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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.

Growth Slows, Foreclosures Up, Workforce Stuck

GDP growth slows in 2Q, report Commerce Dept. this AM. NYT: "The United States economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the second quarter, after expanding 3.7 percent in the previous few months ... Forecasters have predicted even slower growth in the second half of the year, probably around an annual rate of 1.5 percent. At that pace, it may be years before the economy returns to the trend it was on before the financial crisis hit."

Grim foreclosure data. McClatchy: "In the first half of 2010, more than 1.6 million U.S. properties were hit with foreclosure filings, which include bank repossessions, default notices and auction sale notices. That's up 8 percent from the first six months of 2009 and puts the U.S. on pace to top 3 million filings this year ... From the Bush administration's HOPE for Homeowners program to the TARP-funded HAMP program, community groups, consumer advocates and homeowners themselves say anti-foreclosure programs have been largely ineffective because banks don't have a strong incentive or mandate to modify loans that favor them financially."

Housing crisis weakens ability to move for a new job. W. Post: "With many people locked in homes by underwater mortgages, only 1.6 percent of Americans moved between states in a one-year period that ended in March 2009 -- a labor stagnation not seen in half a century ... 'In the past, people tended to move to where the jobs are,' said Assistant Treasury Secretary Alan B. Krueger ... 'Now it is necessary to have more of a strategy to move the jobs -- and create new jobs -- in areas where the people are.'"

Fed member known as inflation hawk raises concern of deflation. NYT: "Until now [James Bullard] had not been an advocate for large-scale asset purchases to reinvigorate the economy ... Whether the Fed should take additional measures to support the economy is certain to be the top item when the Federal Open Market Committee, which shapes monetary policy, meets on Aug. 10."

W. Post notes Bullard not calling for "immediate action.": "Although Bullard did not advocate immediate action, his paper leaves little doubt that he would favor action if economic data continue to weaken and inflation continues to fall."

Dean Baker rebuts Blinder-Zandi paper crediting TARP with averting Great Depression: "The problem with the study is the implicit counterfactual. It effectively assumes that if we did not do the TARP and related policies, that we would have done nothing even as the financial sector melted down. This is comparable to doing an analysis of the benefits of eating chicken where the counterfactual is that people eat nothing. Needless to say, we would find very large benefits to eating chicken in such a study."

Want economic uncertainty. Check out the conservative agenda, observes Mark Thoma: "This is from an interview of Paul Ryan on what the Republicans would do to help the economy ... 'I’d revisit some of the major issues over the last year. Health care, energy, taxes, financial regulation' ... Ah, so his solution to uncertainty is to create even more uncertainty about the policies that will be in effect next year?"

What's The Rush? GOP Blocks Small Biz Bill

Obstructionist Republicans successfully stall small biz bill. W. Post: "The bill, which also includes $12 billion in business tax breaks and additional aid for state lending programs, has won the support of more than 100 business groups, including such traditional GOP allies as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ... Nonetheless, the Senate failed again to advance the bill, as a united Republican caucus voted Thursday to continue to its filibuster after Reid and McConnell reached an impasse over the number of amendments that the GOP could offer. Democrats agreed to three; Republicans demanded four. Reid accused McConnell of moving the goal posts."

Obama Finds Bright Spot In Auto Industry

President in Michigan today to praise auto industry turnaround. NYT: "...Mr. Obama’s advisers argue that had the president not invested more than $60 billion into General Motors and Chrysler, more than a million jobs would have been lost ... White House officials project that the cost to taxpayers will most likely turn out to be minimal ... [WH manufacturing czar Ron Bloom] said the intervention stabilized the entire industry, including Ford, which did not take a bailout, and a vast network of parts suppliers that employ more people than Detroit’s Big Three combined."

“If they do pay all of their money back, this will be one of the most successful industrial policy interventions in American history" Center for Automotive Research's Sean McAlinden tells Bloomberg.

President not expected to mention Korea trade deal while in Michigan. WSJ: "A free-trade agreement with South Korea is politically toxic in Michigan, whose auto-industry workers fear a deal would unfairly favor South Korean car makers ... The reworked agreement, which the White House says will address barriers to U.S. beef and auto imports, will be unveiled by the president at the Group of 20 global leaders' summit in Seoul in November."

Warren Weakness: Works Too Hard, Cares Too Much

Rortybomb tallies up the criticisms of Elizabeth Warren: "So we have aggressive with TARP accountability, highly-ranked but not the highest-ranked scholar, maybe a bit *too* worried about the struggling middle-class, and brought transparency to the credit card market without sending a wave of interest rate jumps. Where do I sign up?"

Small and mid-size US banks short of capital, concludes IMF. W. Post: "The IMF found that U.S. banks need to raise about $45 billion in new capital -- most of it by regional and small banks -- to ride out an 'adverse' economic scenario that amounts to a dip back into recession while maintaining the fund's recommended capital ratio. The banking system will be in relatively solid shape if the U.S. economy continues to grow steadily, which the IMF thinks is likely."

"Citigroup agrees to $75 million SEC settlement on subprime mortgage investments" reports W. Post. Naked Capitalism says Citi got off light: "...this fine would have a microscopic impact on pay levels."

FT's Philip Stephens argues the global reforms have yet to rein in reckless financial markets: "Even if politicians better recognise the risks of interdependence and the vulnerabilities of particular institutions and financial instruments, they are far from any consensus on how to share responsibility for global oversight. So, three years on, things are much as they were – except that most of us are poorer. The markets rule. OK?"

