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| Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblog's morning policy news primer byMax Ehrenfreund (@MaxEhrenfreud). Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, click here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. |
| The good news is that more Californians are vaccinating their kids |
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Beginning last year, California lawmakers required parents seeking exemptions from vaccination requirements to talk to a professional before receiving a waiver for their kids. Michael Hiltzikwrites in the Los Angeles Times that the rule seems to have had an effect:
What's in Wonkbook: 1) Net neutrality 2) Opinions, including Lane on homeownership 3) How Republicans would replace Obamacare, Jeb Bush's speech on the middle class, and more
Map of the day: Earthquakes are spreading in Oklahoma, and many geologists think drilling for fossil fuels is the cause.Darla Cameron and Dan Keating in The Washington Post.
Just getting caught up on the net neutrality debate? This 11-minute video by Vi Hart is a hilarious introduction.
The rules would have given Netflix a stronger hand in negotiating with Comcast. "You may remember that Netflix and Comcast struck a controversial deal last year that has Netflix paying to connect directly with Comcast. The FCC's draft net neutrality rule allows any company that feels like it's been unfairly treated in the middle mile (e.g., Netflix) to file a complaint and have the agency examine what's going on. In responding to the proposal Wednesday, Netflix said: 'If such an oversight process had been in place last year, we certainly would've used it when a handful of ISPs opted to hold our members hostage until we paid up.' And while Netflix says it isn't looking to go back and have those deals reversed, it's hard not to imagine the streaming video company someday filing a complaint if another Internet provider tries to strike a similar deal with it." Brian Fung in The Washington Post.
The cable industry is not pleased, nor are Republicans."Michael Powell, who heads the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. trade group, said Wheeler's proposal would 'result in a backward-looking new regulatory regime, ill-suited for the dynamic Internet, with far-reaching and troubling consequences.' ... Key congressional Republicans strongly opposed Wheeler's move and criticized Obama for meddling with an independent agency. They have proposed legislation that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking websites, slowing connection speeds and charging companies for faster delivery of their content — but without utility-like regulation." Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times.
They think these net neutrality rules would discourage investment. "Broadband providers have supported bans on blocking, throttling and paid prioritization, but they strenuously oppose being reclassified and subjected to the encyclopedic rules of Title II of the Communications Act. Such a shift would cause investors to flee, which would stymie the deployment of more advanced and ubiquitous high-speed networks, they argue. Ideally, Congress would give the FCC new authority to write rules tailored to net neutrality. Instead, however, leading Republicans in the House and Senate want to place a few basic restrictions on ISPs and forbid the FCC to go further. Until lawmakers come up with something realistic, Wheeler is pursuing the best approach available, which is to apply Title II to ISPs while exempting them from onerous and irrelevant provisions." The Los Angeles Times.
Wheeler's proposal uses the law that created Ma Bell, after all. "In an acrobatic feat of Orwellian logic, Mr. Wheeler even implies that telephone-style regulation must come to the Net to prevent problems that existed in the old telephone network, such as the difficulty faced by entrepreneurs trying to deploy new communications devices. But unlike in the days of the old Ma Bell telephone monopoly, new devices and services are multiplying today. ... Even if the FCC forbears from most of the ancient rules, the Chairman’s plan explicitly gives the commission authority to decide which business terms are 'just and reasonable' and which practices are 'unjust and unreasonable.' The FCC chairman will then become the Frank Underwood of the Web." The Wall Street Journal.
Here is Wheeler's column, where he talks about net neutrality and the free market. "To preserve incentives for broadband operators to invest in their networks, my proposal will modernize Title II, tailoring it for the 21st century, in order to provide returns necessary to construct competitive networks. For example, there will be no rate regulation, no tariffs, no last-mile unbundling. Over the last 21 years, the wireless industry has invested almost $300 billion under similar rules, proving that modernized Title II regulation can encourage investment and competition." Wired.
