MORNING MESSAGE: GOP Tries To Shut Down Groundswell For Warren
OurFuture.org's Bill Scher: "Faced with a rapidly growing groundswell for Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Senate Republican leaders employed the ultimate obstruction on behalf of their Wall Street donors. It's up to us to make sure the public knows whose side they are on ... if Republicans are going the extra parliamentary mile at the behest of unscrupulous bankers and not the broader public, they may face blowback even fiercer than what they have suffered over their plan to dismantle Medicare."
No Recess. No Recess Appointment.
Senate GOP prevents recess, and in turn, possibility of recess appointment to Consumer Financial Protection Agency. TPM: "Senate Republicans are using a parliamentary trick to block President Obama from making any recess appointments during the Senate's Memorial Day break -- including a long-awaited nomination of Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ... Republicans want to do everything they can to prevent Warren from ascending to the CFPB because of her strong advocacy for stricter consumer protections after the economic crisis."
GOP Flinches Over Jobless Aid Cut
GOP shelves bill to cut jobless aid. Politico: "...it blew up behind the scenes, sparking pushback from Republican freshmen and rank-and-file members alike who didn’t want to vote for a bill they didn’t understand that would die in the Senate ... some Republicans say privately they are wary about voting on more sensitive issues that have no chance of becoming law."
More signs of economic weakness that Washington is ignoring, says NYT's David Leonhardt: "...there is no doubt that the economy has performed considerably worse in the last few months than most policy makers expected. The situation is now uncomfortably similar to last year’s, when the economy sped up in the first few months only to stall in the spring and summer. The most sensible response for Washington would be to begin thinking more seriously about taking out an insurance policy on the recovery. The Fed could stop worrying so much about inflation, which remains historically low, and look at how else it might encourage spending ... The White House and Congress, meanwhile, could begin talking about extending last year’s temporary extension of business tax credits, household tax cuts and jobless benefits beyond Dec. 31 ... The one thing not to do is to turn to deficit reduction too quickly after a crisis, as Europe is painfully learning."
"More good news from Detroit," says TNR's Jonathan Cohn: "General Motors is adding shifts at its Hamtramck factory. It will mean hiring 2500 workers, so that GM can meet the growing demand for Volts, Malibus, and Impalas. And it’s part of broader plan that, GM says, will expand operations at five Michigan plants ...The headlines don’t tell the whole story ... the new jobs aren’t nearly as good as the old ones. That’s by design. As part of the bankruptcy arrangement that kept Chrysler and GM in business, the United Auto Workers agreed to a two-tiered wage system ... Still, everything is relative. If the Obama Administration hadn't stepped up, far more people would have lost jobs and the entire region (maybe the entire country) could have experienced depression-like conditions."
The House GOP Medicare Plan Is A Loser
Rep. Paul Ryan is a "sore loser" says NYT's Paul Krugman: "Mr. Ryan may claim — and he may even believe — that he’s facing a backlash because his opponents are lying about his proposals. But the reality is that the Ryan plan is turning into a political disaster for Republicans, not because the plan’s critics are lying about it, but because they’re describing it accurately ... If anyone is lying here, it’s Mr. Ryan himself, who has claimed that his plan would give seniors the same kind of coverage that members of Congress receive — an assertion that is completely false ... 'If you demagogue entitlement reform,' says Mr. Ryan, 'you’re hastening a debt crisis; you’re bringing about Medicare’s collapse.' Maybe he should have a word with his colleagues who greeted the modest, realistic cost control efforts in the Affordable Care Act with cries of 'death panels.'"
Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty "walks into the Ryan trap," says TNR's Jonathan Chait: "[Pawlenty said, 'If] I had to choose between signing or not Congressman Ryan's plan, of course I would sign it.' This is a complete unforced error, and Democrats are filling up my inbox with it ... You know what politicians say in response to hypothetical questions designed to illuminate their position on an issue they prefer to obscure? They don't answer it!"
