fresh voices from the front lines of change

Democracy

Health

Climate

Housing

Education

Rural

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security.

House Passes Wall St. Reform, While GOP Mods Still Waver

House passes Wall St. reform. Only 3 GOPers vote yes, as conservatives argue for less regulation. NYT: "Representative Paul E. Kanjorski, Democrat of Pennsylvania, expressed disbelief at the Republican opposition. 'To now make the argument that we need do nothing,' he said, 'is pure ludicrousnes.' ... said Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia ... 'It purports to prevent the next financial crisis, but it does so by vastly expanding the power of the same regulators who failed to prevent the last one.'"

Senate outlook still murky, despite recent concession to GOP "moderates." Time: "Despite the fact that an $18 billion assessment on the financial sector was dropped from the bill in the 11th hour at Brown's behest, the Massachusetts lawmaker said Wednesday he was still unsure of how he would vote. Collins, who had also raised protests over the bank tax, said she was now more 'inclined to support' the bill, but offered no concrete assurances. Snowe has not commented on her intentions since the measure's removal, and Senators Cantwell and Brown said they are continuing to study the legislation ... Reid, with no public assurances from the holdouts and no easy way to tweak the legislation if they need further convincing, hopes to bring up a final vote in the Senate the week of July 12."

Sen. Feingold defends his opposition to the Wall St. reform bill, at HuffPost: "At the start of this process I made clear that I had a simple test for financial reform — will it stop another financial meltdown? This bill fails that test ... Senator Dorgan's amendment that addressed the problem of 'too big to fail' financial institutions, and another 'too big to fail' reform offered by Senators Brown and Kaufman that proposed strict limits on the size of those institutions ... each of them either failed or was blocked from even getting a vote. After that, it wasn't a close call for me."

Michael Tomasky suggests Sen. Feingold "get it together" before hurling a monkey wrench into financial reform: "Feingold has every right to vote against final passage if that's how he feels. But to vote against cloture — against allowing the bill to get to the floor? That would be indefensible. I mean, there's admirable independence, and then there's just narcissism."

OpenLeft's Chris Bowers catalogs progressive victories in financial reform to illustrate why we need to pass the bill: "...there is a lot of good in this bill, and it is possible to present that information in an honest, self-aware manner that acknowledges where it falls short. There are a lot of victories in this bill. We need to pass those victories into law. If the bill is defeated by pro-Wall Street forces over the next two weeks, the only parts which will be defeated are the victories, while all of its shortcomings will remain in place."

House Min. Leader tries to "dodge the question" whether he thinks the financial meltdown was like an "ant," reports.

Goldman can't/won't tell financial crisis commission how much it profited off the housing crash. McClatchy: "Goldman's president and chief risk officer told members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that their company never breaks out its figures that way."

Another Filibuster. Another Million Without Jobless Aid

Third GOP filibuster in June blocks jobless aid extension. AP: "But this time, since the slimmed-down measure attracted two Republican votes, its passage seems assured next month once a replacement is in place for Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. ... Save for GOP moderates Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Republicans uniformly opposed the $33 billion jobless aid measure ... 1.7 million of the 7 million people who have been without a job for at least six months will have lost their unemployment benefits by the end of this week..."

New fiscal year begins for most states without critical federal aid. W. Post: " States say that if they do not find financial rescue they will have to cut services and workers. That would deliver a potentially crippling blow to the economy, which needs higher employment levels to fatten wallets, promote spending, bolster tax revenue and reduce dependence on expensive social services."

Govs ramp up lobbying for aid. Stateline: "...a dozen governors used the July 1 state budget deadline to make their case ... The matter is particularly pressing for 28 states that already have approved budgets for the fiscal year that begins today assuming the aid will come."

South Korea trade agreement opens rift between WH and labor. The Hill: "Obama will seek to complete the South Korean trade deal negotiated by the George W. Bush administration in time for his November visit to Seoul ... Labor argues the trade agreement will exacerbate problems in the U.S. economy and lead to the elimination of more U.S. manufacturing jobs."

W. Post's Harold Meyerson argues China and Germany are handling recession better because of manufacturing: "Most Americans, I suspect, believe we're losing manufacturing because we can't compete against cheap Chinese labor. But Germany has remained a manufacturing giant ... The typical German company has a long-term relationship with a single bank ... likely with one of Germany's 431 savings banks, each of them a local institution with a municipally appointed board, that shun capital markets and invest their depositors' savings in upgrading local enterprises."

