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.
Tea Party Will Watch Infrastructure Crumble, Jobs Disappear
The Tea Party is no good for our infrastructure, argues The Number 13's Samuel Schwartz: "A fiscal conservative must look at the short and long-term costs. Study after study, including Fragile Foundations commissioned by President Ronald Reagan’s National Council on Public Works Improvement, found that deferring maintenance led to much higher costs down the road (if there were a road left). It’s like your car: if you don’t get the oil changed regularly, the bearings will eventually seize and the engine will fail, forcing you to buy a new car – a much pricier option that could have been avoided."
Several Democrats defend past stimulus while resisting economist calls for more. NYT: "Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland ... acknowledged that 'there are not a lot that are arguing for more stimulus,' but added, 'There are a lot that argue that the recovery bill helped stabilize an economy that was in free fall.' Mr. Van Hollen pointed to several lawmakers who have created advertisements around stimulus provisions, like Representatives Tom Perriello of Virginia, Steve Driehaus of Ohio and James L. Oberstar of Minnesota ... Mr. Perriello, a vulnerable freshman, highlights his support for expanding broadband, clearing park trails, preserving police officers’ jobs, weatherizing homes and promoting alternative energy..."
Most Americans still don't know that the stimulus included tax cuts. NYT: "There are plenty of explanations as to why many taxpayers did not feel richer when the cuts kicked in, giving typical families an extra $65 a month. Some people were making less money to begin with, as businesses cut back. Others saw their take-home pay shrink as the amounts deducted for health insurance rose. And taxpayers in more than 30 states saw their state taxes rise ... Many [Republicans] volunteered that they thought the Bush tax cuts should be extended for all taxpayers ... But few had heard that there had also been Obama tax cuts — which will also expire next year unless extended, but have generated far less public debate."
Geithner allowing currency to rebalance. Bloomberg: "The dollar has dropped more than 7 percent since Aug. 27 ... Where once such a decline may have been met with resistance from the U.S., Geithner may now be tolerating it as a way of bolstering the recovery ... Companies from Costco Wholesale Corp. to Deere & Co. have credited the weaker dollar for giving their earnings a boost, and the currency’s slide has helped propel the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 11,000 for the first time since May."
NYT's Bob Herbert presses WH to embrace bolder jobs vision: "ith his sky-high approval ratings and the economy hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, a bold and creative employment initiative, tied to long-term investments in infrastructure and green energy, was the issue that President Obama could — and should — have used to trump Republican obstructionism. But Mr. Obama wanted his health care bill, and had a misplaced faith in the willingness of the G.O.P. to work with him on that and any number of other issues."
Robert Reich worries about upcoming Fed action: "The idea is to buy up lots of Treasury bills and other long-term debt to reduce long-term interest rates. It's assumed that low long-term rates will push more businesses to expand capacity and hire workers; push the dollar downward and make American exports more competitive and therefore generate more jobs; and allow more Americans to refinance their homes at low rates, thereby giving them more cash to spend and thereby stimulate more jobs.Problem is, it won't work. Businesses won't expand capacity and jobs because there aren't enough consumers to buy additional goods and services."
Right-leaning WV Dem Senate candidate Gov. Joe Manchin embraces core New Deal principles in debate. Salon.com's Steve Kornacki: "...Manchin was also willing to embrace and defend the idea of a social safety net. Healthcare reform, he noted, is so important because working people -- unlike the poor, who have Medicaid, and unlike the elderly, who have Medicare -- are particularly 'vulnerable.' ... His pitch had an old school feel, an attempt to rally the New Deal/Great Society sensibility that helped Democrats dominate the middle part of last century."
Banks Begin To End Foreclosure Moratorium
BofA, GMAC begin to lift voluntary foreclosure moratorium. WSJ: "Bank of America Corp. reopened more than 100,000 foreclosure actions, declaring that it had found no significant problems in its procedures for seizing homes. GMAC Mortgage, a lender and loan servicer, said that it also is pushing ahead with an unspecified number of foreclosures that came under intense pressure ... 'This is an important first step in debunking speculation that the mortgage market is severely flawed,' said Bank of America spokesman James Mahoney."
