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: Questions for a Post-Bin Laden America
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "Will we finally ask questions about our invisible intelligence empire? ... Will some deaths still be more important than others? ... Most people say they love kids. When will we act like it?"
Dueling Jobs Agendas
Senate GOP releases "jobs" plan with no provisions to create jobs. W. Post: "[The plan offers more] spending cuts, a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, a reduction of the corporate tax rate to 25 percent, and a provision that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases ... the ratification of three pending trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama before the July recess ... malpractice reform, the ability for individuals to purchase insurance across state lines and the promotion of health savings accounts."
House Dems to present the next phase of "Make It in America" strategy today. The Hill: "Near the top of the list is a bill by Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) directing the president to develop 'a national strategy for manufacturing.' Other proposals would extend the Build America Bonds program, create a national infrastructure bank, make permanent the research and development tax credit, enact corporate tax reform and target currency manipulation by China."
NYT's David Leonhardt warns White House not to forget about the economy: "I suspect that Mr. Obama’s advisers have remained publicly optimistic over the last few months because they consider optimism to be one of the few economic tools they have left ... [But] there are still two steps the White House can take ... Policy makers would be wise to repeat the pattern in the debt ceiling talks, making more future cuts and fewer immediate ones ... [Second, at] the end of this year, about $225 billion of temporary tax cuts and emergency jobless benefits are scheduled to expire ... if the economy remains weak, continuing them for one more year will make sense."
Conrad Budget Proposal Caters To Right
"Brutal reviews" for Sen. Kent Conrad's budget proposal from fellow Senate Dems. HuffPost: "The problem for Democrats is that, rather than put down a firm Democratic marker from which the party can negotiate, Conrad has adopted a plan that resembles the work he's done with legislators across the aisle ... Democrats think Conrad decided release his budget before the Gang of Six because the talks were collapsing. He is hoping to salvage the work of the bipartisan group by attracting a few Republicans to the more conservative plan ... his budget closely reflects the one voted on -– and rejected by -– the president’s fiscal commission [though] Conrad does not address Social Security."
"Window closing for Gang of 6" reports Politico.
Republicans worry about public response to their proposed cuts. Bloomberg: "While most attention has focused on cuts to Medicare in the 2012 budget that House Republicans passed on April 15, party lawmakers will also face a backlash against plans to slash $62 billion, or about 15 percent, from non-security discretionary programs, or those for which spending isn’t mandated. The targets range from education and disease research to transportation and public safety ... [GOP Rep. Mike Simpson said,] 'I suspect we are going to get a great deal of abuse, not just from Democrats, but from our constituents.'"
House GOP may schedule vote on unconditional increase in the debt limit, but only if it will lose. Politico: "Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Tuesday he’d consider holding a symbolic test vote on the debt ceiling just to prove to Democrats that the nation’s borrowing limit won’t be raised by House Republicans unless it’s packaged with serious spending reductions."
WH preparing for corporate tax reform battle. Politico: "Opposition is likely to break down regionally and by industries, rather than by party or ideology. Small- and medium-sized businesses without sophisticated tax planning are likely to benefit, while highly international conglomerates might wind up paying higher rates under reform. Mining does well under the current system. So opposition may crop up in the politically sensitive states of coal country. Technology and pharmaceutical companies see reform as a vehicle for a temporary tax break on overseas profits they bring back to the U.S., known as a repatriation tax holiday. So many big California companies may be for it."
GOP Moves To Gut Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...
NYT edit board accuses GOPers on House banking cmte of attacking consumer protection to collect campaign cash: "Starting on Wednesday, the committee’s majority is expected to pass bills to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ... As long as the Senate and White House are controlled by Democrats, the bills are unlikely to become law. But by advancing them in the House, Republicans can demonstrate how thoroughly they would dismantle reform if they controlled Washington and, in the process, rake in Wall Street donations."
Top GOPer tells bank lobbyists legislation intended to handcuff Elizabeth Warren. Think Progress' Pat Garofalo: "'This is not about Elizabeth Warren,' Bachus insisted early last month. However, yesterday, during a speech before the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group, Bachus added a line to his pronouncement ... 'It has nothing to do with Elizabeth Warren, it really has nothing to do with her. [*pause*] I will not take a lie detector test.'"
