Tom Perriello: Middle-class tax cuts
Last week, Congress completed several pieces of overdue legislation to provide economic relief for the middle class and the unemployed, approve adequate reimbursements for doctors under Medicare, and to censure a senior legislator following an ethics investigation. In the weeks remaining in the 111th Congress, we have an opportunity and obligation to complete meaningful work on job creation and economic relief for working families, on a bipartisan basis wherever possible.
Our economy continues a slow but steady recovery, and we must not let anything happen to stifle the growth. When I took office, we were in the worst economy since the Great Depression. As this term nears its end, we have produced the eleventh consecutive month of private sector job growth. For months, I have said that it makes good economic sense to extend current tax cuts for those in the middle and working class that are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Extending these tax cuts will help folks make ends meet and generate demand for goods and services. Failure to extend these cuts could hurt this fragile but real recovery.
Last week, the House voted to make permanent the current tax cuts for any individual who makes less than $200,000, or family who makes less than $250,000. This means that 98.5% of families and small business owners in the 5th District will continue to receive a tax cut on all their earnings. The top 1.5% of earners will still receive a tax cut on the first $200,000/$250,000 of income, but income over that will return to rates paid in the 1990s. This cut averages $1,000 for the typical middle class family.
There is near unanimous agreement on the wisdom of extending the current tax rates for families making less than $250,000, so Congress did the right thing in moving quickly to make these tax cuts permanent. However, there is considerable political and economic division over the wisdom of new tax cuts for top 1.5% that would add approximately $700 billion to the deficit. If the incoming Congress feels strongly about extending the tax cuts for the wealthy, they will have the opportunity to do so in January, but for now we should complete business on those elements on which most sides agree.
Until the job market rebounds, it is also appropriate to extend unemployment benefits to those who are looking for work but cannot find it. I voted again to fund our current unemployment programs, but that measure failed, and approximately 23,000 Virginians are in danger of losing this crucial lifeline over the holidays. The U.S. has never cut off unemployment benefits with joblessness rates this high, and I hope that Congress completes action before the end of the year to help 2 million Americans make it through a tough holiday season.
Our seniors gained an increased sense of security, as well, as Congress delayed for an additional month the scheduled 23% cut to doctors under Medicare. This looming cut has long been a problem and I hope that this additional month will give us the time to find a more permanent solution instead of continued delays. Doctors deserve fair reimbursement for caring for our seniors, and our seniors deserve to know that their doctor is going to participate in Medicare.
Finally, the House took the rare and serious step this week of censuring one of its members for ethical misconduct. During my term, I have consistently supported aggressive efforts to investigate and punish representatives who abuse their office, including some of the most powerful members of my own party. Any violation of the public trust cannot be tolerated. Congressman Charles Rangel of New York has served his country admirably for many years in the Army and in the Congress, but his actions showed a pattern of carelessness and dishonesty. I had previously supported efforts for him to be removed from his powerful position as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. This week, following a lengthy investigation by a bipartisan ethics panel, I voted for an official censure of Rep. Rangel. One of the most solemn duties of Congress is to defend the integrity of the body against transgressions by its members.
Tom Perriello represents the Fifth District in the United States House of Representatives.
Poll: Allen leads GOP Senate field, but trails Webb, Kaine in ’12 matchups
A new poll out today has former governor and U.S. senator George Allen well out in front of a potential 2012 Republican Senate nomination field, but also trailing in hypothetical matchups with Democratic Sen. Jim Webb and another former governor, Tim Kaine.
Allen, who lost the seat that is up for re-election in 2012 to Webb in the 2006 elections, is at 46 percent support among Republicans in the poll done by Public Policy Polling of Virginia Republicans. Congressman Eric Cantor is at 18 percent, with Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli at 16 percent.
“Virginia Republicans clearly want George Allen as their nominee. With these kinds of numbers, if he gets into the race, he’s probably a field clearer,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling.
