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: Beware The "Adult" Deficit Conversation
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "God save us from sentences like this one: 'Don't look now, but an adult conversation has begun on the federal budget deficit.' ... Let's face it. Washington's 'adult conversations' are to real conversations what 'adult movies' are to real movies: The plots are simplistic, the characters are shallow, and before it's over a whole lot of people will get screwed ... Politicians who push for 'deficit reduction,' no matter how counterproductive or badly timed, are 'bipartisan' heroes. Anything but immediate budget-slashing action is mere 'political rhetoric.' Republicans pushing tax hikes on lower and middle income Americans while protecting their wealthy corporate clients are 'getting serious.'"
Conservatives Defect From Bill Keeping Government Open
Stopgap measure to keep government open passes House, but 54 GOPers defect. W. Post: "It may also be the last, given the fraying support for short-term fixes among House Republicans, as well as from President Obama ... Boehner and Reid, however, remain far apart in their negotiations."
Democrats gain leverage by offering the margin of victory. Politico: "Ignoring House Democrats will be harder now. ... 'But for the House Democrats, this would not have carried,' South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn [argued.] Clyburn said Boehner must 'get the adults on his side married up with the adults on our side and get this done.'"
Conservative purists are starting to frustrate fellow Republicans. Politico: "Many of the critics are close to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who struggles more each day to keep his majority unified as a three-month spending showdown threatens to spill into April ... [Rep. Mike Simpson said,] 'This is the only time in my life where I can cut $6 billion in a three-week period and be called a liberal.' ...
Backlash in Wisconsin against U.S. House for cutting job training programs. Econospeak: "[Green Bay Press Gazette reports] 'Jim Golembeski, executive director of the Bay Area Workforce Development Board, which administers WIA services at five regional jobs centers and three smaller sites in 10 counties in Northeastern Wisconsin, says he would have to shut down his operation if the cuts are approved. As a result, about 30 people would be out of work' ... how does eliminating a program that is designed to enhance worker skills do anything but make the labor market situation worse?"
House plans anti-NPR vote today. CNN: "Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who unsuccessfully tried to strip federal funding for NPR last year, introduced the new stand alone bill Tuesday. It would bar any of NPR's affiliate radio stations across the country from using any federal funds to purchase any programming from NPR."
Senate May Go On Record Regarding Social Security Cuts
Senate progressives propose two-thirds supermajority to pass any Social Security cuts. The Hill: "The bill would put senators in a tough position, because a vote against it could be interpreted as a vote against protecting benefits. A vote for the bill would make it difficult to support a proposal that could emerge later this year calling for an increase in the Social Security retirement age and a recalculation of cost-of-living adjustments. [Sen. Bernie] Sanders has offered his Social Security Protection Act as an amendment to small-business legislation pending on the Senate floor."
House GOPers reject amendment protecting Social Security and Medicare from privatization, reports Daily Kos.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Bank Bill Introduced
Bipartisan infrastructure bank bill attracts AFL-CIO, Chamber of Commerce support. NYT: "The proposal — sponsored by Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas — would establish an independent bank to provide loans and loan guarantees for projects ... The idea is to attract more infrastructure investment from the private sector: by creating an infrastructure bank with $10 billion now, they say, they could spur up to $640 billion worth of infrastructure spending over the next decade ... Senate officials said the outlook for such a program is dim, given the current fiscal constraints."
Conservatives play wedge politics to attack infrastructure bank. The Hill: "Some lawmakers are skeptical that the proposed infrastructure bank would consider projects in all regions. Specifically, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has argued that it would likely benefit large cities and leave out rural areas."
