Robert Greenstein
Robert Greenstein
Robert Greenstein is founder and President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on federal and state fiscal policy and public programs that affect low and moderate-income families and individuals...
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The new data are particularly troubling for working people, showing backward movement for most workers. In short, the census data provide new evidence that, as in 2002 and 2003, the recovery was neither robust nor broad-based.
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Big changes were made behind closed doors in the final 24 to 48 hours ... overwhelmingly favoring special interests that make large campaign contributions at the expense of ordinary Americans and poor Americans.
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We've had a stunning reversal in just a few weeks. We've gone from a situation in which we might have a long-overdue debate on deep poverty to the possibility, perhaps even the likelihood, that low-income people will be asked to bear the costs. I would find it unimaginable if it wasn't actually happening.
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We've had a stunning reversal in just a few weeks,
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New York has been unusual in being one of the only cities in the country eligible for the waiver that has not had it.
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The plans are quite different. They're different in how much of the surplus they would use. They're different in where those surplus dollars would go. They're different in which groups of the population would get the principal benefits.
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The real danger is that the employers market erodes fast.
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My worry is that in the absence of discipline, what we will see a month from now after the initial relief bills are passed, are efforts by policy-makers of both parties and a variety of interest groups to take advantage of the disaster by arguing that all sorts of expansions in tax cuts and certain spending ... are needed,
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It certainly sounds to me that they made a calculation to get Coleman's support. With Coleman, they no longer needed Smith. And if they no longer needed Smith, they could cut Medicaid recipients instead of the pharmaceutical companies and managed-care providers.
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We need to figure out how to help more lower- and middle-income people save for retirement, ... not lose large amounts of money by giving people breaks at high-income levels, who already have substantial assets to fall back on.
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In a nutshell, this budget clearly digs the hole deeper.
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If you're young and healthy, this can work well. If you're not young and healthy, it can be a disaster, and you can end up much worse off than you currently are.
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The Administration estimates that its HSA-related tax proposals would cost $156 billion over the next ten years, which would worsen the nation's fiscal problems. Professor Gruber's study raises very serious questions about the wisdom of these proposals.
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It's certainly better that people falling into poverty can get Medicaid, but I'd prefer fewer poor people and employers not dropping medical coverage.