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MORNING MESSAGE: The Postal Service Outrage

OurFuture.org's Dave Johnson: "The story of the intentional destruction of the U.S. Postal Service is one more piece of the story of crisis-after-crisis, all manufactured to advance the strategic dismantling of our government and handing over the pieces to billionaires ... The Service is hamstrung by people who pretend it is supposed to compete and then won’t let it. They won’t help with taxpayer dollars and say it has to compete in the marketplace ... Then they give it rules that no private company could survive. Then when it gets into trouble, say that government doesn’t work, start laying people off, selling off the public assets, and saying it has to be 'privatized' ..."

An "Aggressive" SOTU

President plans "aggressive" SOTU to push second-term agenda. Politico: "...Obama plans to use his big prime-time address Tuesday night to issue another broad challenge at a Republican Party he regards as vulnerable and divided ... administration officials see it as an extension of Obama’s unabashedly provocative and progressive Jan. 21 inaugural address, their latest attempt to leverage favorable deals on the sequester and the debt ceiling comparable to the watershed deal Obama secured on increasing taxes on the wealthy."

Will push for public investment. Reuters: "President Barack Obama will describe his plan for spurring the economy in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, offering proposals for investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, clean energy and education..."

And will also seek reductions in nuclear stockpile. NYT: "Mr. Obama, administration officials say, is unlikely to discuss specific numbers in the address, but White House officials are looking at a cut that would take the arsenal of deployed weapons to just above 1,000. Currently there are about 1,700 ... Mr. Obama is weighing how to reach an informal agreement with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for mutual cuts within the framework of the new Start — but without the need for ratification."

Obama prepared to go around Congress if necessary. Bloomberg: "...plans are being laid to unleash new executive orders, regulations, signing statements and memorandums designed to push Obama’s programs forward and cement his legacy ... [But] executive orders can be overturned by a future president a lot easier than can legislation."

GOP Begins To Crack On Sequester

Sen. McCain suggests he would accept more revenue to avert military cuts from sequester. W. Post: "Averting the cuts 'requires bipartisanship,' McCain [said on Fox News Sunday]. 'Will I look at revenue closers? Maybe so.' ... Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told ABC’s 'This Week” that House Republicans would oppose new taxes as part of any short-term deal ..."

"Federal employees to rally on Capitol Hill against cuts" reports W. Post: "The American Federation of Government Employees has scheduled the gathering for noon near the Capitol building. Guest speakers include Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)."

The Economist's Ryan Avent explains how the 2011 Budget Control already significantly cut spending: "Federal government spending fell by a meaningful share of GDP over that period. So did federal government employment, which dropped by 31,000 jobs in 2011 and 45,000 jobs in 2012 ... The cuts may amount to less than initial rhetoric suggested ... They may not 'hurt' in the way small-government types would wish them to hurt ... But that does not mean that spending hasn't fallen, by a significant amount ..."

Obama's deficit cutting agenda threatens the rest of it, argues HuffPost's Robert Kuttner: "The administration is officially committed to the idea that we need another $1.5 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade -- a rate of fiscal contraction half again as large as this year's Sequester, and for 10 full years ... Fiscal contraction slows the recovery, and the loss of public investment denies the government the very tools it needs to use education and infrastructure to help rebuild the middle class ... Unless President Obama disavows [the 2011 budget] deal, and the economic assumptions that lie behind it, there will be no new money to spend on anything -- only cuts."

New study shows public opinion divide on austerity between wealthy and everyone else. Digby: "...what this reveals is that the GOP anti-government propaganda of the last 30 years has truly just appealed to a narrow segment of the population. A majority of the country not only believe that the Federal Government should be active in helping people find a job, it should provide jobs if the private sector is unable to do it. Nobody in Washington (other than Bernie Sanders and a few members of the progressive caucus) can be said to represent the majority view."

Breakfast Sides

Next generation of voters in MT embracing liberalism. NYT: "...these students, and dozens of other young people interviewed here last week, give voice to a trend that is surprising pollsters and jangling the nerves of Republicans. On a central philosophical question of the day — the size and scope of the federal government — a clear majority of young people embraces President Obama’s notion that it can be a constructive force, a point he intends to make in his State of the Union address on Tuesday."

NYT edit board slams Senate GOP for blocked confirmation of CFPB chief: "The bureau cannot operate without a director. Under the Dodd-Frank law, most of its regulatory powers — particularly its authority over nonbanks like finance companies, debt collectors, payday lenders and credit agencies — can be exercised only by a director ... The consumer bureau was enacted by law, and now Republicans are using backdoor methods to destroy it."

Postal Service would have made profit except for congressional mandate on pensions. W. Post: "The report, released Friday, shows the Postal Service paid $1.4 billion toward health benefits for future retirees. A 2006 law requires the early payment of 75 years worth of retiree benefits within 10 years ... 'The $1.4 billion in pre-funding charges this quarter accounts for all — and then some — of the overall red ink of $1.3 billion,' National Association of Letter Carriers President Frederic Rolando said in a statement Friday. 'Since pre-funding went into effect, it accounts for more than 80 percent of the agency’s red ink.'"

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