The daily Progressive Breakfast serves up what progressive movement members need to know to start their day.
More Troops To Afghanistan
President to announce new Afghanistan strategy tonight. NYT: "President Obama has decided to expedite the deployment of 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan over the next six months, in an effort to reverse the momentum of Taliban gains and create urgency for the government in Kabul to match the American surge with one using its own forces ... Success ... depends in large part on the cooperation of an Afghan government whose legitimacy is more in question than ever in the wake of elections marred by extensive fraud."
Health Care Debate Begins, Slowly
Sen. Reid predicts passage. USA Today: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid predicted Monday he'll have the votes to enact a sweeping rewrite of the nation's health care laws following a marathon debate that could keep the Senate in session every weekend until Christmas ... He acknowledged he's not ready for a final vote. 'I wouldn't want to have one today,' he said."
Initial debate starts slow. CQ: "Senators are likely to vote on dozens of amendments as they debate the health care bill — but in an indication of how long the process could take, Democrats and Republicans agreed Monday to consider only two."
McCain kicks off debate with massive flip-flop. Wonk Room: "After Introducing $1.3 Trillion In Cuts To Medicare During Campaign, McCain Condemns Far Less Drastic Medicare Cuts In Senate Bill"
Simple majority vote still an option. The Hill: "Talk about using budget reconciliation to pass healthcare reform in the Senate has faded from public view, but Democratic leaders continue to hang the threat over centrists in private."
HuffPost's Sam Stein reports Reid has "cards to play" to woo right-leaning Dems: "...there is a noticeable absence of panic among Reid and his Senate lieutenants - perhaps because Reid , aides and outsiders suggest, does have cards he has yet to play. 'Each of these Senators have things they may want in the bill and concerns beyond the public option that Reid and others can address,' said Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager for the pro-reform group, Health Care for America Now."
Sen. Bayh reassured by new CBO report on cost of premiums. NYT: "The Congressional Budget Office said Monday that the Senate health bill could significantly reduce costs for many people who buy health insurance on their own, and that it would not substantially change premiums for the vast numbers of Americans who receive coverage from large employers ... Centrist Democrats like Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana ... had feared that the measure would drive up costs for people with employer-sponsored coverage. After reading the budget office report, Mr. Bayh said he was reassured on that point."
Howard Dean reiterates opposition to any bill without a public option. Politico: "... a reminder of the difficulty ahead for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if he is forced to retreat much further from the opt-out public option in the Senate bill to appease centrists."
Union leaders maintain opposition to insurance tax. Politico: "According to [AFL-CIO's Amaya] Tune, labor is being 'very vocal' and making itself 'very clear' on Capitol Hill, and its House allies — including the speaker — have said the tax is a nonstarter for them. Labor leaders now are pressing to have the financing plank stripped from the Senate bill before final passage. But Tune concedes that the Senate has been 'very resistant' to dropping the proposal ... According to the Congressional Budget Office, it could help curb the costs of health care by discouraging overuse or unnecessary use of medical services. [Center for American Progress' Scott] Lilly finds the logic a bit dubious. 'Who says, ‘I’m going to go have an organ removed because I have the coverage to do it’?' he asked."
Stimulus Creating Up To 1.6M Jobs So Far
CBO adds to evidence stimulus is working. Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package has generated between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs [and] lowered the nation’s unemployment rate by between 0.3 and 0.9 percentage points ... The CBO said the White House’s 640,329 jobs figure underestimated the number created or saved because it only includes reports from entities receiving federal grants, contracts or loans through the stimulus package. That doesn’t include jobs created indirectly through tax cuts or the effect of expanded unemployment benefits that were part of the legislation."
Rep. Earl Blumenauer calls for creating infrastructure jobs with TARP funds in USA Today oped: " Infrastructure represented only 4% of the economic recovery package, yet produced more than 25% of the jobs saved or created. For every billion dollars spent rebuilding America, 25,000 jobs are created. This employment goes beyond the hard hats. When you include the engineers, the equipment and materials, even the workers stopping at the coffee shop next to the job site, there's a vast chain of economic activity ... Redirecting [TARP] funds that have gone unused, or have been paid back by bailed out financial firms, would help solve the transportation puzzle while putting more Americans to work."
