Daily Digest – February 9: Replacing Obamacare Without Real Care

Under GOP Plan, Pay More for Junk Insurance, Leave More Uninsured (The Hill)

Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Richard Kirsch breaks down the Republican plan for replacing the Affordable Care Act, which he says will allow barebones high-cost plans instead of real coverage.

A Needless Default (TAP)

David Dayen takes a deep dive into the failures of the Home Affordable Modification Program, which was supposed to help homeowners but actually created opportunities for banks to foreclose.

Much Stronger Job Growth is Needed If We’re Going to See a Healthy Economy Any Time Soon (Working Economics)

Elise Gould shows just how slowly the labor market is catching up to pre-recession levels at current rates. At 257,000 jobs per month, we’ll be waiting until May 2017.

Rand Paul Has the Most Dangerous Economic Views of Any 2016 Candidate (TNR)

Danny Vinik says that Paul’s Audit the Fed bill would give politicians the ability to interfere with monetary policy, a very scary idea since Paul so fundamentally misunderstands monetary policy.

Don’t Listen to Anyone Who Says the Unemployment Rate is a “Big Lie” (WaPo)

Matt O’Brien points out that while the unemployment rate, which only accounts for those actively looking for work, isn’t perfect, we don’t have better measures of unemployment.

Consumer Protection Agency Seeks Limits on Payday Lenders (NYT)

Jessica Silver-Greenberg says that since payday lenders continue to morph their practices to evade state regulation, federal regulation has the potential to create broader change.

New on Next New Deal

The Obama Budget: Weak on Reproductive Health

Roosevelt Institute Fellow Andrea Flynn argues that when the president chooses not to push for better funding for reproductive health programs, he’s saying the issue isn’t critical.