Richard Skinner for the Brookings Institution: Whether the Republican nominee is Jeb Bush or Scott Walker or Marco Rubio or someone else, the GOP will endorse a major tax cut. This was not always true. In the 1950s and 1960s, Republicans like Dwight Eisenhower and Barry Goldwater prioritized balancing the federal budget and expressed skepticism about broad tax cuts, at least without accompanying spending reductions. But since the late 1970s, deep “supply-side” tax cuts have become the party orthodoxy. No matter the economic context or the lack of personal enthusiasm of the candidate, the GOP will back slashing marginal rates. …
There’s about a 50-50 chance that the next president will be a Republican. Almost certainly a Republican president would be accompanied by a Republican Congress, which will be highly motivated to pass the new GOP president’s agenda. Tax cuts can be enacted by reconciliation, as George W. Bush did in 2001, so they cannot be blocked by a Democratic filibuster. (It’s also possible that some red-state Democrats—a somewhat shrunken breed—might back a tax cut.) We also know that candidates try to fulfill their campaign promises and that party platforms are actually pretty good predictors of an administration’s policies. Few issues unite the GOP like tax cuts. As Americans head to the polls, they ignore the debate around taxes at their own peril.
NO MORE SUPERSIZING
Deborah Cohen for the Rand Corporation: To protect people from increased risk of cancer, gastroenteritis and other harm from drinking water, the EPA regulates 90 potential contaminants based upon their maximum tolerable concentrations. To assure that homes and buildings do not collapse or cause injury from electricity, plumbing, fire, or falls there are hundreds — perhaps thousands — of regulations that control every aspect of construction, from the size of nails and screws to the height of steps in stairwells.
But laws regarding food come up short in safeguarding Americans. The primary food regulations focus on protecting people from foodborne illnesses like E. coli, botulism and salmonellosis. When it comes to the nation’s epidemics of chronic disease, like obesity and diabetes, regulations offer little protection to U.S. consumers. …
Regulations could provide ways to encourage consumers to eat more nutritiously. Food providers should be expected to refrain from doing harm to consumers by serving portions that are larger than they are able to burn. Requiring standardized portions with reasonable calorie counts could make it easier for people to recognize and avoid meals that contribute to obesity. People would still be free to order unhealthy meals or second servings. But a single serving size of any particular item should not, in itself, put people at risk for obesity if it were to be consumed at that level regularly. Such a policy would be roughly the food equivalent of the water standard “maximum contaminant level.”
PRISONERS NEED MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT, TOO
Miriam Becker-Cohen and KiDeuk Kim for the Urban Institute: An estimated 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of federal prisoners and 64 percent of jail inmates suffer from a mental health problem. These individuals have a unique set of circumstances and needs; however, all too often, they cycle through the criminal justice system without the appropriate care to address their mental health.
Today, the largest U.S. jails and prisons hold more people with mental illness and co-occurring substance use disorders than most inpatient psychiatric facilities. Prisoners suffering from mental illness are more likely to have experienced homelessness, prior incarceration and substance abuse than those without mental illness. In turn, these factors common among offenders also predispose them to mental illness.
Unfortunately, many prisons and jails are not equipped to address the needs of this population. In a 2006 study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, only one in three state prisoners and one in six jail inmates who suffered from a mental health problem reported having received mental health treatment since admission.
Clearly, laws that expand mental health treatment in prisons and jails are much needed.
Compiled by Joseph Lawler from reports published by the various think tanks.
