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.
"America Speaks," Demands Tax Hike On Rich, Defense Cuts, Carbon Tax
America spoke at Pete Peterson's "America Speaks" events this weekend, and rejected the Peterson austerity agenda. Roger Hickey:: "..Peterson cannot be pleased with the participants' mainly progressive policy choices, which will be presented on June 30 to the Deficit Commission that Peterson encouraged President Obama to create ... they overwhelmingly supported proposals to ... Raise tax rates on corporate income and those earning more than1 million ... Reduce military spending by 10 to 15 percent ... Create a carbon tax AND a securities-transaction tax."
HuffPost's Robert Kuttner urges White House and its debt commission to heed the "America Speaks" results: "...these surprisingly progressive conclusions came, despite the fact that the exercise was heavily funded by the nation's most powerful propaganda organization that works to frighten Americans into believing that Social Security and Medicare are bankrupting the country! The people are often ahead of the leaders and the pundits. If the administration paid attention to where public opinion really is, we'd be hearing a lot more about jobs and a lot less about deficits."
President Obama warns deficit hypocrites he's calling their "bluff." ABC quotes: "I hope people who are hollering about deficits and debt start stepping up ... Because I’m calling their bluff and we’ll see how much of that, how much of the political arguments they’re making right now are real and how much of it was just politics.”
Time's Mark Halperin interprets presidential remarks as evidence of looming "entitlement reform": "For those of you who aren't focused like a laser beam on the deficit reduction commission due to report in December (led by Rahm's buddy Bruce Reed): get focused. As Obama made oh-so-clear (again) Sunday, he is as serious as a heart attack about making a bold move on entitlement reform after the midterms..."
Yes, people want to tax the rich. Matt Yglesias: "...as both public opinion polling and even Pete Peterson's 'America Speaks' event demonstrate, far and away the most popular method available for reducing the long-term fiscal deficit is higher taxes on rich people ... it's really striking the extent to which members of the political elite insist on ignoring the strong public consensus behind higher taxes on the rich in their discussion of politically feasible policy options."
Some movement on cutting military waste. NYT: "Industry officials said that Ashton B. Carter, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, had called a meeting with contractors and lobbyists to address ways to cut waste ... [He] is expected to question overhead costs built into many deals and the amount of profit on certain types of contracts ... At the major military companies, 'everyone’s apprehensive' about the meeting..."
G-20 moves to slash deficits, risking deeper recession. Bloomberg: "Advanced G-20 economies will aim to halve deficits by 2013 and start to stabilize their debt-to-output ratios by 2016 ... Leaders said nations can move at their own pace and also pledged to fulfill existing stimulus plans ..."
NYT's Paul Krugman fears the G-20 is leading us towards a "Long Depression": "...governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending ... the victory of an orthodoxy that has little to do with rational analysis, whose main tenet is that imposing suffering on other people is how you show leadership in tough times."
Byrd's Death, Brown's Flinch, Jeopardizes Wall St. Reform Deal
Are there now 60 for all St. reform? Marketplace: "Senator Byrd was expected to vote for the bill, which was going to be close. And Republican Senator Scott Brown ... announced over the weekend that he may oppose the bill because he doesn't like that it's being paid for by a $19 billion tax on large financial institutions. Now Brown was not the only Republican to support the bill when it passed the Senate in May. There were three others, and a couple of Democrats voted against it, so there is some wiggle room if the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can convince someone who voted against the original bill to support the final bill ... it's not clear when -- the Democratic governor of West Virginia will appoint a successor..."
