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: Good Jobs Tour Hits Detroit
OurFuture.org's Terrance Heath: "Today, the Congressional Progressive Caucus brings its Speak Out For Good Jobs tour to Detroit. Caucus members promise to 'listen to what everyday Americans have to say and take that back to Washington with them as they continue to fight to reinvigorate the American Dream.' If so, Detroit has a story to tell; one of a city and a dream in decline ... [But] they will find no lack of ideas on how to get Detroit moving in the right direction..."
President Takes Over Debt Limit Talks
President to meet with Senate leaders on debt limit today. NYT: "The meetings were set up after talks being led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. collapsed last week when Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 Republican in the House, quit the negotiations, citing Democratic insistence on tax increases. Heading into this week’s meeting, Mr. McConnell sent a clear message on Sunday that he was no more interested in tax increases than was Mr. Cantor."
Deal not expected this week, missing initial deadline, as competing pressures mount. The Hill: "[House Min. Leader Pelosi] will demand a seat at the table because Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will need Democratic votes to pass a compromise ... She will insist that raising revenues by closing special tax breaks be part of the deal ... Senate Democratic leaders last week called for the debt-limit deal to include new spending on infrastructure and green energy technology. McConnell summarily dismissed the Democratic proposal as 'not serious' ... But Obama appeared to endorse [it] Saturday ... Liberals such as Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have warned against cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) ... and other conservatives have pledged to oppose a debt increase unless accompanied by a balanced budget agreement with strict restrictions against tax increases."
GOP more open to compromise on military spending cuts than raising revenue. W. Post: "Senior GOP lawmakers and leadership aides said it would be far easier to build support for a debt-reduction package that cuts the Pentagon budget — a key Democratic demand — than one that raises revenue by tinkering with the tax code ... House Republican leaders said they have found a surprising willingness to consider defense cuts that would have been unthinkable five years ago ..."
"Tea Party Plans Its Own Debt Panel" reports NYT: "...a Tea Party debt commission ... plans to hold hearings over the summer, in the hopes of delivering recommendations to lawmakers by January. The commission is being organized by FreedomWorks ... members will be chosen from 18 swing states, and will hold hearings in those states over the summer..."
Tea Party activists risking credibility by insisting on no debt limit increase at all. TPM's Benjy Sarlin: "...every time they lay down a line in the sand and the GOP walks over it unscathed, their credibility withers. House Republicans have already cut significant deals with Democrats twice, on extending the Bush tax cuts and on passing the continuing resolution. In both instances, Tea Party members in the House like Michele Bachmann and Steve King threatened to kill the legislation with the grassroots' help. They neither succeeded in blocking the deals or in damaging the party's hold over conservatives..."
Bill Bradley proposes subsidies for hiring in USA Today oped: "... the president might propose that if any company employing more than 50 workers hires additional people and lays off no one, the federal government will pay 20% of the cost (that is wages and benefits) of those new employees up to $20,000 per employee. For part-time employees moving to full time, the tax subsidy would be lower — but still significant ... an increase of 0.9% in GDP growth would generate enough in taxes to pay for the program."
GOP Presidential Prospects Find Facts Elusive On Economy
"Romney Falsely Calls Long-Term Unemployment ‘Worst In Recorded History’ Under Obama" reports TPM: "Great Depression-era data, such as it exists can't easily be compared to BLS figures. But the Washington Post's fact-checker Glenn Kessler gave it a whirl and found two well-regarded historical accounts putting the number of people who'd been unemployed for more than a year over or about 60 percent. That's significantly worse than the current figures -- which suggests very strongly that camp Romney's claim, which they based on a now-corrected CBS news story, is untrue. That -- along with, of course, the creation of key safety net programs in the years since -- is one of the big reason things in this country don't look much more like they did in the 1930s."
Time finds "The Cracks in Rick Perry’s Job-Growth Record": "Perry’s main claim to job-creation fame, though, comes from his high-profile raids on other states. He is a master at the theater of job poaching ... Beginning in 2003, Perry convinced the Texas legislature to give him control over several massive, largely unsupervised funds that provide subsidies to businesses that move to Texas. His office proudly claims the two biggest funds have created over 54,000 jobs in the last eight years ... A Dec. 2010 analysis by the Texas Comptroller found that $119 million of that money went to companies that didn’t deliver on the jobs they promised ... It has spent some $320 million on tax credits and other subsidies for high tech companies willing to move to Texas. An October 2010 investigation by the Dallas Morning News found that $16 million of that money was awarded to companies with investors or officers who are large campaign donors."
EARLIER at OurFuture.org: "The 'Texas Miracle' Is A Mirage"
Politiact to scrub Rep. Michele Bachmann's Sunday show interviews later today.
Federal Government Investigating Access To Health Care
NYT highlights doctor complaints over federal government research on access to care: "According to government documents obtained from Obama administration officials, the mystery shoppers will call medical practices and ask if doctors are accepting new patients and, if so, how long the wait would be. The government is eager to know whether doctors give different answers to callers depending on whether they have public insurance, like Medicaid, or private insurance, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Dr. George J. Petruncio, a family doctor in Turnersville, N.J., said: 'This is not a way to build trust in government. Why should I trust someone who does not correctly identify himself?'"
Dean Baker reminds, "This is a standard practice for researchers": "... it would be outrageous if the government were spending close to $1 trillion a year on various health insurance programs without knowing how effective they were in providing care ... If they find the government too intrusive, as several complained, then they have the option to work in Canada, the United Kingdom or any other wealthy country and earn about half as much."
Breakfast Sides
Conservatives attack NLRB proposal for fairer union elections as another attempt at EFCA. The Hill: "'It’s the next best thing to card-check. Organized labor wanted to have card-check because it precludes the employer from expressing its views on unionization, which results in employee discussion and debate and an informed electorate,' Peter Schaumber, a former NLRB chairman appointed by President George W. Bush, told reporters Wednesday on a conference call hosted by the Workforce Fairness Institute. Unions and Democrats have defended the proposed rules, saying they provide more balance and help stop delays by employers in the union election process. The proposed rules would likely hasten union elections by allowing electronic filing, cutting down on litigation and providing more compliance help. But supporters have also called the regulations modest and not nearly as far-reaching as EFCA was."
Government experts privately uncertain about potential of natural gas. NYT: " In scores of internal e-mails and documents, officials within the Energy Information Administration, or E.I.A., voice skepticism about the shale gas industry. One official says the shale industry may be 'set up for failure.' 'It is quite likely that many of these companies will go bankrupt,' a senior adviser to the Energy Information Administration administrator predicts. Several officials echo concerns raised during previous bubbles, in housing and in technology stocks, for example, that ended in a bust."
Conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court judge accused of choking colleague right before anti-union ruling. AP: "Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Justice David Prosser put her in a chokehold during the dispute ... 'The facts are that I was demanding that he get out of my office and he put his hands around my neck in anger in a chokehold,' Bradley told the newspaper. ... A bitter and nearly month-long recount ended [this spring] with Prosser’s reelection ..."