WH supportive of bill even though it's smaller than President's plan: "Instead of $5 billion of initial funding plus $30 billion over six years, this new proposal would appropriate $10 billion in seed funding for one year that would be loaned out for economically viable projects and recouped—with interest. The bank would also not be housed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation—unlike Obama’s proposal. "
GOP Vs. Elizabeth Warren Today
Elizabeth Warren testifies to House today, GOP plans rough reception. AP: "Republicans running the House Financial Services Committee will press her to answer their concerns — shared by banks and other business interests — that the agency and its director will have unfettered power over financial products used by millions of people and might abuse it ... GOP lawmakers want the new agency’s budget placed under Congress’ control so lawmakers could threaten its financing if its actions displease them ... Republicans also want to dilute the bureau’s power by moving decision-making authority from a single director to a bipartisan, multi-member commission."
Top GOPer admits he wants to suffocate Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: "...When asked how the CFPB could perform its duties under such a funding model, [Rep. Randy] Neugebauer said he didn't expect the agency to be able to operate. 'I don't think they'll work at all," Neugebauer told HuffPost late last week. 'I'm just trying to get the ground I can get. I don't like them.'"
Warren defends bureau in Politico oped: "The consumer bureau’s mission is to make sure consumers have the information they need — upfront, not buried in fine print — to make the best choices about mortgages, credit cards and other financial products and services. Consumers’ personal responsibility is, of course, critical. But prices and risks must be straightforward, consumers should be able to make apples-to-apples comparisons among two or three products."
GOP seeks strategy to chip way at Wall St. reform law. The Hill: "Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s Capital Markets subcommittee, told The Hill on Tuesday that Republicans opted against a broad Dodd-Frank repeal bill to avoid further confusing the markets with a legislative effort that likely would have died in the Senate ... But a leading Democrat maintains Republicans have not attempted a broad takedown of the law due to strong public support."
Dem Sen. Jon Tester leads group of 9 for bill delaying debit card fee cap on banks. NYT: "The proposed rules have faced complaints and heavy lobbying from banks, credit unions and credit card companies ... the fact that [fee cap] measure passed on a lopsided 64-33 vote last May, means that the nine senators could face an uphill battle to win enough votes to pass ... Consumer groups and retailers have generally supported the limit on debit fees and opposed the move to delay..."
WH seeks to force banks to lower mortgage payments on distressed homeowners. HuffPost: "The Obama administration is seeking to force the nation's five largest mortgage firms to reduce monthly payments for as many as three million distressed homeowners in as little as six months as part of an agreement to settle accusations of improper foreclosures ... The modified mortgages could cost the five financial behemoths -- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial -- as much as $30 billion ... It also could lead to reduced mortgage payments or lowered loan balances for nearly two-thirds of the 4.7 million delinquent homeowners ... But the deal is far from complete."
Wisconsin Dems Advance Recall Effort
Wisconsin Dems have half the signatures needed to force recall elections on 8 GOPers, reports W. Post's Greg Sargent: "Some caveats: The last half of signatures is far harder to collect than the first half. Dems will want to collect well over 100 percent of the number required as a cushion against signatures getting tossed out."
New poll shows Wisconsin GOP legislature at risk of losing recalls. Daily Kos: "Three Republican incumbents actually trail 'generic Dem': Luther Olsen, Randy Hopper, and Dan Kapanke. Two more have very narrow leads and garner less than 50% support: Rob Cowles and Sheila Harsdorf. And one more, Alberta Darling, holds a clear lead but is still potentially vulnerable."
The Real Debt Crisis Is Student Loans, Not Public Pensions
Look. A real debt crisis. Student debt. NYT: "The Institute for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit organization, said in a report that two out of five student loan borrowers were delinquent at some point in the first five years after they started repaying their loans ... With tuition rising more rapidly than inflation or family incomes, student borrowing has been growing. College seniors who graduated in 2009 had an average of $24,000 in student loan debt, up 6 percent from 2008 ... Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of Finaid.org and Fastweb.com, estimates total student debt at about $896 billion — more than the nation’s credit-card debt."
