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Business groups form coalition to oppose every tax hike proposal by Democrats – CNBC

Recruiters looking to fill positions at OHare International Airport meet with candidates during a job fair at the airport on May 19, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

More than two dozen groups representing U.S. businesses and employers unveiled a new coalition Tuesday to fight against virtually every Democratic plan to raise taxes on self-described "job creators."

The coalition of 28 industry groups, which have locked arms under the name "America's Job Creators for a Strong Recovery," argues that hiking taxes on corporations and other businesses will hamper the U.S. economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The alliance emerges in direct opposition to the Biden administration, which is pushing Congress to pass trillions of dollars in spending on infrastructure and a slew of other projects that will be paid for in large part by raising rates on corporations and the richest Americans.

Organizers told CNBC the coalition has already started to research its counter-messaging efforts nationally. But it has an especially keen eye on Arizona, a competitive purple state with two moderate Democratic senators, Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema, organizers said.

The coalition aims to turn the narrative away from a debate about taxing the rich and the biggest corporations to pay for roads and bridges. The organizers themselves acknowledge that that rhetorical battleground leans strongly in Democrats' favor in public opinion polls.

But the organizers say President Joe Biden's so-far popular infrastructure plan loses support when the focus shifts toward the high level of public spending it will demand, and the taxes on so-called job creators it proposes.

"The record tax hikes that Democrats are seeking to ram through could not come at a worse time for America's job creators who are just beginning to recover from a crippling pandemic," said Eric Hoplin, president and CEO of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, which is leading the new coalition.

"Employers support a smart infrastructure to ensure America's 21st century competitiveness, but it shouldn't be used as a Trojan horse to enact record high taxes on America's individually and family-owned businesses," Hoplin said.

"The pandemic has taxed individually and family owned businesses enough taxing them again while they are still struggling to recover just goes too far," said Chris Smith, executive director of another group called the Main Street Employers Coalition.

"These tax hikes would put the path of the recovery at such risk, so we need to make sure the voice of Main Street is heard loud and clear with the people and places that matter most," Smith said.

The coalition is not yet sharing its fundraising goals but it plans to target numerous key states led by moderate Democratic lawmakers, organizers said.

These are the founding members of the coalition:

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Business groups form coalition to oppose every tax hike proposal by Democrats - CNBC

Democrats in Congress want to draft a public option health care plan – Vox.com

Democrats are taking the public option for a test drive.

The proposal for a new public insurance plan is enjoying its first signs of life this Congress: Senate health committee chair Patty Murray and House health committee chair Frank Pallone sent a letter on Wednesday to lawmakers, policy experts, patient advocates, and the health care industry asking for input on public option legislation they plan to draft.

The letter, on its own, doesnt do much. Nevertheless, after the public option was excluded from the major policy proposals so far from the Biden White House and will reportedly be left out of the presidents budget, this is the first indication that Democrats are still serious about the idea.

If Democrats do write a bill and try to get it moving through the House and/or Senate, it would be the first real test in more than a decade of how a public option would stand up to political scrutiny.

Republicans, struggling to find an effective message with which to oppose President Joe Biden, would likely jump at the chance to accuse Democrats of wanting the government to take over peoples health care, as they did in the campaign against the Affordable Care Act before their gains in the 2010 midterms. The industry is already aggressively making a case against the expansion of government health care.

But Democrats are moving forward in part because they believe the politics of health care have changed since the ACA debate, when the public option was scuttled because it didnt have enough support in the Senate despite the partys 60-seat supermajority.

The ACA survived Republican repeal attempts in 2017 and is now fairly popular with the American public. The public option polls well with voters, too, enjoying support from more than two-thirds of US adults in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Nearly half of Republicans said they support it; Democrats believe opposing a public option could actually be a tough vote for some of their colleagues across the aisle.

But opinions are not hardened yet, and people might still be persuadable. Policy ideas can appear more popular in the abstract before they become prominent, polarized fights; the evidence that positive or negative messaging can substantially move support for or against Medicare-for-all is a telling example.

Framing a public option as more choice can be effective with some independents and Republicans, academics who have tested public opinion on the issue say. But does that effect last once theres a Republican and business campaign portraying the policy as socialism? Or has the rehabilitation of the ACA, which Democrats think has been driven by meaningful policy successes, eroded the effectiveness of such a message?

That big political question could determine the fate of any future proposal to expand government health care. Wed start to get some idea of the answer if Democrats manage to advance a public option bill this Congress.

This is also a chance for Democrats to home in on a specific plan. As Sarah Kliff and I previously reported, there are several public option proposals floating around Washington. Some would be intentionally limited to select populations; others would be more expansive, with the longer-term goal of enrolling as many Americans as possible.

The Pallone-Murray letter asks for feedback on a number of key policy questions: Who should be eligible for the public option? How much should it pay providers? What benefits should the plan offer?

