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.
MORNING MESSAGE: A Moment Of Silence
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "I'm not falling victim to a false equivalence, nor am I suggesting that the rhetoric is equally violent on both sides. It's not, and there will be a time to talk about that. But today I choose silence over the risk that I could add to a flood of angry words. It's the weight of those words that keeps knocking us down that ladder."
Weak Gun Control Fingered In Assassination Attempt
Weapon used was banned under assault weapons law that House GOP let expire in 2004. Salon: "... the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, legally purchased a semiautomatic Glock 19 with a high-capacity magazine in November at a gun store in Tucson. Under the assault weapons ban, it was illegal to manufacture or sell new high-capacity magazines, defined as those that hold more than 10 rounds. The magazines used by Loughner had 31 rounds each ... If Loughner had been using a traditional magazine, 'it would have drastically reduced the number of shots he got off before he had to pause, unload and reload -- and he could have been stopped,' Daniel Vice, senior attorney at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence..."
Time asks how did someone with clear mental health issues clear a background check: "Saying that unstable individuals are disqualified from buying firearms is meaningless if the national background-check system, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), has no record of their illness ... Arizona's own estimate is that the state has 121,700 records of disqualifying mental illness that should go into the NICS database. From the beginning of 2008 to October 2010, however, it submitted only 4,465 records."
GOP House delays health care repeal vote in response to assassination attempt. Politico: "Lawmakers on Sunday said they still expect to have a spirited but delayed and toned-down debate to repeal the health care reform law after Saturday’s shooting in Arizona ... Republicans said Sunday that repealing health reform is still a priority, but not the focus in Congress next week."
Reid Slams Social Security Cuts
Sen. Maj. Leader rejects increases in Social Security retirement age and means testing of benefits on NBC's Meet The Press: "I'm not going to go to with any of those backdoor methods- you know, to whack Social Security recipients. I'm not going to do that. We have a lot of things we can do with-- this debt. It's a problem. But one of the places where I'm not going to be part of picking on is Social Security."
Robert Kuttner warns President to lay off Social Security in State of the Union address: "All the choreography is in place for the president to embrace Social Security cuts in his upcoming State of the Union address ... To have Republicans demand cuts in Social Security at a time when they are also demanding tax cuts for the rich is a cue for Democrats to make clear which side they're on. Obama got in big trouble with seniors in the health care bill because they were worried that it would mean Medicare cuts. In 2010, Democrats lost the senior vote, big time. Now, Obama has a splendid opportunity to point out that it's Republicans who want to cut Social Security."
Pentagon proposals for cuts don't end debate over military spending. W. Post: "The cuts are timed to coincide with what is expected to be a large-scale withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan ... If those schedules hold and no new wars erupt, analysts predicted the military will confront calls from Congress to roll back troop levels even further ... the need to address record federal budget deficits means that the Pentagon will face persistent pressure to do more..."
Treasury To Meet With Execs On Tax Reform
Corporate execs will meet with Geithner on tax reform Friday. NYT: "If a new system is 'revenue-neutral,' giving some companies lower rates would hurt others by eliminating deductions that benefit them. That is a gigantic obstacle..."
Simon Johnson argues we have a "Bill Daley Problem": "Most smart people in the nonfinancial world understand that the big banks have become profoundly damaging to the rest of the private sector. The idea that the president needed to bring a top banker into his inner circle in order to build bridges with business is beyond ludicrous. Bill Daley now controls how information is presented to and decisions are made by the president."
Fed Responds To Economist Critics
Major econ conference crystallizes different strains of criticism against Fed. NYT: "Some have objected by arguing that there has been an increase in structural unemployment that is not amenable to a quick fix by the government. Other critics fear that the Fed is risking future inflation ... Still others say the Fed’s bond-buying may generate future financial imbalances like the housing bubble that peaked in 2006. A fourth line of criticism says that the Fed will hamper growth in foreign economies by driving down the value of the dollar."
Fed vice-chair Janet Yellen defends. Bloomberg: "The Fed vice chairman dismissed concerns that inflation will flare. Weak labor demand will be helpful in 'mitigating the risk' and the Fed can 'tighten policy when needed' by increasing the interest rate it pays on excess bank reserves ... The Fed’s moves won’t hinder growth overseas, are having 'only moderate effects on the foreign exchange value of the dollar,' and do not appear to be triggering 'significant excesses or imbalances in the United States,' ..."