Sen. Scott Brown criticized for hypocrisy on "backroom deals." Politico: "After private talks with ... top Democrats, Brown scored a series of exemptions from the 'Volcker rule' ... pushed by big Massachusetts banks and financial firms, including State Street Corp. and Mass Mutual ... several suggested that Brown’s deal making wasn’t very different from what Republicans had lampooned during the health care debate ... 'There’s been full transparency,' Brown told POLITICO. 'Everybody knows what’s going on ... '"
The real action on finaicial reform isn't happening on Capitol Hill, but in Jamie Dimon's executive suite. Baseline Scenario's Simon Johnson: "Dimon, the head of JP Morgan Chase, is apparently seeking to (a) become more global, (b) move further into emerging markets, and (c) become more like Citigroup ... Mr. Dimon also knows ... that a US resolution authority will do precisely nothing to make it easier to handle the failure of a large global bank, e.g., Citigroup, doing business in over 100 countries ... Mr. Dimon is constructing a 'poison pill' against takeover by the government. This is so simple, so brilliant, and so dangerous that it should take your breath away."
G-20 not rushing to establish new rules on bank capital requirements. NYT: "... it became clear on Sunday at the meeting of the Group of 20 countries that it could be years before they take effect ... While the participants here said they aimed to adopt the rules by the end of 2012, they cautioned that the standards would be 'phased in...' ... The Basel Committee, which sets standards that are then carried out by national regulators, wants to tighten the definition of what can be counted as Tier One capital, which is the basic measure of what banks hold against the risk of future losses ... [In the U.S. Congress] banks appear to have won an important victory in blocking an effort that would have effectively made them hold more government securities as a way of raising liquidity, or the ability to handle short-term financial shocks."
G-20 fails to agree on bank tax, reports Bloomberg.
House Work On Jobs Is Never Done
House leaders polling members to assess support for war spending bill, and attaching funds to prevent teacher layoffs. CQ: "House leaders plan this week to take up the fiscal 2010 war supplemental spending bill to provide money the Pentagon has said it needs before the July Fourth recess."
House may try to separate jobless aid extension from filibustered jobs bill. CQ: "... as of the evening of June 25, a final decision had not yet been made ... it remained unclear whether that strategy would work in the Senate ... [GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe] sent Reid a letter saying that a standalone unemployment bill would be a smarter route."
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair James Oberstar calls for infrastructure investment with increase in fuel tax, as Reagan did, in Politico oped: "Even the leading fiscal conservative of our age saw the benefit in the user-based fee to keep our transportation system healthy. This is what President Ronald Reagan said when he proposed a 5-cents increase in the fee in 1982 ... the user fee has remained unchanged [since 1993], even as construction costs have spiked 84 percent."
Top GOPer on House infrastructure committee, Rep. Don Young, backs high-speed rail investment, in Politico oped: "Our current infrastructure system has paid for itself many times over, and a high-speed-rail system would do the same ... Investments in infrastructure create jobs, plain and simple."
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder urges attention on possible Korea trade deal: "Not enough attention has been paid to the Republican response to the administration's decision to seek a resolution to the nascent trade treaty with South Korea by the next G-20 summit. Will they agree to work with the White House on an issue they would otherwise strongly support? Or will they try to obstruct the resolution to deny the President a victory? And how will the issue affect turnout of organized labor in November?"
High unemployment, great for business! Bloomberg: "The 6.8 million Americans out of work for 27 weeks or longer -- a record 46 percent of all the unemployed -- are providing U.S. companies with an eager, skilled and cheap labor pool. This is allowing businesses to retool their workforces, boosting efficiency and profits..."
Major WH Meeting On Energy/Climate Tuesday
President to talk energy/climate with bipartisan Senate group tomorrow. Politico: "Add Byron Dorgan to the list. Previously reported invitees: Sherrod Brown, Olympia Snow, Jay Rockefeller, Tom Carper, Maria Cantwell, George Voinovich, Harry Reid, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, Barbara Boxer, Jeff Bingaman, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Debbie Stabenow."