Dean Baker adds that Germany has "work-sharing": "Instead of paying out benefits to unemployed workers, it pays companies to reduce workers' hours."

Debt Commission Dem Co-Chair Pushes Broad Spending Cut

Read yesterday's testimony to the WH debt commission from James Galbraith, Richard Trumka and Roger Hickey on the OurFuture.org blog.

Democratic co-chair of WH debt commission calls for permanent cut in spending. The Hill: "[Erskine Bowles'] most specific idea was a cap on overall government spending and revenue of 21 percent of gross domestic product ... This year’s spending is equal to 24 percent of GDP ... [GOP Rep. Jeb] Hensarling, who has warned against cutting debt through more taxes, has pushed for a more stringent cap of 20 percent of GDP."

"CBO Director Refutes GOP: There’s No Contradiction Between Stimulus Now And Deficit Reduction Later," reports Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo quotes: "There is no intrinsic contradiction between providing additional fiscal stimulus today, when unemployment is high and many factories and offices are underused, and imposing fiscal restraint several years from now when output and employment will probably be closer to their potential."

Wonk Room's Igor Volsky puts CBO projection in context: "The problem is that CBO doesn’t score things like prevention and payment reform and relies on a narrow spectrum of evidence to estimate the costs and savings ... For instance, CBO has consistently underestimated the savings from Medicare hospital payments in the early 1980s ... the 75-year estimate is a rough guesstimate that’s based on a very specific and narrow interpretation of data. It should be seen as such."

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder on the pushback against the CBO's new 75-year budget analysis. "[The White House is] still fighting the perception that [health care reform] will make the budget picture worse -- which is manifestly NOT what CBO found. As HuffPost Hill notes: '[CBO Director Doug] Elmendorf got his scary headlines, but he also got reamed by Max Baucus for putting out projections based on cost-saving elements of health care reform not going into effect ... "It's a little bit curious that now CBO comes back and says, 'No, Congress won't do that." So if Congress sticks more or less to paygo over the next 75 years, there's no budget problem. Can we move on now?'"

Congress won't tackle Bush tax cuts until debt commission completes work. The Hill: "Unless Congress acts by Dec. 31, the nation will see taxes rise to pre-Bush levels in 2011. Marginal income tax rates, the estate tax, the marriage penalty tax, child tax credits, capital gains taxes and dividend taxes will all be affected ... The bipartisan [commission] is expected to recommend both tax increases and spending cuts by Dec. 1. This could give Democrats cover to boost tax rates."

Commissioner Andy Stern proposes limited investment of Social Security trust fund in financial markets. HuffPost: "Stern said that Canada's retirement system invests roughly 15 to 20 percent of its funds in the market, a range he thought reasonable ... Allowing Social Security to invest some of its fund does have some progressive backing. 'I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea,' said Dean Baker ... [Social Security Works' Nancy Altman] told HuffPost that if done cautiously, investing in the market comes with little risk because of the long-term time frame of the investment. That risk is too great to gamble the fund, says Jane Hamsher..."

Iceland is suffering less because it's ignoring the austerity crowd. Paul Krugman: "Instead, Iceland devalued its currency massively and imposed capital controls. And a strange thing has happened: although Iceland is generally considered to have experienced the worst financial crisis in history, its punishment has actually been substantially less than that of other nations. ...The moral of the story seems to be that if you’re going to have a crisis, it’s better to have a really, really bad one. Otherwise, you’ll end up taking the advice of people who assure you that even more suffering will cure what ails you."

If conservatives are serious about fiscal responsibility, they'll reject more funds for the war in Afghanistan, say Reps. Honda, Conyers, Grayson, and Grijalva: "It is disingenuous to say this is an 'emergency' supplemental. The only 'emergency' is this: In funding the longest war in history, we are putting America further into debt with China, expanding the deficit, increasing wasteful government spending, undermining our budgetary process, risking Social Security and solidifying debt that military leaders call our number one national security threat."

Bloomberg explores Pete Peterson's outsized influence in the deficit debate: "'Everywhere you look, he’s trying to buy the debate,' says Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future ... He calls Peterson-backed organizations, such as the Concord Coalition, nothing more than 'front groups' used to help 'stampede' lawmakers into cutting Social Security and Medicare ... Some congressional Democrats criticize what they see as Peterson’s single-minded emphasis. [Rep.] Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, says acting to narrow the deficit must be balanced against the need to 'make sure we don’t slip into another recession.' To his supporters, though, Peterson is the patron saint of fiscal responsibility. 'He has devoted more personal wealth to reducing the deficit than anybody in the history of the world,' says Tennessee Representative Jim Cooper, a fiscally conservative Democrat who voted against the jobless benefits measure."

