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.
Calls For Alan Simpson's Resignation From Debt Commission After "310 Million Tits" Insult
WH debt commission co-chair Alan Simpson insults Social Security recipients and women in email to leading Social Security defender. HuffPost's Martha Burk: "Simpson fired off an email Monday. He accused [Older Women's League's Ashley] Carson of lying and 'babbling into the vapors about disgusting attempts at ageism and sexism and all the rest of that crap.' Piling on the sexist rhetoric, he then instructed her to read a graph which 'I hope you are able to discern if you are any good at reading graphs.' ... Simpson saves the best for last: 'And yes, I've made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know 'em too. It's the same with any system in America. We've reached a point now where it's like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!' ... Susan Scanlan, Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations (representing over 200 women's groups), along with Carson and OWL President Donna Wagner .. are calling for Simpson's removal..."
OWL launches petition drive to remove Simpson.
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow joins the call: "The only fair conclusions that can be be drawn from Simpson's latest outburst are these: He has a strong dislike for retired Social Security recipients. He is temperamentally incapable of coping with disagreement or criticism. He lacks both the judgment and the emotional stability to make unbiased decisions..."
HuffPost can't get Simpson to respond: "It's unclear from Simpson's email if he means Social Security is the milk cow or if he's referring to America in general. A Simpson assistant responded to a HuffPost email saying that Simpson was traveling and unable to comment immediately."
Boehner Policy Speech Offers Little Policy, Many Lies
USA Today on Boehner's policy ideas: "Boehner's speech was light on new proposals. He called for fewer regulations, a freeze on government pay and hiring, strict caps on spending, a revised tax code and trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. He said the GOP would lay out their full agenda next month after listening to Americans during the current congressional recess."
Time's Michael Crowley doesn't see any leadership: "...Boehner's most detailed solution was to call for a return to 2008 discretionary spending levels--a move that would exact painful short-term cuts while bringing a negligible effect on America's medium- and long-term budget crisis. (By Boehner's own admission this would merely 'show Washington is ready to get serious' about deficits). After that ... Boehner expects Obama to propose the really 'aggressive' budget cuts. That's not exactly bold leadership."
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage calls the Boehner plan "half-baked": "The Boehner response is to keep tax rates where they are for the rich, and cut all recovery spending, slashing 25% from domestic discretionary spending. We know two things about this program: It will kill more jobs than it creates; and it will add to, not subtract, from projected deficits."
W. Post's Ruth Marcus sees a political misfire: "I've been skeptical that Democrats would get much political traction with their argument that the Republican agenda is just George W. Bush recycled, but speeches like Boehner's make me rethink."
Dean Baker says Boehner ignores the business investment is up: "...Boehner asserted ... 'The prospect of higher taxes, stricter rules and more regulation has employers sitting on their hands.' The data show businesses are actually increasing investment at a rapid pace. Investment in equipment and software has risen at more than an 18 percent annual rate over the last three quarters. It is newsworthy that Mr. Boehner is apparently unaware of the most basic economic data, since he is making strong assertions that are clearly at odds with reality..."
OurFuture.org's Bill Scher finds little policy but many lies: "...he used the phrase 'job-killing' to describe the President's economic strategy a dozen times. Yet he embraced a position ... that would literally kill hundreds of thousands of jobs..."
A comprehensive fact-check on Boehner from Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo.
Yes, The Stimulus Created Jobs
CBO concludes the Recovery Act stimulus successfully lowered unemployment. WSJ: "... the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office ... estimated that the plan lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points [and] increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million ..."
White House seeks economic aid despite Congressional deficit hysteria. W. Post: "...with the budget deficit soaring and polls showing deep skepticism about the impact of Obama's economic policies, even many Democrats are reluctant to support additional spending on the economy. That has left Obama with few alternatives for improving the trajectory ... White House economist Jared Bernstein said the administration is 'by no means out of bullets.' He cited billions of dollars that have yet to be spent from last year's stimulus package ... a measure designed to encourage hiring by small businesses that has been blocked by Republicans ... Obama is also pressing for tax rebates for homeowners who invest in renewable energy projects and other green renovations, as well as for an extension of an existing tax credit for manufacturers of solar panels, wind turbines and other clean-energy equipment."
Off The Charts' Elizabeth McNichol notes most states have avoided a "cuts-only" approach to dealing with recession: "Today’s Wall Street Journal editorial ... trumpets Virginia’s $400 million surplus for fiscal year 2010 and praises Governor McDonnell for closing the state’s large budget shortfall without raising revenues ... [That] mostly reflects the fact that revenues ... fell by less than expected in 2010 ... there are sound reasons why most states have rejected a cuts-only approach to closing budget shortfalls in favor of a balanced approach ... A cuts-only approach is bad for a slow economy ... Raising taxes won’t hurt the recovery ..."
What debt crisis? NYT: "Investors worried that the economy might fall back into recession have been pouring money into Treasury debt."
Robert Reich proposes a "people's tax cut": "Democrats should propose eliminating payroll taxes on the first $20,000 of income, and making up the revenue loss by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000. This would give the economy an immediate boost by adding to the paychecks of just about every working American."
IRS get tougher on corporate tax collection. NYT: "Every year, thousands of the nation’s largest corporations are required to report to the I.R.S. whether they have reduced their tax bills by using questionable accounting strategies [but] are not obliged to reveal precisely what those uncertain tax positions are ... Beginning next year, the agency plans to mandate that corporations also provide a brief description of their uncertain tax positions and their rationale, offering essentially a road map for its auditors ... a fundamental shift in a system where voluntary compliance and regulatory complexity have raised creative interpretation of the tax code to a high art."
