Washington

Using the CBO to make an argument based on policy? The city "tends to judge such things out of bounds".

And people wonder why it's hard to get anything done in this country.

More Health Care Charts

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has put out a great wishlist for the final health care bill. At the top of their list is the fact that the insurance premium subsidies don't really make insurance affordable. I took the data they produced and put it in chart form, along with the premium payments under Commonwealth Care in Massachusetts. Note that in Massachusetts, there is no subsidy for households earning more than 300% of FPL; they're buying well-regulated insurance on the private market.

As you can see, the Senate HELP bill is within shouting distance of Commonwealth Care; in fact, it addresses the largest problem with the Massachusetts plan, which is the difficulty faced by households too well-off to qualify for subsidies, but not well-off enough to afford the full price of insurance. If it were to pass, its combination of new revenue and spending cuts would leave people paying premiums they could live with. A family of three earning $45,000 who pays $200 per month for insurance will feel like they're getting value for their payments; wellness checkups for their children will be covered, and they have peace of mind that they won't go bankrupt if they get sick (though they may end up paying off a four-figure deductible for a while). But the same family paying $360/month for crappier insurance, as dictated by the Finance bill, will be much less happy. The bill that emerged from the Energy and Commerce Committee is a middle ground, but it's much closer to the Finance bill. The House bill coming from the other two committees—Ways & Means and Ed-Labor— is much closer to the product that HELP produced.

Reefer Gladness

In a victory for rational policymaking, the Obama administration is telling federal prosecutors not to go after people who use marijuana for medical purposes in accordance with state laws.

Polling on the broader issue of marijuana legalization is interesting. A Gallup survey done over the first half of this decade showed a pretty big gender gap among people under 50, with men opposing it only 52-44 while women oppose it 65-34. It's rare to see a stereotypically lefty issue where a big slice of the male demographic is 23 points left of women. I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe moms (including otherwise reliably liberal single moms) are especially nervous about their kids smoking pot?

One big thing you see in all the polling data is that people are more open to legalizing marijuana than they were in decades past. The time is ripe for folks who don't give off a dirty hippie vibe to stand up for some form of legalization, moving the Overton window to where it's respectable enough that people who run for office can support it without too much risk.

In related news, Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams (who proclaimed that marijuana was 10 times better than Paxil for his social anxiety disorder) is running for more than 5 yards a carry this season, with zero fumbles. Keep it up, big guy.

Classic Hilzoy

Lots of work to do, so I don't really have anything new for you blogwise. So let me link to Hilzoy's post on the use of violence in overturning oppressive regimes, from two and a half years ago. It's one of the best posts I've ever read.

Friday Kitsch Cover

Some incredibly effective Feist ripoff does Beyonce's "Single Ladies":



Leave your nominations for next week's Kitsch Cover in the comments.