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: Spending Cuts Create Jobs Like Tax Cuts Create Revenue
OurFuture.org's Dave Johnson: "A 'report' from Republican staff of the Joint Economic Committee says that the path to job creation is cutting ... the very things that create jobs ... Cutting government cuts the very things that nurture the soil in which business can thrive. We need a modern infrastructure to compete in world markets, but they are cutting back on infrastructure spending. We need a well-educated population to grow the economy, but they are cutting back on education."
Shutdown Threat Pushes Jobs Off Table
GOP worried it's failed to make case that cuts create jobs. Politico: "Republicans have struggled to gain significant traction on that message, since the two parties are engaged in a major battle over federal spending ... At closed-door conference meetings, [Sen. Lamar] Alexander has repeatedly pointed to polling showing that jobs remain foremost on the minds of voters — far ahead of spending and debt. As a reminder to his colleagues, the Senate Republican Conference handed Republicans a set of talking points for next week’s recess, laid out in a card they can slip into their pockets ... On one side of the card: facts about debt and spending ... The other side of the card carries the title: 'Making it harder to create private-sector jobs,'..."
Senate clears House bill to keep government open through April 8, but no hints of final deal. W. Post: "Schumer said that House Republicans should make the next move, by offering a proposal that’s closer to what Democrats will accept. Republicans said the opposite."
More than 50 senators call on President to include Social Security and Medicare "changes" in budget talks. Bloomberg: "More than 50 Republicans and Democrats signed a letter to be sent to Obama urging that the budget talks be widened ... The number of signatures they attracted suggests that efforts by the so-called Gang of Six to reach a grand bargain to rein in the deficit has picked up substantial support that may help propel an eventual agreement through the Senate ... Still, the six senators, who have been meeting twice weekly in recent days, face long odds ... [They] may opt for setting targets to slash Social Security and Medicare in the future, rather than pushing legislation that contains specific cuts and tax increases."
Simpson and Bowles, not getting their way, try throwing a temper tantrum. Salon's Alex Pareene: "But no one is excited [with their plan], so now they just keep yelling at us, the stupid American slobs too comfortable and decadent (or struggling and desperate!) to devote themselves wholly to the cause that has become the official proof of Seriousness of our age."
House Budget Chair Paul Ryan concedes Social Security doesn't affect national debt, wants to gut it anyway. Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo: "...Ryan was asked about Reid’s position [against meddling with Social Security.] ... 'I’m boggled. That just boggles my mind…I would argue, even though, it’s not really a driver of our debt, it’s not a significant part of our debt problems, it would build great confidence...'"
Sen. Maj. Leader Reid says Planned Parenthood funding is non-negotiable in budget talks. The Hill: "Reid's vow will complicate negotiations on that spending deal. GOP leaders are under intense pressure from their members and outside groups to deny federal funds to Planned Parenthood."
House GOP passes bill to prevent NPR affiliates from purchasing NPR content with federal funds. NYT: "Democrats said it was politics, not fiscal austerity, that drove the bill. 'Why are we wasting valuable floor time on an ideological battle?' said Representative Louise Slaughter of New York."
President Makes Jobs Case For Latin America Trip
President seeks to put jobs focus on Latin American trip. USA Today: "Obama's aides point to dramatic economic progress across the region over the past decade that makes it ripe for increased exports from the U.S. and more opportunities for U.S. businesses ... One short-term goal for U.S. businesses: to get in on the construction underway in Brazil to prepare it to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics ... Little progress is expected on long-running trade disputes between Brazil and the U.S., including over high U.S. tariffs on ethanol imports ... Obama has yet to cement trade pacts with Colombia and Panama that are important to the region, and he will have to confront intractable issues such as the drug trade and immigration."
AFL-CIO President predicts no Colombia deal. The Hill: "...the union federation leader took aim at Colombia’s record of violence against union members and said the White House will not move the Colombia, Korea and Panama trade agreements together, as lawmakers have demanded. 'It’s not my sense that they intend to move forward this year with all three of them. They are moving forward with Korea, obviously, but with Colombia … they have been unable to meet any of the benchmarks that we talked about,' Trumka said..."
Goldman Behind Attacks On Warren?
"Ex-Goldman Banker Behind WSJ 'Smear Campaign' Against Elizabeth Warren" reports HuffPost: "The editorials paint both Warren and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as an immensely powerful, unaccountable organization ... The author, Mary Kissel, worked for Goldman between 1999 and 2002 as a fixed income research and capital markets specialist ... 'There has definitely been an uptick in attacks on her and on the agency over the past few weeks, it's hard to imagine it hasn't been well-coordinated by somebody,' said a source close to Warren."
GOP bills to partially repeal Wall St. reform can't go anywhere, bigger fights are at the reg agencies, argues Time's Adam Sorensen: "You can't starve the beast to death because most financial regulators feed themselves. The Fed isn't subject to the appropriations process and neither is the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ... Other regulators pay their own way too, like the FDIC does with insurance premiums ... The other FinReg front is the rule-writing process still going on at various federal agencies ... yes, the banks are working the refs really hard on that one. But consumer activists are paying attention too!"
Iowa AG Tom Miller dismisses bank complaints of proposed foreclosure fraud settlement: "State attorneys general ... will accept nothing less than wholesale changes to the way those companies treat troubled homeowners, the group’s leader said ... The plan has come under attack by some Republicans, who say it was designed to bypass Congress and revive initiatives that lawmakers have rejected, including a push to allow bankruptcy court judges to reduce the loan principals for troubled borrowers. Banks also have balked ... saying that many of the changes would prove unwieldy and raise fairness questions about which homeowners deserve loan modifications ... [Miller] called such criticisms from the banking industry little more than a negotiation tactic."
SEC may prosecute Fannie & Freddie execs. W. Post: "The SEC, responsible for enforcing securities laws, is alleging that at least four senior executives failed to provide necessary information to investors about the companies’ mortgage holdings as the U.S. housing market collapsed. But the agency that most closely regulates Fannie and Freddie, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, disagrees with that assessment..."
CEO bonus pay jumps 30%, but not all executives are benefiting. WSJ: "Under the new financial-overhaul law that took effect this year, every business whose stock-market value exceeds $75 million must let investors voice their views on rewards for the top brass at annual meetings. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and Beazer Homes USA Inc. have already gotten a thumbs down from investors. Five others won support from less than 70% of the votes..."
GOP Gas Price Claims Make No Sense
Sen. Jeff Bingaman rips GOP for blaming gas prices on new greenhouse gas and oil drilling rules. The Hill quotes: "...none of these experts highlighted the Administration’s permitting process in the Gulf of Mexico as being a significant factor in world oil markets ... neither the EPA nor any kind of U.S. regulatory actions were discussed as important to understanding world oil prices."
Sen. Max Baucus offers amendment to block EPA greenhouse gas rules from applying to small agricultural sources. NRDC's Dave Hawkins deems it poorly drafted: "...the amendment would permanently prohibit EPA from looking at global warming emissions due to changes in land use ... In essence, this provision in the Baucus amendment would require EPA to lie to the public about the true global warming impacts of projects like a new power plant that burns trees for fuel ..."
