called “investments” in America’s future — energy, healthcare, and education.

3.) Energy & Climate: In his speech, President Obama named energy as his top priority other than the economy, saying that “the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st energy.”  He pledged to invest $15 billion a year in developing “technologies like wind power and solar power, advances biofuels, clean coal, and more efficient cars and trucks.”  Perhaps most notably, he specifically called for a bill establishing “cap-and-trade” for carbon emissions from “this Congress.”  Pres. Obama supported cap-and-trade throughout the campaign, but there was some speculation that he would not pursue it this year.

4.) Health Care Reform: Pres. Obama said in his speech that health care reform “cannot wait… and it will not wait another year.”  Apart from that, he was short on specifics, saying that there are “many different opinions and ideas about how to achieve reform,” and that he would bring together representatives of those various opinions “to begin work on this issue next week.”

5.) Education: The president was also short on specifics in addressing eduction.  Though he mentioned the goals that every child have access to a “complete and competitive education” and that the U.S. should have the highest percentage of college graduates by 2020, he did not explain what policies he would pursue to achieve those goals.  One specific policy he did mention was his support of the Hatch-Kennedy bill to provide a year’s tuition for anyone who volunteers for the Americorps program for one year.

EXECUTIVE DECISIONS

1.) Guantanamo Bay & torture: On Jan. 22, Pres. Obama signed executive orders officially banning torture for all U.S. military and intelligence agencies, ordering the CIA to close any secret detention facilities it operates in foreign countries, and calling for the Guantanamo Bay prison to be closed within one year.  His administration has not yet decided where the detainees currently being held there will go.  Opponents of closing the prison, including many Congressional Republicans, have argued that those detainees are too dangerous to be brought on U.S. soil.

2.) Afghanistan troop deployment: On Feb. 17, Pres. Obama announced that he will send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, nearly doubling the current troop deployment of 38,000.  This was a policy that then-candidate Obama argued for during the campaign.  He has said that the administration is still conducting a review of its goals and strategic aims in Afghanistan, and he plans to announce his plans for withdrawal from Iraq soon.  Criticism of this presidential decision has been strongest from liberals, who are wary of becoming involved in another protracted war.

3.) Abortion: Ending the “Mexico City policy”: On Jan. 23, Pres. Obama signed an executive order allowing U.S. aid to international organizations that provide or advise women about abortions.  President Bush had banned aid to these organizations upon taking office in 2001.  Along with this announcement, Pres. Obama issued a statement calling for an end to the “politicization” of the abortion issue and promising to “reach out to those on all sides of this isue to achieve the goal of reducing unintended pregnancies.”  But pro-life groups have criticized him ending the “Mexico City” policy, arguing that government funds should not be used to encourage abortion.

4.) Government Reform: Lobbyists & Staff Ethics: On his first day in office, President Obama instituted new ethics rules for White House staff.  He froze the salaries for any White House staffers earning more than $100,000 and instituted new Freedom of Information Act rules regarding government documents.  Also, he created new rules making lobbyists wait two years before working for the White House in areas where they had lobbied, and banning any current staffers from lobbying the White House if they become lobbyists later on.  The president has since faced criticism for waiving these rules in certain circumstances.  For example, William Lynn was a lobbyist for the Raytheon Company before President Obama nominated him for Deputy Secretary of State.  The president argued that Secretary of Defense Bob Gates believed Lynn was the best person for the job.

Just over a month ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as president.  This post will examine what he’s done in that time.  VoteGopher remains a nonpartisan organization — whether these policy changes are good is up to you to decide.  But we’ll give you reliable information on what’s going on.  

Here are the three major new laws that President Obama has signed so far.  Our other posts in this series will examine his executive decisions and his plans for the rest of his first year.

NEW LAWS

1.) Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: This first law signed by Pres. Obama expands the period during which women can file claims of pay discrimination.  Previously, women could file a claim only within 180 days of receiving their first allegedly discriminatory paycheck.  Now, women can file claims within 180 days of receiving any paycheck thought to be discriminatory.  Supporters argued that women often do not find out that their pay is discriminatory, opponents argued that the expanded period opens businesses up to lawsuits about decades-old pay decisions.

2.) State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Expansion: Made more lower-middle-class families eligible for SCHIP, which provides health coverage for uninsured low-income children.  The expansion will be paid for by an increase in the federal cigarette tax.  Supporters argued that the expansion will bring health coverage for many uninsured children, opponents opposed the cigarette tax increase and expressed concern about the expansion of government-provided health insurance.

3.) Economic Stimulus: The $790 billion stimulus bill was made up of about 60% government spending and 40% tax cuts.  The package spent billions on renewables & energy efficiency, health research & modernization, and aid to local schools & college student tuition.  It also contained a series of tax cuts aimed mainly at low- and middle-income people.  Check out our more detailed analysis here.  Supporters argued that the government needed to step in and increase spending during this economic crisis, but opponents argued that the package would not be stimulative and would add too much to the national debt.

