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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. |
| Restaurant workers shouldn’t have to wash their hands, senator argues |
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Sometimes reforms that look good on paper become more complicated and less compelling when you start talking about implementing them. That's what Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) discovered Monday while talking about regulatory reform at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
It's likely true that businesses are too heavily regulated, especially by state and municipal governments. Occupational licensing, a favorite issue of Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is a great example. Still, which of those regulations should be lifted is a hard question (should you need a license to draw blood?).
Tillis's suggestion was that rules requiring restaurant workers to wash their hands before leaving the restroom are unnecessary.
"I don't have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says we don't require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom. The market will take care of that. It's one example," he said.
First of all, gross. Second, mandated disclosure -- posting a sign announcing to customers that employees are not washing their hands -- is precisely the kind of imposition on the freedom of speech that conservatives and the business lobby have objected to in other contexts. Anyway, in practice, the existing rules really aren't enforceable beyond requiring restaurants to post a sign in their bathrooms reminding their employees to clean up. It's not clear whether the senator's solution would actually do anything to advance the free market beyond replacing one sign with another.
What's in Wonkbook: 1) Carter's confirmation hearing 2) Opinions, including Edsall on the problem with middle-class populism 3) McCain suggests betting on sports should be legal, and more
Chart of the day: Inflation has remained below the Federal Reserve's target for most of the last seven years. Eric Morath in The Wall Street Journal.
Republicans like Obama's nominee, Ashton B. Carter. He "is expected to win easy approval from the Senate to become the next secretary of defense. But when he appears for his confirmation hearing Wednesday, he's still likely to face a grilling from lawmakers — about President Obama's national security policies." Craig Whitlock in The Washington Post.
The guy is pretty smart. "The truism about Carter is that he's the smartest person in the room; the truth is he's probably the smartest one in the building. This is a man who did calculus problems to relax as a youth, who snuck away from his fellow lacrosse players in high school to read medieval history, who wrote one of his two senior theses on the use of Latin by monastic writers in 12th-century Flanders. ... Among those with whom he has worked closely both in and outside the government, he is also regarded as an independent thinker, one who is unafraid to stand up to authority. That quality, along with positions that at times appear to place him to the right of Obama, is likely to come under scrutiny by the Senate." Sally Jacobs in The Boston Globe.
The hearing will probably include questions about a Jordanian pilot burned alive by the Islamic State. "Tuesday's release of the video said to be of the execution — described as a 'savage murder' by Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of the Pentagon's Central Command — will provide fodder for Republican critics who say that Mr. Obama’s strategy to defeat the Sunni militancy needs to be sharpened." Helene Cooper inThe New York Times.
EDSALL: Obama's "middle-class economics" could alienate rich liberals. Polling data "suggest that the shift to 'middle-class populism' has the potential to win votes among a key target constituency, white people without college degrees. Middle-class populism, however, raises a host of problems for the Democratic Party. When the middle-class populist message is turned into actual legislative proposals, the costs, in the form of higher taxes, will be imposed on the affluent. Such a shift in the allocation of government resources threatens the loyalty of a crucial Democratic constituency: well-off socially liberal voters." The New York Times.
PONNURU: Gov. Bobby Jindal's plan for health insurance won't work. "Jindal's key provision is to eliminate the tax break for employer-provided health coverage and instead offer a deduction with which people could buy insurance in the individual market. The great flaw in Jindal's plan is that it would cause millions of people to lose their coverage. Deductions are more valuable to those in high tax brackets, and they wouldn't provide much help for the lower-income people whom Obamacare allowed to enroll in Medicaid. Many of the people now covered under Obamacare's exchanges would also lose their coverage. And some of those now covered by their employers would find their plans threatened as younger and healthier employees used the new deduction to leave those plans for the individual market." Bloomberg View.
HEALEY: How will new rules on net neutrality address zero rating and interconnections? Millions of public comments on the rules "were inspired by outrage over something ISPs have done that doesn't technically violate net neutrality. Meanwhile, something ISPs are doing that looks an awful lot like a neutrality violation hasn't drawn a peep of protest from ordinary consumers. The debate over neutrality rules has been based largely on hypotheticals and worst-case scenarios." Los Angeles Times.
The "reformicons" meet opposition on tax rates. "At the heart of their case is the notion that income-tax cuts would have a smaller impact than they did in the 1980s when the top rate was roughly double. Rising income inequality, stagnant wages for the middle class and stubborn long-term unemployment also mean the fruits of growth are going mainly to the top, an argument also made by Democratic thinkers. The reformicon arguments on taxes are controversial within Republican policy circles, particularly among more established—and older—economists." Bob Davis in The Wall Street Journal.
Democrats blocked a G.O.P. immigration bill in the Senate. "The Republican-led Senate tried — and failed — to move ahead on a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security but strip it of money for Obama's executive actions on immigration. ... Senate Democrats blocked a $40 billion DHS funding bill that passed the House and would cover the department through September. They oppose the bill because of the GOP's effort to stop Obama's executive actions on immigration, including his decision to stem the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants. The move leaves unresolved whether DHS will receive a new funding bill before current spending runs out Feb. 27. The agency is bracing itself." Sean Sullivan in The Washington Post.
By how much does Obama's budget really reduce the deficit? "President Barack Obama's budget is relying on a series of familiar accounting tricks to show $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over a decade, an amount that would shrink by almost half if they were excluded. ... The accounting steps essentially inflate the White House's "baseline" predictions of future deficits. Then the White House claims greater deficit savings than it otherwise could if it played by the budget rules followed by the Congressional Budget Office, whose estimates lawmakers have to follow." Andrew Taylor for the Associated Press.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggests legalizing sports gambling. "'We need a debate in Congress,' McCain said. 'We need to have a talk with the American people, and we need to probably have hearings in Congress on the whole issue so we can build consensus.' … When asked why Nevada should be allowed to offer sports betting, but no other state, McCain replied, 'I think you've got an excellent point, and that’s why it's an excellent issue.' " Matt Bonesteel in The Washington Post.
