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: Buy American Jobs
OurFuture.org's Leo Gerard: "Eight million American manufacturing workers have lost their jobs over the past 30 years as multi-national corporations off-shored factories. But America still manufactures and the prices of American-manufactured goods, including those made by union workers, are competitive with foreign-made products. Choosing an American-made product, or North American-made to include my home country of Canada where hundreds of thousands of USW members live and work, means supporting North American workers and the North American work ethic. It means buying products manufactured by willing adults in reasonable conditions, not by children laboring Dickensian hours in dangerous factories ... All anyone hears anymore is that American manufacturing is dead. American doesn’t make anything anymore. That is just not true. Here are some USW-made, terrific North American products..."
GOP Snubs Payroll Tax Cut
GOP ices talk of payroll tax cut as part of debt limit deal. W. Post: "...a Senate Republican aide familiar with the Biden talks called the idea that Republicans might be willing to pair it with tax increases 'pure, unadulterated nonsense.'"
TNR's Jonathan Chait sees GOP rejection of tax cut as political gold for Obama: "Selling Keynesian fiscal stimulus is hard. But selling tax cuts, especially when you're a Democrat, is easy. Obama can use the issue to burnish his centrist credentials and paint the Republicans as obstructionist."
GOP Fracturing In Face Of Debt Limit Deadline
Speaker Boehner having difficulty unifying his party to raise debt limit. The Hill: "In recent weeks, intra-party skirmishes have emerged on a range of issues, including patent reform and a proposed tax holiday ... amid continued grumbling about the deal Boehner struck on the fiscal 2011 budget bill and second-guessing in the GOP conference over the Medicare reforms ... These types of in-the-weeds matters, however, could emerge as Boehner and his deputies are looking for votes on the debt-limit deal. It is common for members to leverage their votes on controversial bills by seeking legislative promises on other issues."
At least 30 new GOP congresspeople scolding everyone else about debt, carrying more than $50,000 of personal liabilities. W. Post: "Those debts included large mortgages on investment properties, as well as student loans and credit card balances. At least seven freshmen had credit card debt exceeding $15,000 ... in their private lives, some freshmen took a more nuanced view: Debt could be useful, when put toward furthering ventures in real estate, farming or other businesses."
House cmte rams through constitutional amendment to cap federal spending at draconian levels. W. Post's Dana Milbank: "... a House committee voted along party lines, 20 to 12, for a plan that would force cuts that make Ryan’s look modest — the equivalent of an across-the-board reduction of 25 percent in everything the government does, from Social Security to national defense ... a constitutional amendment that would effectively limit government spending to 18 percent of gross domestic product beginning in 2017 ... When a congressional committee tries to rewrite the Constitution to include a proposal that would permanently end many of the federal government’s functions, you’d think it would be done with solemnity. Instead, the lawmakers handled it with their usual acrimony — and, on the Republican side, some laughter at the minority complaints."
States pushing for higher pension contributions from public workers. NYT: "...workers in more than half the states face the prospect of paying more of their salary toward their pensions ... eight states, including Wisconsin and Florida, have decided to require government employees to contribute more, sometimes far more, to their pensions ... "
Trade Deals May Move Soon
Bipartisan deal on trade agreements close, reports W. Post: "The Obama administration and congressional leaders are nearing consensus on three pending trade agreements and the renewal of support for workers who have been displaced by global trade ... None of those involved would provide details of a possible deal. But support among congressional Democrats and the White House for the trade assistance program has been widespread, and [U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Thomas] Donohue suggested that Republican opposition to the program was narrower than suspected."
Industrial state Dem senators criticize Obama push for trade deals. Politico: "Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Bob Casey (D-Penn.) stepped up their calls for Congress to pass a stand-alone five-year extension of the aid program, known as the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers, before it takes up trade deals with Korea, Panama and Colombia. 'This is a continuation of [George W.] Bush policies – slightly changed,' Brown told reporters..."
Will Boeing Settle?
Judge pushing NLRB and Boeing to settle reports WSJ.
Dems from anti-union states duck questions regarding NLRB-Boeing case. Politico: "Vulnerable Democrats face an almost impossible choice: Side with Boeing and buck not only the White House but also ditch the unions that have long contributed to Democratic campaigns. But side with the unions and the federal government in a lawsuit challenging Boeing’s move into anti-union South Carolina, and you run afoul of Big Business in many Southern and Midwestern right-to-work states."
USA Today edit board admits it was wrong to oppose the auto bailout: "...the conclusion is as unavoidable as it is surprising: The U.S. auto industry is emerging from its near-death experience in better competitive shape than it has been in many years ... the skeptics, of which this page was one, should be prepared to concede that the basic structure of the bailout — government help in return for a trip through bankruptcy court — was the right way to prevent a vital U.S. industry from ending up as roadkill."
Warren Doesn't Have To Leave
Elizabeth Warren can continue in her current role if GOP obstruction continues, argues Naked Capitalism: "... the CFPB is not stymied if a director has not been installed [by the July 21 deadline]. What would happen is: 1. The CFPB does not get moved to the Fed. It stays in the Treasury under Geithner. 2. The CFPB cannot act on new regulatory powers created by Dodd Frank, but it can act in one of its planned and still large roles, that of the overseer of existing consumer financial regulation which is now scattered among many agencies ... So Warren could continue in her current role..."
Big delays in implementing Wall St. reform. NYT: "The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that market participants would not have to comply with many aspects of derivatives reform scheduled to take effect in mid-July ... The announcement follows a similar statement on Tuesday from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ... Regulators have missed more than two dozen deadlines for new Dodd-Frank rules, which cover a swath of topics, be it consumer protections in mortgage lending, bank responsibilities for dealing with city governments, or future resolution powers for troubled financial institutions ... Observers say that the two delays this week make sense: with regulators so behind schedule, putting some of the rules into effect could be problematic. Still, regulatory experts warned that delays could be dangerous."
Sen. Bernie Sanders introduces bill to clamp down on oil speculation. The Hill: "The bill requires that the CFTC chairman to within two weeks impose position limits 'in any registered entity on or through which crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, or heating oil futures or swaps are traded …' ... Sanders and other liberal Democrats met with [Chairman Gary] Gensler in the Capitol last month to discuss the issue. The lawmakers blasted Gensler after the meeting, saying he did not show a sense of urgency about issuing the final position-limits rule. Gensler has said the CFTC needs time to analyze more than 12,000 comments that have been filed on the rule before finalizing it."
Breakfast Sides
Senate to vote again on ending ethanol subsidies. The Hill: "... the politics of Tuesday’s battle were clouded by Democratic anger at Coburn’s surprise procedural move last week that set up the vote ... 'I believe if it weren’t for the process, we would have 60 votes,' [Dem Sen. Dianne] Feinstein said ... while Feinstein was optimistic, ethanol retains powerful political support from Corn Belt lawmakers in both parties."
New study finds children with Medicaid discriminated against, often turned away or delayed care. NYT: "Sixty-six percent of those who mentioned Medicaid-CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) were denied appointments, compared with 11 percent who said they had private insurance ... In 89 clinics that accepted both kinds of patients, the waiting time for callers who said they had Medicaid was an average of 22 days longer."
President further cracks down on employers who hire undocumented workers. WSJ: "The Obama administration [notified] another 1,000 companies in all 50 states Wednesday the government plans to inspect their hiring records. Businesses across the U.S. that rely on low-skilled labor are working to stave off Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits, which can lead to the loss of large numbers of employees, reduced productivity and legal expenses. Wednesday's surge in so-called silent raids drew criticism from both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and immigrant advocates."