Both Webb and Kaine, though, would lead Allen in hypothetical 2012 Senate matchups. Webb leads Allen 49 percent-45 percent in their head-to-head, and Kaine, the current chairman of the Democratic National Committee, leads Allen 50 percent-44 percent.
PPP also tested one-term Democratic congressman Tom Perriello in a head-to-head with Allen. Allen leads that matchup 47 percent-42 percent.
One other poll tidbit: PPP has President Barack Obama leading all of the top potential Republican presidential nominees in Virginia in 2012, with the closest races being with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (48 percent-443 percent) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (49 percent-44 percent).
“With Barack Obama looking good to start out the 2012 cycle in Virginia, and now Jim Webb and Tim Kaine joining him, the Republican victories in 2009 and 2010 could be more a blip than 2006 and 2008 were for Democrats,” Debnam said.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
The AFP on WREL: Nov. 5, 2010
AFP editor Chris Graham joins WREL’s “Online with Jim Bresnahan” for their weekly wrap on Virginia news.
The focus this week is on the midterm elections. The segment kicks off with a breakdown of the upset in the Fifth District, where Republican Robert Hurt knocked off Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello. Chris also analyzes the upset in the Ninth District, where long-time Democratic incumbent Rick Boucher was defeated by Republican Morgan Griffith.
A look ahead to Virginia politics in 2011 and 2012 wraps us up.
Down in defeat: Virginia Dems licking wounds after Election Day bloodletting
Tom Perriello was the underdog yet again, and yet again got caught up in a political wave. The only difference – this one forced him to swim against the current.
“I think what really torpedoed his chances here was the D next to his name,” said Isaac Wood, the House race editor at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, breaking down the Election Day loss of Perriello in the Fifth District.
The Fifth is a conservative district, “and 2010 has been a conservative year. It was pretty unlikely for a freshman Democrat to be able to overcome all of that, and across the country we really didn’t see hardly any examples of that occurring,” said Wood, who had along with other analysts foretold the Republican wave that led to the GOP takeover of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterms.
Perriello had been on the other side of the wave phenomenon just two years ago in the course of posting his upset win over long-time Republican incumbent Virgil Goode. The Democrat rode strong majorities in Charlottesville-Albemarle and a better-than-expected showing in Southside to victory in ’08.
Perriello got his big majorities in Charlottesville-Albemarle again in 2010, racking up a 12,500-vote margin in the localities, but Republican Robert Hurt rolled up a 20,000-plus-vote margin outside of the Charlottesville region and won districtwide with just shy of 51 percent of the vote.
The Perriello loss wasn’t that much of a surprise. What was a huge surprise was what happened down in Southwest Virginia, where 28-year Democratic incumbent Rick Boucher went down to defeat to Republican Morgan Griffith. Boucher had led Griffith by a double-digit margin in polls as recently as early October before the race tightened in the final couple of weeks.
“Rick Boucher survived 1994 and that Republican wave. But this Republican wave was even higher than that of 1994, and it washed away Rick Boucher,” said Wood, pointing to Boucher’s vote in favor of controversial cap-and-trade legislation that many in Southwest Virginia felt was dangerous to the local largely coal-based economy.
A third Virginia Democratic incumbent, 11th District Congressman Gerry Connolly, has a narrow 900-vote lead in his race against Republican Keith Fimian in a race that will surely go to a recount before a winner will be formally declared.
Assuming Connolly’s lead holds up and he is declared the winner, Virginia’s Democratic delegation in the House will be halved in January from six to three with the defeats of Perriello, Boucher and Second District Democrat Glenn Nye.
As bleak as things look right now, though, don’t count Democrats out looking ahead to November 2012.
“If you look at the swing between 2008 and 2010, it should prove to be a cautionary tale about extrapolating too much looking ahead to 2012. If Republicans were able to come back to the large degree that they were able to in just two years, perhaps Democrats can do the same thing,” Wood said.
