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Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security.

MORNING MESSAGE: Don't Break Out The Bubbly

OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "We’ve now had 10 quarters of economic growth and 5 quarters of jobs growth. The January jobs report shows growth across the private economy, notably in manufacturing and construction. But don’t break out the bubbly. Any celebration should stay sober. The U.S. economy is still slogging slowly against fierce headwinds. We are still 6 million jobs short of where we were when the Great Recession began. There are still nearly 24 million people in need of full-time work. There are still over 4 people lining up for every available job."

Unemployment Rate Ticks Down

Better than expected job growth in January. BLS: "Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 243,000 in January, and the unemployment rate decreased to 8.3 percent ... the employment-population ratio (58.5 percent) rose in January."

A "grind in the right direction." NYT: "The promising jobs numbers came as various economic indicators have painted an ambivalent picture of the recovery’s strength. Layoffs appear to be slowing as fewer people are filing for unemployment claims, and factory orders have picked up. But while sales of existing homes have started to rise, home prices continue to fall. Consumer spending is still restrained, and could come under further pressure with oil prices edging higher over the last four months and as consumers revert to building up savings. 'It’s a steady grind in the right direction, but it’s a grind,' said Omair Sharif, United States economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland."

NYT explores WH manufacturing jobs strategy: "...the administration has put together a far-ranging set of proposals: cutting taxes for manufacturers that produce goods in the United States, taking away tax breaks for businesses that move jobs offshore, doubling a tax deduction for makers of high-tech goods, providing support to businesses investing in areas where factories are closing, expanding worker training programs and creating a new task force to better enforce trade rules and intellectual property rights. Closing a loophole that allows companies to shift profits abroad would pay for the tax credits, the White House says. It all adds up to what economists might call an industrial policy, the out-of-favor practice of using tariffs, taxes and other measures to help a particular industry."

HuffPost chronicles the depths of our infrastructure deficit: "The problems America faces with its infrastructure are often much less headline-grabbing than the 2005 collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minnesota, which focused national attention on the subject in a way that has set the tone of discussion ever since. They are more often on the order of lost productivity and lost opportunity. They include other problems Obama referenced in his speech, like 'a power grid that wastes too much energy; an incomplete high-speed broadband network.' If the struggle to fix America's infrastructure problem were a movie, it would be less Michael Bay than Woody Allen: not a lot of action, but also not much in the way of mass fatalities. Since 2005, there haven't been any more terrifying bridge collapses. Instead, the United States has failed to innovate and failed to maintain some key pillars of its infrastructure that are often less visible. People aren't dying, but the country is slowly losing its edge."

Romney Economic Message Tied Up In Knots

Romney goes back to falsely saying economy is "worse" now than under Bush. NYT: "That statement echoed one that Mr. Romney ... used when he announced his candidacy ... until he was confronted by an NBC-TV producer and fact-checking organizations. He dropped the line for many months, but has recently revived it. The consensus among nonideological economists since 2009 has been that the stimulus measures of the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve actually prevented the recession from becoming worse ... When Mr. Romney was first challenged last summer ... he told reporters, 'I didn’t say that things are worse.' He did then, and he has again."

Romney says he "misspoke" about poor. W. Post quotes: “It was a misstatement; I misspoke. I’ve said something that is similar to that but quite acceptable for a long time.”

No he didn't, says NYT's Paul Krugman: "...the more context you give to his statement, the worse it gets ... just a few days ago, Mr. Romney was denying that the very programs he now says take care of the poor actually provide any significant help [because of] 'massive overhead,' ... [And] the candidate has endorsed Representative Paul Ryan’s plan for drastic cuts in federal spending — with almost two-thirds of the proposed spending cuts coming at the expense of low-income Americans ... Mr. Romney’s position seems to be that we need not worry about the poor thanks to programs that he insists, falsely, don’t actually help the needy, and which he intends, in any case, to destroy."

Romney sides with staying in Afghanistan indefinitely. NYT: "Though Republican candidates have often successfully used foreign policy against Democrats, they have struggled to turn Mr. Obama’s handling of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to their advantage, largely because polls show that a majority of Americans favor getting out of both countries as quickly as possible. ... Last June, 79 percent of Americans said that they approved of Mr. Obama’s plan to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan — beginning in 2011, with a pullout of 33,000 by the end of this summer..."

President Roots Fight Against Inequality In His Faith

President tells National Prayer Breakfast his attempts at reducing inequality grounded in his faith. W. Post: "'I think to myself, if I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense,' Obama told the audience. 'But for me, as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that "for unto whom much is given, much shall be required."’"

Record low effective corporate tax rate. WSJ: "Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the U.S. in fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's the lowest level since at least 1972. And well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008."

Payroll tax talks drag on. Politico: "Twenty-six days remain until the popular tax cut is set to expire for 160 million Americans. But the debate so far has been consumed by side issues. And though the 20 negotiators stress that they all agree the tax holiday as well as jobless benefits and the Medicare reimbursement rate should be extended through 2012, they are avoiding the $64,000 question that stumped Congress in December: how to pay for it all."

