1% Knows What's Happening To The 99%
Corporations quite aware the middle class is eroding. NYT: "The post-recession reality is that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking as the top tier pulls even further away ... Within top consulting firms and among Wall Street analysts, the shift is being described with a frankness more often associated with left-wing academics than business experts ... PricewaterhouseCoopers clients like big stores and restaurants are chasing richer customers with a wider offering of high-end goods and services, or focusing on rock-bottom prices to attract the expanding ranks of penny-pinching consumers ... about 90 percent of the overall increase in inflation-adjusted consumption between 2009 and 2012 was generated by the top 20 percent of households in terms of income ... The effects of this phenomenon are now rippling through one sector after another in the American economy, from retailers and restaurants to hotels, casinos and even appliance makers."
Douglas K. Smith proposes a maximum wage for federal contractor executives, in NYT oped: "If the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors rose to $10.10 an hour from $7.25, the president’s $400,000 salary would move to 20 times that of the lowest-paid worker, from roughly 27 times. We should then enact laws to ensure that top-paid federal executives — and, critically, top-paid executives of companies that do business with the federal government — are never paid in excess of 20-to-1 (or perhaps even 27-to-1) compared with their lowest-paid workers."
FT's Edward Luce argues Obama has little influence over Reid to get fast-track passed: "Can Mr Obama get Mr Reid to change his mind? It is hard to see what the White House could offer that would both satisfy Mr Reid’s union allies and still enable the US to negotiate concessions from its trade partners. The left wants to attach the kind of environmental and labour conditions that would wreck prospects of serious talks with Vietnam and others. The best Mr Reid could offer is to allow the bill to go forward in the 'lame duck session' that follows the midterms, before the new Senate has taken its place. That would push the timetable for talks back to 2015. Even then, however, there is no certainty the bill would pass."
Economic recovery enough to replenish state coffers. NYT: "After so many years of sluggish revenues, layoffs and draconian service cuts, governors and legislators are eager to use the newfound money to cut taxes, restore spending or, in some cases, pay down debts or replenish rainy-day funds for future recessions. But though revenues are improving, lawmakers are likely to find that there is not enough to pay for everything they want to do, experts say ... Joining Republican anti-tax stalwarts like Dave Heineman of Nebraska and Scott Walker of Wisconsin in calling for more tax cuts, for instance, is a Democrat, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York. And while Democratic governors like Jay Nixon of Missouri and John W. Hickenlooper of Colorado are pushing for significantly more education spending, so are Republican governors in Kansas, Georgia and Idaho, among others."
Republicans Try To Pivot
Republican leaders try to shed obstructionist image. The Hill: "A year ago, House Republicans were staggering after crushing defeats in fights over taxes and relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Now they are forging ahead on an alternative to ObamaCare and testing support for a move on immigration. But can they get the votes to pass such controversial bills? Many on the right, including the editors of the National Review and the Weekly Standard, are criticizing House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) new strategy. The Speaker, after getting battered by the Tea Party in 2013, is punching back."
But still insist on spreading misinformation about Obamacare, notes NYT's Paul Krugman: "The truth is that the campaign against Obamacare relies on misleading stories at best, and often on outright deceit. Who pays the price for this deceit? In many cases, American families. Although health care enrollment is actually going pretty well at this point, thousands and maybe millions of Americans have failed to sign up for coverage because they believe the false horror stories they keep hearing. But conservative politicians aren’t just deceiving their constituents; they’re also deceiving themselves."
Republicans set low expectations for immigration. W. Post: "Republicans stressed a 'security first' approach to immigration reform Sunday but said the prospects for a deal this year are far from certain, in part because of distrust of the Obama administration. When asked by George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC’s 'This Week,' whether a reform package could make it to the president’s desk before 2015, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said: 'I really don’t know the answer to that question. That is clearly in doubt.' ... Trust will be crucial to any bill making its way through Congress, [House Majority Leader Eric] Cantor said. Republicans, he said, are concerned by President Obama’s comments in his State of the Union address last week that he will 'not stand still' as Congress remains gridlocked and will use his executive powers to change and enact policies. 'That sort of breeds this kind of distrust...'"