Conservatives can't tell difference between wasteful and effective spending. Politico oped from Science magazine's Alan I. Leshner: "As a former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, I was stunned that research projects now mocked as government waste included efforts critical to developing medicines to treat cocaine addiction. Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have also ridiculed federally funded research related to global climate change, biodiversity and antibiotic mechanisms ... A strong, broad research base is essential for ensuring genuine economic growth and U.S. innovation in the future."
Housing market takes big hit. NYT: "Housing sales in July plunged 25.5 percent below the level of a year ago ... Mortgage rates are the lowest in modern memory while affordability, because of price declines of 30 percent in many areas, is the highest in at least a decade. The government is allowing buyers to put only a token amount down, guarantees lenders against default and regularly issues proclamations that the worst is over. Apparently, all of that is not enough to put a floor under housing."
Might housing problems spur Fed? Bloomberg: "A prolonged housing slump may weaken the economic recovery, making it more likely Federal Reserve policy makers will take additional steps to spur growth."
TNR's John Judis argues that the President's accomplishments are not enough: "...he could have his really significant accomplishments overshadowed by his inability to manage America’s successful transition out of the Great Recession. Who remembers now that financial reform and government spending to create jobs started with Herbert Hoover?"
Stimulus Helping Speed Clean Energy Economy
Stimulus leading to affordable clean energy. CNN: "According to the [White House] analysis, the package's $100 billion 'innovation' investment has helped put the United States on track to cut the cost of solar power by 50 percent in the next five years. The report also predicted that the cost of electric vehicle batteries will drop 70 percent by 2015 ... medical investments funded by the Recovery Act will lower the cost of a personal human genome map to under $1,000 over the next five years -- a development that could have significant ramifications for health care..." More details at The Hill.
Weatherization stimulus paying off for Maine. Energy Dept.'s Andy Oare: "With the help of nearly $41.9 million in funding from the Recovery Act, the state expects to weatherize more than 4,400 homes – creating jobs, reducing carbon emissions, and saving money for Maine’s low-income families."
Grist's Jonathan Hiskes explains to frustrated NY-area commuters why our rail infrastructure is lousy, with charts: "When you look at federal capital investment in highways versus transit over the last half century, the difference is staggering ... Imagine how much better our rail system could be if we started evening out that funding. That's what Ray LaHood's Transportation Department is, gradually, doing."
TNR's Jonathan Cohn adds: "We've spent a lot of time arguing whether more government spending would help boost the economy in the short-term. The chaos in New York is a reminder that it would almost certainly boost the economy in the long-term, while improving our quality of life."
Fears of job losses from offshore drilling moratorium prove unfounded. NYT: "Unemployment claims related to the oil industry along the Gulf Coast have been in the hundreds, not the thousands, and while oil production from the gulf is down because of the drilling halt, supplies from the region are expected to rebound in future year ... Oil companies used the enforced suspension to service and upgrade their drilling equipment, keeping shipyards and service companies busy."
Drilling regs will be tougher after moratorium ends, but oil companies and enviros complain. Bloomberg: "Now, offshore drillers will have to provide third-party verification that equipment such as blowout preventers ... Oil producers are frustrated by some of the administration’s new requirements ... New regulations also apply to drillers in shallow water that aren’t under the moratorium Obama imposed in late May ... operators of the 31 drilling rigs still idled by the moratorium must submit new exploration plans and reapply for permits to drill ... Those plans will be subject to a less rigorous environmental assessment [than a full environmental study], a compromise opposed by environmental groups."
Major investigation by W. Post into history of oil drilling regulators subservient to Big Oil lobby: "MMS has adopted at least 78 industry-generated standards as federal regulations ... Top officials and front-line workers routinely referred to the companies under their watch as 'clients,' 'customers' and especially 'partners.' ... A presidential commission looking at the lessons of the BP oil spill has set its sights on MMS's culture as well. It will hold a public hearing Wednesday."
Breakfast Sides
House to examine Wall St. exec pay. W. Post: "Rep. Barney Frank ... will hold a hearing this fall to examine whether regulators are being tough enough in curbing pay practices at Wall Street firms that can lead to excessively risky practices ... [He] would take up pay proposals developed by the Squam Lake Group, 15 economists who ... argued against setting dollar caps on salaries, arguing that making millions in annual pay can be effective in rewarding 'particularly talented financial employees.' ... Still, the Squam Lake Group urges regulators to force banks to restructure the way they pay employees to ensure that executives bear in mind long-term risks ... firms might be required to withhold one-fifth of an executive's compensation for five years. Executives would receive that pay if their firm has not declared bankruptcy or has not received a taxpayer bailout. Other academics have suggested that pay be linked to the value of a company's debt or other measures that give a better indication of the value of a firm."
"Egg crisis piques interest in food-safety bill" reports USA Today: "The House passed a version in 2009, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate, despite bipartisan support. Among other things, the legislation would require more frequent government inspections of food manufacturing facilities and the creation of stronger mechanisms for tracing food-borne illness outbreaks back to their source..."
Former McCain adviser leading fight for health insurers to circumvent new law against profiteering. Wonk Room's Igor Volsky: "Insurers have seized on a single mention of 'federal taxes' in Section 2718 of the health law — the section that deals with [medical-loss ratio] — to argue that they should be allowed to exclude all federal taxes from their revenue (the denominator in the MLR ratio), a move that would save issuers millions of dollars and allow them to meet the MLR requirements without necessarily spending more on care ... [Douglas Holtz-Eakin] argues that in order to satisfy the new MLR requirements, insurers would have to take steps that 'may disqualify policies’ grandfathered status and violate the Obama administration’s promise' of keeping what you have if you like it. But [the] easiest way to meet the new standards is by lowering cost-sharing, which actually increases the likelihood of retaining grandfathered status."