The final version of the law provides expenditures in three major areas: government spending, tax cuts, and aid to individuals.  About $311 billion went to government spending, $301 billion went to tax cuts, and $178 billion went to aid.  (All numbers are from the Wall Street Journal’s page here.)

The spending portions of the bill have been most controversial.  Conservatives have portrayed the bill as filled with unnecessary “pork.”  Our chart above shows the broad breakdown of different spending areas, but here are some more specifics on the most prominent spending items:

• Education ($90 billion): This largest single area of expenditure includes $45 billion in education aid to states (with $5 billion tied to performance metrics), $17 billion in Pell Grant increases and college financial aid, $13 billion in Title I funding for low-income districts, and $12 billion for special education programs.
• Energy ($51 billion): Includes $6.5 billion to upgrade power transmission, $6.5 billion in loan guarantees and R & D for renewable energy and energy efficiency, $6.3 billion in energy efficiency grants to state and local governments, $5 billion to make low-income homes more energy efficient, $5 billion to clean up former nuclear sites, $4.4 billion to upgrade the nation’s electrical grid, and $1.5 billion for research projects on carbon capture & sequestration (CCS).
• Transportation/Infrastructure ($48 billion): Includes $29 billion for highway improvements, $8 billion for public transit, $8 billion for high speed rail, $1.3 billion for Amtrak, and $1 billion for airport improvements.
• Health ($22 billion): Includes $10 billion for research at the National Institutes of Health, $4 billion in health information technology, $1 billion for research comparing effectiveness of health treatments, $1 billion in increased funding for preventative care.
• Food stamps ($19 billion): Increasing funding for the food stamps program to meet extra need.
• Federal building repairs ($11 billion): To modernize and provide energy efficiency upgrades to federal buildings, including $5 billion for military health facilities and hospitals.
• Housing ($13 billion): Includes $4 billion for public housing repairs, $4 billion for energy efficiency upgrades to low-income homes, $2 billion to help communities purchase foreclosed properties.
• State aid ($8 billion): To prevent cuts in public services for states with budget problems.

Finally, $178 billion is direct government payments to individuals.  The $90 billion increase in Medicaid spending makes up a majority of this, and other health-related measures include a government subsidy to help laid-off workers remain in their employer-provided health care plan, and grants to physicians and hospitals for the computerization of health records.  Aid also includes a $40 billion increase in unemployment benefits and a $3 billion increase in welfare spending.

We at VoteGopher hope you find our analysis of the stimulus bill to be comprehensive and informative.  We are still working on our site redesign, but soon we will launch our new page focusing on the issues as the president and Congress debate them.  Check back soon to see it!

The second major event occurred yesterday, as former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle withdrew from consideration as Secretary of Health and Human Services because of tax problems.  President Obama planned to have Daschle oversee his major health care reform initiatives, but now must find another nominee.

Keep coming back to VoteGopher for updates on what your government is doing on the issues!

The president has not spoken about the Freedom of Choice Act, which would prevent states from restricting abortion access before fetal viability, since taking office.  He has not made its passage one of his top priorities.

Pres. Obama has also not yet moved to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

These actions are consistent with President Obama’s campaign promises.  However, he still must resolve the issue of what should be done with some dangerous Guantanamo detainees that we are currently holding.  We’ll be tracking this issue closely in the first year of the Obama presidency.

The president-elect said he would put off further specifics until February, but reiterated his campaign position that “we can solve” Social Security, but that “the big problem is Medicare, which is unsustainable… We can’t solve Medicare in isolation from the broader problems of the health-care system.”

Obama continued: ”This, by the way, is where there are going to be very difficult choices and issues of sacrifice and responsibility and duty. You have to have a president who is willing to spend some political capital on this. And I intend to spend some.”

Read more at the Washington Post.

Congress has passed legislation expanding SCHIP before, but President Bush has vetoed the proposed expansions twice, arguing that they increased government spending too much.  Republican Congressional leaders continued to oppose the proposal, but about a quarter of House Republicans broke ranks with their party and voted for the legislation.

According to the New York Times, the bill passed yesterday “would provide $32.3 billion over four and a half years to continue coverage for seven million children who now rely on the program and to extend coverage to more than four million who are uninsured.”

The bill is now likely to pass the Senate and will then be sent to President-elect Obama after he is sworn in.

During the hearing, Clinton spoke about Israel’s operation in Gaza, an issue that President-elect Obama has not yet commented on publicly.  Clinton said that Israel had a right to defend itself from Hamas rocket attacks, but that the civilian casualties made re-engagement with the peace process even more imperative.

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) briefly expressed concerns about her husband’s fundraising for his Clinton Foundation, but he then called Senator Clinton’s qualifications for the job “remarkable” and said he would vote for her confirmation.