Obama and US Budget

President Barack Obama on Monday has issued his budget for the fiscal year to Sept. 30, 2011.  It is a plan subject to change by the U.S. Congress and forecasts a deficit of $1.56 trillion in 2010, or 10.6 percent of the economy measured by gross domestic product (GDP).

The rise was partly due to the $787 billion stimulus package Obama pushed through Congress early last year to fight the recession.

Republicans has deeply criticized the record deficit and Obama's handling of the economy.

Obama plans to save money from 2011 by curbing 120 projects.   

Weekly Address: President Obama Pledges to Rein in Budget Deficits

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama promised to rein the deficit, citing three specific steps to this end.  He praised the Senate for restoring the pay-as-you-go law, which in the 1990’s contributed to the $236 billion surplus at the end of the decade.  It is no coincidence that after ending PAYGO, that surplus became a $1.3 trillion deficit.  He has also proposed a freeze in discretionary spending, which will increase investments in jobs creation and middle class tax cuts while cutting spending for redundant or ineffective programs.  And finally, the President called for a bi-partisan Fiscal Commission to hammer out concrete deficit reduction proposals.

The audio and video will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, January 30, 2010.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Weekly Address
January 30, 2010

At this time last year, amidst headlines about banks on the verge of collapse and job losses of 700,000 a month, we received another troubling piece of news about our economy.  Our economy was shrinking at an alarming rate – the largest six-month decline in 50 years.  Our factories and farms were producing less; our businesses were selling less; and more job losses were on the horizon.

One year later, according to numbers released this past week, this trend has reversed itself.  For the past six months, our economy has been growing again.  And last quarter, it grew more quickly than at any time in the past six years. 

This is a sign of progress.  And it’s an affirmation of the difficult decisions we made last year to pull our financial system back from the brink and get our economy moving again. 

But when so many people are still struggling – when one in ten Americans still can’t find work, and millions more are working harder and longer for less – our mission isn’t just to grow the economy.  It’s to grow jobs for folks who want them, and ensure wages are rising for those who have them.  It’s not just about improvements we see in quarterly statistics, but ones people feel in their daily lives – a bigger paycheck; more security; the ability to give your kids a decent shot in life and still have enough to retire one day yourself.

That’s why job creation will be our number one focus in 2010.  We’ll put more Americans back to work rebuilding our infrastructure all across the country.  And since the true engines of job creation are America’s businesses, I’ve proposed tax credits to help them hire new workers, raise wages, and invest in new plants and equipment.  I also want to eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investment, and help small businesses get the loans they need to open their doors and expand their operations.    

But as we work to create jobs, it is critical that we rein in the budget deficits we’ve been accumulating for far too long – deficits that won’t just burden our children and grandchildren, but could damage our markets, drive up our interest rates, and jeopardize our recovery right now.

There are certain core principles our families and businesses follow when they sit down to do their own budgets.  They accept that they can’t get everything they want and focus on what they really need.  They make tough decisions and sacrifice for their kids.  They don’t spend what they don’t have, and they make do with what they’ve got. 

It’s time their government did the same.  That’s why I’m pleased that the Senate has just restored the pay-as-you-go law that was in place back in the 1990s.  It’s no coincidence that we ended that decade with a $236 billion surplus.  But then we did away with PAYGO – and we ended the next decade with a $1.3 trillion deficit.  Reinstating this law will help get us back on track, ensuring that every time we spend, we find somewhere else to cut.

I’ve also proposed a spending freeze, so that as we increase investments in things we need, like job creation and middle class tax cuts – we cut spending on those we don’t, like tax cuts for oil companies and investment fund managers, and programs that are redundant, obsolete, or simply ineffective.  Spending related to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will not be affected – and neither will national security – but all other discretionary government programs will.

Finally, I’ve called for a bi-partisan Fiscal Commission – a panel of Democrats and Republicans who would sit down and hammer out concrete deficit-reduction proposals by a certain deadline.  Because we’ve heard plenty of talk and a lot of yelling on TV about deficits, and it’s now time to come together and make the painful choices we need to eliminate those deficits. 