The proposal reveals a shift in Wheeler's thinking. "Wheeler has now chosen a legal strategy that he saw as too radical just nine months ago. His original network neutrality proposal, which he released last May, tried to protect network neutrality, the idea that all internet content should be treated equally, without treating internet access as a public utility. Critics argued that these rules were too weak, leaving a big loophole that would allow broadband providers to engage in exactly the kind of discriminatory behavior that network neutrality rules are supposed to prevent. ... They gained an important ally in November when President Barack Obama endorsed reclassification." Timothy B. Lee at Vox.
His proposal looks almost like a victory for democracy. "This is a staggering turn. When I last wrote about the topic in mid-May, it seemed the FCC would permit a limited fast and slow lane scheme. Then the winds began to shift. In June, John Oliver exhorted his viewers to write to the FCC in defense of net neutrality, and they did so in droves, crashing the agency's servers. By the fall, more than 4 million people had submitted public comments on the topic, overwhelmingly in support of stronger rules to protect net neutrality." Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic.
Number of the day: $13 billion. That's how much Americans spent in 2013 on dietary and herbal supplements, which are made from unregulated ingredients and which often bear illegal labels claiming to improve health when they have not been shown to do so or failing to disclose dangerous allergens.Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
PETHOKOUKIS: Lowering tax rates would be costly and ineffective. "Even dynamic scoring probably won't make the budget numbers work for low-rate tax plans unless they also raise taxes on the middle class or cut entitlements. Back in 2012, Newt Gingrich had a 15 percent flat-tax plan that the Tax Policy Center scored as losing $1 trillion a year. Fantasy economic plans based on ideological aspiration and Reagan-era nostalgia may be fun to talk about. But Republicans like to consider themselves hard-nosed realists who understand life is about trade-offs. They need to check their math." The Week.
THOMA: The Federal Reserve has been too optimistic about the economy. "If the Fed is overly optimistic yet again -- as it has been throughout the Great Recession and subsequent recovery -- and if it fails to recognize its tendency to wear rose-colored glasses, it could raise interest rates too soon. That would slow the recovery and perhaps even create a stall as the economy gets caught in a deflationary spiral." CBS News.
FLAVELLE: New survey data show mandatory sick leave isn't that bad for business. "Of the businesses that said paid sick leave had increased their costs, almost two-thirds either said those increases were less than 2 percent or didn't know how much costs had increased. Only 1 in 5 businesses said costs had gone up 2 percent or more. ... Less than 14 percent of the Connecticut businesses surveyed reported instances in which their workers had abused the policy. In Seattle, 8 percent of businesses surveyed said they had reprimanded an employee for abuse." Bloomberg View.
MEYERSON: Fairness, not "envy," is the political principle of Obama's budget. "'Envy economics' — that’s how Paul Ryan (Wis.), the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, characterized the budget that President Obama submitted to Congress on Monday. I suppose he has a point. Who among us, for instance, doesn't envy the ability of our most profitable corporations, such as Apple, to cut their taxes by shifting profits to low-tax Ireland, even though, in Apple's case, the company doesn't really do much business in Ireland? ... Then there's the envy that most working mothers must feel toward those affluent moms who have no trouble paying for decent child care. Obama panders to their jealousy by pushing to create a tax credit of up to $3,000 to help these whiners pay for the care and feeding of their kids." The Washington Post.
-- The individual mandate is repealed.
-- There's a ban on preexisting conditions, but only for people who have maintained continuous coverage since an initial enrollment period.
-- The tax preference for employer plans is capped, to replace Obamacare's Cadillac tax as a way to discourage excessive coverage.
-- Plans are no longer required to include a list of basic benefits, but young people can still stay on their parents' plans until they are 26.
Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
Bush gave a big speech on the middle class. "Former Florida governor Jeb Bush's speech on Wednesday before the Detroit Economic Club was something larger than a test-drive of a presidential campaign message. It was the highest-profile example to date of a Republican presidential hopeful embracing economic inequality and middle-class stagnation as problems that define America. What it was not -- at least on its face -- was a break with orthodox conservative thinking about the economy." Jim Tankersley in The Washington Post.
Nestlé is getting paid to borrow money. "Once upon a time, you actually had to pay lenders to borrow money. It was an archaic ritual called 'interest'... In fact, it's the opposite of how things work today, at least in Europe's brave, new, deflationary world. France, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany are all getting paid by investors—that is, bond yields are negative—to borrow for up to four, and sometimes six, years. Switzerland is even getting paid to borrow for ten years. That's never happened anywhere before. But it's not just governments that people are paying for the privilege of lending to. It's companies, too. Or at least one of them: Nestlé. Its €500 million debt that comes due in October 2016 became the first corporate bond of a year or longer to have a negative yield, after it got as low as -0.0081 percent on Tuesday." Matt O'Brien in The Washington Post.
Statewide, the rate of vaccine waivers for kindergartners entering school in the fall declined to 2.5% in 2014 from 3.1% in 2013. Bigger declines were seen in districts with high exemption rates--in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, the rate fell from 14.8% to 11.5%; Beverly Hills Unified declined from 11.9% to 5%; and Laguna Beach Unified declined from 15.1% to 2%, according to a Times analysis.In other words, many parents who don't vaccinate may be reasonable people who understandably have concerns about vaccines, given the noisy if unfounded controversy, and who are open to being persuaded -- at least as long as they're not wrongly mocked for backwardness in the press, and as long as politicians don't confuse them further.
That suggests that for many parents, skepticism about vaccines is only lightly held, and placing even a mild obstacle in the path of waivers prompts them to get their kids immunized.
What's in Wonkbook: 1) Net neutrality 2) Opinions, including Lane on homeownership 3) How Republicans would replace Obamacare, Jeb Bush's speech on the middle class, and more
Map of the day: Earthquakes are spreading in Oklahoma, and many geologists think drilling for fossil fuels is the cause.Darla Cameron and Dan Keating in The Washington Post.
1. Top story: Strong net neutrality rules proposed
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to "reclassify" the Internet as a utility, subjecting it to stricter oversight, with a few exceptions. "Under the new regime, broadband providers would be explicitly banned from blocking content or creating fast lanes for Web services that can pay for preferential treatment into American homes. ... The FCC is expected to vote on Wheeler's proposed rules on Feb. 26. The draft rules seek to impose a modified version of Title II, which was originally written to regulate telephone companies. It will waive a number of provisions, including parts of the law that empower the FCC to set retail prices — something Internet providers fear above all. However, contrary to many people's expectations, the draft rules will also keep other parts of Title II that allow the FCC to: enforce consumer privacy rules; extract funds from Internet providers to help subsidize services for rural Americans, educators and the poor; and make sure services such as Google Fiber can build new broadband pipes more easily, according to people familiar with the plan." Brian Fung in The Washington Post.Just getting caught up on the net neutrality debate? This 11-minute video by Vi Hart is a hilarious introduction.
The rules would have given Netflix a stronger hand in negotiating with Comcast. "You may remember that Netflix and Comcast struck a controversial deal last year that has Netflix paying to connect directly with Comcast. The FCC's draft net neutrality rule allows any company that feels like it's been unfairly treated in the middle mile (e.g., Netflix) to file a complaint and have the agency examine what's going on. In responding to the proposal Wednesday, Netflix said: 'If such an oversight process had been in place last year, we certainly would've used it when a handful of ISPs opted to hold our members hostage until we paid up.' And while Netflix says it isn't looking to go back and have those deals reversed, it's hard not to imagine the streaming video company someday filing a complaint if another Internet provider tries to strike a similar deal with it." Brian Fung in The Washington Post.