“Remember 1994, which was the previous high bar for Republican gains in the House. Bill Clinton’s first midterm was an ugly one, but he was re-elected in 1996. Perhaps the same thing will happen to Barack Obama, or perhaps he will turn out to be like Jimmy Carter,” Wood said.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Movement toward Perriello in the Fifth?
A new SurveyUSA poll has Republican Robert Hurt ahead of Democrat Tom Perriello in the Fifth, but by a much smaller margin than previous SurveyUSA polling.
The latest SurveyUSA poll has Hurt at 51 percent and Perriello at 43 percent. A September SurveyUSA poll had Hurt ahead by a 61 percent-35 percent margin.
All other polling done in the race has had the margin consistently at two to six points.
Analyst: ‘Who will actually show up to vote?’
We’re nearing the final week of the 2010 midterm elections, and one of the marquee races on the national stage next Tuesday night is right here in our backyard.
Democrat Tom Perriello is trailing in the polls to Republican challenger Robert Hurt, a state senator from Southside who has run in many ways the perfect campaign, avoiding controversy and keeping the focus on Perriello and his votes on controversial health-care reform and jobs issues.
I interviewed University of Virginia Center for Politics House race editor Isaac Wood on Monday to talk about the Perriello-Hurt race, which was fated to be a tight race, Wood said, almost from the moment that Perriello was certified the upset winner in 2008 over long-time Republican incumbent Virgil Goode.
“Republicans had it at the top of their target list following Tom Perriello’s slim victory in 2008. Obviously 2010 has turned out to be a very different year than 2008 was. In 2008, Democrats were riding high. Now it’s the Republicans’ turn,” Wood said.
The question heading into next Tuesday, Wood said, “is who actually will show up to vote?”
“Democrats believe they’re going to have a superior get out the vote effort as far as bringing their supporters to the polls and making sure that they actually do register their opinions. On the other hand, Republicans say that their side is more fired up, more excited about voting – so forget the get out the vote operations, they’re going to be running to the polls on their own,” Wood said.
Watch the podcast with Wood to hear more of what he had to say about the Fifth District race and to get Wood’s take on the battle for control of Congress heading down the home stretch of the 2010 election cycle.
Story and interview by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Tom Perriello: Permanent Medicare reimbursement fix
Posted by afp on December 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment
While this legislation will ensure doctors and seniors have stability in the Medicare program for the next year, I believe we need a permanent fix to Medicare reimbursement rates instead of continually revisiting this question and introducing uncertainty for both doctors and seniors. Last year, I voted for legislation that established a permanent fix in the way Medicare pays physicians so that it will not be linked to the Sustainable Growth Rate. Permanent reform of physician payments in Medicare will help guarantee that Medicare beneficiaries continue to enjoy the excellent access to care that they do today.
This week, the House also voted to provide all seniors the equivalent of a cost-of-living adjustment for this year in response to the failure of the Social Security system to approve one. Passage required a two-thirds majority in this case, and unfortunately, congressional Republicans defeated the bill. I cosponsored and voted for this bill to provide one-time emergency payments of $250 to Social Security recipients, who will not receive a cost-of-living adjustment for the second year in a row. This payment would provide immediate support to seniors, veterans, railroad retirees and people with disabilities who receive Social Security to make ends meet during this tough time, and I’m disappointed that partisanship trumped protecting our seniors.
The Social Security cost-of-living formula is tied to the consumer price index, and due to the recession, inflation rates have remained low. However, real costs for seniors—like prescription drugs and utilities—have continued to rise dramatically, making the current formula unrealistic and ineffective. I have supported ways to change the COLA formulate to better reflect the reality of rising costs that seniors are facing.
Additionally last week, I voted against a continuing resolution to fund federal programs through the next year. I opposed the bill because I believe it was irresponsible of Congress not to pass a real budget this year, and the bill included new regulations on food that would be overly burdensome to our small famers. When family farms are struggling during these tough times, we do not need to be imposing new regulation on them.
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with medicare, medicare reimbursements, tom perriello