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: Social Security: Real People, Real Benefits
OurFuture.org's Terrance Heath: "'This is not some abstract debate. This is about real people who live real lives.' Those were the words of Wade Henderson, CEO of the Leadership Council on Civil Rights, at the Strengthen Social Security press conference on Capitol Hill ... It's real for Pat Cotton, a 70-year-old clinical nurse's assistant from Virginia who talked about how she's still working full time in order to pay her bills ... It's real, too, for Sam — an employee at The Bagel Grove in Utica, NY; a family business owned by Annie Wadsworth ...Their business started with a pension plan, but had to convert to a 401k ... For workers like Sam, Wasdworth said, cuts in benefits could mean working until he literally 'drops into his grave' wearing his Bagel Grove hat and uniform." Today is National Call Congress Day to say Hands Off Social Security: 1-866-251-4044.
Senate Leaders Rally Against Social Security Cuts
"Reid vows to reject overhaul of Social Security" reports Las-Vegas Review Journal: "'I have to say the Republicans don't seem to care,' Reid said as he accused the GOP of wanting to do away with the politically popular program through budget cuts or changes that would reduce benefits or raise the retirement age. Democrats said there was one change they might accept: increasing Social Security taxes on the wealthy."
Sen. Dick Durbin plays awkward role in "Gang of Six" bipartisan deficit reduction group. Politico: "... the Senate majority whip is facing two competing choices: stick to his ideological roots by resisting changes to Social Security and other Democratic priorities — or cut a deal that could alienate some of his closest allies ... Durbin repeatedly has said any changes to Social Security should be dealt with separately from the Gang of Six talks. But he wants the left to know that it’s time to join the debate in a serious way over cutting the deficit — and that means making some concessions."
Deficit hysterics have their sights on nurses and firefighters, argues Dean Baker: "...deficit hawks don't get paid to go after rich people or the health care industry. Deficit hawks get paid to go after the benefits of middle-income people. This is why we were treated to a Washington Post column by finance industry executive Robert Pozen telling liberals that they should support his plan for raising the retirement age and cutting Social Security benefits for higher-income earners. [But] he is not thinking of people like Peter Peterson or Robert Rubin. He has his gun sights on people earning $40,000 to $80,000 a year ... workers like schoolteachers, firefighters and nurses."
"There is no US federal debt crisis" argues Harvard prof and former LBJ adviser Francis Bator, in FT: "We are a very rich country. That fact is missing in the American debate about what we can afford and how much debt relative to income is safe. US GDP at a depressed c. $150,000 per notional 3.2 person family is nearly twice what it was in 1975 adjusted for inflation and triple what it was in the 1950s when we built the interstate highways. (How little of that income goes to genuinely disadvantaged poor people, especially poor children, is the more shameful.) With trend per capita growth at, say 1.75 per cent per annum – - which, barring some global calamity, will mean a GDP per family of about $194,000 by 2025 and $231,000 by 2035 — we need not feel sorry for our children and grandchildren."
HuffPost's Mike Lux debunks Third Way memo urging Social Security and Medicare cuts: "It is an interesting argument given how strong and overwhelming the polling is, and always has been, to not mess with Social Security and Medicare. For an organization that spends so much time focusing on polling data and making political arguments based on it, this can only mean one thing: they really, really want to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits."
HuffPost's Jane White argues for increasing Social Security benefits: "...we need to acknowledge that our personal and federal financial deficits are more a function of corporate tax dodges than reckless spending. How about actually taxing the companies that got rid of pensions as a way of bankrolling more generous Social Security benefits, along with forcing them to turn 401(k) plans into real pensions?"
Only two members of Congress contribute part of their salary to reducing the debt. W. Post: "Last year, records show, only two House members donated a 'Gift to the United States for Reduction of Public Debt' in every fiscal quarter. Each time, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) gave $414.39, and Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) gave $2,196 ... both are giving back previous congressional pay raises, trying to show solidarity with constituents suffering in hard economic times."
Budget Talks Shut Down
Budget stalemate as Dems concede on budget cuts, but give no ground on right-wing policy demands. Politico: "The administration has moved within $6 billion of a $1.052 trillion target that House Republicans confirmed Monday had been suggested by their negotiators as part of the framework for a compromise. That number would effectively restore $26 billion in cuts enacted by the House last month, but the GOP said any such deal is contingent on substantial concessions by the White House on legislative riders attached to the same budget bill."