The cable industry is not pleased, nor are Republicans."Michael Powell, who heads the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. trade group, said Wheeler's proposal would 'result in a backward-looking new regulatory regime, ill-suited for the dynamic Internet, with far-reaching and troubling consequences.' ... Key congressional Republicans strongly opposed Wheeler's move and criticized Obama for meddling with an independent agency. They have proposed legislation that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking websites, slowing connection speeds and charging companies for faster delivery of their content — but without utility-like regulation." Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times.
They think these net neutrality rules would discourage investment. "Broadband providers have supported bans on blocking, throttling and paid prioritization, but they strenuously oppose being reclassified and subjected to the encyclopedic rules of Title II of the Communications Act. Such a shift would cause investors to flee, which would stymie the deployment of more advanced and ubiquitous high-speed networks, they argue. Ideally, Congress would give the FCC new authority to write rules tailored to net neutrality. Instead, however, leading Republicans in the House and Senate want to place a few basic restrictions on ISPs and forbid the FCC to go further. Until lawmakers come up with something realistic, Wheeler is pursuing the best approach available, which is to apply Title II to ISPs while exempting them from onerous and irrelevant provisions." The Los Angeles Times.
Wheeler's proposal uses the law that created Ma Bell, after all. "In an acrobatic feat of Orwellian logic, Mr. Wheeler even implies that telephone-style regulation must come to the Net to prevent problems that existed in the old telephone network, such as the difficulty faced by entrepreneurs trying to deploy new communications devices. But unlike in the days of the old Ma Bell telephone monopoly, new devices and services are multiplying today. ... Even if the FCC forbears from most of the ancient rules, the Chairman’s plan explicitly gives the commission authority to decide which business terms are 'just and reasonable' and which practices are 'unjust and unreasonable.' The FCC chairman will then become the Frank Underwood of the Web." The Wall Street Journal.
Here is Wheeler's column, where he talks about net neutrality and the free market. "To preserve incentives for broadband operators to invest in their networks, my proposal will modernize Title II, tailoring it for the 21st century, in order to provide returns necessary to construct competitive networks. For example, there will be no rate regulation, no tariffs, no last-mile unbundling. Over the last 21 years, the wireless industry has invested almost $300 billion under similar rules, proving that modernized Title II regulation can encourage investment and competition." Wired.
The proposal reveals a shift in Wheeler's thinking. "Wheeler has now chosen a legal strategy that he saw as too radical just nine months ago. His original network neutrality proposal, which he released last May, tried to protect network neutrality, the idea that all internet content should be treated equally, without treating internet access as a public utility. Critics argued that these rules were too weak, leaving a big loophole that would allow broadband providers to engage in exactly the kind of discriminatory behavior that network neutrality rules are supposed to prevent. ... They gained an important ally in November when President Barack Obama endorsed reclassification." Timothy B. Lee at Vox.
His proposal looks almost like a victory for democracy. "This is a staggering turn. When I last wrote about the topic in mid-May, it seemed the FCC would permit a limited fast and slow lane scheme. Then the winds began to shift. In June, John Oliver exhorted his viewers to write to the FCC in defense of net neutrality, and they did so in droves, crashing the agency's servers. By the fall, more than 4 million people had submitted public comments on the topic, overwhelmingly in support of stronger rules to protect net neutrality." Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic.
