THE CASE AGAINST LYNN JENKINS CHAPTER 40 - HER RECORD ON MEDICARE

This is Lynn Jenkins, she does not represent us

Site Meters tells this blog of a recent visitor from Clifton, Kansas who was interested in Lynn Jenkins record on Medicare. That's a great inquiry, so let's take a look.

House Concurrent Resolution 85 established the Congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2010 and including appropriate budgetary levels for F.Y. 2009 and for F.Y. 2011 through 2014. So what's that got to do with Medicare?

Section 314of the resolution establishes the current policy reserve fund for Medicare improvements. That's important because this §314 is an essential component of reforming the Medicare payment formula. This section mandates changes incentives to encourage efficiency and higher quality care in a way that supports fiscal sustainability. It calls for improving payment accuracy to encourage efficient use of resources and ensure that primary care receives appropriate compensation. It requires improvement of coordination of care among all providers serving a patient in all appropriate settings. Finally it seeks to hold providers accountable for their utilization patterns and quality of care. Lynn Jenkins voted no on H.Con.Res. 85 on roll call vote 192, April 2, 2009.

H.R. 3962 the Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010, is now Public Law 111-192. This new law provides for a Medicare physician payment rate update and provides single and multiple employer pension plan sponsors with relief from pension funding requirements.

Lynn Jenkins voted no on H.R. 3962 on roll call vote 887, November 7, 2003. She voted yes on the measure roll call vote 393, June 24, 2010. That was on resolving differences with the Senate version of the bill. The final vote was 417 to 1.

Another case of where Lynn Jenkins was against it before she was for it is H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009 , now Public Law 111-141. On original passage in the House Lynn Jenkins voted against H.R. 3961, that was roll call vote 909 on November 19, 2009. When it came to resolving differences with the Senate, she was again on board. The final margin was 315 to 97, on roll call vote 67, February 27, 2009.

H.R. 2, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, now Public Law 111-3, is more commonly known as SCHIP, This is the part of Medicare that provides for health insurance for the neediest children. This law expanded coverage to include all children whose families were at or below 300% of the poverty line, up from 200%. Lynn Jenkins voted no on H.R. 2 first on roll call vote 16, January 14,2009; then again on roll call vote 50, February 4, 2009. Jenkins argued that the top third of those children should be excluded. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bath water!

H.R. 598,was a bill to provide for a portion of the economic recovery package relating to revenue measures, unemployment, and health, which became Public Law 111-5 on 2/17/2009, and is known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This applies to Medicare because this is where incentives are provided to physicians and hospitals using the electronic health record (EHR) and reduce payments to those who continue using paper. This EHR is using technology to reduce overhead costs in the administration of Medicare. H.R. 598 became Title IV of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Lynn Jenkins voted no Public Law 111-5, first on roll call vote 46, January 28, 2009 and then on roll call vote 70 on February 13, 2009.

H.R. 4691, The Temporary Extension Act of 2010, now Public Law 111-144, made technical corrections to Medicare physician payment update, by delaying the increase to physicians by a month. The bill also extended the Medicare therapy caps exceptions process by three months. This measure passed the House by a voice vote.

The bottom line on Lynn Jenkins is that she voted to obstruct Medicare until the final vote. She voted to deny health insurance coverage to America's neediest children. She voted against modernizing Medicare when she voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

But there is more. The shameful propaganda in which she claimed that Health Care Reform would slash $500 Billion from Medicare, as though seniors would see a half a trillion dollar cut in benefits from Medicare. That wasn't the case. As reported on this blog Wednesday June 30th, That money is a reduction in the growth of future spending over t0 years. That money will not have to be spent because advancements in technology and elimination of waste and fraud.

Lynn Jenkins voted against Health Care Reform. If you are a senior looking at that doughnut hole then you were probably glad to see that $250 supplemental check this summer to help you through the hole. Don't thank Lynn Jenkins, she voted against it.

Lynn Jenkins likes to say how health care could be done correctly. Her votes tell us she speaking with a forked tongue. Lynn Jenkins was one of only 19 Representatives who voted against eliminating the anti-trust exemption for Health Insurance Companies.

When it comes to Medicare, Lynn Jenkins stirs the pot but comes up with last minute votes that lets her say supported the program. She's got a harder time with Veterans. Remember she voted against the National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 5136, which languishes in the Senate.




THE CASE AGAINST LYNN JENKINS CHAPTER 12 - WEAK ON TERRORISM & WEAK ON THE ENVIRONMENT

This is Lynn Jenkins, she does not represent us

H. R. 3961, the MEDICARE PHYSICIAN PAYMENT REFORM ACT OF 2009, became Public Law 111-141. This sounds like a way to upgrade the way we pay doctors who provide medical care to those served by Medicare. As pointed out in the Case Against Lynn Jenkins, Chapter 8, it was a national security bill. After the Senate got through with their tricky little amendment the bill became An Act to extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 200t and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 until February 28, 2011.

Never Again!  We must fund America's Intelligence Community

Lynn Jenkins continued to vote against making America safer on roll call 73 where she voted against the INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010, H.R. 2701. This is the bill that funds, among other things, intelligence and intelligence related activities of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); the Department of Defense (DOD); the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA); the National Security Agency (NSA); the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; the Coast Guard; the Departments of State, the Treasury, Energy, and Justice; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO); the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Condoleezza Rice and Dick Cheney, asleep at the switch

Seems to me we had a major intelligence problem back on 9/11/2001. You remember how the Bush administration ignored a memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," and Pat Roberts was apparently asleep at the switch when he was Chairman of the Senate's Intelligence Committee. Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice didn't have their eyes open either.

