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: "The Fight-Back Has Begun"
OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: "...Van Jones, in a landmark rousing speech at Netroots Nation on Saturday, said there are some basics that we ought to agree on: that 'hard work should pay in this country' and that everyone who is willing and able to do that work should have that opportunity to earn enough to support their households and to ensure that the next generation has a better life. 'That is what our grandparents fought for, that's what our parents fought for,' and that is what we should be fighting for, he said. 'We have a common enemy and we face a common peril' moving the nation in the opposite direction from that goal, Jones said: a conservative movement that is 'committed to one thing and one thing only ... killing the American dream.' In the face of that enemy, 'the fight-back has begun,' Jones declared."
Will Medicaid Lose In Debt Limit Deal?
Debt limit deal talks further intensify this week. The Hill: "The future of Medicare and Medicaid will be a hot topic as negotiations on the debt ceiling continue this week ... At least three bipartisan meetings helmed by Vice President Biden have been scheduled..."
Medicaid for the poor in Washington's crosshairs. TPM: "...Medicare benefits are off-limits, a message that Democrats plan to reinforce at every opportunity through November 2012 ... The most logical option left is Medicaid ... But there is one politically tricky obstacle to cutting Medicaid: Millions of seniors -- including those who consider themselves middle class -- rely on Medicaid cover their nursing home care ... aides and lawmakers are floating a way forward: shielding the elderly from Medicaid cuts while slashing aid to poor and uninsured Americans."
Social Security benefits should be increased, not cut, argues Thomas Geoghegan in NYT oped: "... to close the deficit and raise benefits to nearly half of average worker earnings, we would need to find an additional 5 percent of taxable payroll, or find the money elsewhere. If we lift the cap on the payroll tax without paying more benefits to those above it, that gets us 2.32 percent ... Dedicating revenues from the estate tax at its 2009 levels to Social Security gets another half percent. A few other tweaks, like covering new public employees, add another 0.42 percent. The remainder can be found by raising the payroll tax by roughly 1 percentage point for both employees and employers."
Tell the Vice President: No Cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Take action by clicking here.
No Dem Consensus On Jobs
Senate Dems don't agree yet on a jobs agenda. Politico: "...Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House are open to extending a payroll tax break to stimulate the economy, but that has spawned unease from Democratic senators such as Maryland’s Ben Cardin who worry that it would drive up the deficit and unnerve liberals such as Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, who are concerned it would deplete the Social Security trust fund. Sen. Mark Begich [wants] a boost in infrastructure spending and changes to visas to boost tourism ... But others, like Lieberman, said the best way to regain confidence in the economy is to wait out Vice President Joe Biden and the bipartisan group of six senators who are negotiating a major deficit-slashing package..."
Republican economists admit Obama inherited, not created, awful economy. NYT's John Harwood: "...economic advisers to Republican politicians concede that most of the distress Americans feel now stems from the recession and financial crisis he inherited."
Most swing states actually have above average employment. W. Post's Chris Ciliizza: "...the unemployment rate outpaced the national average in only four swing states last month: Florida, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina ... Both parties are likely to target 10 states that have unemployment rates below the national average — Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin ... Obama could lose all four states where unemployment is above the national average and — assuming he can retain the other states he won in 2008 — still win a relatively comfortable reelection with 299 electoral votes."
But some city jobs won't come back for years. NYT: "... nearly 50 metropolitan regions — or more than one out of seven — are unlikely to bring back all the jobs lost in the recession until after 2020. Among those areas are Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio; Detroit; Reno, Nev.; and Atlantic City, according to the report commissioned by the United States Conference of Mayors."
President still needs to win back more white working-class voters, argues TNR's Ruy Teixeira: "... the good news for Obama is that the level of support he needs from this group of voters is not terribly high. While a 30 point deficit might sink him, he could survive pretty easily on a 23 point deficit, John Kerry’s margin in 2004. That Obama would likely win with this very large deficit, while Kerry lost, indicates just how much the demographics of the country have changed in the 8 years since Kerry’s defeat. But while the bar for Obama may be lower, he still needs to clear it, and at the moment, that’s looking like a real challenge."
Multinationals pushing for same tax break that didn't create jobs six years ago. NYT: "Some of the nation’s largest corporations have amassed vast profits outside the country ... Under the proposal, known as a repatriation holiday, the federal income tax owed on such profits returned to the United States would fall to 5.25 percent for one year, from 35 percent ... Though the [2005] tax break lured them into bringing $312 billion back to the United States, 92 percent of that money was returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks ... 60 percent of the benefits went to just 15 of the largest United States multinational companies — many of which laid off domestic workers, closed plants and shifted even more of their profits and resources abroad in hopes of cashing in on the next repatriation holiday."
Breakfast Sides
House attempt to cut key energy research program freezing efforts. Politico: "Some of the high-risk, high-reward projects under ARPA-E’s umbrella include efforts to develop car batteries that travel farther on a single charge than with an internal combustion engine and methods to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels with solar energy ... the House Appropriations Committee approved a budget to cut ARPA-E’s funding to $100 million [from$180 million] ... ARPA-E Director Arun Majumdar said. 'This is the first step, and I’m concerned, clearly, because with that number, it makes my life difficult to recruit people.""
Republicans unabashedly blocking nominations. NYT: "The list of vacancies in senior economic and regulatory positions has lengthened to roughly a dozen since last November ... several of the current standoffs differ in at least one respect: Republicans have said they are not opposing a particular nominee but rather any nominee, whoever it may be."
Feds now embedding regulators inside big banks. WSJ: "... the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are increasing the number of examiners who go to work every day at the companies they regulate. Much like reporters assigned to a military unit during war, these regulatory 'embeds' get unprecedented access to financial firms such as Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley."
Backlog of foreclosures means homeowners aren't being forced out. NYT: "... the foreclosure system is bogged down by the volume of cases, borrowers are fighting to keep their houses and many lenders seem to be in no hurry to add repossessed houses to their books.
Aid to displaced workers may be scaled back in trade deal compromise. The Hill: "It's unclear what version of [Trade Adjustment Assistance] will emerge from the talks but it's likely that the administration and Democrats will have to forego some of the 2009 changes to TAA in order to ink a broader long-term deal for the program. That could mean excluding service workers and cutting back on the healthcare tax benefit that was added as part of the economic stimulus. The length of the reauthorization and how it would go through Congress also is in play."