China's central bank loosens lending requirements. "The People's Bank of China cut by half a percentage point the amount of deposits set aside by commercial banks in case of financial trouble. The step effectively frees up about 500 billion yuan, or about $81 billion, in additional funds that banks can now lend out. ... The step comes as the Chinese economy continues to struggle despite a series of stimulus measures taken in previous months. Growth slowed to 7.4% last year, the lowest level in a quarter century." Lingling Wei in The Wall Street Journal.
It's likely true that businesses are too heavily regulated, especially by state and municipal governments. Occupational licensing, a favorite issue of Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), is a great example. Still, which of those regulations should be lifted is a hard question (should you need a license to draw blood?).
Tillis's suggestion was that rules requiring restaurant workers to wash their hands before leaving the restroom are unnecessary.
"I don't have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says we don't require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom. The market will take care of that. It's one example," he said.
First of all, gross. Second, mandated disclosure -- posting a sign announcing to customers that employees are not washing their hands -- is precisely the kind of imposition on the freedom of speech that conservatives and the business lobby have objected to in other contexts. Anyway, in practice, the existing rules really aren't enforceable beyond requiring restaurants to post a sign in their bathrooms reminding their employees to clean up. It's not clear whether the senator's solution would actually do anything to advance the free market beyond replacing one sign with another.
The broader deregulatory agenda shows some promise, but as Tillis’s comments reveal, it's obviously still a work in progress.
Chart of the day: Inflation has remained below the Federal Reserve's target for most of the last seven years. Eric Morath in The Wall Street Journal.
1. Top story: Hearing for Pentagon nominee will open
The guy is pretty smart. "The truism about Carter is that he's the smartest person in the room; the truth is he's probably the smartest one in the building. This is a man who did calculus problems to relax as a youth, who snuck away from his fellow lacrosse players in high school to read medieval history, who wrote one of his two senior theses on the use of Latin by monastic writers in 12th-century Flanders. ... Among those with whom he has worked closely both in and outside the government, he is also regarded as an independent thinker, one who is unafraid to stand up to authority. That quality, along with positions that at times appear to place him to the right of Obama, is likely to come under scrutiny by the Senate." Sally Jacobs in The Boston Globe.
The hearing will probably include questions about a Jordanian pilot burned alive by the Islamic State. "Tuesday's release of the video said to be of the execution — described as a 'savage murder' by Gen. Lloyd Austin, the head of the Pentagon's Central Command — will provide fodder for Republican critics who say that Mr. Obama’s strategy to defeat the Sunni militancy needs to be sharpened." Helene Cooper inThe New York Times.
2. Top opinions
PONNURU: Gov. Bobby Jindal's plan for health insurance won't work. "Jindal's key provision is to eliminate the tax break for employer-provided health coverage and instead offer a deduction with which people could buy insurance in the individual market. The great flaw in Jindal's plan is that it would cause millions of people to lose their coverage. Deductions are more valuable to those in high tax brackets, and they wouldn't provide much help for the lower-income people whom Obamacare allowed to enroll in Medicaid. Many of the people now covered under Obamacare's exchanges would also lose their coverage. And some of those now covered by their employers would find their plans threatened as younger and healthier employees used the new deduction to leave those plans for the individual market." Bloomberg View.
HEALEY: How will new rules on net neutrality address zero rating and interconnections? Millions of public comments on the rules "were inspired by outrage over something ISPs have done that doesn't technically violate net neutrality. Meanwhile, something ISPs are doing that looks an awful lot like a neutrality violation hasn't drawn a peep of protest from ordinary consumers. The debate over neutrality rules has been based largely on hypotheticals and worst-case scenarios." Los Angeles Times.
3. In case you missed it
Democrats blocked a G.O.P. immigration bill in the Senate. "The Republican-led Senate tried — and failed — to move ahead on a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security but strip it of money for Obama's executive actions on immigration. ... Senate Democrats blocked a $40 billion DHS funding bill that passed the House and would cover the department through September. They oppose the bill because of the GOP's effort to stop Obama's executive actions on immigration, including his decision to stem the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants. The move leaves unresolved whether DHS will receive a new funding bill before current spending runs out Feb. 27. The agency is bracing itself." Sean Sullivan in The Washington Post.
By how much does Obama's budget really reduce the deficit? "President Barack Obama's budget is relying on a series of familiar accounting tricks to show $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over a decade, an amount that would shrink by almost half if they were excluded. ... The accounting steps essentially inflate the White House's "baseline" predictions of future deficits. Then the White House claims greater deficit savings than it otherwise could if it played by the budget rules followed by the Congressional Budget Office, whose estimates lawmakers have to follow." Andrew Taylor for the Associated Press.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggests legalizing sports gambling. "'We need a debate in Congress,' McCain said. 'We need to have a talk with the American people, and we need to probably have hearings in Congress on the whole issue so we can build consensus.' … When asked why Nevada should be allowed to offer sports betting, but no other state, McCain replied, 'I think you've got an excellent point, and that’s why it's an excellent issue.' " Matt Bonesteel in The Washington Post.
China's central bank loosens lending requirements. "The People's Bank of China cut by half a percentage point the amount of deposits set aside by commercial banks in case of financial trouble. The step effectively frees up about 500 billion yuan, or about $81 billion, in additional funds that banks can now lend out. ... The step comes as the Chinese economy continues to struggle despite a series of stimulus measures taken in previous months. Growth slowed to 7.4% last year, the lowest level in a quarter century." Lingling Wei in The Wall Street Journal.
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