Expectations should be tempered about whether the public option is going anywhere anytime soon. Democrats are playing it slow, with the proposal thus far excluded from their plans for any budget reconciliation bill that could pass without any Republican votes in the Senate. It might not comport with the rules that restrict what policies can be passed via the reconciliation process. It would also need nearly unanimous support among Democrats to pass, given their thin majorities in the House and Senate. It is easy to imagine a scenario in which a public option bill narrowly passes the House but doesnt clear the Senate.

Still, this step from Pallone and Murray is notable: Two of the top Democrats working on health care are giving the public option a shot.

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Democrats in Congress want to draft a public option health care plan - Vox.com

Virginia Elections Will Test the Democratic Coalition – The Atlantic

Democrats, and activists especially, are tired after four years spent dutifully knocking on doors and begging strangers to please vote. Marianne Burke, a 67-year-old retiree who leads the Democratic group Fairfax Indivisible, has noticed a clear decline in volunteer engagement since Bidens win. In February, she struggled to get group members to help mail postcards reminding Virginians to register to vote, and she had to write hundreds of them herself. She gets it: Theres not this urgency. You dont wake up in the morning and say, My God, whats [Trump] gonna do today? she told me. Im cautiously optimistic that Democrats will rally in time to help Democrats win in November, she added. But it is so nice to not have to constantly worry so I can understand why they wouldnt want to. Michael Zuckerman, a 70-year-old professor at George Washington University, told me hes worried about his fellow Democratic voters. Their work has made a difference, and we need to keep it up, Zuckerman said, after we met at the park for Gooditiss event. Hes volunteered for Democratic candidates since 2016. Weve come very close to losing democracy, and Im not sure were out of the woods.

Read: If Democracy is dying, why are Democrats so complacent?

Some races in Northern Virginia, like Gooditiss, could be close. (Shes running unopposed in next months primary; her Republican opponent, Nick Clemente, is already outraising her.) Republicans also have a chance to win at least a few seats near Richmond and Virginia Beach. At the statewide level, the gubernatorial race between the Republican Glenn Youngkin and a soon-to-be-nominated Democrat could go either way, election analysts told me. (Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is the front-runner.) Youngkin can win if Democratic turnout in November is low, and if he can earn the support of a few of the suburbanites who couldnt stomach Trump.

Persuading them shouldnt be difficult, argues Tom Davis, a former GOP lawmaker from Virginia, because Youngkin, the former CEO of the private-equity firm the Carlyle Group, appeals to suburban sensibilities. Hes [Harvard] business school; hes got an educational pedigree, Davis told me.* He speaks their language. John Chamberlain, a 64-year-old software salesman from Great Falls, in Northern Virginia, is a registered Republican who voted for Biden in 2020. But it was more of a vote against Trump, he told me. I still believe the Democrats are missing something. Chamberlain likes Youngkins business background, and hes considering voting for him over the Democrat in November.

State Democrats plan to defend their progress with suburbanites by talking about Trump and Trumpism as much as possible. At a press conference in Alexandria last week, party leaders underlined the fact that Donald Trump has endorsed Youngkin. They referred to the Virginia Republican Party as the Virginia Trump Party, and warned voters against supporting the Trump-Youngkin agenda. Down the ballot, Gooditis is prepared to defend herself against negative ads by reminding voters of the events of January 6. Its very easy for us to say, Yeah, but they supported the guy who told people to attack the U.S. Capitol. So who are you going to listen to? she said.

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Virginia Elections Will Test the Democratic Coalition - The Atlantic

Opinion | Democrat or Republican, You Probably Love the Post Office – The New York Times

Last year, in the midst of a presidential election campaign and a pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service was politicized by President Donald Trump and his administration as had never been done before. Critics accused the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, of making changes to mail delivery to increase Mr. Trumps chances of re-election, a charge he vehemently denied.

This year, the Postal Service has returned to its traditional role of being the one thing in Washington that Democrats and Republicans can reliably agree on. It is heartening to see lawmakers from both parties lining up behind the Postal Service Reform Act of 2021 legislation introduced in the Senate and House that would help bring the mail into the 21st century.

Its no secret that the rise of email, e-commerce and electronic payments has created an existential crisis for the post office, which has knitted the nation together for more than 245 years. The volume of first-class mail has plummeted. From 2007 to 2020, it declined by 45 percent. Revenue from domestic mail fell 36 percent to $38.7 billion from $60.6 billion over the same period, curtailing the ability of the Postal Service to fund its own operations. A chorus of voices, including this editorial boards, have called for scaling back service in various ways to respond to rising costs and falling demand. More radical critics have called for privatizing mail delivery altogether.