Obama Hits Conservative Failure

President draws contrast between his record and past failures of conservatism. LAT: "... their prescription for every challenge is pretty much the same -- and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here -- basically cut taxes for the wealthy, cut rules for corporations, and cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. Basically their attitude is, you’re on your own. Now, here’s the problem ... We’ve already tried these ideas. Remember, we tried them for eight years. We tried them for a good part of the last decade. We know where they led us."

OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage assesses: " He finally did contrast his record with conservative ideas that have failed .. Gloves not off, but at least mixing it up. Striking, however, that he didn't use the riff to turn back to jobs and the need for action on jobs now."

Yet another Republican — this time Sen. Bob Bennett — bemoans his party as bereft of ideas: "'As I look out at the political landscape now, I find plenty of slogans on the Republican side, but not very many ideas,' Bennett told members of the Ripon Society. 'Indeed, if you raise specific ideas and solutions, as I've tried to do on health care with [Oregon Democratic Sen.] Ron Wyden, you are attacked with the same vigor as we've seen in American politics all the way back to slavery and polygamy...'"

Carbon Cap Still On The Table

Rep. Henry Waxman raises prospect of adding carbon cap in any House-Senate conference on energy legislation. The Hill: "House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said he would 'absolutely' seek to keep greenhouse gas limits alive in a House-Senate conference if the Senate approves energy legislation this summer that omits carbon provisions. 'It would be open in conference to consider because our bill has it,' Waxman [said.]"

Politico explores whether Sen. Bingaman's low-key style helps or hurts chances for a carbon cap: "Here’s what Bingaman does do: He slowly, carefully and methodically hammers out pragmatic, detailed energy legislation with Republican partners in long, dull markups that don’t draw attention but do produce solid pieces of legislation forged in the order of the committee process."

Treehugger's Brian Merchant debunks conservative claim that regulating greenhouse gases is a tax on energy: "Energy is not being 'taxed' (to use their terminology) -- carbon pollution is. There are many energy producers -- those using hydro, wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear -- that would bear no punitive financial impact from cap and trade. That's the whole idea."

Rep. George Miller proposes to empower Interior to deny drilling leases for seven years to companies with poor safety records. The Hill: "Miller, a top ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), hopes to offer his plan as an amendment to drilling safety legislation under construction in the House Natural Resources Committee."

Drilling oversight bill advances in Senate cmte, but both liberals and conservatives angle for changes. The Hill: "Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) ... gave a 'reluctant' pass to the bill in the panel despite the lack of [coastal drilling] revenue-sharing language [for states] she has long sought. More liberal voices on the panel, meanwhile, are seeking to add new ethics provisions. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) unsuccessfully tried to make it a felony punishable by up to two years in prison for federal drilling regulators to accept gifts from industry officials."

EPA initial tests of dispersants used to clean up the Gulf gusher are OK. McClatchy: "The first round of government tests of the chemical dispersants that are being used to break up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico found that they aren't overly damaging to shrimp and small fish, but more tests are needed to determine what happens when they're mixed with oil."

Time's Bryan Walsh said EPA still hasn't determined if the dispersants will work: "...the EPA has yet to test the chemicals independently to see how effective they actually are at helping to clean up the oil—something that's important, given that everyone recognizes that there's a cost-benefit equation with dispersants. At least we now have an idea of the cost to the aquatic environment—though not fully, as the EPA hasn't yet tested how toxic an oil/dispersant mix might be—but we don't yet independently know the benefit."

Health Care Reform Begins To Help Those With Pre-existing Conditions

Interim health insurance pools for people with pre-existing conditions begin. LAT: "The Obama administration and some state governments will begin accepting applications Thursday ... Premiums, as well as benefits, are expected to vary greatly from state to state, with some plans charging as little as $140 a month and some as much as $900 a month."

TNR's Jonathan Chait notes the poll shift on health care: "Now Democrats are favoring the status quo, and Republicans are trying to pass a radical change ... now that the issue is repeal, it's Democrats who are united and Republicans who are divided ... 60% of Americans either support the [health care reform law] or prefer that it 'be given a chance to work ...' Just 27% support repeal."

Pin It on Pinterest

Spread The Word!

Share this post with your networks.