GOP wants website to put policy in hands of voters

Do you think you would be able to make great public policy decisions—possibly better than those made by past and current government officials? Many people think of politics as something that happens despite their opinion on the matter.

If you could Tweet Congress, would you? What issues would you like the House to focus on during this election year? Would you interact on a website that is read by actual government officials? To encourage this type of community and conversation, the House of Representatives’ Republicans are going to launch a new website on Tuesday, June 1st. The new GOP website, Americaspeakingout.com, will make the Republican 2010 midterm policy agenda accessible to Americans. It will also use different types of social media so that Americans can interact and talk about what policies they think Congress should be working on.

According to CNN.com, “the new GOP website is an official government project, supported by leadership staff and funded with taxpayer dollars.” The website aims to give control to voters, and was a team effort by the GOP and Microsoft. After creating a profile, users will choose their username and accumulate “points” every time they submit an idea or engage in an online debate. This will encourage people to visit the website and get involved in politics. California Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy stated that the feedback leaders get from the site will lead to the development of legislation that Republicans will try to enact this year.

Read the full article here.

National Taxpayer Advocate Submits Mid-Year Report to Congress

The IRS posted a new press release recently announcing that the National Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) had delivered their mid-year report to congress earlier this week. In the report, the TAS emphasizes the importance of tax preparer oversight, improving taxpayer services, improving access to the offer in compromise program, and improving the IRS’s ability to effectively deliver refundable tax credits. You can read a segment of the release below, but the full text can be read by visiting the IRS’s newsroom.

The report notes that FY 2010 will mark the ten-year anniversary of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, which began operations in March of 2000. “As TAS enters its tenth year, both TAS and the IRS face a difficult environment for achieving what is, in essence, the same mission – ensuring that the IRS treats taxpayers fairly and identifying ways to increase voluntary compliance while addressing noncompliance,” Olson said. She identified the collection of tax revenue at a time when “increasing numbers of taxpayers have difficulty paying their daily living expenses” as a principal challenge.

The Advocate’s report, which is required by law, sets out the objectives of the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate for the upcoming fiscal year and provides substantive analysis of issues and statistical information. Among the areas the report identifies for particular emphasis in FY 2010 are the following:

1. Taxpayer Services. The report notes that the IRS created a five-year strategic plan for taxpayer service (known as the Taxpayer Assistance Blueprint, or “TAB”) in response to a directive from the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in FY 2006. The directive was originally motivated by concern that IRS taxpayer services were often ad hoc and not sufficiently coordinated or research-driven. The Advocate’s report expresses concern that the momentum to implement and refine the TAB recommendations has abated. It recommends that the IRS reinvigorate its efforts to pursue cross-functional, research-driven service improvements.

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Understanding The House Democrats’ Health Care Bill

Political blog KeithHennessey.com recently published an in-depth analysis on understanding the House Democrats’ new health care bill. I’ve included a clip from the article below, but be sure to check out his full post here.

Yesterday I posted and described the draft Kennedy-Dodd health care bill. Today I would like to do the same for an outline produced by House Democrats.

Here is a three-page outline of “Key Features of the Tri-Committee Health Reform Draft Proposal in the House of Representatives,” dated yesterday (June 8, 2009).

The three committees are:

The House Ways & Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY). The Health Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA).

The House Energy & Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). The Health Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).

The House Committee on Education & Labor, chaired by Rep. George Miller (D-CA). The Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ).

The document suggests this is a joint product of the three committees and/or their subcommittees. My sense, however, is that it is Speaker Pelosi who is driving the bus. This is in contrast to the Senate, where the committee chairmen (Kennedy/Dodd and Baucus) appear to have the pen, in less well-coordinated efforts.

Kennedy-Dodd and the House bill outline are remarkably similar. Whether this represents House-Senate coordination or parallel thought processes is unclear.

I think the easiest way for me to present the House bill outline is in comparison with the Kennedy-Dodd bill. So here my description from yesterday of the Kennedy-Dodd bill, with today’s comparison to the House bill outline in red. I hope it’s comprehensible and useful this way. If you read yesterday’s post, you can skim the text in black and focus on the new text in blue.

Here are 15 things to know about the draft Kennedy-Dodd health bill and the House bill outline.

1. The Kennedy-Dodd bill would create an individual mandate requiring you to buy a “qualified” health insurance plan, as defined by the government. If you don’t have “qualified” health insurance for a given month, you will pay a new Federal tax. Incredibly, the amount and structure of this new tax is left to the discretion of the Secretaries of Treasury and Health and Human Services (HHS), whose only guidance is “to establish the minimum practicable amount that can accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage (as so defined).” The new Medical Advisory Council (see #3D) could exempt classes of people from this new tax. To avoid this tax, you would have to report your health insurance information for each month of the prior year to the Secretary of HHS, along with “any such other information as the Secretary may prescribe.”

The House bill also contains an individual mandate. The outline is less specific but parallel: “Once market reforms and affordability credits are in effect to ensure access and affordability, individuals are responsible for having health insurance with an exception in cases of hardship.”

2. The Kennedy-Dodd bill would also create an employer mandate. Employers would have to offer insurance to their employees. Employers would have to pay at least a certain percentage (TBD) of the premium, and at least a certain dollar amount (TBD). Any employer that did not would pay a new tax. Again, the amount and structure of the tax is left to the discretion of the Secretaries of Treasury and HHS. Small employers (TBD) would be exempt.

The House bill outline also contains an employer mandate that appears to parallel that in Kennedy-Dodd: “Employers choose between providing coverage for their workers or contributing funds on behalf of their uncovered workers.”

Continued here…