No GOPer backing carbon cap yet, but party faces pressure from some in industry. Politico: "Several energy industry officials — preferring certainty from Congress this year ahead of expected EPA climate rules next year — are upset about the GOP’s reluctance to work with Democrats on the climate bill. 'Bottom line is why would they want to try to kill it at all when coal faces a barrage of regulations,' one power company source said. 'Without putting a price on carbon, it will be very difficult to build nuclear or put money into clean coal, etc. We are moving to a totally natural gas future, and they are not helping spur jobs or helping the coal industry by not working collectively to solve the problem.'"
EARLIER -- One of Sen. Robert Byrd's final statements was to urge passage of a carbon cap. Coal Tattoo quotes: "...members of the legislative branch ... should be setting policy concerning the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions ... to deny the mounting science of climate change is to stick our heads in the sand and say 'deal me out.' West Virginia needs to stay at the table, as should all Senators who have concerns about our energy policy.”
Sen. Bingaman, advocate for narrower "energy-only" bill, talks down prospects of carbon cap. The Hill: "The senior Democrat offered the grim political prognosis in an interview that aired Sunday on 'Platts Energy Week.' 'If you actually have a bill that puts in place ... a limit on greenhouse gases and a mandatory reduction in greenhouse gases, I think it is difficult to see where we get the 60 votes to pass that legislation,' he said."
Booman Tribune says it's not likely that Democrats will beat a GOP filibuster on cap-and-trade legislation, but "sometimes you have to be willing to fail": "While I don't think the effort to pass climate legislation will be successful, it is a good issue to present to the public so that they can make a clear choice on which party they want in control of Congress ... One party wants to Drill, Baby, Drill without regard for the fishing and tourist industries, or the health of our oceans ... the other party is trying to address these issues in a responsible way, informed by science, but is running up against obstruction."
G-20 takes strong step to cut oil subsidies. LAT: "Earlier this week, negotiators were hammering out an agreement among the top 20 industrialized and emerging nations that called for each to take 'voluntary' measures to cut production and consumption incentives. But privately under pressure from the Obama administration over the last two days, the group now is preparing to sign an agreement that omits the word 'voluntary.' [And,] the pact will pledge an ongoing review process that evaluates how well countries are living up to their commitment."
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's veto of legislation requiring public access to records related to the oil spill is more of the GOP siding with BP. Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "...Jindal and Republicans have worked aggressively of late to make it seem as if the Louisiana governor's office has been a model of competence and efficiency, all the while taking shots at the Obama administration. The media has largely bought into the narrative, but as more information comes to light, there's ample reason for skepticism."
Daily Kos' Jed Lewison says Gov. Jindal is acting politically, not responsibly, in response to the Gulf gusher: "CBS has already documented the fact that Jindal has been holding up the deployment of National Guard troops to fight the spill, despite the fact that they were long ago authorized by the Obama administration. Now Jindal says the reason he didn't deploy the troops because he didn't need the resources. But if that's true, what the hell has he been whining about for the past several weeks?"
Kagan Approval For Supreme Court "Virtually Assured"
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder sees no drama this week: "Kagan's active participation in Clinton-era policy debates and the controversy over Harvard's military recruitment policy will no doubt be flashpoints, but they'll be of little consequence. Kagan's confirmation is virtually assured."
GOP struggles to lay glove on Kagan as hearings begin this afternoon. Politico: "Republicans, who decided early on that they stood little chance of defeating Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, settled instead on making her confirmation process a 'teachable moment' to highlight the dangers of liberal judicial activism. But even that modest goal has proved difficult ... no ... statement has emerged from the ultra-cautious Kagan to crystallize the opposition..."
W. Post adds: "Republicans have struggled to find a compelling line of attack to take against the Supreme Court nominee ... their efforts to wield an effective cudgel against President Obama's second nomination to the country's highest court have largely failed."
HuffPost's Ari Melber says the GOP may knock Kagan's experience at its own peril: " ... she was previously nominated to the bench [in 1999]. ... But Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee blocked her nomination. ... Senate Republicans denied Kagan the chance to gain judicial experience, and now they are criticizing her for that lack of judicial experience."
