Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to effect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security.
MORNING MESSAGE: 5 Ways Conservative Slashonomics Harms Us All
OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: "Attack Job Training During A Jobs Crisis ... Attack Health Care. ... Cities, Drop Dead ... Leave Children Behind ... Low-Income Mothers: Eat Less"
WI Assembly Clears Bill While Senate Dems Hold Out
50-state rallies organized by more than 30 progressive organizations slated for tomorrow to stand with Wisconsin workers. Find one near you: "We demand an end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share."
WI Assembly clears union-busting bill, but state Senate Dems still refuse to allow quorum. TPMDC: "[Speaker Bill] Kramer called the vote. Within seconds, the digital vote system on the wall announced 51 ayes and 17 nays, and voting was suddenly closed [leaving] 28 members who hadn't had a chance yet to vote ... Democrats got up, chanting 'Shame! Shame! Shame!' ... Some of the Democrats I spoke to, such as state Rep. Kelda Roys, maintained that the vote was illegal."
Conservative-commissioned poll finds Wisconsinites support collective bargaining rights. TPMDC: "A poll purporting to show broad support in Wisconsin for Gov. Scott Walker's (R) budget proposal made the rounds ... There's only one problem: the poll actually shows more Wisconsin voters are on the side of the pro-union protesters ... More than half (56%) of respondents said Wisconsin state workers should have collective bargaining power."
Who are the other "lawmakers" that Gov. Scott Walker says recommended he plant troublemakers among protesters, asks Digby: "Who knows how many people both in the state and outside it were suggesting that he get some outside agitators in to 'rile things up'? It sounds like several. And in the phone call, it sounds like he considered it. I think maybe he ought to come clean and tell people who these dirty tricksters are."
NYT's Paul Krugman charges Gov. Walker with employing the "Shock Doctrine": "What’s happening in Wisconsin is ... an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy."
States without budget gaps have collective bargaining. Craig Crawford: "Check out the states that are not running deficits -- and all, in various ways, just so happen to support collective bargaining with state employees: Arkansas, Alabama, North Dakota and Wyoming. Further establishing the myth that banning collective bargaining curbs deficits, consider the states that ban it: Four of the five that make it explicitly illegal face budget shortfalls."
CBPP reminds the public workforce is not growing and is not overcompensated: "[The only] growth has been in education workers and reflects demographic changes and policy initiatives, such as efforts to reduce class size ... the number of non-education workers has declined relative to the overall population ... public workers are paid 4 to 11 percent less than private-sector workers with similar education, job tenure, and other characteristics ..."
U.S. Senate Dems Test GOP Willingness To Compromise
Senate Dems may offer additional cuts for this fiscal year in proposal to avoid shutdown. CNN: "Democrats say they would save billions by speeding up proposed cuts in President Obama’s budget for 2012 and by getting rid of money for earmarks in the spending bill currently funding the government ... The current [law], which expires March 4, funds the government at a level $41 billion below what President Obama proposed for this year ... 'We’ve said all along we’re prepared to negotiate beyond the $41 billion that we’ve already put on the table,' the Senate Democratic aide said. 'Now were putting out a seven month offer that makes serious cuts, and we’ll see if the Republicans will be reasonable or insist on a government shutdown unless they get all their demands.'"
White House worried shutdown would snuff out recovery. Politico: "White House officials are deeply concerned that even a short interruption in government services, while no economic knockout blow, might slow down a recovery that has just recently gained momentum." More Politico: "Shutdown could hit clean energy hardest"
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor challenged over spending cuts at Harvard. The Hill: "Students pushed Cantor to restore cuts to federal funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and AmeriCorps programs like Teach for America ... 'This is about trade offs. This is about that we don't have the money. We just don’t,' he told a student who asked whether he would 'save one million lives' by restoring $1.5 billion in cuts to global HIV/AIDS funding."
Signs of political trouble as conservatives detail spending cuts at town halls. NYT: " Representative Allen West clicked through his PowerPoint presentation ... They loved the cuts to a jet engine program. They applauded the curtailing of environmental regulators ... Then out came the pie chart, showing the giant slice of the budget consumed by Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid ... 'We have got to make some hard choices,' Mr. West said ... The room of roughly 400 people grew silent."
Faith leaders plan "What Would Jesus Cut" ad campaign for next week announces Rev. Jim Wallis.
Top Dems Separating Social Security From Deficit Deal
Senate Budget Cmte Chair Kent Conrad says Social Security reform should be separate from deficit reduction. The Hill: "'It might be useful to have Social Security treated on a separate track because it is not part of the deficit reduction package,' Conrad [said]. 'I think it should be separated.' ... Conrad’s stance should please House Democrats ... But it’s an area of potential disagreement with Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who is meeting regularly with Conrad and Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to put together a deficit reduction plan."
White House more clearly separating Social Security and deficit reduction. Deficit hysterics get hysterical. Bloomberg: "'They’ve dumped a big pot of ice cold water on any embers of Social Security reform,' said Chuck Blahous ... who headed a commission on the program empaneled by President George W. Bush ... 'I was stunned, I really thought we were making progress across the board,' Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican ... Graham plans to introduce a bill within the next few weeks with Arizona Senator John McCain that would increase the Social Security retirement age, means-test benefits for the wealthy and increase the percentage of wages subject to payroll taxes."
