MORNING MESSAGE: Sarkozy's Fate a Cautionary Tale
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "Will Sarkozy's downfall help Democrats learn what he never could? Democrats should consider Sarkozy's fate a cautionary tale - and a call to action. If they rally around the cause of growth, jobs, and optimism, the nation will benefit and they'll rewarded at the polls. But if they keep pushing their own brand of 'austerity lite,' they - and we - will have gained nothing from the lessons of Europe. It won't matter how much more extreme the Republicans are."
European Voters Choose Growth Over Austerity
Hollande rejects austerity in victory speech. BBC: "'Europe is watching us, austerity can no longer be the only option,' he said ... The Socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1m euros a year. He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers."
Greek voters punish ruling parties, force reconsideration of bailout terms. Time: "Greeks angered by a vicious and protracted financial crisis punished the parties that have dominated politics for decades Sunday, with projected election results showing them hemorrhaging support to anti-bailout groups and no party gaining enough ballots to form a government. Responding quickly to the protest vote, the heads of the parties in first and second place pledged to seek to either renegotiate the terms of Greece's multibillion dollar international bailout agreement or overturn it."
Ruling party of Germany loses key local election reports NYT.
Wall Street Reg Reform Stalled
McClatchy checks in on the state of bank regulatory reform: "...only about 33 percent of the new rules to rein in Wall Street are in force, according to the Davis Polk law firm ... finan"""cial firms are aggressively trying to slow down the rule-making process and roll back some of the rules ... One measure of progress is the number of cases being brought by the regulators’ enforcement divisions. The CFTC filed 99 enforcement actions in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011. That was the highest tally ever, and a 74 percent increase over the prior year. Similarly, the SEC, during the same period, brought 735 enforcement actions, its highest number ever. But even as enforcement steps up, some of the biggest triggers of the financial crisis remain only half-addressed."
Stockbroker kickbacks fleecing investors> NYT: "The rules governing Wall Street generally force stockbrokers to seek out the best prices for clients who pay them to buy and sell shares. In recent years, though, brokers have had another enticement that can pull them in a different direction: payments from stock exchanges in return for sending them business ... the rebates could be costing mutual funds, pension funds and ordinary investors as much as $5 billion a year ... "
Indiana GOP May Abandon Center
Indiana Republicans may move far right tomorrow in Senate primary. Politico: "[Sen. Dick] Lugar’s closing argument to stave off surging Richard Mourdock — a two-term state treasurer backed by the tea party — has reeked of anguish ... Two Republicans familiar with the numbers told POLITICO that Lugar’s own final internal tracking poll last week also placed him behind ... he proudly touted an endorsement from the Lunch Pail Republicans, a pro-union group that he asserts 'is very, very strongly in favor of organized labor … and in favor of rights to working people.' At a time when curbing union benefits is at the center of the GOP agenda in many states across the country, the line only inflamed the opposition."
Romney economic team is a Bush administration reunion. Bloomberg: "Among the financial and business experts advising Romney’s campaign are Columbia University’s R. Glenn Hubbard and Harvard University’s N. Gregory Mankiw, both economists who headed the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. Rounding out the team are former Missouri Senator Jim Talent and onetime Minnesota Congressman Vin Weber, now Republican lobbyists at Washington-based firms ... Coordinating their day-to-day operations is policy director Lanhee Chen, a Harvard political scientist who also worked on Bush’s re-election in 2004 ..."
New Fracking Rules Proposed
EPA unveils new fracking rule proposal for public lands. Politico: "The Obama administration has moved to force oil and gas operators to gain prior approval before fracking on federal land and disclose the fluids they use. ... frackers must also submit reports to ensure water sources are being protected ..."
AFL-CIO signals support for Keystone. The Hill: "'“I think we are all unanimous by saying we should build the pipeline, but we have to do it consistent with all environmental standards, and I think we can work that out, I really do, and we are for that happening,' [President Richard] Trumka said in the [C-Span] interview..."
Breakfast Sides
Medicaid costs grow slower than private insurance. W. Post's Suzy Khimm: "The Kaiser Family Foundation put out new data Friday that Medicaid’s per-person costs grew 2.5 percent between 2007 and 2010, significantly slower than the rate of growth in private insurance and a full point lower than overall medical trend ... Medicaid is certainly eating up a greater share of state budgets. But these data suggest that has everything to do with enrollment numbers, which have shot up during the economic downturn."
Conservative pundit George Will derides low-cost student loans: "It's a slow-motion, almost absentminded creation of a new entitlement."