New jobs bill may include COBRA extension. McClatchy: "A new study estimates that the end of a hefty government subsidy could force millions of laid-off workers to pay more than 80 percent of their monthly unemployment check ... An estimated 7 million jobless workers and their dependents are thought to have received the temporary subsidy ... However, the nine-month subsidy expired Monday for those who first began receiving it in March ... Congressional Democrats are pushing to include some type of COBRA subsidy extension in a major jobs bill that's being crafted. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, have introduced stand-alone legislation to extend the subsidies in the House of Representatives and the Senate, but it's unclear how soon any new funding can be secured."
China resists currency reform. Reuters: "Speaking to reporters after a summit meeting with the European Union, [Prime Minister] Wen said the demands being made of Beijing to let the yuan strengthen were not fair. He reaffirmed China’s determination to take its own, gradual steps with regards to the currency but said that for now the yuan, also known as the renminbi, would be kept steady."
Senate Movement on Financial Reform
Politico reports possible bipartisan deal in works: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a key player on the Senate Banking Committee, said in an interview that there's been a 'thawing' between Democrats and Republicans on the panel, sparking new activity and promise for a bipartisan bill. Corker said the turning point came after the Nov. 19 committee debate on Chairman Chris Dodd's discussion draft -- an event that some observers viewed as a setback for financial reform in the Senate. 'After chairman Dodd listened to comments from both sides of the aisle, I feel like he felt that it was a worthwhile endeavor to try to work this out in committee in a real deliberative way -- not just having a bill before us that we offer amendments on but to really construct something,' Corker said."
CQ reports Bernanke headed for tough questioning: "Barring any game-changing events or disclosures in coming weeks, Bernanke is likely to be confirmed — but not before lawmakers get to take their cracks..."
Mortgage Plan Still Attracts Criticism
LAT on new WH push for help from mortgage lenders: "Officials unveiled requirements Monday that would step up government scrutiny and threaten fines on banks and other mortgage lenders should they lag in converting temporary mortgage modifications into permanent changes in loan terms and conditions by the end of the year."
Dean Baker cautions help for homeowners may just be help for banks. OurFuture.org: "If the government pays for a mortgage modification where the homeowner is still paying more for the mortgage than they would for rent, then the bank gets a big gift from the government, but the homeowner is still coming out behind ... There are simple low-cost ways to help homeowners who were victims of the housing bubble and the lending sharks. The most obvious way would be to give homeowners the right to rent their home at the market price for the next decade."
Tripartisan Climate Deal Not Likely Before Copenhagen
Sen. Reid to meet with committee chairs on climate this week, but tripartisan deal may not be announced before Copenhagen. ClimateWire: "...Reid plans to meet later this week with key Senate committee leaders for a pre-Copenhagen strategy session ... Kerry had originally said he would release a rough blueprint of his climate and energy bill before Copenhagen. But speaking to reporters on Nov. 16, Kerry indicated it may take longer. 'I think a framework is coming together, whether we put it out or don't put it out,' Kerry said. Several current and former Senate aides said that they doubt Kerry, Graham and Lieberman will be ready with a blueprint by the end of this week, adding that it made little sense to drop such a major document now unless they also have more news to report in terms of cosponsors."
Mother Jones' Kate Sheppard details international dispute over climate aid to poor nations: "...EU negotiators have removed lines from a proposed draft agreement that call for a new climate fund for poor countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The text says the EU 'cannot accept' proposed language that would call for climate aid to be 'additional to' and 'separate from' other development assistance funds. If climate funds were to come entirely from existing pools of money, that would pose a huge problem for international negotiations. The United Nations has estimated that poor countries need as much as $170 billion per year to adapt to climate change. That's $50 billion more than developed countries spent on aid last year."
EU prodding China. AFP: "While acknowledging efforts made by China—the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter—[EU Prez] Reinfeldt raised questions about a Chinese plan to slow its carbon emissions growth announced last week ahead of Copenhagen climate talks."
Treehugger touts tool to make sense of nations' emission cutting claims.