GOP leaders trying to tamp down crazy ideas for including in any debt limit bill. Politico: "During recent rounds of jam-packed, closed-door 'listening sessions' on the contentious debt ceiling hike, [Rep. Kevin] McCarthy made lists of ideas that came up and then methodically gauged support for them among other lawmakers, often showing that pet projects have little or no backing ... The presentation McCarthy and other top Republicans are giving to lawmakers is stunningly simple and illustrates just how unfamiliar House Republicans are with governing. On presentation slides viewed by POLITICO, McCarthy and other House leaders are using colored, flag-laden charts to show how much debt China and other nations hold ... they are showing that both the conservative Republican Study Committee’s budget and the House Republican budget call for a hike in the debt ceiling."
Competing Dereg Plans
President, GOP offer competing proposed to reduce business regulations. W. Post: "The Obama administration said it would seek to scale back or eliminate hundreds of regulations affecting workplace safety, environmental protection, endangered species, hospitals and other subjects, saying the measures would save businesses billions of dollars a year ... House Republicans, meanwhile, offered a proposal that would lower the top tax rate on individual and corporate income to 25 percent from 35 percent. The plan would also strengthen patent protections against some lawsuits [and] require congressional approval of significant new regulations ... One of the [President's] proposals, by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, would ensure that required hazard labels and classifications in the United States are the same as those used in other countries, which could save companies $585 million a year. Another, by the Environmental Protection Agency, would eliminate the requirement that states install systems to protect against fuel emissions at gas stations. Most vehicles already have these systems installed."
Cautious reaction to Obama dereg plan from enviros. LAT: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ... said the recommendations to remove some regulations represented progress but didn't go far enough ... the Natural Resources Defense Council said it would examine the proposed rule reductions to make sure they didn't go too far ... said Scott Slesinger, the group's legislative director[,] 'Any proposed changes should be closely evaluated to ensure they protect the public, first and foremost.'"
Christie Uncaps Emissions
NJ Gov. Christie abandons Northeast cap-and-trade system. Salon's Justin Elliot: "Here's yet another item for the 'signs your Republican governor wants to be president' list ... Christie's shifting position on the regional cap-and-trade initiative parallels Mitt Romney's journey on the same program."
Conservative groups pressure GOPers to jump ship from bipartisan natural gas vehicle bill. The Hill: "Reps. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) and Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) dropped their sponsorship for the so-called Nat Gas Act Thursday, and conservative Reps. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) withdrew their names this month ... The bill ... authorizes billions of dollars in tax credits and other support for natural gas vehicles, with a focus on jumpstarting a transition to the fuel in the trucking industry ... conservative groups are circulating letters that call the bill undue federal intervention into energy markets ... the Club for Growth’s president took to Redstate.com Thursday to argue that the provision 'lends credibility to the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.'"
GOP proposes privatization of Amtrak. W. Post: "House Republicans want to dismantle Amtrak, giving private investors the task of building and operating high-speed rail service between Washington and Boston ... The Republican proposal would strip Amtrak of the most heavily used portion of its system, with almost 250,000 weekday passengers, and the only rail real estate it owns ... Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) was among those who argued that public transportation systems, whether highways, air travel or railways, all required federal financial support."
Breakfast Sides
Mortgage companies agree to pay $22M to military families illegally foreclosed upon. NYT: "...a subsidiary of Bank of America formerly known as Countrywide Home Loans Servicing, and Saxon Mortgage Services, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley ... were accused of knowingly and repeatedly violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act ... According to Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, the Countrywide settlement is 'easily the largest amount ever recovered' by the Justice Department for violations of the civil relief act."
Wisconsin anti-union law is struck down, heads to state Supreme Court. LAT: "Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that the Legislature violated the state's open meetings law in approving the bill ... The state Supreme Court is scheduled to decide June 6 whether to hear the case ... As the Wisconsin fight intensifies — with six Republican and three Democratic senators facing recall elections, most likely July 12 — union workers and their allies in Ohio are halfway toward their goal of collecting more than 450,000 signatures to put a measure on the fall ballot that would repeal that state's anti-union law..."
