|
|||||||||||||||||
RELATED LINKSInternal LinksGrants to:
Profiles: Cursor.orgMediaTransparency.org sponsor More stories by Bill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs' Media Transparency writersAndrew J. Weaver FundometerEvaluate any page on the World Wide Web against our databases of people, recipients, and funders of the conservative movement. |
ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz Is it a Massachusetts 'Miracle'?The Heritage Foundation plays key role in a new health care initiative that promises to cover 95% of the state's uninsuredA few weeks back UC Berkeley's Nicholas C. Petris Center on Healthcare Markets and Consumer Welfare (named after the former California State Senator whose legislative career was marked by his deep concern with California's health care issues) sponsored a seminar on health care. One panel in particular examined the current status of California's Proposition 63 -- the State's 2004 mental health initiative funded through a tax on millionaires. While many considered the passage of Proposition 63 something of an electoral "miracle," these days just about everyone involved in health care policy is talking about another "miracle" -- Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's plan to provide healthcare insurance for 95 percent of the state's uninsured. In mid-April, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to require every individual to have health insurance -- whether they want it or not -- or possibly be subject to financial penalties. The new plan not only will cover the vast majority of the uninsured, but it represents what politicians like to call a "bipartisan compromise." The legislation was crafted by the state's conservative Republican Governor and supported by its Democratic-controlled legislature. It appears that the reasons this legislative package was put together now was due to the impending loss of more than $300 million in Medicaid funds if it didn't establish a reform plan; a ballot initiative that would have called for a much more substantial payroll tax based contribution from employers was threatened; a strong presence of pro-consumer health care organizations; and the significant role played by Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts' Roadmap to Coverage initiative. Supporters project that within three years, 95 percent of the 550,000 uninsured residents of the Massachusetts will have to obtain coverage through a combination of new insurance products, entitlement program expansions, public subsidies and cost control initiatives. A new insurance exchange -- called the Connector by Romney -- will collect premiums from individuals and pass them on to their chosen insurers. Officials are claiming that the cost to the state will be negligible. (For a complete overview of the plan see "Massachusetts Health Reform: What it Does; How it Was Done; Challenges Ahead" [PDF] produced by the Boston, Mass.-based Community Catalyst, Inc.) Paul Ginsburg, one of the Petris Center's conference plenary speakers, mentioned that the Heritage Foundation, Washington's premier right wing think tank, is a key contributor to the Massachusetts miracle. During the post-conference reception Ginsburg, the president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, said that it was no secret that the Heritage Foundation was an integral partner in crafting the legislation. 'Hell has frozen over'An upbeat bipartisan crowd attended the bill-signing ceremony held at Boston's Faneuil Hall: Governor Romney kidded Senator Kennedy -- "My son said that having Sen. Kennedy and me together like this on this stage, behind the same piece of landmark legislation, will help slow global warming. That's because hell has frozen over" -- and Kennedy responded in kind -- "You were talking about what your son said about us getting together. My son said something too, and that is when Kennedy and Romney support a piece of legislation, usually one of them hasn't read it." In his remarks, the Governor also offered "special thanks" to two Heritage Foundation "scholars ... who helped design and craft what we now call the Connector which is the centerpiece of the insurance reforms." Sharing the stage with the governor and senator was Robert Moffit, the director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. "This is the product of a bipartisan cooperation that is a model," Moffit said. "Where too often excessive partisanship corrodes stability, you have seen exactly the opposite in the state of Massachusetts." Conservative groups slam the planBoth before and after it was signed into law, Romney's project was roundly criticized by a number of conservatives. Libertarians worried that the plan would force people who didn't want healthcare insurance, to participate. Some critics called it a socialistic enterprise. Others agonized that it would add another unnecessary layer to an already bloated state bureaucracy. During the run-up to the passage of the legislation, a plan opponent, Sally Pipes, the president and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute, duked it out at NationalReviewOnline with Edmund Haislmaier, a research fellow in the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, who supported it. Haislmaier, who said that he was part of the "team advising the governor and his staff on the design," claimed "those who want to create a consumer-based health system and deregulate health insurance should view Romney's plan as one of the most promising strategies out there." Despite Haislmaier's assurances, the Wall Street Journal's editorial page derisively dubbed it, ''Romney Care." Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies for the Cato Institute, maintained that "the individual mandate itself is an unprecedented level of interference with individual choice and decision-making." Tanner pointed out that ''There's a group of big-government conservatives who believe you can use government power to achieve conservative ends. This puts Governor Romney squarely in that camp. And the traditional small-government conservatives, I think, are going to be much more critical of this proposal. There's no doubt that that split is going to be the key debate that takes place with the presidential contest and in the Republican party over the next couple of years." Nicholas Provenzo, the founder and Chairman of the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, was a bit harsher, calling the new law "a boondoggle." "Rather than admit that the problems with healthcare in America are the caused by the government's interference with the personal choices of its citizens, the Massachusetts proposal mandates that every state resident and every employer purchase health insurance regardless of whether they want it or not," Provenzo wrote in a post at Capitalism Magazine. Joseph Antos, a healthcare policy specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, "said that despite Romney's efforts to portray the Massachusetts plan as a conservative victory, it might prove a tough sell for business leaders and 'mainstream Republican America' should Romney decide to run for president," The Boston Globe reported. Antos added, "In the business community, I think they're very wary. Politically, this is not exactly hard-core conservative thinking at the moment." Romney was eager to calm the critics. The Boston Globe reported "In a speech to an audience at the US Chamber of Commerce, Romney sought to portray the healthcare plan as an unlikely victory for conservatism in a heavily Democratic state." Romney emphasized the program's dependence on the private sector, its emphasis on personal responsibility, and the role the conservative Heritage Foundation played in conceiving some parts of the plan." Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, was a bit more circumspect: 'There is the sense that what Massachusetts has done here is the beginning of a very, very important national debate and that other states will take the framework of what the governor put together, take out the bits the Massachusetts Legislature thought were cute, and that you'll see this in" other states, Norquist said. An uncertain futureThere is no doubt that at least in the short run, the passage of a "Massachusetts Miracle" was a major victory for the governor. It could separate him from a crowded field of hard line conservatives and play well with moderate and independent voters if, as many pundits believe, Romney decides to enter the race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination for 2008. ''It would certainly give the governor a very interesting talking point on an issue that is going to be central to any upcoming election," Norquist told the Boston Globe. Despite the bitter criticism the Heritage Foundation was subjected to from fellow conservatives, it is undeniably proud of the role it played in crafting the Massachusetts health care plan. There is nothing wrong with occasionally bucking your friends if you can deliver, and it clearly did. In addition, the foundation has demonstrated that besides being a highly partisan can-talk organization, it is also a can-do operation. Its reputation will certainly be enhanced by its participation, and its funders will be encouraged. The Heritage Foundation's Haislmaier is convinced that the bill was "a testament to the power of good ideas -- as well as to the political skills of one particular governor and his team." And, it was able "to achieve some deregulation of the health insurance market," the Heritage Foundation's Moffit and maintained in a report posted in late-April at the website of Human Events, a conservative weekly. Will "Romney Care" work? If it does, will it be seen as a viable model for other states? Will this initiative make the single-payer alternative less attractive to legislators and more difficult to achieve? Providing an opportunity for healthcare coverage of virtually all of the state's uninsured will undoubtedly benefit the citizens of Massachusetts. The Community Catalyst report is careful to point out "If the plan is implemented fairly and adequate funding is made available, thousands will gain coverage and no one will have to pay unaffordable premiums for low quality insurance...On the other hand, if benefits are not protected, a reasonable standard for affordability not established and adequate subsidies not made available, the individual mandate will be highly problematical to say the least." It will also be good for the health care and insurance industries, because it will eliminate the cost of uncompensated or indigent care from being passed on to the insured population through increased rates charged by insurance companies, and it will steer more business their way. However, the answers to most of these questions will not be known for some time. sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
|
MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
|
|||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