Tanker Deal Could Mean New Union Jobs
Boeing wins federal control to build aerial refueling tanker, bringing 50,000 jobs to Washington State. W. Post: "Boeing and European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), manufacturer of the Airbus, each had won the award once before, only to see it pulled back amid allegations of impropriety in the contracting process ... 'in the end, Boeing won on price,' said Loren B. Thompson, a defense policy analyst for the Arlington-based Lexington Institute. 'Price consists of the cost of producing the plane, plus the cost of operating it over 30 years.'"
Boeing win good for good-paying union jobs. Politico: "EADS, the parent company of Airbus, plans to assemble its tankers in Mobile, Ala., a state that doesn’t rely on union labor; Boeing would build its tanker in Everett, Wash."
Congress can still weigh in. Time: "...the battle now shifts to Congress, where lawmakers representing EADS are likely to push for a buy divided between the two companies ... Boeing's backers in Congress lean Democratic -- the same party as President Obama -- while the EADS backers tend Republican."
GM reports first profit in seven years. NYT: "General Motors, which nearly collapsed from the weight of its debts two years ago before reorganizing in a government-sponsored bankruptcy, said on Thursday that it earned $4.7 billion in 2010, the most in more than a decade ... G.M. said 45,000 union workers would receive profit-sharing checks averaging $4,300, the most ever ..."
Florida rail advocates, including Republicans, may take governor to court to revive high-speed rail jobs project. St. Petersburg Times: "'I believe that he exceeded his executive authority and in a very strong sense we have a constitutional crisis on our hands,' [GOP state Sen. Thad] Altman said. Senate Republican leader Andy Gardiner acknowledged there are concerns about the 'parameters' of the governor's use of his executive power. He did not reject the possibility that a fellow caucus member would have a legitimate basis for suing the Republican governor. Altman noted that the Legislature voted to accept the federal money and build high-speed rail in a special session. 'We have a law on the books,'..."
US wants "more" action on China currency, Commerce Sec. Gary Locke tells WSJ: "[Locke] cited advances with China on several fronts, ranging from eliminating discriminatory technology policies to removing redundant regulation of medical equipment to overhauling other non-tariff barriers ... 'There has been movement in the Chinese currency,' Mr. Locke said. But he added 'the United States is pretty clear on that issue. China needs to do more.'"
Most newly created jobs have been low-wage, finds National Employment Law Project. AFL-CIO's James Parks: "The heavy growth in industries like temporary employment services, restaurants and retail and in nursing and residential care facilities, which pay median wages below $13 an hour, suggests that not only are there fewer job opportunities overall now than before the recession, there are fewer well-paying jobs."
Banks Resist Foreclosure Fraud Settlement
Government officials push back on reports of imminent foreclosure fraud settlement. HuffPost: "The leak caught several federal agencies working on the mortgage mess off-guard. While 50 state AGs and a bunch of federal agencies are working on some kind of arrangement, they aren't close to a deal, and there is no price tag yet affixed."
White House sees foreclosure fraud settlement as opportunity to revive housing market. HuffPost: "Under the terms of the proposed deal under discussion, the government would apply the fines toward an expanded relief program for troubled homeowners, while focusing on broad loan forgiveness ... such a course reflects the widespread consensus that the President's signature anti-foreclosure program has been a disappointment ... the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Administration, and those now creating a fledgling consumer financial protection bureau are inclined to seek as much as $30 billion in fines, making those funds available to provide relief to borrowers at risk of losing their homes ... The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency [is] eager to protect major banks from expensive fines, is seeking to limit the terms to $5 billion..."
Banking industry criticizes speculated settlement terms. WSJ: "...industry executives are bristling at the administration's new approach, disagreeing that principal reductions will help borrowers and, in turn, the broader housing market ... Bank executives also want any penalties to reflect the fact that few borrowers have been improperly ejected from homes ... But some state attorneys' general and federal regulators are pushing for as high a figure as possible, arguing that mortgage servicers have chronically underinvested in their operations, making it difficult for borrowers to get timely, effective help before falling further behind on their mortgages."
Naked Capitalism mocks banker stance: "You have to love the contradictions: principal [modifications] won’t work ... but we won’t offer a solution of our own. And even if mods did work, it would take a much bigger number, but we can’t have that because even a paltry number is way way too much."
Reuters Felix Salmon says the SEC should investigate Citigroup's Vikram Pandit: "It’s the formal disclosures in the 10K which now look deceptive at best and downright fraudulent at worst ... we’re still waiting for the crisis-related prosecutions to begin, and this would seem to be a fruitful place to start."
For The Millionth Time, Global Warming Is Real
Once again, climate scientists did not manipulate data. NYT: "An inquiry by a federal watchdog agency found no evidence that scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration manipulated climate data to buttress the evidence in support of global warming..."
Interior Sec. to meet with oil companies today on deepwater drilling permits. WSJ: "The Obama administration has said the oil industry must demonstrate it can quickly contain a large offshore spill before it will allow companies to resume drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet. ... 'I'm on my way to Houston now to go examine the latest on the sealing caps that have been prepared by the two different companies on oil spill containment,' Mr. Salazar told reporters..."