Judges may not agree that BofA is free of problems. W. Post: "...it is unclear whether the courts will accept the new paperwork. Some judges have said in interviews that they are considering throwing out entire cases and making the banks file new ones, which would be costly and time-consuming ... [And] companies face the threat of lawsuits from investors who gave banks money to fund mortgages in exchange for collecting the monthly payments from homeowners."
"Don't Believe The Bank Lobby: Foreclosure Fraud Is Bad For Homeowners And The Economy" argues OurFuture.org's Zach Carter.
Citigroup claims it didn't use fraudulent robo-signers. HuffPost's Shahien Nasiripour: "But Citi, still partly owned by taxpayers, faces other hurdles surrounding its past mortgage activities. Namely, the bank faces uncertainty regarding the ultimate impact of the many soured mortgages it will likely have to buy back."
Bloomberg profiles suspect foreclosure-processing firm: "For Americans, the foreclosure crisis has wiped out fortunes, bringing destitution and homelessness. For Florida attorney David J. Stern, it has brought mansions, a Bugatti sports car and a luxury yacht ... Employees repeatedly signed affidavits without reviewing them, forged signatures, and improperly notarized and backdated documents, [a former paralegal] said..."
Bondholders seek to get money back from banks after failed mortgages. WSJ: "... a group of institutional bond investors raised objections to the handling of 115 bond deals issued by affiliates of Countrywide Financial Corp., acquired by Bank of America Corp. in 2008 ... [They] are seeking to have loans that didn't meet underwriting requirements repurchased and to be compensated for losses due to inadequate mortgage servicing ..."
Dean Baker rips W. Post analysis of foreclosure scandal fallout: "'Reviving the economy requires repairing the housing market.' What does the Post possibly think it means by this statement? Does it mean that reviving the economy means re-inflating the housing bubble? ... we have how many hundreds of thousands of homes that non-foreclosed sellers are putting on the market each month, plus a backlog of several hundred thousand foreclosed homes already in the banks' possession. How exactly does a moratorium on foreclosures shut down the whole housing market?"
Anonymous HuffPoster "14th Banker" says banks and homeowners are on "level moral ground": "...If banks knew in the executive suite or the research department that the fundamentals were turning ugly, and still kept making loans and shoving them into government guarantee programs or selling them to investors, then there is no moral high ground ... none of this absolves the borrower of responsibility for their decision. It just puts the borrower and the lender on a level moral ground and perhaps they find themselves on level legal grounds. If that is the case, the lenders should get off their high horse and negotiate modifications that share the losses between two equally culpable parties."
Wall St. targeting homeowners behind on their property taxes, exacerbating foreclosures. HuffPost Investigative Fund: "Nearly a dozen major banks and hedge funds, anticipating quick profits from homeowners who fall behind on property taxes, are quietly plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses that collect the debts, tack on escalating fees and threaten to foreclose on the homes of those who fail to pay. The Wall Street investors, which include Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have purchased from local governments the right to collect delinquent taxes on several hundred thousand properties, many in distressed housing markets..."
Legendary financier Felix Rohatyn chastises his industry, in NYT interview: "No matter how much I try to be really objective, the financial community has not covered itself with glory in these last 50 years ... The leveraged buyouts, the takeovers — and questionable behavior."
Support Carbon Cap, Get Re-Elected
New polls shows support for capping carbon emissions helps in competitive congressional races: "NRDC is touting the survey as finding that, in 21 of the [23] polled races, a 'clear' majority of voters were more likely to support incumbents who supported energy legislation that creates jobs and limits greenhouse gas emissions. .. 'Our poll presented our opposition's main, misleading talking point — that a climate bill is akin to an energy tax,' NRDC Action Fund Director Heather Taylor-Miesle said..."
On climate change, Steve Benen writes that the GOP has its head in the sand: "A decade ago, George W. Bush told voters he'd support a cap on carbon dioxide. Two years ago, the GOP's McCain/Palin presidential ticket supported a cap-and-trade policy. The Republican hostility towards science and evidence isn't new, but its wholesale, party-wide rejection of all climate data is new. ...For context, it's worth emphasizing that Mark Kirk voted for cap-and-trade, only to announce soon after that he opposed cap-and-trade and would vote against it in the Senate if given the chance. We're not talking about a party that tries to resolve problems with misguided solutions; we're talking about a party that has convinced itself that the problems don't exist."