Now you'd think the Republicans wouldn't want America to be caught with our shorts around our ankles again. Apparently not, Lynn Jenkins voted against funding national intelligence on roll call vote 73.

Harmful Algae Blooms pose a serious threat to America

H.R. 3650, the HARMFUL ALGAE BLOOM AND HYPOXIA CONTROL AMENDMENTSACT of 2010. Hypoxia is a serious problem. Wikipedia describes it.

"Hypoxia or oxygen depletion is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as dissolved oxygen (DO; molecular oxygen dissolved in the water) becomes reduced in concentration to a point detrimental to aquatic organisms living in the system. Dissolved oxygen is typically expressed as a percentage of the oxygen that would dissolve in the water at the prevailing temperature and salinity (both of which affect the solubility of oxygen in water. An aquatic system lacking dissolved oxygen (0% saturation) is termed anaerobic, reducing, or anoxic; a system with low concentration—in the range between 1 and 30% saturation—is called hypoxic or dysoxic. Most fish cannot live below 30% saturation. A "healthy" aquatic environment should seldom experience less than 80%." See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoxia_(environmental).

Hypoxia causes fish kills like this

Harmful Algae Bloom, is as the name implies harmful. Wikipedia describes the phenomena.

" A harmful algal bloom (HAB) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms via production of natural toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are often associated with large-scale marine mortality events and have been associated with various types of shellfish poisonings."

H. R. 3650 is an important bill providing solutions for Harmful Algae Blooms and Hypoxia. Lynn Jenkins and the Republicans must have another solution for these chronic effects of HABs and Hypoxia in our nation's waters, like spilling billions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. She voted against the Environment on roll call 109.

THE CASE AGAINST LYNN JENKINS CHAPTER 8 - SHE'S A "NO-GO" ON PAYGO & VOTES TO KEEP TAXING ESTATES!

This is Lynn Jenkins, she does not represent us.

If you weren't paying attention, and most of America was not, you'd look at the roll calls and bill summary and status of H.R. 3961, the MEDICARE PHYSICIAN PAYMENT REFORM Act of 2009 and think that this important component of Health Care Reform had passed both houses of the Congress and became Public Law 111-141.

Not so fast, things aren't what they appear to be. The House did pass H.R. 3961. It was a bill about updating the way physicians are compensated for their services under Medicare.

The Senate amended the bill. They took everything out of the bill following the enactment clause, which is boilerplate preamble language for every bill. What they replaced it with had diddly to do with Health Care Reform in any way fashion or form.

The Senate transformed this bill from modernizing the manner of physician payment to expanding the sunset provisions of the PATRIOT Act and the INTELLIGENCE REFORM & TERRORISM PREVENTION Act.

When this was a bill about how we pay doctors for Medicare Lynn Jenkins voted no. That was roll call 909 where the vote was 243 to 183. Only one Republican voted with the majority. When the bill was about extending sunset provisions for the PATRIOT Act and the INTELLIGENCE REFORM & TERRORISM PREVENTION Act. then she was for it. That was roll call 67 in the second session of the 111th Congress. Thus far all roll call votes have been numbered in the first session. On roll call 67 the bill passed 315 to 97.

The bill Lynn Jenkins voted against was intended to reestablish a statutory procedure to enforce a rule of budget neutrality on new revenue and direct spending legislation. This was a Pay-As-You-Go bill. Lynn Jenkins voted not to pay for the spending the Congress is proposing!

Shattering the propaganda that Republicans are for lower taxes was the vote on H.R. 4154 the PERMANENT ESTATE TAX RELIEF FOR FAMILIES, FARMERS, & SMALL BUSINESSES Act of 2009. On a vote of 229 to 200 the measure passed the House.

If you're not fluent in the Tax Code this legislation will be as clear as mud! So to clear the mud here are a couple of definitions. "Basis," for tax purposes means the purchase price of the property plus the value of certain improvements. For real estate it is the purchase price plus the added value from improvements, like a kitchen remodel or a new roof. Note, that is not the cost, but the value of those improvements. For stocks and bonds, it's just the purchase price.

A "Step Up in Basis" means that the purchase price is taken out of the equation and the property's stepped up basis is the value of the property as of the decedent's date of death. If Farmer Jones purchased the farm in 1960 for $200,000 and made no improvements then his basis was $200,000. If on May 1st of this year he dies and the farm goes to his heirs, the step up basis will be what the farm was valued at on May 1st. So if the farm is now worth $1,000,000. The step up basis is $1,000,000.

Under the law which went into effect in January heirs did not receive the full step up basis, but rather a "Modified Carryover Basis" Now the heirs get the original basis and not the step up basis. So if Farmer Jones died on May 1st the modified carryover basis is $200,000 and not $1,000,000. This is real important when it comes to calculating capital gain taxes. If the property sells for $1,000,000 then the capital gains are calculated on the difference between the sales price and the modified carryover basis, which is $800,000 of capital gain. If the step up basis was used, as before January 1, 2010 then the sale of the farm for $1,000,000 minus the step up basis of $1,000,000 leaves a capital gain of zero.

Getting back to zero capital gains for the estate of Farmer Jones was the purpose behind H.R. 4154. Lynn Jenkins is a C.P.A. so you have to know that she understood this bill without any problem. Her problem is that she voted to keep, not eliminate the tax on Farmer Jones' Estate! We need to eliminate Lynn Jenkins at the ballot box.

Note: You should always seek competent advice from a professional tax expert in making important decisions with tax consequences.