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America In 40-Year Slump

The American economy is in a "40-year slump," chronicles The American Prospect's Harold Meyerson: "Since 1947, Americans at all points on the economic spectrum had become a little better off with each passing year ... [Then in] 1974, wages fell by 2.1 percent and median household income shrunk by $1,500 ... 1974 would mark a fundamental breakpoint in American economic history. In the years since, the tide has continued to rise, but a growing number of boats have been chained to the bottom. Productivity has increased by 80 percent, but median compensation (that’s wages plus benefits) has risen by just 11 percent during that time ... All the factors that had slowly been eroding Americans’ economic lives over the preceding three decades—globalization, deunionization, financialization, Wal-Martization, robotization ... have now descended en masse on the American people ... Only by considering the waning of worker power can we understand why American corporations, sitting on more than $1.5 trillion in unexpended cash, have used those funds to buy back stock and increase dividends but almost universally failed even to consider raising their workers’ wages."

"Jobs gap widens" reports WSJ: "For those with decent jobs, wages are rising, albeit slowly, and job security is the strongest it has been since before the recession. Many families have paid down debts and are seeing the value of assets, from homes to stocks, rebound strongly. But many others—the young, the less educated and particularly the unemployed—are experiencing hardly any recovery at all. Hiring remains weak, and the jobs that are available are disproportionately low-paying and often part-time. Wage growth is nearly nonexistent, in part because with so many people still looking for jobs, workers have little bargaining power ... The two-track nature of the recovery helps explain why the four-year-old upturn still doesn't feel like one to many Americans."

Huge support for minimum wage hike. W. Post: "Three-fourths of Americans support increasing the minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $9 per hour, according to a new Gallup poll ... The White House announced last week that President Obama supports a bill from Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) that would increase the minimum wage, incrementally, to $10.10 per hour."

Pressure On Hillary From Left

Liberal groups push to primary Hillary. The Hill: "The goal of such a challenge wouldn’t necessarily be to defeat Clinton. It would be to prevent her from moving to the middle during the Democratic primary. 'I do think the country would be well served if we had somebody who would force a real debate about the policies of the Democratic Party and force the party to debate positions and avoid a coronation,' said Roger Hickey, co-director of Campaign for America’s Future, an influential progressive group ... Progressive strategists say there are other credible challengers if [Sen. Elizabeth] Warren forgoes the race. Chamberlain of Democracy for America mentioned former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold."

Wall Street panics over notion of Warren candidacy. Politico: "...the fear is not only that Warren, who channels an increasingly popular strain of Occupy Wall Street-style anti-corporatism, might win. That is viewed by many political analysts as a slim possibility. It is also that a Warren candidacy, and even the threat of one, would push Clinton to the left in the primaries and revive arguments about breaking up the nation’s largest banks, raising taxes on the wealthy and otherwise stoking populist anger that is likely to also play a big role in the Republican primaries."

Bill Clinton argues for bank fines to fund infrastructure. Bloomberg: "'Where’s that fine money going?' Clinton, 67, said yesterday in a speech at the annual meeting of the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association in New York. 'It should be put into an infrastructure bank to build a new American economy.' ... An economic strategy that favored 'trading as opposed to investment,' contributed to the 2008 crisis, said Clinton, the 42nd U.S. president. Too much capital 'went into housing, which created the bubble with the subprime mortgages, and then the securities that were spun out of them,' he said."

Medicaid Boosts Obamacare

Medicaid expansion leading the pack in Obamacare enrollment. AP: "Often dismissed, Medicaid has signed up 444,000 people in 10 states in the six weeks since open enrollment began ... Twenty-five states are expanding their Medicaid programs, but data for all of them was not available ... In Colorado, Medicaid applications in October were six to nine times what they were the month before ... A yearslong effort to reach eligible residents apparently succeeded in generating the increased demand. The state has installed self-service kiosks in community clinics, hospitals and libraries to sign people up. And a year ago, nurses statewide agreed to help by promoting Medicaid to low-income uninsured patients ... Some states have used food stamp rolls to find people who might also be eligible for expanded Medicaid. Income verification forms used for food stamps require frequent recertification, so that means the program's beneficiaries are Medicaid-ready."

Even though website hiccups interfering with some Medicaid enrollment. NYT: "Problems with the federalhealth insurance website have prevented tens of thousands of low-income people from signing up for Medicaid even though they are eligible ... The Obama administration has adopted what it calls a 'no wrong door' policy: If a person files an application with the exchange for private insurance but appears to be eligible for Medicaid, the exchange will automatically transfer the full application to the state Medicaid agency, and vice versa ... In fact, many consumers will need to make more than one stop. If the exchange finds them potentially eligible for Medicaid, it may be faster for them to file separate applications with a state Medicaid office than to wait for the federal government to transfer their files to the state."

Overall enrollment numbers to date slated for release this week. The Hill: "A new flurry of enrollment estimates for ObamaCare suggests the administration will have a lackluster figure to announce when it releases its official early enrollment count later this week. Fewer than 50,000 people have successfully purchased private health plans on marketplaces linked to HealthCare.gov, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. In a separate analysis, consulting firm Avalere Health found that about 50,000 people have enrolled in either private coverage or Medicaid through 12 state-based exchanges."

October Obamacare enrollment was always going to be low, notes TNR's Jonathan Cohn: "...nobody I know expects the October enrollment figures to be high. One reason is that very few people buy insurance at the beginning of open enrollment periods. This is true for public programs and this is true for government initiatives ... But that’s not the whole story. Healthcare.gov barely worked at the start and still isn't working that well now ... there's still time—just as long as healthcare.gov and the poorly functioning states are operating better by late November."

Shale Oil Can't Solve Energy Needs

New report on global energy suppply show shale boom contributing to American energy independence. Bloomberg: "The U.S. will be close to energy self-sufficiency in the next two decades as booming outputfrom shale formations puts it on course to be the world’s largest oil producer, the International Energy Agency said ... 'The United States moves steadily towards meeting all of its energy needs from domestic resources by 2035,' ... cushioning it against disruptions in Africa and the Middle East. The boom threatens revenues for OPEC’s 12 members, whose production is at its lowest in two years amid political unrest in Libya and theft in Nigeria."

But not for very long. NYT: "'...by the mid-2020s, non-OPEC production starts to fall back and countries from the Middle East provide most of the increase in global supply,' the report said. A high market price for oil will help stimulate drilling for light tight oil, the report said, but the resource is finite, and the low-cost suppliers are in the Middle East."

And carbon emissions projected to dangerously rise. NYT: "...energy demand will grow faster than renewable energy, so carbon dioxide output will rise 20 percent by 2035, the report predicts. In contrast, climate scientists are calling for an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide by 2050."

Is Immigration Reform Dead?

The Hill writes off immigration reform: "Immigration reform is widely seen as dead in this Congress, and the finger-pointing has already started ... in a series of interviews with The Hill over the past two months, Democratic and Republican negotiators said the group’s failure stemmed from divisions among Democrats over strategy and policy, as well as Boehner’s refusal to put his weight behind the bill and help steer it through the House."

But some Republicans still pressing party to compromise. McClatchy: "The banking industry's top lobbyist urged GOP lawmakers to support the bipartisan Senate immigration reform legislation as essential for business and the 'most Republican of causes.' Frank Keating, a Republican and former Oklahoma governor, said Monday in a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece that 'it's time to open the doors to immigrants to boost the economy.' ... Obama met with business leaders at the White House last week to urge them to push the House to pass the legislation."

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