Payroll tax cut begins this month, as debate continues over stimulative effect. W. Post: "...a crucial difference between this tax cut and previous rebates is the method of distribution: lump sum vs. over time ... Some economists think the smaller payments will increase the likelihood that the money will be spent because it seems negligible or perhaps even goes unnoticed ... [But] some data suggest that consumers prefer lump-sum payments."
State Fiscal Crises Reverberate
State fiscal crises thwarting progressive goals. Stateline: "...Washington Governor Chris Gregoire ... proposed another two-year budget that is notable not for the investments it makes, but for the spending cuts it requires, many of which reverse her priorities of just a few years ago ... As a result of sharp revenue declines, most governors, like Gregoire, now spend their time deciding which state services to cut, not which programs to build ... At the same time ... the state-federal Medicaid program, which provides health care to the poor, has surged to an all-time high."
Massive budget gap in Illinois prompts lawmakers to consider higher taxes and spending cuts. NYT: "... Illinois faces a deficit of at least $13 billion; more than $6 billion in unpaid bills to social service agencies, schools and funeral homes; the most underfinanced state pension system; and growing signs of concern from bond investors ... [The fiscal proposal is] expected, in one version, to include a $1 tax increase on packs of cigarettes, a sharp rise in the corporate tax, and an increase, for the first time in nearly 20 years, in the income tax, which would rise to 5.25 percent from 3 percent ... the deal could come with pledges to keep spending growth to a bare minimum and to find cuts in areas like Medicaid ... The state’s Republican Party chairman ... introduced an online petition in which residents could urge lawmakers to thwart the tax increase."
Friction Before US-China Meeting
New military spending law includes "Buy American" provision for solar panels. NYT: "...a provision that is likely to dismay Chinese officials as President Hu Jintao prepares to visit the United States next week ... The new Buy American provision ... prevents the Defense Department from buying Chinese-made solar panels ... Chinese leaders have strongly criticized such provisions in the past ... But China required in the late spring of 2009 that virtually all of its $600 billion economic stimulus be spent within China..."
China reports smaller trade gap. Calculated Risk "skeptical": "The U.S. trade numbers for November will be released this Thursday. The country-by-country trade numbers are not seasonally adjusted, and there is always a huge surge in imports from China right before the holidays - and then a sharp decline, so this might just be seasonal. We will need to look at the year-over-year numbers for China on Thursday."
Top BP Apologist Defends Big OIl Against Commission Report
BP apologist Rep. Joe Barton at it again. The Hill: "[Rep. Barton] is objecting to the findings of the Obama administration’s oil spill commission, arguing that the panel's report should not lead to further delays in offshore drilling. The commission this week blamed 'systemic' problems within the oil industry ... 'I would take issue with the word systemic.'..."
As climate crisis melt Arctic, nations jockey to claim uncovered oil that will worsen climate change. W. Post: "The prospect of newly thawed sea lanes and a freshly accessible, resource-rich seabed has nations jockeying for position. And government and military officials are concerned the United States is not moving quickly enough ... The Arctic nations - Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States - have been preparing to claim larger chunks of territory under a clause in the treaty that governs the world's waters. Non-Arctic nations like China and South Korea also have been eyeing the economic potential ... 'With 20 percent of the yet-to-be-discovered oil, gas and minerals remaining in the world in the Arctic, the U.S. can't risk losing it,' said Rear Adm. Christopher C. Colvin..."
Pressure to cut CIA budget for analyzing climate impact. McClatchy: "The Defense Department has sponsored research on climate change and security, and last year pledged $7.5 million to study impacts in Africa, where security experts say terrorism and climate change could become twin challenges for weak governments. For example, some projections point to [uranium-rich] Niger, which had a military coup last year, as highly vulnerable ... Senior intelligence officials say it will take a marriage of regional experts and climate change specialists to make vital connections such as these ... But with many newly elected Republicans questioning the scientific grounding of climate change and politicians from both sides of the aisle looking for places to cut spending, many think this intelligence work could be removed from the agenda."
