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: Forget Raj: "Too Big to Fail" is Still "Too Big to Jail"
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "The Rajaratnam guilty verdict won't 'change the way Wall Street does business' - not where it matters most. Too Big to Fail banks will continue to endanger the economy because they know they'll be rescued again. And they'll keep on breaking the law, knowing that even if they're caught they'll be protected from prosecution ... The government is still targeting small fry and trying to convince the public it's getting the people who have ruined their lives. It's not."
Medicare On The Table In Budget Talks
Sen. Min. Leader McConnell links debt limit increase to Medicare and Medicaid cuts. NYT: "...Mr. McConnell said that he would look for an agreement to reduce spending on discretionary federal programs in the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years and to put caps on spending for 2014 and beyond. 'There will be no tax increases in connection with raising the debt ceiling,' he added ... Mr. McConnell did not call for approval of the House [Medicare] plan ... But he did say that he would require significant changes to both Medicare and Medicaid, possibly in terms of eligibility, and that Mr. Obama’s fiscal commission had made numerous recommendations from which a solution could be culled."
VP Biden suggests Medicare is on the table, as are tax increases. The Hill: "[Biden] said that tax increases are being discussed, despite GOP attempts to refuse to have that discussion, and that Medicare is being examined despite Democratic resistance to doing so ... 'it’s all on the table. It’s all open to discussion.'"
Dean Baker urges consideration of a financial transaction tax that's in the "People's Budget," in The Nation: "For those engaged in rapid trading, however, a financial transaction tax would impose a heavy cost. This would discourage many types of short-term trading strategies, leading investors to focus more on longer-term trades—which, in turn, could help reorient the focus of the financial sector to its economic purpose."
Spending cuts would hurt effort to create jobs through closing trade gap. LAT's Dimitri B. Papadimitriou: " In the House of Representatives, the Small Business Committee has advocated rescinding $30 million in Small Business Administration grants to states for promoting exports and sharply cutting the SBA's Office of International Trade. These savings would be counter-productive and would work against the nation's best interests."
Romney Still Can't Explain Health Care Position(s)
Presidential candidate Mitt Romney nonsensically praises individual mandate in his health care law, while criticizing it in President Obama's. USAToday: "'In a debate with President Obama, President Obama will pre-emptively thank him,' predicts Matt Kibbe, CEO of FreedomWorks, a Tea Party-aligned group."
NYT edit board scratches its head: "...to his credit, Mr. Romney is standing by his record ... Where he went off the rails, however, was in not acknowledging that that same logic applies to the nation ... he said nothing about what makes Massachusetts different from its neighbors or any other state."
Newt Gingrich used to enthusiastically support a national individual mandate. HuffPost: "In a June 2007 op-ed in the Des Moines Register, Gingrich wrote, 'Personal responsibility extends to the purchase of health insurance. Citizens should not be able to cheat their neighbors by not buying insurance, particularly when they can afford it, and expect others to pay for their care when they need it.' An 'individual mandate,' he added, should be applied 'when the larger health-care system has been fundamentally changed.' ... In 2008's 'Real Change,' he wrote, 'Finally, we should insist that everyone above a certain level buy coverage (or, if they are opposed to insurance, post a bond). Meanwhile, we should provide tax credits or subsidize private insurance for the poor.'"
New House GOPers call on President to stop scaring seniors with truth about their Medicare plan. W. Post's Ezra Klein: "Their letter asking President Obama to crack down on 'these disingenuous attacks' includes no examples of the disingenuous attacks in question, so we’re left to guess about them. Is 'privatization' the loaded word? Saying the GOP budget 'ends Medicare as we know it?' Calling it a 'voucher program?' But what if all those things a) scare seniors but b) are true?"
But Republicans also launch ad attacking House Dem of "bankrupting Medicare." WSJ: "Asked about the new ad, Brook Hougesen, a spokeswoman for Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R., Ill.), who led the freshmen in calling on Mr. Obama to condemn Medicare attacks, said this in an email: 'We’re still waiting on the president to respond to whether he’ll honor his commitment ... Until the president shows that leadership, the political rhetoric over Medicare will unfortunately continue.'"
