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 Is Not a Crisis, But a Choice
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "The main reasons for the long-term shortfall are stagnating wages for most Americans, and the fact that the wealthiest Americans capture far more of our national income than at any time in modern history. That's because politicians made choices - about deregulation, banking, government investment, trade, and other key issues. ... Now we have another choice: ask the wealthy to pay their fair share, or cut benefits for people who didn't cause the problem and can't afford to pay for the solution."
Gang Of Six Loses One
GOP Sen. Tom Coburn abandons deficit deal talks. The Hill: "'We can’t bridge the gulf of where we need to go on mandatory spending,' [GOP Sen. Tom] Coburn said Tuesday afternoon ... The loss of Coburn, the most conservative member of the group, could be fatal ... Winning the endorsement of Coburn was critical because of his serious conservative bona fides and willingness to take on his own party and conservative activist Grover Norquist on the issue of taxes."
Sen. Coburn reportedly made last-minute demands on Medicare. HuffPost: "On Monday, [a GOP] aide said, Coburn asked for an immediate $130 billion in cuts to Medicare, on top of the $400 billion that had already been agreed to. Democrats refused and Coburn left the talks as a result, said the aide."
Media giving up on covering jobs crisis while obsessing over deficit. National Journal has the numbers: "Mentions of unemployment have been dwindling since they spiked to 154 in the month ending August 15, 2010; over the month ending Sunday, there were 63. Deficit mentions, meanwhile, surged up to 261 in the month ending December 15, 2010, when the leaders of President Obama's deficit commission released their final report. Mentions of the deficit remained higher after the commission's work wrapped up and as House Republicans and then the White House unveiled dueling proposals. In the month ending Sunday, there were 201 mentions."
Democrats hope to "soften up" GOP to accept concessions by pushing millionaire tax. The Hill: "Democratic strategists hope that after the GOP officials receive a pummeling over millionaires’ tax rates, they’ll be more willing to accept ending tax breaks for major oil conglomerates and companies that relocate factories to foreign countries."
Newt Is Sorry
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich apologizes to Rep. Paul Ryan for criticizing plan to dismantle Medicare. CNN quotes Gingrich: "...I think Paul Ryan did a great job overall but I think the Medicare part needs to go through a public process, discussion, and improvement and modification and I think it can ... I think he has the beginning of what could be an extraordinary plan."
Gingrich health care explanations still don't add up. AP: " On the one hand, Gingrich says some mandates are OK. On the other, he doesn’t like imposing mandated change on senior citizens. His attempts to clear the matter up only seem to have muddied waters."
Gingrich tries to stop Dems from using his own words. TPM: "'Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood, because I have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate,' he told FOX's Greta Van Susteren."
Republicans seem to know their Medicare plan is a political disaster, yet can't let go. TNR's Jonathan Chait: "They invested a huge amount of energy into branding Ryan's budget as the Republican plan and the one thing standing between America and the abyss. Republican voters, and many elected officials, took that seriously ... at the same time, Republicans -- including, from I can tell, Ryan -- are panicking over the politics of the issue, and realizing they have handed Democrats a powerful weapon against them. They enshrined as party orthodoxy something that's so unpopular a Democrat in a heavily Republican district can single-handedly use it to surge into the lead."
The House GOP plan does not cut the deficit to save the children, notes Paul Krugman: "Medicaid would face savage cuts right away. And while much of Medicaid’s spending is on nursing care, many of its beneficiaries are children. In fact, as Tim Geithner just pointed out, at this point 40% of children born in America are on Medicaid. So the actual content of the Ryan plan is pro-geezer, anti-child."
Conservatives Filibuster To Keep Big Oil Subsidies
Senate Republicans lead filibuster to block stripping subsidies from Big Oil. NYT: "Despite falling eight votes short of the 60 needed to move ahead with the bill, top Democrats said they would insist that eliminating the tax breaks to generate billions of dollars in revenue must be part of any future agreement to raise the federal debt limit.."
"... the 48 senators who sided with Big Oil received over $21 million in career oil contributions, while 52 senators who sided with the American people received only $5.4 million in contributions." reports ThinkProgress.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham exploring compromise on reducing subsidies and expanding drilling. The Hill: "Graham said in the Capitol that he has calls in to Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.)."
Huge majority wants higher fuel-efficiency standards as response to high gas prices. ClimateProgress: "...62% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats supported doubling fuel efficiency standards – illustrating that when people’s wallets are impacted, efficiency and conservation are a bipartisan issue."
GOP Flip-Flop On Trade
GOP flip-flops on linking trade deals to expanded aid to displaced workers. Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo: "Senate Republicans [in February] threw a fit and blocked an extension, saying that they refused to budge on trade assistance unless it was coupled with consideration of pending free trade pacts with Columbia, Korea, and Panama. The Obama administration yesterday countered and said that it won’t move on the free trade pacts until trade assistance is reauthorized ... Republicans have responded to the administration’s stance with predictable disapproval:"
Mississippi river flood another hit to the economy. NYT: "From Tennessee to Louisiana, the arteries and tributaries that normally supply the lifeblood of trade and business to the communities along the river’s banks are now paralyzing them. ... Retail gasoline prices, already at two-year highs, and food prices could rise in the region because of supply disruptions. Tens of thousands of people are unemployed, shut out of jobs at establishments that are literally under water. State and local government coffers, strained because of the economic downturn, may lose many millions of dollars in revenue from tourism and taxes."
States Beating Abysmal Expectations
State tax revenues beating expectation, but budgets not out of the woods. NYT: "In some states, they are as much a sign that the expectations were too low as they are a sign of vibrant economic growth ... the improving revenue picture came after many states made tough cuts and raised tax rates, and that most states did not expect to collect taxes at pre-recession levels for several years."
The "welfare-queen states" are in the South, argues W. Post's Harold Meyerson: "The 10 biggest net recipients of taxpayers’ largess [in 2005] were, in order, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, North Dakota, Alabama, South Dakota, Kentucky and Virginia ... Even allowing for cyclical variations and political transformations, it’s patently clear that the states that drain the government also constitute the Republicans’ electoral base, while those that produce the wealth constitute the Democrats’ ... Take taxes off the table and it’s either the South (and kindred sponger states) or the seniors. I say, the South. It’s time for bold choices. What don’t you understand? We’re broke!"