Kansas project successfully cuts fossil fuel use, but resists tie to climate. NYT: "Some are skeptical that humans might fundamentally alter a world that was created by God. ...[The Climate and Energy Project] ran an experiment to see if by focusing on thrift, patriotism, spiritual conviction and economic prosperity, it could rally residents of six Kansas towns to take meaningful steps to conserve energy and consider renewable fuels ... energy use in the towns declined as much as 5 percent relative to other areas — a giant step in the world of energy conservation..."
Wonk Room's Brad Johnson reviews gubernatorial races in the West that threaten the regional carbon cap: "The Western Climate Initiative — a regional cap-and-trade compact between California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Montana and four Canadian provinces — was established in 2007 and scheduled to go into effect in 2012. There are governors’ races in all the states except Montana and Washington. Republican governors in Arizona and Utah — who are cruising to re-election this fall — have already worked to scuttle their involvement."
Top oil drilling regulator defends end of moratorium, and new drilling rules, in CNN.com oped: "Less than a week after announcing the roadmap operators will need to follow to resume drilling in deep waters, we are already being criticized by powerful industry forces who say that it will take too long to review and approve drilling permits. That judgment is based on the standards of the past when safety and environmental standards were fewer ... The actual reasons that the pace will not be as swift as in the past are not hard to find. One reason is that applicants must comply with the new regulatory requirements, and we will take the necessary time to ensure that they comply."
China plans to reduce exports of rare earth minerals. NYT: "Dudley Kingsnorth, a rare earth market analyst at Industrial Minerals Co. of Australia in Perth, said that if China implements a further reduction in export quotas of 30 percent for next year, manufacturers elsewhere could face difficulties."
Running On Health Care
More and more Dems run on health care. Politico: "...Democrats were buoyed by a series of insurance industry restrictions that went into effect on Sept. 23. Most of the new ads focus on those provisions, including the ban on denying consumers because of pre-existing conditions and guaranteeing coverage of children. They’ve become some of the most popular pieces of the legislation."
Conservative Virginia judge will rule on health reform law by end of year. NYT: "In the only actual decision on the merits, a federal judge in Michigan ruled this month that the insurance mandate, which takes effect in 2014, is constitutional. ... The central question before Judge Hudson ... is whether a choice to not obtain health insurance constitutes 'activity' or 'inactivity.' ... 'You cannot opt out of the health care market,' [Deputy Asst. AG Ian] Gershengorn said. 'Nobody can tell if they’re the one that’s going to be hit by the bus.' Judge Hudson did not seem persuaded. 'The question,' he said, 'is can you compel someone to enter that market.'"
Imagining a GOP Congress
W. Post's Eugene Robinson expects still more obstructionism if GOP takes control of Congress: "Would Republicans in charge of one or both houses of Congress work with the Obama administration or simply obstruct it at every turn? If they choose the former, true believers will accuse them of aiding and abetting the enemy. If the latter, they open themselves to charges of playing politics at a time when the nation can ill afford such foolishness. I expect obstruction. That would be bad for the country, but it would be a gift to a White House seeking to regain its political footing."
Writing at FT, Jurek Martin warns of subpeona-mania if GOP wins: "Government, already gridlocked, could become totally paralysed; political discourse, already poisonous, could descend into the lethal; hard-earned reputations may be shredded; impeachment may re-enter the national vocabulary. Don’t take my word for this. It is what a fistful of Republicans on Capitol Hill have already promised. Some may be from the wilder side, like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann from Minnesota, but others stand on the cusp of committee chairmanships, notorious blowhards such as Darrell Issa from California and Lamar Smith from Texas..."
NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and LA Controller Wendy Greuel say that corporate campaign donors can choose responsibility over secrecy:: "To avoid angering the public and their investors, some corporate interests are going to great lengths to hide their political spending ... Corporations are facing a choice that will have defining consequences for our democracy and will determine their relationships with shareholders, consumers and the public at large. If they believe in accountability to their investors and transparency for their consumers they have a responsibility to be more transparent and accountable about their political spending."