Yet Another Filibuster Expected On Spill Bill

Resistance from House conservaDems for lifting oil spill liability cap. The Hill: "About 30 oil-state Democrats, many of them Blue Dogs, oppose the removal of a liability cap ... [Rep. Gene] Green noted that Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and others are looking for a compromise on the language ... 'Why would the House want to pass unlimited liability when it’s probably not going to get through the Senate?' Green asked."

Initial cloture vote expected to fail on Wednesday. The Hill: "[After that, Sen. Maj. Leader] Reid will likely have to set it aside to make way for consideration of Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination. The Kagan debate will be the last thing senators will do before breaking for the summer..."

Time's Bryan Walsh suggests Senate may need more oil spills before getting to 60: "It shouldn't take long—a burst pipeline in Michigan has now spilled over a million gallons of oil into the state's Kalamazoo River ... a new report by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) shows that accidents and spill in the oil industry are anything but unusual. Between 2001 and 2007, there were 1,443 offshore-drilling accidents in the Outer Continental Shelf, with 41 fatalities, 476 fires and 356 pollution events." Michigan spill threatens Great Lake reports AP.

WH pushing against provision mandating oil rigs to be American owned and flagged. WSJ: "[Deepwater Horizon] was owned by Transocean Ltd. – a Swiss company - and flagged in the Marshall Islands. The White House isn’t the only one with concerns. A senior European diplomat called the provision 'nakedly protectionist' and unnecessary, since U.S. regulators already have the power to inspect offshore rigs."

Time's Walsh critiques colleague Michael Grunwald's assessment that the damage to the Gulf has been exaggerated: "Grunwald is definitely right that for all the attention paid to the spill, the greater catastrophe is the gradual erosion of Louisiana's coastline, marred by decades of ill-considered engineering projects and shredded by canals for oil and gas exploration ... But look beyond the coastline ... there are great fears that the Gulf's rich fisheries might take years to recover. The spill hit during the nursery season, and might have damaged oysters, shrimp and other species when they were young and vulnerable."

EPA smacks down right-wing attorneys general seeking to scrap greenhouse gas regs over non-existent scandal. Politico: " ... EPA’s opponents had highlighted stolen e-mails from prominent climate scientists that they allege showed collusion to hide contrary information debunking global warming ... [EPA chief Lisa] Jackson said an agency review of the materials show 'a candid discussion of scientists working through issues that arise in compiling and presenting large complex data sets.' She said four independent reviews have reached similar conclusions."

"California's 'Controversial' Climate Law Supported by Overwhelming Majority," reports Treehugger's Brian Merchant.

AZ Appeals Immigration Ruling

AZ appeals judge's block of anti-immigrant law to higher court. W. Post: "Court officials said an initial ruling could come within days."

The Nation's Greg Gandin offers nine reasons why immigration reform is a "progressive game changer": "...if Democrats could overcome their shortsightedness and embrace immigrants' rights -- as passionately as Republicans mobilize around tax cuts, fetuses and war -- they may find the holy grail they've been looking for, one with the power to transform domestic and foreign policy. Here are nine reasons immigration reform, especially legislation that will grant citizenship to the millions of undocumented Latinos, is a progressive game changer..."

Apparent gunshot shatters office window of Latino, pro-immigration reform congressman. CBS: "'Police are investigating the incident and have not released details about a potential motive,' [Rep. Rual Grijalva's] office said. ... Grijalva called for a boycott of his state after the immigration law passed. He rescinded that call after the judge's decision. Following passage of the health care bill in March, lawmakers faced threats and had bricks thrown through office windows, among other violence."

Military Pork Reduction Effort Hits Resistance

Congressional panel contradicts Pentagon, calls for more spending on weapons. NYT: " Congressional aides said that could hurt Mr. Gates’s effort to keep Congress from financing an alternate engine for the F-35 fighter [though the] report does not mention the fight..."

Laura Flanders notes the loose standards for Congress to fund military contractors in Iraq: "If public schools or Medicare providers were held to the same standards as military contractors, they’d never have to beg for cash. Need money? Sure! — Congress would say — what’s a few missing billions of tax dollars? Congress agreed to pump an extra $33 billion into Afghanistan this week, even as a new report revealed that almost nine billion earmarked for the nation’s other occupation — Iraq — simply, it seems, went missing. The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says $8.7 billion earmarked for Iraq reconstruction has gone. Precisely where, no one can tell him."

Insurance Pools For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions

Interim insurance pools for people with pre-existing conditions good for affordability, bad for reproductive freedom. Kaiser Health News: "'It appears the rule includes a strong prohibition on federal coverage of abortion,' said Jessica Straus, spokeswoman for Sen. Michael Enzi ... To make the plans more affordable, the regulations said that premiums in the new pools cannot exceed the average 'standard' rate in the individual insurance market ... The new risk pools will also not require waiting periods ..."

Women expected to benefit most from health care reform, new report finds. W. Post: "...about 15 million of the nearly 17 million U.S. women who currently are uninsured will be eligible for coverage with federal financial help ... such insurance will cover care for women who are pregnant ... women will particularly be helped by a change, scheduled for September, that will prohibit many insurance plans from rescinding coverage if enrollees become sick..."

Rep. Anthony Weiner livid on House floor at Republicans who blocked health care assistance for 9/11 responders. HuffPost posts video: "'Oh, if only we had a different process we'd vote yes.' You vote yes if you believe yes ... I will not yield!"

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