A new report from the Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 7 million people will lose their employer-based health insurance coverage under President Obama’s signature health care law, nearly twice the previous estimate. Changes to the tax code under Obamacare, said the CBO, have altered the incentives for the business sector, which will likely prefer to pay the penalty rather than the cost of workers’ health insurance. Overall, 27 million people are expected to gain coverage by 2017, roughly 5 million less than originally projected. - Read the CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook report here
BUDGET DEFICIT WILL BE UNDER A TRILLION For the first time in five years, the federal budget is projected to be under $1 trillion in 2013, the CBO said Tuesday. Federal budget deficits will likely shrink for the next few years, then explode as the national debt becomes worse and worse. - Read more at The Fiscal Times
OBAMA WANTS TO DELAY CUTS President Obama pressed Congress to delay the across-the-board sequester cuts from taking effect on March 1 by adopting a smaller package of spending cuts and tax changes. Congress “should at least pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms,” Obama said at a press conference Tuesday. “Our economy right now is headed in the right direction and it will stay that way as long as there aren't any more self-inflicted wounds coming out of Washington.” Read more at The Fiscal Times
BOEHNER PUSHES BACK Before Obama called on Congress to spare the sequester with a short-term fix, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, released remarks reminding everyone that the sequester was the president’s idea in the first place. “Republicans have twice voted to replace these arbitrary cuts with common-sense cuts and reforms that protect our national defense,” Boehner said earlier today. “We believe there is a better way to reduce the deficit, but Americans do not support sacrificing real spending cuts for more tax hikes. The president’s sequester should be replaced with spending cuts and reforms that will start us on the path to balancing the budget in 10 years.” - Read Speaker Boehner’s full remarks here
