Quorum Report: R & D

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Originally designed to promote the columns of anonymous Republican and Democratic writers, this page is now the home of a variety of columnists which currently include former Republican Party political director Royal Masset, environmental reporter Duggan Flanakin, former San Antonio Light Capitol reporter Ed Sills, and general all-around curmudgeon Edd O'Donnell. Each columnist brings decades of experience to the table.

May 15, 2013 10:17 AM SILLS: OL' "POP CULTURE" INTERVIEWED AFTER PERRY ATTACK Tongue in cheek response as Pop Culture cites others from his tribe like "Father Time" and "Pop Art" and of course, "Mother Nature" “Their values and principles have worked for a century now. And for Pop Culture to come in and try to tear that up, which happens to be the flavor of the month so to speak, and to tear apart one of the great organizations that has served millions of young men, helped them become men and great fathers, that is just not appropriate and I hope the American people will stand up and say, ‘Not on my watch’…And if we change and become more like Pop Culture, young men will be not as well served.” --Gov. Rick Perry, opposing a proposed change to Boy Scouts eligibility rules for gays. Pop Culture stroked his grey Van Dyke beard, which complemented a blue Nehru shirt and grey Birkenstocks, and took another swig from his craft beer, which the downtown Austin brewery had labeled, “The Devil’s Eyebrow.” “That is one insecure man,” Culture said. “It’s not the first time Rick Perry has attacked me, but no Texas governor has ever called me out by name like that before. I had a good relationship with Texas governors. Ann Richards understood me; she got me in a way even my wife, Ma Couture, never has.” Culture drained his glass and signaled for a refill. “Bill Clements and I had a deal: He left me alone and I didn’t say a thing about the plaid jackets. George W. just ignored me, which was fine because his wife elevated books and authors.” “I’m amazed at Perry,” Culture said, his voice rising. “When he wins another election, by God the people have spoken. But when he loses the argument, it’s ‘Pop Culture this’ and ‘Pop Culture that.’” “Why do you think he’s after you?” I asked, nursing my Perrier. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Ed Sills
Copyright May 15, 2013, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved


May 14, 2013 2:08 PM SCHWERTNER: PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN ON MEDICAID EXPANSION Oregon model exposes surprising results with implicatgions for Texas *The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act* was sold to the American people on the ambitious premise that it would improve the health of millions of Americans and save tens of thousands of lives through preventative care. However, a landmark study published last week in the *New England Journal of Medicine* has cast substantial doubt on this central claim of *Obamacare. In 2008, the state of Oregon decided to extend Medicaid eligibility to the same population group that Texas is now considering: low-income, able-bodied adults who are currently uninsured. Without the funding to expand coverage to everyone meeting that criteria, Oregon lawmakers devised a novel solution -- a randomly-selected lottery for qualified applicants. This lottery afforded an intriguing opportunity to conduct a large-scale, scientific survey comparing the 6,387 low-income adults newly enrolled in Medicaid with another 5,842 individuals who remained uninsured. Though individuals enrolled in Medicaid utilized 35% more medical services and 15% more prescription drugs than the uninsured, the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment* found that the Medicaid group's measurable health outcomes (such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels) showed no statistically significant improvement when compared to the control group. More puzzling still, the study found no decline in emergency room visits and a 30% increase in overall hospital admissions. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Senator Charles Schwertner, MD
Copyright May 14, 2013, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved


April 24, 2013 11:15 AM ELTIFE: TIME TO PROPERLY FUND TEXAS TRANSPORTATION Senator argues more debt for roads is wrong direction; even if it means taxes, the conservative path is to pay as you go The State of Texas is at a crossroads, and the decisions we make this Legislative Session will affect Texans for years to come. We have spent the last ten years funding a large portion of our transportation needs with debt, now totaling $13 billion. The amount of state debt issued in all categories has more than doubled in the last ten years. You will hear many boast that we have not raised taxes during this same time, but I would argue that this debt, coupled with interest, is a tax on future generations. If we do nothing this Legislative Session to address this debt, it will be the year 2045 before we pay off the $27 billion in debt plus interest owed for transportation projects. Coming up with the money to pay for debt and interest has caused us to fall behind on the funding necessary to maintain our roads and to pay for new projects. The *Texas Department of Transportation* states that we need a minimum of $4 billion more per year to keep up with our transportation needs. There are several options on the table, including dedicating motor vehicle sales taxes to transportation, increasing the gas tax, increasing vehicle registration fees, and my proposal, SJR 47, which would let voters decide whether to temporarily increase the sales tax and dedicate the revenue to retire our transportation debt. But some in state government are calling for more debt and believe borrowing some $41 billion more over the next twenty years is a solution. Some want to sell bonds with a 100 year maturity. With interest rates at record lows it is very easy for elected officials to fund government with debt and avoid raising new revenue. The rest of the story, subscribers only
Copyright April 24, 2013, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved


April 16, 2013 9:09 AM MOOREHEAD AND BAYLOR: NUMBERS MATTER-- REAL SAVINGS FOR REAL TEXANS THROUGH PAYDAY LENDING REGULATION As payday lending bill set to hit the floor, two advocates share the numbers Numbers matter in public policy. More often than not, public policy goals are expressed as magnitudes: we hope for less of a bad thing, or more of a good thing. Numbers are especially important when the policy is about money. Is your policy goal to save people money? The policy results that matter are: how much money got saved and how many people saved it. Our organizations support SB 1247, Sen. Carona’s payday lending reform bill, because the numbers tell us that it will save lots of borrowers money. To understand how many borrowers would benefit, and how much money they would save, it’s necessary to look at the data, which in the case of payday lending comes from *the Office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC)*. According to the OCCC, there were 3.6 million payday and auto title loans issued in Texas in 2012. Borrowers collectively paid $1.25 billion in fees on those loans. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Bee Moorehead, Texas Impact; Don Baylor, Center for Public Policy Priorities
Copyright April 16, 2013, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved


April 16, 2013 9:02 AM MOOREHEAD AND BAYLOR: NUMBERS MATTER-- REAL SAVINGS FOR REAL TEXANS THROUGH PAYDAY LENDING REGULATION As payday lending bill set to hit the floor, two advocates share the numbers Numbers matter in public policy. More often than not, public policy goals are expressed as magnitudes: we hope for less of a bad thing, or more of a good thing. Numbers are especially important when the policy is about money. Is your policy goal to save people money? The policy results that matter are: how much money got saved and how many people saved it. Our organizations support SB 1247, Sen. Carona’s payday lending reform bill, because the numbers tell us that it will save lots of borrowers money. To understand how many borrowers would benefit, and how much money they would save, it’s necessary to look at the data, which in the case of payday lending comes from *the Office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC)*. According to the OCCC, there were 3.6 million payday and auto title loans issued in Texas in 2012. Borrowers collectively paid $1.25 billion in fees on those loans. The rest of the story, subscribers only By Bee Moorehead, Texas Impact; Don Baylor, Center for Public Policy Priorities
Copyright April 16, 2013, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved

SILLS: OL' "POP CULTURE" INTERVIEWED AFTER PERRY ATTACK

SCHWERTNER: PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN ON MEDICAID EXPANSION

ELTIFE: TIME TO PROPERLY FUND TEXAS TRANSPORTATION

MOOREHEAD AND BAYLOR: NUMBERS MATTER-- REAL SAVINGS FOR REAL TEXANS THROUGH PAYDAY LENDING REGULATION

MOOREHEAD AND BAYLOR: NUMBERS MATTER-- REAL SAVINGS FOR REAL TEXANS THROUGH PAYDAY LENDING REGULATION