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: It's Indisputable: We Have a Jobs Crisis
OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: "The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an anemic number of new jobs created in May, 54,000. In other words, we're moving backward in terms of putting Americans back to work ... It is past time for grassroots Americans to demand a crisis response to unemployment. Some elites on Wall Street believe that the country is settling into a 'new normal' of 7 percent unemployment; that our problems are 'structural' and there is little we can or should do ... We must fight back against those who would lock the country into long-term economic despair."
Job Growth Plummets In Monthly Report
Only 54,000 net jobs created in May, below rate of population growth. NYT: "... hiring slowed sharply in May, raising concerns once again about the underlying strength of the economic recovery ... State and local governments, struggling with severe budget shortfalls, continued to shed jobs. They are expected to keep laying off workers for months to come ...
"Conservative Budget Cuts Are Undermining Recovery" headlines Campaign for America's Future statement.
Reuters Felix Salmon says numbers should prod Washington to act, if not for conservative obstruction: "The only tiny possible chink of light here is that these numbers are so bad that they might persuade bickering politicians on Capitol Hill to stop playing stupid games with the debt ceiling and start concentrating on important matters. Oh, who am I kidding: we’re in election season now. Nothing is going to happen, in terms of remotely important legislation, until 2013, for risk that Obama might be able to take credit for it. Which means that we’re back in the hands of Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Board."
We've already repeated the mistake of 1937, turning to austerity too early in a recovery, says NYT's Paul Krugman: "As the stimulus has faded out, so have hopes of strong economic recovery. Yes, there has been some job creation — but at a pace barely keeping up with population growth. The percentage of American adults with jobs, which plunged between 2007 and 2009, has barely budged since then. And the latest numbers suggest that even this modest, inadequate job growth is sputtering out ... we have already repeated a version of the mistake of 1937, withdrawing fiscal support much too early and perpetuating high unemployment."
Infrastructure remains untapped source of jobs, notes Jared Bernstein: "There’s the demand. Where’s the supply? Um…how about 20+ million un- or underemployed, including construction workers, whose unemployment rate is about 18% ... I know we’re in the midst of spending-cut frenzy, but infrastructure investment—that’s 'investment' as in: do this right and it boosts the economy’s productive capacity—has historically been one area where partisans agree."
President at Ohio Chrysler plant today to tout success of auto bailout. W. Post: "The Bush and Obama administrations spent $80 billion to bail out General Motors and Chrysler and help guide them through bankruptcy. The Obama administration says it will recoup more than 80 percent of that and Obama intends to defend the bailouts as money well spent ... late Thursday, Treasury announced a deal to sell its remaining stake in Chrysler for $560 million to Italian automaker Fiat. That still means that of the $12.5 billion Treasury used to bail out Chrysler, about $1.3 billion will not be recouped..."
Conservatives Reject Geithner's Call, Embrace Debt Limit Denial
Geithner futilely tries to explain to House freshmen that failure to lift debt limit would be really really really bad. The Hill: "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday warned skeptical Republican freshmen it would be 'lights out' for the economy if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling. ... Many are skeptical the government would actually face 'catastrophe,' in Geithner’s words ... GOP lawmakers who attended the meeting said Geithner appeared overly optimistic that Congress will vote to raise the debt ceiling by his Aug. 2 deadline. Geithner 'overestimates the probability of that happening,' [Rep. Mike] Pompeo said."
Sarah Palin joins the debt limit deniers, in NH appearance. WSJ: "It would be 'a failure of leadership in the House' if 'they were to cave and the debt ceiling were to be increased based on what I believe are Timothy Geithner’s false statements to the American people that a catastrophe would befall us all if the debt ceiling isn’t raised.'"
Moody's threaten bond rating downgrade if debt limit is not raised by mid-July. W. Post: "The Obama administration says a failure to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2 will lead the government to default on some of its obligations. If that happens, Moody’s said it was likely to lower the rating, driving up the cost the U.S. government must pay investors to borrow money."
President insists that increased revenue must be part of any debt limit deal. HuffPost: "In a meeting with House Democrats on Thursday ... the president reiterated on several occasions that a deal to raise the country's debt ceiling would include revenue increases, even as Republican lawmakers insist that such a deal should be restricted to spending cuts and entitlement reforms ... He [also] insisted that he would not compromise again on his position that the tax rates for the top earners be raised to pre-Bush levels."
Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles say "pray for the Gang of Six" to forge a deal for austerity, in W. Post oped: "...we are encouraged by the positive tone of the bipartisan negotiations being led by Vice President Biden ... But even under the most optimistic scenario, it seems unlikely that those discussions will yield savings large enough to truly stabilize our debt, let alone make the structural reforms to our entitlement programs and tax code that we so desperately need."
GOP Cuts Clean Energy Jobs
House Appropriations rejects President's call to invest in clean energy. The Hill: "...the Appropriations Energy and Water panel moved a bill to full committee that slashes renewable energy funding by 27 percent, or $491 million, to $1.3 billion. That is $1.9 billion below what Obama sought in his budget ... Yvette Pena Lopes of the BlueGreen Alliance, which brings together unions and environmentalists, said the cuts could cost a massive number of jobs."
Coal industry infiltrating public schools with climate misinformation. W. Post: "... critics say the energy industry often goes much further than the typical school donations. Groups with a stake in oil, gas or coal frequently train teachers and shape lesson plans on controversial subjects. In the Appalachian mining communities of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia, the Coal Education Development and Resources foundation, known as CEDAR, offers small grants to teachers whose lessons dovetail with its industry-driven mission ... CEDAR also offers a video to teachers called 'The Greening of Planet Earth,' which says that 'our world is deficient in carbon dioxide, and a doubling of atmospheric CO2 is very beneficial.' Mainstream scientists widely dispute that assertion."
Fight brewing over fuel-efficiency standards. Politico: "In 2009, President Barack Obama pushed through the first increase in gas mileage standards in decades, signing a rule that will raise fuel economy standards to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. Now he’s back for more, with plans that could raise standards for cars and light-duty trucks as high as 62 mpg by 2025. But when Obama had his way with the automakers two years ago, the federal government still had an ownership stake in General Motors and Chrysler. Now the companies are inching back into the black, and they’re pressing on everyone ... to make their voices heard in any new rulemaking process."
WH top regulatory reform official Cass Sunstein testifies to House today about proposed rule changes reports The Hill.
Goldman Sachs Subpoenaed
Senate financial crisis investigation leads to Goldman Sachs subpoena. W. Post: "A prosecutor in New York has subpoenaed Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs for information related to the financial crisis ... The person who described the subpoena spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigative step was taken confidentially ...
Sen. Jon Tester prepares amendment to delay cap on debit card fees, vote possible next week. NYT: "Mr. Tester wants to delay changing the fees for 15 months to allow for more study and a re-drafting of proposed rules by the Federal Reserve. Banks and credit-card companies have been pushing for the delay ... Retailers, who say the fees cut their profits, oppose the delay, as does Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate who pushed for the fee cut last year and has continued to champion it."
