BloggeRhythms

Most headline stories today concern the mushrooming unrest across the Middle-East, along with almost constant coverage of the shooting death of black 18-year-old Michael Brown by white police Officer Darren Wilson in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

 

At the same time, while getting far less attention, several news items indicate a steadily growing displeasure with the incumbent’s policies. To the extent that they now seem to be negatively affecting Ron Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago and former White House Chief of Staff.

 

Bill Ruthhart in his Clout Street column in the Chicago Tribune writes that, Karen Lewis the Chicago Teachers Union president, said that though “she has not yet decided whether she will challenge the mayor in February’s city election, she sounded at times like someone intent on running.”

 

Emanuel suggested that sharp dissatisfaction Chicago voters showed toward him in a new Chicago Tribune poll “is tied to a sluggish economy, making no mention of his controversial decision to close dozens of schools or the city’s struggles with street violence.”

 

When “asked why his slogan of “Moving Chicago forward” has not resonated with the majority of Chicagoans who disapprove of the job he’s doing, Emanuel pointed to a lack of jobs for many in the city and said there is a need to “understand and appreciate there is tremendous stress economically on middle class and working class families.”

 

And there’s the rub. Because Chicago’s economy is a reflection of the dismal economic condition of most major cities across the nation. Which means that Emanuel's unable to grow his own town due to the anti-business stance formulated and enforced by the very administration he was a key part of. Translating to a vivid description of the phrase of being “hoisted with one’s own petard.” Because if that significant weakness wasn’t apparent, it’s highly doubtful that Ms Lewis would consider challenging a fellow Democrat at all.

 

In another example of self-destruction, yesterday I mentioned that “Obamacare is increasing the cost of providing health insurance to workers, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A majority of businesses surveyed by the New York Fed expect the health-care law to increase the cost of their coverage, and the median respondent estimates a boost by 10 percent in 2015.” Meaning that in one way or another, employees cost of health care coverage is quite likely to go up.

 

Then today Fox News reports that “To help pay for President Barack Obama's health law, Congress enacted a 2.3 percent tax on the sale of medical devices used chiefly by doctors and hospitals, such as pacemakers and CT scan machines.”

 

The tax took effect in January 2013 and, for the first six months of that year, the IRS estimated it would collect $1.2 billion from it. However, an audit by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration said the IRS collected only $913 million — 24 percent less than the estimate.

 

Since the tax is projected to generate $29 billion over the coming decade, a 24 percent shortfall, if sustained, would be significant.

 

The IRS estimated receiving between 9,000 and 15,600 returns for the first two quarters of 2013, but received only 5,107 returns, “suggesting that thousands of companies either don't know about the requirements or are simply ignoring them.”

 

A majority of Congress is on record supporting repeal of the tax, but there’s no consensus on how to make up the lost revenue without adding to the budget deficit.

 

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee put it best, saying "Everything from this ill-conceived tax's structure to its implementation has been a disaster. It is no surprise that 79 senators went on the record to repeal this job-killing tax."

 

So, here we have several isolated incidences of deep dissatisfaction with the current administration’s fiscal policies, most of which negatively affect significant segments of the population. Therefore, when you add them all together, even formerly staunch supporters like Ms Lewis in Chicago thinks things need to be changed within her party in order to get better.

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios