Obama Pushes Higher Wages, GOP Pushes Jobless Aid Cuts

Obama to tackle inequality, push minimum wage hike in speech today. AP: “The president plans to deliver an address Wednesday to argue his case that income inequality and wage stagnation are threatening upward mobility and retirement security … the White House says he will reiterate his call for an increase in the minimum wage and promote possible economic benefits of the troubled health care law. Obama also is expected to call on Congress to make a deal on 2014 spending, pass a farm bill with enough money for food stamps and extend unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed before the end of the year.”

Republicans appear willing to let emergency jobless aid expire this month. W. Post: “With the jobless rate hovering just over 7 percent, congressional Republicans said Tuesday that they are ready to let emergency unemployment benefits lapse on Dec. 31, immediately cutting off checks to more than a million recipients. ‘I don’t see much appetite from our side for an extension of benefits. I just don’t,’ said Rep. Tom Cole … Nor have Democrats pressed to extend unemployment benefits, although aides said it could become a negotiating point if any [budget] deal is presented to Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid…”

Republicans Recycle Old Obamacare Attacks

Republicans recycling “Obamacare cuts Medicare” attack, reports CNN: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee will highlight Wednesday the candidates’ support for the federal health care law, better known as Obamacare, and what Republicans call $717 billion in cuts to the popular entitlement program that guarantees health insurance to seniors. Democrats defending the program, however, say the changes aren’t cuts, but savings of projected costs of Medicare over the next 10 years.”

Lawsuit targets Obamacare subsidies. W. Post: “Though some legal scholars view the case as a long shot, it could have significant consequences if it is successful. Millions of people in 34 states could be denied the government subsidies established by the law to help low- and middle-income people pay their health-insurance premiums starting next year … [Plaintiffs] argue that Congress intended the law’s subsidies for low- and middle-income people to go only to people in states that set up their own health-insurance exchanges … Thirty-four states opted not to set up their own marketplaces, leaving the task up to the federal government.”

Obama to meet with activists aged 35 and under to push enrollment. The Hill: “Obama has placed a particular emphasis on recruiting young, healthy consumers to purchase insurance. Although their participation is crucial to keeping premiums and government costs down, recent polling indicates they are among the least informed about the law.”

Europe De-Unionizing

Europe rapidly scrapping worker protections, notes NYT’s Eduardo Porter: “Tethered to the euro and thus unable to devalue their currency to help make their goods less expensive in export markets, many European countries … have been furiously dismantling workplace protections in a bid to reduce the cost of labor … Europe’s strategy offers a test of the role played by labor market institutions — from unions to the minimum wage — in moderating the soaring income inequality that has become one of the hallmarks of our era … The question is whether relative equity can hold as workplace institutions that for decades protected European employees’ standard of living give way to a more lightly regulated, American-style approach, … The evidence so far suggests the answer is no…”

Federal court overturns NLRB ruling on workers’ legal rights. AP: “Employers can require their workers to sign arbitration agreements waiving all rights to class-action lawsuits over workplace grievances, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturns a National Labor Relations Board decision last year that found such agreements conflicted with federal law giving workers the right to pursue collective action to complain about workplace conditions.”

Boehner Hire Signals Movement For Immigration Reform

Boehner hires advocate of path to citizenship. W. Post: “Boehner’s office said that Rebecca Tallent, the director of immigration policy at theBipartisan Policy Center, would be joining the staff on Wednesday. She is a former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), who have authored legislation establishing paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants …”

“Tallent is a veteran of immigration fights and a big believer in reform, including a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants,” reports National Journal.

Immigration fast continues on National Mall. NYT: “A longtime labor leader and two other advocates of an immigration overhaul ended their water-only fasts on Tuesday in a tent on the National Mall, the 22nd day of [the] effort … [Eliseo] Medina, a senior official in the Service Employees International Union, made a symbolic handoff to Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III … who said he would fast for 24 hours … seven other advocates in Washington began what they said would be longer fasts, while Rudy Lopez, an immigration activist in his 13th day of fasting, said he would continue. Activists in California said they would start a two-week fast and vigil at the offices in Bakersfield of Representative Kevin McCarthy, the No. 3 House Republican.”

Breakfast Sides

Regulators reach “tentative” agreement on Volcker Rule. NYT: “Five federal agencies plan to approve a tougher-than-expected version of the so-called Volcker Rule next week, eking out passage before the year is up and providing Wall Street with some much-sought clarity … The tension largely centered on how to distinguish legitimate practices from proprietary trading … [SEC's Kara] Stein and Gary Gensler, the C.F.T.C. chairman, said they worried that the market-making and hedging exemptions were too generous to Wall Street. They urged fellow regulators to insert language that would limit banks from amassing large amounts of stock under the guise of market-making — an effort that proved successful in recent days … other regulators inserted more lenient language in other aspects of the draft and complained that Mr. Gensler’s agency should have raised concerns sooner.”

Judge’s ruling on Detroit bankruptcy may affect public pensions elsewhere. NYT: “The ruling by Judge Steven W. Rhodes, who is presiding in Detroit’s bankruptcy case, that public pensions are not protected from cuts could alter the course of bankrupt cities like Stockton and San Bernardino, Calif., that had been operating under the assumption that pensions were untouchable …”