"Government Shutdown Grows Likelier" headlines WSJ: "One of the main sticking points is in the parties' preferred approach to the cuts. Republicans would like to agree on a specific number, the Democrat familiar with the talks said, while Democrats and the White House want to look at specific types of cuts."
White House budget director abruptly ends talks. W. Post: "A Democratic official familiar with the discussions said that [Jack] Lew objected to starting with the House bill because it has already been rejected in the Senate and then ended a contentious meeting. 'Let’s get back together when we’re ready to work,' Lew told the congressional aides ... Vice President Biden has since spoken to Boehner and Reid by phone, prompting the parties to agree to draw up proposals for cuts in the range of $30 billion to $36 billion. Democrats said Monday they do not intend to formally offer their proposal until they believe a deal is within reach."
WH proposes more cuts in hopes of painting GOP as unreasonable. The Hill: "The strategy embraced by the White House and Senate Democrats appears designed to convince the public that Democrats are the ones being reasonable. It is intended to show the White House is meeting the GOP halfway, and that it is the new Republican House majority that is unwilling to negotiate ... in a sign of the pressure faced by [House Maj. Leader Eric] Cantor and other GOP leaders, Tea Party Patriots founder Mark Meckler said his organization would oppose any step down from the $61 billion in cuts House Republicans are now proposing."
WH offering what GOP leaders wanted in the first place, notes Tapped's Sarah Babbage: "...the final compromise will be about $30 billion in cuts. If that number sounds familiar, it may be because it’s the number Republicans originally proposed in February, before the Tea Party wing successfully convinced GOP leaders to push for more. This is a shameful outcome..."
House conservatives plan 2012 budget even more right-wing than party leadership plan. Politico: "They are expected to balance the budget within 10 years, include 'significant savings from entitlement spending ... substantial reductions in discretionary spending,' terminate 'unconstitutional, duplicative or harmful' federal programs, prohibit earmarks and implement process reforms that make it easier to cut spending."
National Call-In Day Today For Strong Bank Settlement
"National Call-In Day" to our 50-state Attorneys General, demanding a strong foreclosure fraud settlement. Crime Shouldn't Pay: "The 50-state Attorneys General have the opportunity to restore both millions of homeowners and our economy by delivering a strong settlement against the big banks. But the big bank’s lobby and spin machine is already in overdrive, trying to weaken a middle-of-the-road settlement proposal suggested by the Attorneys General in early March. Our goal is to generate 10,000 calls and send a clear message to our Attorneys General ... Call your Attorney General right now at 866-200-6444."
Top mortgage firms saved $20B during housing crisis by cutting corners. HuffPost: "...according to a confidential presentation prepared for state attorneys general by the nascent consumer bureau inside the Treasury Department[, the] estimate suggests large banks have reaped tremendous benefits from under-serving distressed homeowners ... The dollar figure also provides a basis for regulators' internal discussions regarding how best to penalize Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial in a settlement..."
Banks make settlement offer, with no penalties. WSJ: "[The proposal] includes time lines for processing modifications, a third-party review of foreclosures and a single point of contact for financially troubled borrowers. It also outlines a so-called 'borrower portal' that would allow customers to check the status of their loan modifications online. But the document doesn't include any discussion of principal reductions. Nor does it include a potential amount banks could pay for borrower relief or penalties."
Financial firms leading corporate profits. Slate's Annie Lowrey: "...in the last quarter of 2010, the story was all about Wall Street. Profits actually decreased a bit at nonfinancial firms. But companies like investment banks and insurers saw profits climb to an annualized $426.5 billion. The financial sector now accounts for about 30 percent of the economy's overall operating profits ... Since the recession hit, the availability of cheap cash from the Federal Reserve has helped increase banks' margins, and thus their profits."
Bank regulators propose compromise on mortgage securities rules. NYT: "... regulators rejected [bankers'] advice and decided that only the most conservative mortgages would qualify [for relaxed rules] ... The Dodd-Frank Act mandated that banks maintain at least a 5 percent threshold for risk on mortgage securities. But the law granted an exception for 'qualified residential mortgages' while leaving regulators to decide what that meant ... Banks, however, did get regulators to agree to a broad definition of how that risk can be retained, as well as of who will have to retain it."