SEC Goes Easy On Banks

NYT finds SEC systematically going light on big banks: "By granting exemptions to laws and regulations that act as a deterrent to securities fraud, the S.E.C. has let financial giants like JPMorganChase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America continue to have advantages reserved for the most dependable companies ... An analysis by The New York Times of S.E.C. investigations over the last decade found nearly 350 instances where the agency has given big Wall Street institutions and other financial companies a pass on those or other sanctions."

WH plans to wind down Fannie and Freddie. W. Post: "Geithner told reporters that administration officials have begun more intensively exploring legislative options for overhauling the nation’s housing finance system [but] concrete changes won’t come soon ..."

Freddie Mac regulators had stopped controversial bets against homeowners. ProPublica: "Freddie Mac’s regulator gave new detail today on why it halted the company’s controversial trades in complex mortgage-backed securities last year ... 'FHFA’s concerns arose through its supervisory process, which found that the risk associated with these transactions is inconsistent with FHFA’s goals of having Freddie Mac reduce its risk profile and avoid unnecessary complexity that requires specialized risk management practices,' FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco wrote.' ... However, the agency says that Freddie retains $5 billion of these investments on its books."

Wall Street divided over possible foreclosure fraud settlement. Bloomberg: "...a committee of money managers signaled it opposes terms letting banks push some costs onto bondholders ... The rift ... follows investor advocates’ complaints that bondholder interests are often trumped by those of the biggest banks when government officials act to address the fallout from the U.S. housing slump."

"5.6 Million Americans Have Switched Their Banks In The Last 90 Days" reports ThinkProgress.

Corporations Warm To Super PACs

Corporations slowly increasing their Super PAC donations. W. Post: "Corporations, especially those with high public profiles, had largely refrained from donating to political groups, but the new data signal a possible shift."

NYT asks for reader help to identify a secret Romney donor: "...at least one major donor remains unidentified: 'Glenbrook LLC,' which made a $250,000 donation to the pro-Romney super PAC last August ... The address listed for Glenbrook in campaign finance records is 3 Lagoon Drive, Suite 400, Redwood City, Calif. But a visit by a reporter to that location found it occupied by a certified public accounting firm, Seiler LLP. It is unlikely that the company is the actual source of the donation; instead, it probably helped file Glenbrook’s paperwork, or keeps its books. A company official told the reporter that it could not discuss its clients."

Breakfast Sides

Top congressional Republicans don't want to have an agenda this year. Politico: "McConnell and other influential senators believe the party should avoid putting out a detailed platform and focus squarely on Obama’s record, while a range of junior senators — and some veterans like Sen. John McCain — think the conference should lay out a Contract with America-type agenda. Others, such as Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, want to more aggressively push House Republican bills in the Senate in order to speak with one voice coming out of Congress."

Congressional GOPers try to abandon "trigger" deal to cut spending. TPM: "'I’ve got concerns about the sequester,' House Speaker John Boehner told reporters Thursday. '... The defense portion of the sequester, in my view, would clearly hollow our military.' ... Boehner’s Thursday comments came moments after Senate Republicans unveiled their plan to partially phase out the enforcement mechanism by reducing the federal workforce and freezing federal pay. Both developments indicate Republican leaders no longer regard their own deal as sacrosanct. Now Boehner’s pressuring the White House to let Republicans off the hook for the piece of the deficit enforcement mechanism that was designed to make them negotiate in good faith. And Democrats are furious."

Dems consider scaled-back DREAM Act after positions taken by GOP presidentials. THe Hill: "The Republican presidential contenders are willing to grant illegal immigrants legal status if they came to the country at a young age and served in the military. ... Gingrich and Romney would lop off part of the DREAM Act that would grant legal residency to alien minors who came to the country at age 15 or younger, live in the country for at least five years and complete at least two years of higher education. Some Democrats are unsure whether they will embrace the Gingrich-Romney approach."

Recall of AZ Gov. Brewer possible, reports HuffPost: "Arizona could become the next Wisconsin as plans for protests, Capitol sit-ins and a potential effort to recall the governor get underway in an effort by progressives to block the passage of sweeping legislation to ban collective bargaining."

Interior Dept. advances four offshore wind farms. USA Today: "Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said federal environmental reviews for 'wind energy areas' off Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia are now complete and find 'no significant environmental impacts' from their development. That finding clears the way for companies to seek leases. A similar announcement for the Massachusetts coast is expected today. 'The wind potential off the Atlantic coast is staggering, and no developer should have to wait nine to 10 years to get a lease,' Salazar told reporters. He said the goal is to hold auctions and issue leases this year."

Climate Progress' Jorge Madrid defends federal green job training program: "[GOP Rep. Darrell] Issa says the program has produced 'abysmal results' and failed to meet its goal of placing 52,762 American workers into green jobs. As of June 2011, the program had placed 8,035 workers into jobs, about 10 percent of the final goal ... [But training] does not create jobs or hedge against a deep economic recession. If we consider the fact that ... there are five applicants for every available job, it should come as no surprise that nearly all sectors are struggling to match workers with jobs ... these types of programs are absolutely critical for preparing the American workforce for the range of skilled jobs emerging in the clean energy economy."

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