Number of the day: $13 billion. That's how much Americans spent in 2013 on dietary and herbal supplements, which are made from unregulated ingredients and which often bear illegal labels claiming to improve health when they have not been shown to do so or failing to disclose dangerous allergens.Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
2. Top opinions
LANE: It's time to give up on the destructive bipartisan delusion of an "ownership society." "63.9 percent of U.S. households owned their residences in the fourth quarter of 2014, precisely the same percentage as in the third quarter of 1994. In fact, the current homeownership rate is a mere 1 percentage point higher than it was 50 years ago, census data show. ... Whether you blame Wall Street, Washington or some combination of the two, the simple fact is that government and business sold millions of people an American Dream that could not survive a sour economy, with nightmarish results for them and for the country." The Washington Post.PETHOKOUKIS: Lowering tax rates would be costly and ineffective. "Even dynamic scoring probably won't make the budget numbers work for low-rate tax plans unless they also raise taxes on the middle class or cut entitlements. Back in 2012, Newt Gingrich had a 15 percent flat-tax plan that the Tax Policy Center scored as losing $1 trillion a year. Fantasy economic plans based on ideological aspiration and Reagan-era nostalgia may be fun to talk about. But Republicans like to consider themselves hard-nosed realists who understand life is about trade-offs. They need to check their math." The Week.
THOMA: The Federal Reserve has been too optimistic about the economy. "If the Fed is overly optimistic yet again -- as it has been throughout the Great Recession and subsequent recovery -- and if it fails to recognize its tendency to wear rose-colored glasses, it could raise interest rates too soon. That would slow the recovery and perhaps even create a stall as the economy gets caught in a deflationary spiral." CBS News.
FLAVELLE: New survey data show mandatory sick leave isn't that bad for business. "Of the businesses that said paid sick leave had increased their costs, almost two-thirds either said those increases were less than 2 percent or didn't know how much costs had increased. Only 1 in 5 businesses said costs had gone up 2 percent or more. ... Less than 14 percent of the Connecticut businesses surveyed reported instances in which their workers had abused the policy. In Seattle, 8 percent of businesses surveyed said they had reprimanded an employee for abuse." Bloomberg View.
MEYERSON: Fairness, not "envy," is the political principle of Obama's budget. "'Envy economics' — that’s how Paul Ryan (Wis.), the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, characterized the budget that President Obama submitted to Congress on Monday. I suppose he has a point. Who among us, for instance, doesn't envy the ability of our most profitable corporations, such as Apple, to cut their taxes by shifting profits to low-tax Ireland, even though, in Apple's case, the company doesn't really do much business in Ireland? ... Then there's the envy that most working mothers must feel toward those affluent moms who have no trouble paying for decent child care. Obama panders to their jealousy by pushing to create a tax credit of up to $3,000 to help these whiners pay for the care and feeding of their kids." The Washington Post.
3. In case you missed it
Senior G.O.P. lawmakers release a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. There are a few main points:-- The individual mandate is repealed.
-- There's a ban on preexisting conditions, but only for people who have maintained continuous coverage since an initial enrollment period.
-- The tax preference for employer plans is capped, to replace Obamacare's Cadillac tax as a way to discourage excessive coverage.
-- Plans are no longer required to include a list of basic benefits, but young people can still stay on their parents' plans until they are 26.
Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
Bush gave a big speech on the middle class. "Former Florida governor Jeb Bush's speech on Wednesday before the Detroit Economic Club was something larger than a test-drive of a presidential campaign message. It was the highest-profile example to date of a Republican presidential hopeful embracing economic inequality and middle-class stagnation as problems that define America. What it was not -- at least on its face -- was a break with orthodox conservative thinking about the economy." Jim Tankersley in The Washington Post.
Nestlé is getting paid to borrow money. "Once upon a time, you actually had to pay lenders to borrow money. It was an archaic ritual called 'interest'... In fact, it's the opposite of how things work today, at least in Europe's brave, new, deflationary world. France, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany are all getting paid by investors—that is, bond yields are negative—to borrow for up to four, and sometimes six, years. Switzerland is even getting paid to borrow for ten years. That's never happened anywhere before. But it's not just governments that people are paying for the privilege of lending to. It's companies, too. Or at least one of them: Nestlé. Its €500 million debt that comes due in October 2016 became the first corporate bond of a year or longer to have a negative yield, after it got as low as -0.0081 percent on Tuesday." Matt O'Brien in The Washington Post.
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