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.
China Currency Crackdown Expected To Pass House
NYT reports House likely to pass bill cracking down on China currency manipulation today: "The House is expected to give the Obama administration another tool in its diplomatic pouch to pressure China to let its currency rise ... In the past, Beijing has responded to such tactics by allowing its currency to rise gradually ... But it is unclear whether the legislation, which faces cloudy prospects in the Senate, will succeed this time in prodding a China that has become more self-confident on the world stage ... In the United States, smaller manufacturers, labor unions and agricultural producers have been pressing the government to take a tough stance ... large multinational corporations ... and Wall Street banks, are comfortable with a weak renminbi because they export goods from China or are trying to promote investment there."
Speaking of Wall Street banks, Morgan Stanley Asia's Stephen Roach rips China currency bill in NYT oped: "...Washington remains unwilling to address our unprecedented saving gap, and instead tries to duck responsibility by blaming China."
Anti-outsourcing measure filibustered. NYT: "The Senate on Tuesday rejected efforts by Democratic leaders to advance a bill to end a tax provision that supporters of the measure said encourages American companies to ship jobs overseas. The bill also would have given a tax break to companies that move jobs back to the United States ... Joining the Republicans in opposition were four Democrats, Senators Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia, as well as Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent."
Tax Cut Vote Unlikely As Congressional Session Winds Down
House Dems leave door open to tax cut vote soon, but still unlikely. CQ: "Several House Democratic leadership aides said there is little, if any, time for a vote on taxes, since the House may recess late Wednesday or in the early hours of Thursday ... But another senior Democratic aide said that an extension of expiring tax cuts could be scheduled for floor action under suspension of the rules if the House remains in session beyond Wednesday."
47 House Dems push Speaker Pelosi to maintain Bush tax cuts on dividends and capital gains for multimillionaires reports NYT.
Limited stopgap measure to keep government functioning moves forward. CQ: "Democratic leaders appear to have rejected requests from the White House, lobbying groups and even Democratic colleagues that would have added to the measure’s cost — an indication of the degree to which Republicans have gained the upper hand in the broader debate over federal spending ... Earlier in the day, 26 Senate Republicans joined Democrats in an 84-14 procedural vote to limit debate on the measure, the clearest sign that the costly add-ons that the GOP has protested were left out..."
240,000 Government-Created Private Sector Jobs Risk Vanishing Tomorrow
HuffPost profiles beneficiaries of program subsidizing private-sector jobs which will expire tomorrow: "Siobhan Kolar can't believe that thousands of jobs, including her own with an unemployment advocacy nonprofit called Chicago Jobs with Justice, are on the Senate's fiscal chopping block ... The Emergency Fund, a $5 billion product of the stimulus bill, created some 240,000 jobs in 37 states and is all set to expire on Thursday ... Illinois governor Pat Quinn announced Tuesday that he would extend the program in Illinois for an additional two months (though it was not immediately clear how the extension would be funded)."
Fed member says board remains divided on additional action. Bloomberg: "Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said policy makers haven’t agreed on whether to begin a new program of buying Treasuries, and the need for further monetary easing isn’t clear ... 'If in six months or 12 months the economy is operating at the low level it is today' and unemployment is 9.5 percent or higher, 'I will be comfortable with taking action,' he said."
W. Post explores roots of growing fraudulent foreclosure scandal: "A picture is emerging is of an industry - from loan officers in local offices in neighborhood strip malls to the financial titans of Wall Street - eager to purge bad mortgages from its books. To speed that process, documents and signatures were forged, notary witnesses were faked and those responsible for checking court filings never read the massive stacks that passed across their desks at a breakneck pace..."
More wild speculation over replacing Larry Summers. LAT: "The latest buzz was that Obama would tap one of two big names from Newport Beach mutual fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co.: widely regarded fund manager Bill Gross or Chief Executive Mohamed El-Erian. The White House quickly poured cold water on that speculation ... The White House said last week Obama was unlikely to pick a successor to Summers for several months."
The Biggest Wall Street Cronies In Congress
OurFuture.org's Zach Carter details who voted for bailing out Wall Street and against reforming Wall Street: "... 90 members of Congress didn't even want to publicly pretend to support reining in almost universally reviled banks. When you're trying to decide which bums to throw out in November, here's one place to start. These members of Congress are okay with setting up economic calamities, and they don't mind paying for them with your tax dollars."
Negotiations to end AIG bailout continue. NYT: "To close the deal by the end of the year and avoid a downgrade, A.I.G. will have to complete a number of steps. Foremost is securing a credit facility from a bank to replace the one now provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the people briefed on the negotiations said. As part of the deal, the Treasury will convert its preferred shares into billions of dollars’ worth of common stock. Underscoring the risks of huge government bailouts, the government may be forced to sell its stake very slowly. And it is not at all clear that the government will recoup its full investment, some analysts say."
Naked Capitalism's Yves Smith unimpressed: "...all this fancy financial footwork is to divert public attention from the fact that AIG will deliver big losses to the taxpayer."
Renewable Energy Bill A "Long Shot"
Sen. Dick Durbin calls renewable energy bill this year a "long shot." The Hill: "'I think it is when you just look at the limited time and the three major issues that we face, not to mention many other issues in the second tier.' Those top three issues, he said, are dealing with the New START nuclear reduction treaty with Russia, expiring George W. Bush administration tax cuts and an omnibus spending bill ... Republicans who would normally back the substance of a RES still want Reid to allow amendments to be offered on the floor. Many Republicans are looking for more nuclear, hydroelectric and coal power to be included in the mandate."
