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.
60 Minutes Interview Highlights President's Focus
Key quotes about the upcoming agenda and areas for compromise, from the President's interview on CBS' 60 Minutes: "There are some things we can do to accelerate growth ... I put forward a proposal that in 2011: any business that buys new equipment, opens up a new plant, that they can write off all those expenses right away ... We still we've got a couple of trillion dollars worth of infrastructure improvements that need to be made around the country ... we spend a much lower percentage of our GDP than China's doing or even Europe is doing ... rebuilding our infrastructure is something that has garnered Democratic and Republican support. I want to have a conversation with them and see if that's still the case ... I've got a deficit commission that I've put forward that is gonna be releasing recommendations for how we can start reducing the deficit. And I don't know yet what they're gonna say, but I do know what the federal budget looks like ... we're not gonna be able to balance the budget just by slashing the National Parks budget [or] eliminating the National Weather Service ... we're gonna have to, you know, tackle some big issues like entitlements that, you know, when you listen to the Tea Party or you listen to Republican candidates they promise we're not gonna touch ... [On the expiring Bush tax cuts,] I am open to you know, finding a way in which, you know, they can meet their, you know, principles and I can meet mine. But in order to do that, I think we do have to answer the question of how we pay for it."
NYT' John Harwood reviews prospects for legislation in the post-election congressional session: "...aides in both parties suggests the chances for action on a series of other issues, from passing food safety legislation to repealing the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy ... are diminishing ... The two top priorities for the session are stop-gap financing to keep the government running, and a legislative compromise to avert the outright expiration on Dec. 31 of [the Bush tax cuts.] ... An extension of one year would push the debate in the opening session of the next Congress; a two-year extension would place it squarely in the 2012 presidential campaign; three years would hand the issue to the next administration."
Tax Cut Stalemate?
GOPers reject Bush tax cut compromises, may let them expire at end of year. LAT: "...a senior House Republican on Sunday flatly rejected the option most favored by the White House: decoupling the Bush tax cuts that benefit the wealthy from the cuts that benefit the vast majority of Americans by extending each set of provisions for a different period of time ... some [are] suggesting that they could simply hold off until January, when they will control the House and hold a stronger hand in the Senate. That would set the stage for a more powerful push to permanently extend all the cuts -- the preferred GOP alternative. 'They might blame GOP obstructionism. But, you know, people are going to start missing a lot of money in their weekly paychecks in January. And there's only going to be one person in the White House,' said a Republican House aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe party thinking."
FT's Clive Crook suggests a tax cut compromise position: "Both parties have made a promise they will have to break – namely, to raise nobody’s taxes (the Republicans’ position) or almost nobody’s (the Democrats’) ... It helps that both sides, rather than just one, would have to break their word, or let us say clarify their positions ... Extend all the Bush tax cuts for two years, but with a joint public commitment to reform the tax code before they expire with changes that a) broaden the tax base, b) cut marginal rates and c) raise more revenue."
Tea Party faves Rand Paul and Jim DeMint still can't say what it is they want to cut. HuffPost: "On ABC's 'This Week,' Christiane Amanpour repeatedly pressed Paul to move beyond 'slogans and platitudes' to 'direct information' on how the Republican Party will balance the budget and cut the deficit. Paul immediately reiterated that he was going to push for a balanced budget amendment and said that cuts needed to come from across the board ... He was unable, however, to actually name anything significant that would be on the chopping block."
Repeal = Deficits
Repeal health care reform would waste spending and increase the deficit, reminds TNR's Jonathan Cohn: "Suppose I told you one of the political parties was determined to increase wasteful government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, to pay the salaries of countless extra bureaucrats and to degrade the quality of medicine in the U.S. If you’ve been paying attention to politics for the last few months, you’d probably assume I was talking about the Democrats. Not so. I’d actually be talking about the Republicans who want to repeal health care reform."
New governors are a bigger threat to health care reform than new congresspeople. LAT: "...several governors are also looking at ways to slow down a major expansion of the Medicaid program ... Beginning in 2014, the law directs states to open Medicaid to all low-income residents, a move that is estimated to cover an additional 16 million people by 2019 ... State lawmakers may also resist efforts by the Obama administration to expand state oversight of insurance premiums ... Some state insurance commissioners are also looking to petition the Obama administration to delay other new regulations that require insurance companies to spend more on their customers' medical care."