Public sector work a path to middle-class in Ohio. NYT: "Jodi and Ralph Taylor are public workers whose jobs as a janitor and a sewer manager cover life’s basics. They have moved out of a trailer into a house, do not have to rely on food stamps and sometimes even splurge for the spicy wing specials at the Courtside Bar and Grill. While that might not seem like much, jobs like theirs, with benefits and higher-than-minimum wages, are considered plum in this depressed corner of southern Ohio."
EPI report on wages finds both public and private sector workers suffering from stagnation: "...from 1989 to 2010, real wages for high school-educated workers in the private sector grew by just 4.8%, compared with 2.6% in state government. During the same period, real wages for college graduates in the private sector grew 19.4%, compared with 9.5% in state government."
Congresspeople attacking public sector pensions oddly don't mention their own. McClatchy: "...13 sitting senators and 31 members of the House of Representatives — about 8 percent of the Congress — have served at least 25 years and accrued annual pensions worth at least $50,000. By comparison, for average U.S. retirees 65 or older who receive private pension payments, the median annual amount is $8,016 ... By private-sector standards, it’s unusual that lawmakers get both a defined-benefit plan and a 401(k) retirement match."
Stateline reminds that one state solved its pension problems without cheap attacks on unions: "...Vermont’s state leaders have avoided the acrimony in other states by taking a more civil approach to its public pension crisis: sitting down and working out differences with its unions. State workers have had to promise a lot of sacrifices — pay cuts, layoffs, higher contributions to their pension plan and additional years before they can retire. The tradeoff is that they have made their pension system more secure while helping to trim Vermont’s budget shortfall."
W. Post explores the unemployed not counted in the unemployment rate, those who have stopped looking for jobs: "Since the recession began, their numbers have grown by 30 percent, to more than 6.4 million, amounting to a hidden labor force that could stymie the turnaround ... the longer these workers stay out of the job market, the harder it will be for them to find employment, creating a vicious circle ..."
House Cmte Backs Anti-EPA Bill. Senate Next?
House committee passes anti-EPA bill. NYT "Three Democrats, Representatives John Barrow of Georgia, Jim Matheson of Utah and Mike Ross of Arkansas, voted with the unanimous Republican majority. The bill would repeal the E.P.A.’s finding that carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are a threat to human health and the environment and would bar the agency from imposing new rules to control them ... President Obama has promised to veto any measure to limit E.P.A. authority."
Republicans reject amendment saying climate change is real. TPMDC: "Thirty-one Republicans on the House Energy And Commerce Committee -- the entire Republican contingent on the panel -- declined on Tuesday to vote in support of the very idea that climate change exists."
Senate Republicans may try attaching anti-EPA to small biz measure this week. The Hill: "The White House is bashing a proposed Senate GOP amendment to small business legislation that would nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases ... Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is seeking to attach Sen. James Inhofe’s (R-Okla.) bill that would kill EPA climate rules ... may come up for a vote as soon as Wednesday, although the plans remained fluid ... Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) entered the fray Tuesday night by offering his less-aggressive plan to block EPA as an amendment ..."
Politico adds: "Majority Whip Dick Durbin told POLITICO that he’s expecting a vote early Wednesday. Durbin didn't say how many Democrats would defect to vote in favor of the amendment, but he thinks it will fall short of the 13 needed to get to 60 ... 17 Democratic votes are in play when it comes to legislation to block or delay EPA’s climate rules."
Nuclear Regulator Testifies Today
Energy Sec. and top nuclear regulator to testify to House today reports The Hill.
The Daily Beast ranks the most vulnerable U.S. nuclear plants: "...nearly half of the 104 nuclear reactors operating in the U.S.' 65 nuclear facilities are close to major fault lines, including the Diablo Canyon and San Onofre plants located near California's San Andreas Fault. The Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York is less than two miles from the Pampano Fault Line, and sits within 50 miles of more than 17 million people."
The Guardian's Michael Tomasky offers a liberal defense of nuclear power: "... even if we did do something rational around solar and wind and other alternatives, given energy needs we'd still need to expand either fossil fuels or nuclear, and nuclear doesn't contribute to global warming."