Privatization is a bad idea. The Postal Service is arguably the only government agency that exists in every American neighborhood rural and urban, rich and poor. It has an enviable infrastructure that includes the largest fleet of trucks in the country and the largest number of brick-and-mortar storefronts. It remains among the most trusted and most popular government agencies. Many people depend on the post office to receive lifesaving medications and Social Security checks. Privatizing its functions would squander something valuable that we all share. Any downsizing must be done with great care.

Mr. DeJoys 10-year plan for the agency, announced in March, seeks to address the hemorrhaging of cash in part by raising rates and streamlining service, in some cases cutting back on hours and employees. On Friday the Postal Service announced that a first-class stamp would cost 58 cents, up from 55 cents, starting this summer

Some cutbacks and rate increases are necessary. But what the post office really needs is reimagining. An alliance of more than 80 national organizations, including the American Postal Workers Union, has put out a proposal to use the existing infrastructure in new ways anchoring the expansion of broadband access in rural areas or checking in on elderly and disabled people for whom mail carriers are the only point of daily human contact. The alliances plan also includes expanding the provision of financial services, such as affordable check-cashing, which could be vital in underserved areas. A 2015 report by the Postal Service Office of Inspector General estimates that such services could provide meaningful assistance to 68 million Americans who either dont have a bank account or rely on expensive payday lending programs to cash checks. The Postal Service is already the single largest provider of paper money orders nationwide, and it offered savings accounts to customers until the late 1960s. The inspector generals report estimated that the expansion of such services would generate about $1 billion in new revenue annually.

The Postal Service Reform Act would not explicitly authorize this kind of expansion, but it would leave the door open for experimentation by including a provision to allow more cooperation with state and local governments to offer nonpostal products on their behalf.

The bill would also put the Postal Service on firmer financial footing by removing a 2006 congressional requirement that the agency set aside large amounts of cash to cover the cost of employee post-retirement health benefits 75 years into the future. It is unreasonable to force the Postal Service to prefund retiree benefits that far ahead, something no other entity public or private is expected to do. The bill would also require the Postal Service to enroll all of its employees in Medicare when eligible, significantly reducing the agencys health care costs. Although mail carriers pay taxes into Medicare and are the second-largest contributor to Medicare in the country Medicare enrollment is voluntary for retirees.

Those changes, as requested by Mr. DeJoy, would help stop the financial bleeding at the agency, which has operated at a loss since 2006. It would save an estimated $45 billion over 10 years, freeing up money to make much-needed investments in modernization. A separate postal reform bill includes $8 billion to make a majority of postal trucks electric vehicles, which would be an enormous leap toward reducing emissions. Thats a plan that can be embraced by both environmental activists and corporations like Amazon, which ships packages through the Postal Service. As Amazon brings more deliveries in-house, the potential loss of revenue for the Postal Service poses a challenge that must be met with creativity and collaboration with other businesses that might fill the gap.

Far more needs to be done to bring the U.S. Postal Service into the digital age. But this is a step in the right direction. The post office has always been able to adapt to technological change from the pony express to the advent of airmail. It will be able to adapt once again, if Congress allows it to invest in itself and innovate.

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Opinion | Democrat or Republican, You Probably Love the Post Office - The New York Times

Obama described as ‘parasite’ on the Democratic Party in new book – Denver Gazette

A new book describes former President Barack Obama as a "parasite" on the Democratic Party, using it as a "host" during his first term to get reelected.

The description appears in a chapter of Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaign to Defeat Trump, written by Edward Isaac Dovere, a writer for the Atlantic, and former chief Washington correspondent for Politico.

OBAMA SLAMMED TRUMP IN PROFANITY-LACED REMARKS TO DONORS, BOOK REVEALS

"In his second term, he cared about what happened to the husk as much as any parasite does," Dovere writes, according to a report by Fox News.

The journalist cites Democratic losses in 2010, when Republicans took the majority in the House in a sweeping red wave, followed by 2014, when the GOP took control of both chambers in Congress.

"The numbers are hard to ignore: During his eight years in office, Obama oversaw a net loss of 947 state legislative seats, 63 House seats, 11 senators, and 13 governors," Dovere said.

Dovere said the former president only had two major success stories during his time in the White House: Supreme Court rulings upholding his signature healthcare plan, ObamaCare, and declaring same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

"In hindsight it's hard not to see delusion in the self-assurance and the celebration and the sense of moving forward of those two weeks in America," Dovere writes.

Dovere's book also talks about first lady Jill Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders. He claims Jill Biden told now-Vice President Kamala Harris to "go f*** yourself" after she referred to her husband, now-President Joe Biden, as a racist during a 2020 presidential primary debate.

The book also reports Sanders, a self-described socialist, has "minimum requirements" during his travels, including a request for a king-sized bed kept at 60 degrees and comfortable rights on private flights.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Dovere's book was compiled from more than 400 interviews over a four-year period. It chronicles the battle to remove former President Donald Trump from the White House. The book is set to release next week.

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Obama described as 'parasite' on the Democratic Party in new book - Denver Gazette