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: The Bogus Brief For Big Banks
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "[Retired JPMorgan Chase CEO Bill] Harrison's apologia is as mediocre in its conception, as deceptive in its packaging, as vacant in its morality, and as unimpressive in its execution as JPMorgan Chase itself … 'A … fallacy,' writes Harrison, 'is that large financial institutions have become too complex to manage.' That's a shame because, if it's true, both Harrison and Dimon have lost their best defense for the serial crimes and mismanagement which occurred at JPM under their leadership."
Uncovered Bain Docs Show "Aggressive" Tax Avoidance
Gawker uploads 950 pages of Bain docs: "…they reveal the mind-numbing, maze-like, and deeply opaque complexity with which Romney has handled his wealth, the exotic tax-avoidance schemes available only to the preposterously wealthy that benefit him … and the deeply hypocritical distance between his own criticisms of Obama's fiscal approach and his money managers' embrace of those same policies. They also show that some of the investments that Romney has always described as part of his retirement package at Bain weren't made until years after he left the company."
Docs shows Bain employs many "arcane" tax avoidance strategies. ABC: "The private equity firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made use of arcane techniques in several of its Cayman Islands-based funds to avoid U.S. taxes … 'The only reason they structure it that way is to avoid tax," said Rebecca Wilkins, senior counsel with the group Citizens for Tax Justice. "It just confirms what everyone already believes about the tax system -- that it's rigged. That the rules are rigged to favor the well off.'"
NYT finds Romney may be profiting from Bain breaking the law: "Bain private equity funds in which the Romney family’s trusts are invested appear to have used an aggressive tax approach, which some tax lawyers believe is not legal, to save Bain partners more than $200 million in income taxes and more than $20 million in Medicare taxes. Annual reports for four Bain Capital funds indicate that the funds converted $1.05 billion in accumulated fees that otherwise would have been ordinary income for Bain partners into capital gains, which are taxed at a much lower rate."
Romney hugs Bain in WSJ oped: "A broad message emerges from my Bain Capital days: A good idea is not enough for a business to succeed. It requires a talented team, a good business plan and capital to execute it … My business experience confirmed my belief in empowering people. … My faith in people, not government, is at the foundation of my plan to strengthen America's middle class … I'm not sure Bain Capital could have grown or turned around some of the companies we invested in had we faced today's anti-business environment."
If Obama is so "anti-business," why did Romney say that "Big business is doing fine"? ABC: "'We've got to make it easier for small businesses. Big business is doing fine in many places - they get the loans they need, they can deal with all the regulation,' said Romney, speaking to a group of supporters at a private fundraiser in Minnesota. Romney then added that the reason that big businesses are 'doing fine in many places' is because they are able to invest their money in 'tax havens.' … his remarks tonight sounded similar to those made by Obama in June in which he said the private sector was 'doing fine.' … while Romney said tax havens were helping businesses succeed during his remarks tonight, the candidate's own personal finances have come under scrutiny after it was revealed that some of his investments were placed in offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands."
Romney Unveils Energy Plan Written By Oil CEOs
Romney energy plan a "radical shift" written with the help of the oil industry, reports NYT: "Giving states control over the energy resources on millions of acres of federal lands would be a radical shift from decades of policies under both Democratic and Republican presidents, dating all the way to Theodore Roosevelt, who first set aside vast tracts of territory to preserve wildlife … An individual close to the Romney campaign said that Mr. Romney’s staff drafted the proposal in consultation with industry executives, including Harold Hamm, an Oklahoma billionaire who is the chairman of the campaign’s energy advisory committee and chief executive of Continental Resources, an oil and gas driller."
And it can't realistically be done, says Politico: "Asked if the United States could ever reach energy independence, Alex Flint, a nuclear energy industry official and former top Senate GOP aide, replied that such a plan wouldn’t rely so heavily on oil … While giving states greater control over drilling on federal lands is an idea long advocated by conservative lawmakers, mainly from the West, it’s also sure to run into a groundswell of opposition from Democrats, including the kinds of moderates Romney would need to build a working coalition … Romney’s plan calls for North American energy independence, but that relies on two countries he wouldn’t have authority over even if elected."
"Romney’s Energy Plan Ignores the Success of Solar and Wind" argues Bloomberg edit board.
Ryan Has Crazy Ideas Not Backed By Numbers
NYT's Paul Krugman details the fundamentally crazy Ryan beliefs: "In pushing for draconian cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that aid the needy, Mr. Ryan isn’t just looking for ways to save money. He’s also, quite explicitly, trying to make life harder for the poor — for their own good … he declared that he always goes back to 'Francisco d’Anconia’s speech on money' [the part of "Atlas Shrugged" that] denounces the notion of paper money and demands a return to gold coins … What does it say about the party when its intellectual leader evidently gets his ideas largely from deeply unrealistic fantasy novels?"
TNR's Timothy Noah shows how Ryan uses funny numbers: "…Ryan said: 'Defense spending is not half of all federal spending, but it’s half of the cuts approximately in the sequester' … but [defense spending] more than half of all discretionary spending. And discretionary spending was the only spending included in the sequester; entitlements, which is where the big non-defense spending lies, were excluded."
Breakfast Sides
After beating back SEC, money market funds still face possible regulation from Fed. Bloomberg: "Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo has said the central bank could tighten rules on banks’ borrowing from money-market funds, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren has said officials have the option to force banks to back their money funds with capital. The Fed and the Treasury could also work through the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a new regulatory panel formed under the Dodd-Frank Act, to seize oversight of money funds from the SEC and grant that power to the Fed."
Midwest wells drying up from drought. NYT: "Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri has moved aggressively to provide relief to farmers whose wells have run dry, allocating more than $25 million in state aid to either improve the wells or help farmers get water by other means."
"Corporate Profits Rebound But Household Income Falls" reports ThinkProgress: "…household incomes have fallen behind, dropping nearly five percent from June 2009 to June 2012 … Corporate profits are at record levels, reaching an all-time high of 11 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in July. But instead of re-investing that cash into jobs that will help the economy recover, corporations are sitting on cash
