Jobs and the Economy
Federal Reserve Downgrades Forecast for Growth and Employment: Last week, the Federal Reserve sharply lowered its economic growth forecasts through 2014 and projected that unemployment could remain above 8 percent through next year. According to the Fed, economic growth for the rest of this year will be between 1.9 percent and 2.4 percent, much lower than the range of 2.4 percent to 2.9 percent the Fed projected in April of this year. Further highlighting the failed economic policies President Obama, on May 31 the Bureau Of Economic Analysis announced that the economy grew at a 1.9 percent pace in the first quarter of this year, slower than the 2.2 percent rate initially reported.
Spending
New Study Shows President’s Runaway Debt Will Harm Long-Term Growth: A recent study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that countries with high levels of public debt have dramatically lower growth rates over the long-run than countries with lower amounts of debt. According to the study, “debt levels above 90% are associated with an average growth rate of 2.3 percent (of GDP) versus 3.5 percent in lower debt periods.” According to CBO, the amount of debt held by the public has skyrocketed under President Obama, jumping from 40.5 percent of GDP in 2008 to 73 percent of GDP in 2012. Under President Obama, gross federal debt (which includes money the government owes itself) is above 100 percent of GDP for the first time since 1947.
Medicare
Medicare Threat to Health of Nation: Peter Suderman, associate editor at Reason magazine, argues in his recent essay titled “Medicare Whac-A-Mole: Why health care price controls always fail” that “Medicare is a $500 billion program on track to become a $1 trillion program before hitting insolvency in 2024, even under the rosiest projections. The program looms as a threat not only to itself but to the budgetary health of the nation. It is the single largest driver of long-term federal debt.”
Contempt Vote on Attorney General Holder’s Refusal to Produce Documents on Fast and Furious
Visit fastandfuriousinvestigation.com for full details
Supreme Court Ruling on Arizona Immigration Law
- In 2010, Arizona enacted a new immigration law, S.B. 1070 that would require officials and agencies of the state to fully comply with and assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down parts of the Arizona law and upheld part of the law in a 5-3 ruling. The majority overturned provisions of the Arizona law that would allow state law enforcement officials to address illegal immigration in the absence of federal action. The majority concluded that the federal government has the ultimate authority to decide who will be held on immigration charges and who will be deported.
- However, the court upheld a provision that would require Arizona police to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws if “reasonable suspicion” exists that the person is in the United States illegally.
- Noting that he would have upheld the state law in its entirety, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, "Arizona has moved to protect its sovereignty—not in contradiction of federal law, but in complete compliance with it.”
The Republican Plan for Job Creation and Growth
House Republicans have a plan to restore confidence and certainty to the economy and create jobs. For more information on the House Republican Growth Plan, click here: http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs.
Sequestration
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