KeithHennessey.com

This page contains the most recent version of my list of “things you should know about the Kennedy-Dodd health care bill,” interspersed with parallel observations about the leaked outline of the House Democrats’ health care bill. I will post each time I update this page, so you can track it incrementally.  If you bookmark this [...]

Yesterday I posted and described the draft Kennedy-Dodd health care bill.  Today I would like to do the same for an outline produced by House Democrats. Here is a three-page outline of “Key Features of the Tri-Committee Health Reform Draft Proposal in the House of Representatives,” dated yesterday (June 8, 2009).

This is the second in a series of occasional posts about the nitty gritty of working in the West Wing of the White House.  I am describing things as they were in the Bush Administration.  YMMV in the Obama Administration.  Again, it seems a bit silly to write about such trivial details, but given the [...]

I began this blog at the end of March after the stimulus bill had become law.  I had been struck by how much the stimulus debate had focused on whether the bill was efficient.  (It clearly was not.)  There was much less discussion of whether the stimulus would be effective, and of the timing of [...]

Many of you are new to this blog since I wrote extensively about autos six weeks ago.  As background, I coordinated the auto loan process for President Bush last fall as the Director of the White House National Economic Council (the position now held by Dr. Lawrence Summers).  I wrote a series of posts on [...]

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 1, 2009 BACKGROUND BRIEFING BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON THE GENERAL MOTORS RESTRUCTURING May 31, 2009 Via Conference Call 7:10 P.M. EDT MS. PSAKI:  Thank you, everyone, for joining the call.  Just a reminder that the call this evening is on background, [...]

Almost two months ago, President Obama set a specific employment goal for his Administration: I think my initial measure of success is creating or saving 4 million jobs. It is clear that this “create or save” phrase is now a standard and important part of the Administration’s economic message. Greg Mankiw quickly identified both the [...]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March employment report at 8:30 am.  Here is the least you need to know: Net payroll employment declined in March by 663,000 jobs. That’s a terrible number, and in line with expectations. The unemployment rate increased from 8.1% to 8.5%. Much of the press coverage talks about “5.1 [...]

In part one of this series I reviewed some background and long-term problems facing the U.S. auto manufacturers.  I pointed out that General Motors and Chrysler, and the Obama Administration, face a more immediate cash flow problem.  The Obama Administration is in the midst of rolling out the President’s new game plan.  I’d like to [...]

Which matters more to you? Anger at failed AIG executives who are receiving bonuses while their employer is being bailed out by the taxpayer. Fear of what this or a future Congress might do once they cross the line and start breaking contracts retroactively for people who are politically unpopular. There are few more unsympathetic [...]