Climate Scientists Ready To Rumble
Climate scientists plan campaign to fight right-wing attacks. LAT: "The still-evolving efforts reveal a shift among climate scientists, many of whom have traditionally stayed out of politics and avoided the news media. Many now say they are willing to go toe-to-toe with their critics, ... On Monday, the American Geophysical Union, the country's largest association of climate scientists, plans to announce that 700 climate scientists have agreed to speak out as experts on questions about global warming and the role of man-made air pollution ... A rapid-response team, however, is willing to delve into politics ... 39 scientists agreed to participate..."
Mother Jones' Kate Sheppard on the "GOP's Coming Climate Witch Hunt": "Rep. Darrell Issa ... has pledged to hold hearings on the 'Politicization of Science,' which will consist of a rehashing of the so-called ClimateGate 'scandal.' He's also called for greater oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency's coming regulations of greenhouse gases ... Republicans are also mulling whether to keep the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming ... . Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner ... wants to use the panel to probe what he has called a 'massive international scientific fraud.'"
Senate Dems may join GOP to block EPA from cutting greenhouse gases. Politico: "At least 56 senators next year are likely to support efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans ... a slew of moderate Democrats facing re-election in 2012 could put [60] within reach ... even if the House and Senate are able to pass legislation with language blocking EPA, White House officials have said such a bill won’t make it past President Obama ... But with the 2012 election looming and political pressure to scale back what’s seen in some quarters as regulatory overreach, the White House might be willing to back off."
Automakers turn on Obama, oppose higher fuel-efficiency standards. WSJ: "Auto makers and car dealers, emboldened by rising profits and a more business-friendly Congress, say they will fight the Obama administration's proposal to boost average new-car fuel economy to as much as 62 miles a gallon by 2025 ... It's a fresh sign that the 'go along to get along' approach some industries took during the first two years of the Obama administration is over ... The EPA said in a statement that it agreed with the auto industry on the need for a single national standard and that it welcomed input on the 62-mpg proposal ... the rules [will] be finalized in September 2011."
Clean power deals stalling at state level: "...a growing number of projects are being canceled or delayed because governments are unwilling to add even small amounts to consumers’ electricity bills. Deals to buy renewable power have been scuttled or slowed in states including Florida, Idaho and Kentucky as well as Virginia ... [Invenergy's Michael] Polsky calls the focus on short-term costs short-sighted. 'They have to look for the ratepayers’ long-term interest,' he said, 'not just the bills this year.'"
The Case For Pelosi
Time's Mark Halperin makes the case for Pelosi to keep leading the House Dems: "For more than half a decade, she consistently displayed toughness and a gift for intraparty consensus-building. Before Tuesday, almost without fail, she accomplished her party's main goals ... Along the way, Pelosi proved yet again that she is one of the best fundraisers in the country's history, inspiring both the party's grass roots and major donors. She reliably made fools out of those who underestimated her."
NYT edit board argues against Pelosi's move: "What they need is what Ms. Pelosi has been unable to provide: a clear and convincing voice to help Americans understand that Democratic policies are not bankrupting the country, advancing socialism or destroying freedom."
Breakfast Sides
President Obama pressures China and Germany on trade gap before G-20 meeting. WSJ: "[President Obama said,] 'We can't continue situations where some countries maintain massive [trade] surpluses, other countries have massive deficits and, never is there an adjustment with respect to currency that would lead to a more balanced growth pattern.' ... The G-20 is shaping up as a showdown between the exporting powers and nations like the U.S. that are struggling to emerge from recession and high unemployment by tapping export markets. Mr. Geithner, facing continuing resistance from China on the currency issue, has shifted his focus to trade surpluses, which can be exacerbated by artificially low currency prices as well as other policies. That was meant to lift some of the pressure from China and spread it to other nations, especially Germany. But Mr. Geithner has backed off demands that the summit produce numerical targets for countries to strive for in reducing trade surpluses after Berlin made it clear it wouldn't accede."
Major foreclosure case in OH today. Bloomberg: "[The] case has created a showdown between GMAC and Ohio’s Attorney General Richard Cordray. Cordray has asked Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy Russo not to let GMAC simply submit new documents to cure defects without consequences ... Cordray will ask Russo to punish GMAC, the fourth-largest U.S. mortgage lender, for its conduct ... The precedent set by the case might hasten a settlement between home lenders and the attorneys general of the 50 U.S. states..."