GOP prepares legislation to wind down Fannie & Freddie. W. Post: "What’s striking about the new GOP plan is that in many ways it mirrors the Obama administration’s approach to shutting down the taxpayer-backed mortgage giants but only on a faster timetable. What’s also notable is that neither the administration nor the GOP is prepared to endorse a long-term model to replace Fannie and Freddie ... [The White House] worries that moving too fast to withdraw Fannie and Freddie’s support for housing could further destabilize an already struggling housing market."
New Plot To Undermine Health Reform
Tea party hatches new scheme to undermine health reform. Mother Jones: "...at least a dozen states are now contemplating legislation that supporters believe would allow them to seize control of and administer virtually all federal health care programs operating in their states and exempt them from the requirements of the health care law. That includes Medicare ... The vehicle for this reform end run is called the health care compact, an interstate compact ... Opponents have their doubts. They say there's no precedent for using interstate compacts in this way."
Minimum level of health benefits in reform law still to be determined. Politico: "Starting in 2014, all health plans offered through the state health insurance exchanges will have to offer the 'essential health benefits package' — a set of minimum services all individuals and small businesses are supposed to have in their coverage ... Make the benefits package too stingy, and consumer advocates will say the law failed in its goal of protecting people from big gaps in coverage. Make it too generous, though, and the premiums for those plans will go up — and the federal government will have to spend that much more on the subsidies."
TNR's Jonathan Cohn examines IN Gov. Mitch Daniels' conservative Medicaid reforms: "...it doesn't really qualify as adequate insurance. The program doesn't require coverage of vision, dental or even maternity care. It also has lifetime caps on benefits ... For what it offers, it's expensive ... it's not attracting enough healthy people into the program, which is not such a good thing. At the same time, Healthy Indiana doesn't seem to be providing better management of chronic disease, which is what the low-income population really needs."
Conservative Attacks Continue In The States
Michigan governors signs law slashing jobless aid. NYT: "All states currently pay 26 weeks of unemployment benefits, before extended benefits paid by the federal government kick in. Michigan’s new law means that starting next year, when the federal benefits are now set to end, the state will stop paying benefits to the jobless after just 20 weeks ... 'Snyder Signs Bill to Protect Unemployed,' was the headline of the news release that [the governor's] office sent out."
NC state legislators introduce bill to reject federal high-speed rail funds. Green Grok: "A one-page bill, titled 'No High-Speed Rail Money from Federal Gov't' was introduced by State Representatives Ric Killian and Phillip Frye last week. It would send North Carolina’s $545 million share of high-speed rail funds back to the feds — and try to put any high-speed rail funds accepted by the state into a general fund that the Assembly would later appropriate as it sees fit (which, ... would actually not be an option ... either you use the money for high-speed rail or you give it back). But refusing the federal rail dollars may be a tougher sell here given the project's support from the state’s Democratic governor Beverly Perdue." Wisconsin government tries to pretend anti-union law is in effect. W. Post: "Gov. Scott Walker’s administration took steps Monday to adjust state workers’ paychecks to reflect a new collective bargaining law, while the state Justice Department asked a court to agree the law was in effect and stop cases related to blocking its implementation. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin school board association advised districts to hold off on any more contract talks given the ongoing uncertainty over whether the law is in effect." "Wisconsin Judge to Consider Whether Union Law Can Be Blocked" reports Bloomberg. Koch-backed Tea Party group pushing senators to ban EPA from cutting carbon emissions, and reject Dem compromises for temporary bans. The Hill: "The 'key vote' alert also urges senators not to vote for a pair of Democratic amendments that would limit or delay the rules while keeping EPA’s regulatory authority intact, alleging neither will 'alleviate the painful economic impact or the threat to the separation of powers.' The memo warns that the group will 'rate these votes in our congressional ratings.' ... Votes on the climate measures are expected this week, but the timing is uncertain." "BP Managers Said to Face U.S. Manslaughter Charges Review" reports Bloomberg.Koch Group Pressuring Senate To Handcuff EPA
