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Joint Economic Committee Democrats

Publications

Jul 27 2017

“Skinny Repeal” is Just Repeal and Run Lite

The Senate Republicans’ latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act – dubbed the “skinny repeal” – would destabilize the individual market and drive up costs, while paving the way for full repeal. If this proposal – which is more aptly named “repeal and run lite” – passes, Senate Republicans will send the House Freedom Caucus a blank check to make deep cuts to Medicaid, give generous tax breaks for the wealthy, and eliminate consumer protections for pre-existing conditions.

Jul 26 2017

What Happens After “Repeal and Run”?

As new iterations of the same TrumpCare have failed, Senate Republicans are pushing a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement plan. This threatens to drop millions from health care coverage, increase premiums, raise uncompensated costs to hospitals, and devastate state and local economies.

Jul 25 2017

Repeal and Run Exposes Republican Hypocrisies

In 2013, Republicans were quick to call the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a disaster, racing to the cameras to falsely claim that 5 million Americans were losing coverage. Republicans did not mention that all these people did not actually lose coverage but could now sign up for new plans with enhanced consumer protections, many paying less for better coverage with the help of a new affordability tax credit. Republicans are now looking to fully repeal the ACA without a replacement plan, this time actually leaving more than 30 million people without coverage of any kind.

Jul 25 2017

Education: The Foundation for Economic Success

Joint Economic Committee Democrats released the first in a series of reports today on education as the foundation for economic success. The introductory report outlines the value of education in today’s economy, and where the United States falls short. Although overall educational attainment has been on the rise, many groups of Americans are being left behind in a labor market that increasingly requires more education.

Jul 24 2017

U.S. Trade Deficit with Russia Worsened

Since the U.S. trade balance with Russia began deteriorating in November 2016, U.S. exports to Russia fell $203 million on an annualized basis after inflation, or 3 percent; imports from Russia, larger in volume than exports, increased $1.8 billion dollars, or 13 percent. In all, the U.S. trade deficit with Russia worsened by 24 percent in the seven months through May, the most recent available data.

Jul 21 2017

A Climate of Uncertainty

Greater uncertainty complicates these decision and is exceedingly costly, which is why businesses and consumers invest substantial resources and time to limit it and manage risks of the unknowable. The public sector can play a significant role in creating certainty or completely undermining it. Republicans have decided to take the latter approach by dismantling the ACA.

Jul 20 2017

House GOP Balances Budget on Backs of Working Americans

Families across the nation face difficult challenges providing for themselves and their loved ones. Earlier this year, President Trump released his FY2018 budget proposal that would severely worsen these challenges for working Americans. This week, the House Budget Committee passed a budget resolution that doubles down on Trump’s most harmful proposals and goes further by cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations while slashing funding for proven programs on which millions of Americans rely.

Jul 19 2017

Déjà Vu: Repeal and Run Still a Disaster

Over the course of the past six months, Americans have raised their voices to Congressional Republicans that their TrumpCare bills do not work for the American people. Now, Republicans are going back to their original rallying cry of repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a plan in place to provide adequate health care to millions of Americans.

Jul 14 2017

Senate TrumpCare Raises Out-of-Pocket Costs

The latest version of the Senate Republicans’ TrumpCare plan continues to fail to keep premiums and out-of-pocket costs affordable for Americans. TrumpCare reduces the benchmark value of plans from 70 percent of a consumer’s expected costs to 58 percent, increasing out-of-pocket costs for millions of Americans.