Senate cmte forwards report with evidence against Goldman Sachs on to SEC and Justice Department. Bloomberg: "A formal referral from the Senate is 'much more than a symbolic gesture' because it would prompt an agency to put the matter 'at the top of its list,' said Robert Hillman, a professor at the University of California, Davis, School of Law."
...And Health Reform
Senate passes commendation of military-intelligence community. House passes defunding of health reform. NYT: "House Republicans ... citing new rules against such purely honorary acts, declined to follow suit. The House majority did forge ahead with its latest bill to dismantle a piece of the health care overhaul..."
Mother Jones' Suzy Khimm dissects the GOP's new Medicaid strategy: " Republicans in both houses introduced bills on Tuesday that would eliminate federal regulations that prevent states from trimming their Medicaid rolls or erecting new barriers to enrollment ... The State Flexibility Act would not go as far as the Ryan plan, which proposes a massive overhaul of the Medicaid funding structure. But it would allow states to take a knife, if not a hatchet, to the program."
...And NLRB
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham plans retaliatory legislation against NLRB for pursing case against Boeing. HuffPost: "Graham said Tuesday that he intends to introduce another piece of legislation next week that would 'defund' the complaint against Boeing. Asked exactly how that would work, Graham would only say that the move would be 'a shot across [the NLRB's] bow.' ... A spokesperson for the NLRB declined to comment on Graham's remarks. But speaking with The New York Times recently, Lafe Solomon, the NLRB's general counsel, said the board had no choice but to file the complaint given how flagrantly Boeing executives had flouted the law protecting workers' right to strike."
After enacting legislation stripping rights of public workers, OH Gov. proclaims “Public Service Appreciation Week” and “Teacher Appreciation Week," notes AFL-CIO's Tula Connell.
Trade Push Is On
WH poised to move trade deals. WSJ: "The administration is expected to send congressional leaders a letter as soon as Wednesday saying it is ready to begin preliminary discussions on passing a free trade agreement with Colombia, setting that pact on a legislative track. A potential roadblock in passing the South Korea pact is the demand by Sen. Max Baucus (D., Mont.) ... for some further accommodation on allowing U.S. beef from older cattle into South Korea ... the White House has made progress with House Republicans toward renewing the Trade Adjustment Assistance program for workers who are displaced as a result of trade agreements..."
Chamber of Commerce steps up trade push. Politico: "...so far this year, the business lobby has run three times more advertising than last year ... [Meanwhile,] Public Citizen ... has been sending press releases into the districts that could face job losses, [Lori] Wallach said. 'We’ve told those members about it and made sure that they know their district is a district that’s going to get clobbered,' she said."
"NAFTA Has Cost 683,000 Jobs—and Counting" notes AFL-CIO's James Parks.
Geithner leans on China to open up economy. AP: "...Geithner said Tuesday that China needs to make more progress on economic issues vital to America’s interests, including speeding up the rise of its currency against the dollar [and] protecting American firms’ intellectual property rights and technology. The Treasury secretary said the administration also will press for reforms of China’s financial system in ways that will make it easier for foreigners to invest in China and for Chinese citizens to invest abroad."
Dems Seek Votes On Ending Oil Subsidies
Dems seek to force votes on ending Big Oil subsidies. The Hill: "[House] Democrats plan to offer language to overturn the oil industry subsidies in the form of amendments to GOP-sponsored offshore drilling legislation that would require the Interior Department to conduct lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia ... It’s unclear whether a vote on the amendments, which are due Wednesday to the Rules Committee, will be allowed ... Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are planning a vote on a proposal to overturn the oil industry tax breaks in the coming weeks ... Reid said he expects to make an announcement on the oil-subsidies issue Wednesday."
Bipartisan Senate duo introduce amendment to small biz bill that would end ethanol subsidies. WSJ: "Aides say they believe they’re getting close to the high 67-vote threshold they would have to clear because of procedural hurdles. It’s unclear whether the vote will occur, however; the legislation might be pulled by Senate leaders before that can happen."