This past week, 53 Democrats and Republicans voted for this commission in the Senate.  But it failed when seven Republicans who had co-sponsored this idea in the first place suddenly decided to vote against it. 

Now, it’s one thing to have an honest difference of opinion about something.  I will always respect those who take a principled stand for what they believe, even if I disagree with them. 

But what I won’t accept is changing positions because it’s good politics.  What I won’t accept is opposition for opposition’s sake.  We cannot have a serious discussion and take meaningful action to create jobs and control our deficits if politicians just do what’s necessary to win the next election instead of what’s best for the next generation. 

I’m ready and eager to work with anyone who’s serious about solving the real problems facing our people and our country.  I welcome anyone who comes to the table in good faith to help get our economy moving again and fulfill this country’s promise.  That’s why we were elected in the first place.  That’s what the American people expect and deserve.  And that’s what we must deliver. 

Thank you.

High Speed Rail

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday that federal funding for high-speed rail from St. Louis to Chicago will provide thousands of new jobs, boost the economy and help protect the environment.  President Barack Obama on Thursday announced $8 billion in stimulus spending for high-speed rail projects around the country. The outlays will include $1.1 billion in improvements to the 284-mile St. Louis-Chicago corridor. Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal last year refused the high-speed rail stimulus money over the objections of the Baton Rouge Chamber and the Greater New Orleans Inc. Jindal was concerned that the rail system would be too costly to maintain.  The high-speed rail was expected to run between New Orleans and Baton Rouge    

Google, Apple

Steve Jobs might not be the apple of Google’s eye right now as media reports are fomenting about the possibility that Jobs slammed Google in a town hall event.  

Louisiana Worker’s Compensation

The costs per all paid claims in Louisiana were 35 percent higher than the typical study state, on average, according to the WCRI study CompScope™ Benchmarks for Louisiana, 10^th Edition.

The study by the Cambridge, Mass.-based Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found that injured workers in Louisiana were off the job longer than in other states with similar workers’ compensation benefit systems, resulting in higher-than-typical indemnity benefits per claim than in other study states, even though the workers’ weekly benefits were capped at lower levels in Louisiana.

In addition, medical costs and expenses per claim were among the highest of the 15 states in the study.

WCRI said these findings combine to raise questions about whether the Louisiana system can be improved for both workers and their employers.

The study found that indemnity benefits per claim with more than seven days of lost time were 36 percent higher than the typical study state as a result of a longer duration of temporary disability.

WCRI reported that injured workers in Louisiana were off work considerably longer than workers in other wage-loss study states – 34 weeks on average. This was nine to 10 weeks longer than Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and 15 weeks longer than Michigan.

Some system stakeholders in Louisiana have suggested that the longer duration of temporary disability may partly reflect the difficulty of return to work given the poorer health status and lower educational attainment of the state’s population, the study observed. National measurements support this concern. System features likely also contributed to the longer duration, particularly the complexity and length of the dispute resolution process.

Medical costs per claim were 20 percent higher than in the typical study state, the result of higher utilization and higher nonsurgical prices paid. In addition, the duration of medical treatment was 6.5 weeks (16 percent) longer than in the median study state.

Despite little change in the medical fee schedule rates since 1994, the 2006 medical fee schedule in Louisiana was higher than the median of 42 states with fee schedules for all service groups except surgery. Payments per claim for hospital outpatient services also were higher than the median study state, WCRI said. Hospital inpatient payments per claim, however, were lower compared to other study states.

Expenses to manage claims were among the highest of the study states, including higher than average medical cost containment expenses per claim, defense attorney payments, and medical-legal expenses per claim.

In particular, WCRI reported defense attorney payments per claim with more than seven days of lost time were the highest among the 15 study states, at an average of nearly $6,500 per claim with defense attorney payments greater than $500. This finding suggests that dispute resolution may be more complex or prolonged in Louisiana than in the other states in the study.

The Workers Compensation Research Institute is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization conducting public policy research on workers’ compensation, health care, and disability issues. Its members include employers, insurers, governmental entities, insurance regulators and state administrative agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as several state labor organizations.

Press Releases: Workers Compensation Research Institute