Pressure On Obama To Abandon Crackdown On Secret Donations
Some Dems are pressing President to drop proposed executive order requiring disclosure of campaign donations from prospective federal contractors. The Hill: "The latest resistance came Thursday from [Sen.] Joe Lieberman (Conn.) ... and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) ... who sent a letter to President Obama expressing their dissent. '[R]equiring businesses to disclose their political activity when making an offer risks injecting politics into the contracting process,' the lawmakers wrote."
IRS investigating top political donors, possibly impacting 2012 giving. AP: "The Internal Revenue Service is investigating five donors for making contributions to the kind of nonprofit groups that have become popular for spending millions of dollars on political ads in the past few years. The IRS is trying to determine whether the donors owe federal gift taxes for the donations..."
Fed Hesitates On Debit Card Reform
Bernanke comments aid banks fighting debit card reform law. WSJ: "Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told senators at a hearing that 'we're still not sure' whether the exemption for small banks that Congress included in the law will work ... The Fed released a draft rule in December that capped the fees that banks can charge at 12 cents a transaction, well below the [current] average ... The final rule is expected to be somewhat different as many Fed officials seemed unhappy with the draft, but the law is fairly prescriptive and gives the central bank very little flexibility ... Sen. Jon Tester, (D., Mont.) the author of the Senate delay bill said he has the votes to pass it if he can attach it to another bill..."
FDIC Chair disagrees with Bernanke on swipe fee reform's impact on small banks. HuffPost: "[Sheila] Bair, whose job requires far more engagement with small banks than Bernanke's, rejected the Fed chairman's failure prognosis moments later. Bair also indicated that, if the Fed really wanted to exempt small banks from the rule, it could do so by simply requiring card networks like Visa and Mastercard to allow small banks to charge higher swipe fees. Visa has already indicated that it will adopt such a 'two-tiered" pricing plan,' and Mastercard is expected to follow suit -- regardless of what the Fed dictates."
No quick decision expected on rules establishing which banks get most stringent regulation. NYT: "Bank holding companies with more than $50 billion in assets automatically fall under the designation. But it is expected that some insurance companies, hedge funds and other companies involved in financial and money markets might require an additional level of scrutiny ... 'I think more details are necessary,' said Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve. 'I support providing more information to the public and getting public comment.' Mr. Bernanke said that while he doubted regulators could 'provide an exact mechanical formula that can be applied without judgment' they could lay out objective criteria that they consider most important..."
New study finds big revolving door at SEC. LAT: "Over the past five years, 219 former SEC employees filed disclosures with the SEC saying that they planned to represent clients or employers in dealings with the agency..."
Oil Execs Fail To Defend Subsidies
At Senate hearing, oil execs fail to explain why they still need taxpayer subsidies. LAT: "Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) played a video of a 2005 hearing in which oil company executives said they did not need incentives to encourage oil exploration when oil was above $55 a barrel. 'If your company didn't need incentives to drill for oil at $55 a barrel, how in the world can you possibly need incentives when oil is at $100 a barrel?' Wyden asked. ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva said that companies should receive tax breaks available to other industries."
Obama administration how tough the next round of fuel efficiency standards should be. W. Post: "Under current rules, which run through 2016, average fuel economy is supposed to rise to about 35 mpg. But the administration is wrestling with what to do from 2017 to 2025. Regulators have analyzed scenarios in which, under the law, fuel economy would rise to 47 mpg-62 mpg. At 47 mpg, the average car’s greenhouse gas emissions would drop by 3 percent annually. At 62 mpg, such emissions would be cut by 6 percent a year. [Automakers and EPA analysts] offer drastically different estimates of how much a change in fuel efficiency rules would add to the price of vehicles."
Another GOP presidential possibility backs off past support for carbon cap. Politico: "Jon Huntsman is backing away from his support for a cap-and-trade system for Western states that he once championed as Utah governor. 'It hasn't worked,' the potential GOP presidential candidate told Time Magazine ... 'And our economy's in a different place than five years ago.' Until the economy recovers, Huntsman added, 'this isn't the moment' to implement it."