Grist's David Roberts argues against including nuclear and natural gas in any renewable energy production standard: "The goals of an RES are straightforward: jobs and industrial development. It's precisely those goals that would be obscured by the inclusion of incumbent industries like nuclear and natural gas, which have a long history of prior subsidies."
Stateline explores debate over state vs. federal regulation of natural gas drilling: "...the federal government is beginning to take a more active interest in fracturing — mainly in the form of the EPA study that is now under way. Some members of Congress also are trying to step up efforts to regulate the technique, which is exempt from federal oversight under a 2005 congressional provision that many environmentalists now deride as the 'Halliburton loophole.' The natural gas industry, along with most state regulators, supports state — rather than federal — oversight."
The nation's doctors call for EPA to maintain authority for regulating carbon pollution. The Hill: "...more than 100 leading health advocates called on Washington policymakers this week to allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions ... Endorsing the letter were the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Lung Association and the American Medical Association, among a long list of others."
Buzz Builds For Saturday March
Harold Meyerson previews Saturday's One Nation march, sees a uniting of the progressive movement: "[Ben] Jealous, who has brought a new measure of dynamism and strategic savvy to the venerable NAACP, has prodded his organization and a number of African American church groups to support gay and lesbian rights. More middle-class environmental and gay and lesbian groups back the rally's call for job creation through a range of Keynesian measures. All the groups involved this weekend have endorsed the legalization of undocumented immigrants."
NAACP's Ben Jealous see march as restoring MLK's vision of America: "It is time for Congress to listen to the voice of the majority again. The fact that Congress is even considering more tax giveaways for the mega-rich - giveaways that will add $700 billion to the deficit our children will have to bear - tells us that the voice of the majority is not being listened to. We are not a loud, fragmented minority looking backward. We are a strong, united majority looking forward. We are the people who answer calls at your doctors' offices, care for your parents, help prepare your tax returns, stock the shelves in your grocery stores, lay the lines for your broadband, build your cars, construct your houses, your offices. We are school administrators, teachers, parents and children, employers and union members. We are the real America ... The loud voices of the Tea Party Movement cannot eclipse the moral commitment of the Main Street middle."
Majority Leader DeMint?
Tea Party favorite Sen. Jim DeMint may be eyeing challenge to Sen. Min. Leader Mitch McConnell. McClatchy: "Sen. Jim DeMint, in an unusual assertion of unilateral power, warned the other 99 senators that for the rest of their legislative session this year, all bills and nominations that are slated for unanimous passage must go through his office for review ... it's increased speculation that he's gunning for the Kentucky Republican's leadership post."
W. Post's Steven Pearlstein warns CEOs about a DeMint-led Senate: "...you can kiss goodbye tax reform, education reform, infrastructure investment or any new trade treaties ... then there's that matter of regulatory uncertainty you've been complaining about. If you think it's bad now, just wait until next year when the Obama administration tries to do through regulation what it will no longer be able to achieve through legislation ... nothing will be resolved until the issues are subject to years of federal court litigation."
NYT's David Leonhardt laments lack of specifics in GOP budget plans: "In their Pledge to America, Congressional Republicans have used the old trick of promising specific tax cuts and vague spending cuts. It’s the politically easy approach, and it is likely to be as bad for the budget as when George W. Bush tried it."
Paul Waldman explains why federal spending never goes down, and why that's not a problem: "Our federal spending has increased by a few points in the last two years (from 20.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2008 to 24.7 percent in 2009), but it is still small compared to that of our friends in Europe. ...We might not have the universal health care and child care that our friends in Europe get, but we still get all kinds of benefits from the government here in America. It's just that many of us like to pretend that either we created those benefits ourselves, or they arrived by magic. The meter reader writing you a parking ticket is 'government' you can be mad at, but the road you're parked on is just yours to use -- who knows who built it, and who cares? Politicians can fulminate all they want... But the truth is that government spending is going to continue to rise, because neither Democrats nor Republicans really want government to get smaller..."
Race For Congress Tightens
NBC/WSJ poll shows battle for Congress tightening up as Dem base kicks into gear: "...among likely voters — identified by their past voting history and their high level of interest in the November midterms — 46 percent prefer a Republican-controlled Congress, versus 43 percent who want a Democratic-led one. That’s a decline (though within the margin of error) from the 49-to-40 percent lead Republicans held in late August. The NBC/WSJ pollsters attribute the tightening to increased enthusiasm for the upcoming midterms by African Americans (who saw a six-point gain in high interest) and Hispanics (who saw an 11-point gain). But young voters, who helped fuel Obama’s presidential victory in 2008, are now sitting on the sidelines."
Both parties struggling in Ohio. NYT: "Two years after President Obama carried Ohio, following back-to-back victories by Mr. Bush, a majority of voters said they were disappointed with Mr. Obama’s presidency, including more than 6 in 10 independents ... But when asked who is most to blame for the country’s economic condition, nearly half of Ohioans blame the Bush administration or Wall Street, while only 9 percent blame Mr. Obama."
President Obama defends Wall St. reform, health care and economic strategy, promises more on climate and immigration, in wide-ranging Rolling Stone interview: "I keep in my pocket a checklist of the promises I made during the campaign, and here I am, halfway through my first term, and we've probably accomplished 70 percent of the things that we said we were going to do — and by the way, I've got two years left to finish the rest of the list, at minimum. So I think that it is very important for Democrats to take pride in what we've accomplished."
