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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: White House Can Help Homeowners Right Now

OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "A broad principal relief plan would be the equivalent of a massive stimulus program, one that could create millions of jobs and help jump-start economic growth. And it would do it without costing the Federal government a cent … Fire Ed DeMarco for cause, Mr. President, and let the 'CEO Candidate' try to tell the people why you shouldn't. Then turn your attention toward all underwater homeowners, not just those who would be helped by current proposals for FHFA-centered delinquent borrower programs. That means addressing HAMP, the cynically-nicknamed 'extend and pretend' program, so it provides relief to more homeowners and no longer allows banks to manipulate, mislead, and provide usurious rates to their victims. The White House can work with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or another appropriate agency to implement an aggressive 'name and shame' policy toward banks that continue to rip off their customers, either through HAMP or independently."

GOP Votes To Raise Taxes On Middle Class

House votes to cut taxes for wealthy, raise taxes on middle class. Bloomberg: "The bill passed on a 256-171 vote yesterday, mostly along party lines. It won’t advance in the Democratic-led Senate … Democrats tried to draw attention to the Republicans’ decision not to extend refundable tax credits created in the 2009 economic stimulus law that benefit college students and low-income families. Those at risk of losing the credits may include some low-income military families, Democrats said. 'Let’s call this bill what it is,' said Representative Joseph Crowley, a New York Democrat. 'It’s the Republicans’ tax hike on our heroes act.'"

Obama nails Romney for his reverse Robin Hood tax plan. NYT: "'Pay attention here,' Mr. Obama said. 'Folks making more than $3 million a year — the top one-tenth of 1 percent — they would get a tax cut under Mr. Romney’s plan that is worth almost a quarter of a million dollars …. guess who gets the bill for these $250,000 tax cuts? You do. And you don’t have to take my word for it.' Mr. Obama cited a new study from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute…"

Tea Party Win May Mean More Obstruction

After Texas primary win, Tea Party poised to make Senate even less productive. NYT: "…the group could also present the sort of added aggravations for Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, that befell the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, as he sought to draft difficult deals with Democrats and the White House at a time of a complex fiscal mess."

GOP obstructionism takes toll on judiciary. W. Post: "President Obama, who started off slowly in getting nominations up to the Senate, never fully caught up. He’s nominated fewer judges (200) than either Bush (228) or Clinton (245) on Aug. 1 of their fourth year in office, according to committee statistics. At the same time, the Senate has confirmed a smaller percentage of Obama nominees than Clinton nominees — 78 percent, compared with 80.8 percent — and a much smaller percentage than in the Bush administration (86.4). As a result, Obama, with 78 vacancies, may be the first president in decades to end his first term with more judicial vacancies than when he started."

Romney Threatens Wind Power Jobs

Romney's opposition may sink extension of wind power tax credit. The Hill: "An initial version of the extenders package unveiled Wednesday omitted the renewal of the production tax credit (PTC). The credit has long enjoyed bipartisan backing, but Mitt Romney’s firm opposition announced this week has complicated the matter for Republicans. Sources tracking the bill say an extension could surface in a revised version of the bill or be offered as an amendment."

"Wind-State Republicans in Tough Spot" reports WSJ: "…wind-state Republicans are scrambling to figure out how to save the credit without exposing sharp differences with their party’s presidential candidate … [The credit] has grown in popularity within the GOP as wind energy gains a toehold in many GOP leaning parts of the country."

Romney cites Jared Diamond in arguing culture and geography determines economic success. Diamond slams Romney in NYT oped: "Mitt Romney may become our next president. Will he continue to espouse one-factor explanations for multicausal problems, and fail to understand history and the modern world? If so, he will preside over a declining nation squandering its advantages of location and history."

Fed Inches Toward Stimulus

Fed takes step closer to stimulus. Bloomberg: "Central bankers led by Ben S. Bernanke concluded their two- day meeting Wednesday saying they 'will provide additional accommodation as needed' to bolster the expansion. The Federal Open Market Committee also said it will “closely monitor” economic data and financial developments, suggesting it is focused on the economy’s near-term performance. 'The default is further easing,' said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. 'Unless things improve significantly, they’re going to move' at their Sept. 12-13 meeting, he said."

"DeMarco’s stonewalling even more outrageous" after reading the FHFA report on principal reduction, says Krugman: "The key point is that in the agency’s base case, taxpayers actually gain $1 billion from loan modifications, because they reduce the number of defaults. And the FHFA gains $3.7 billion, because of aid from Treasury. Now, DeMarco argues that 'strategic defaults' — people deciding to stop payments on underwater homes in the hope of entering the program — could turn this into a net loss for taxpayers. Maybe, although there’s very little evidence that this would be important — and as I’ve already emphasized, you should also take the positive effect on the economy, and hence on revenue, into account. More to the point, it would take a lot of strategic defaulting to turn the thing into a loss for the FHFA, as opposed to taxpayers more generally. And DeMarco is, once again, charged with running his agency, not making national fiscal policy."

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