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: Dems Must Embrace Real Shared Sacrifice
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "A recent New York Times/CBS News poll showed that 72% of of those surveyed agreed that federal taxes should be raised for households making more than $250,000 - including 55% of Republicans ... Who's speaking for this Republican majority (and most everybody else) in Washington? Only Sen. Bernie Sanders, Socialist from Vermont. Sanders has unequivocally said that he won't support a deal to raise the debt ceiling unless it includes higher taxes on on the rich. Where are the Democrats? Nancy Pelosi's been marginalized from the discussions, even though a deal won't be possible without the support of Democrats in Congress. The White House and Harry Reid have refused to take a firm stand."
No Firm Lines From Dems In Debt Limit Talks
Demand your representatives support real shared sacrifice, and a 1-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to new taxes on the rich by going to OurFuture.org/SharedSacrifice.
Dems not drawing firm lines in debt limit talks, reports HuffPost: "... it's becoming increasingly evident that the Republicans feel emboldened to draw lines in the sand while the Democrats have yet to find an end point to the compromises they are willing to make ... As McConnell was re-stating his plank, Democrats were revamping theirs. A top Senate aide said that Democratic negotiators were looking to attach a trigger mechanism to the final debt ceiling deal, dictating that if the ratio of debt to GDP wasn't reduced in a certain amount of time, Congress would be forced to pass reduction measures that had a ratio of three dollars in spending cuts to every one dollar in tax increases."
Speaker Boehner deems debt limit deadline "artificial." The Hill: "'Dealing with this deficit problem is far more important than meeting some artificial date created by the Treasury secretary,' Boehner said in an interview taped Tuesday for Sean Hannity’s program on Fox News. Separately, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he understood that the deadline would be moved back, to later in August."
New report shows immediate devastation if debt limit not raised. USA Today: "... the analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center ... shows that in August, the government could not afford to meet 44% of its obligations. Since the $134 billion deficit for that month couldn't be covered with more borrowing, programs would have to be cut. If Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, payments to defense contractors and interest payments on Treasury bonds were exempt, that would be all the government could afford for the month. No money for troops or veterans. No tax refunds. No food stamps or welfare. No federal salaries or benefits. Want to protect the social safety net? That would be possible — but only if Treasury stopped paying defense contractors, jeopardizing national security. Plus virtually every federal agency and employee."
Dems reject Lieberman-Coburn plan to raise Medicare retirement age. W. Post: "...the swift rejection of the proposal among Democrats reflects the significant obstacles that remain to any agreement to cut the deficit and raise the nation’s legal borrowing limit."
But Medicaid cuts on the table. Politico: "...the Obama administration [is working on] an idea to change the way federal matching funds work and save money in the process — and it would probably do it by shifting costs to the states. If that happens, Medicaid advocates fear, the states will just pass on the cuts to providers and, ultimately, the patients ... The administration wants to create what’s known as a 'blended rate' for these programs, recalculating the levels so states receive federal dollars at the same rate for all populations in joint state-federal health programs. And in the process, they want to contribute to Medicaid savings totaling $100 billion. This has Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) nervous."
Senate GOPers step up campaign for a anti-Keynesian balanced budget amendment as part of debt limit deal. Roll Call: "More than a dozen lawmakers will hold a news conference Wednesday morning to reintroduce the bill they touted in March, followed by colloquies on the floor Wednesday and Thursday and multiple television appearances throughout the week. McConnell will introduce a 'broke or balanced' talking point that leaders hope will energize an effort that has failed multiple times ... most lawmakers are slotted to write local opinion pieces, discuss the amendment in local TV appearances ... 'Given that Republicans just voted for a budget that increases the debt by $9 trillion, this is nothing more than a hoax to mollify their right-wing base,' a Democratic leadership aide said."
Trade Deals Take Step Forward
Bipartisan deal on aid for displaced workers paves way for all three pending trade agreements, but fight not over. NYT: "Senator Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the Finance Committee, said that he would convene a hearing Thursday morning, starting a process that could end with the bills passing into law before the end of summer ....John Boehner, the House speaker, said he would hold separate votes on the free trade agreements and the benefits program. That step, even if all four pieces pass, would terminate a special process that allows for the rapid approval of trade agreements, leaving the package much more vulnerable to Senate opposition ... The deal reached Tuesday would offer benefits for the current year and the next two years, at a level between the old program and the 2009 version. For example, the government historically paid 65 percent of workers’ health care premiums, which was increased to 80 percent in 2009. If the deal is approved, the government would now pay 73 percent. And the program will once again include service workers..."
Question of linking worker aid to trade deal remains point of dispute. W. Post: "...given the lukewarm response from Republican leaders Tuesday -- as well as the potential for the House to try to separate TAA from the South Korea deal -- it was unclear whether the trade pacts would make it through both chambers before the congressional recess in August. A senior administration official acknowledged that the negotiators had 'agreed on the underlying substance' of the trade deals but not on the process for moving the pacts through Congress."
Bachmann Benefited From Medicaid
Anti-Medicaid Bachmann received $137,000 in Medicaid funds. NBC: "While Rep. Michele Bachmann has forcefully denounced the Medicaid program for swelling the 'welfare rolls,' the mental health clinic run by her husband has been collecting annual Medicaid payments totaling over $137,000 for the treatment of patients since 2005 ... [The payments] appear to contradict some of Michelle Bachmann's public accounts this week ..."
Former cap-and-trade supporter Tim Pawlenty joins climate denial camp. The Hill: "'So there is climate change, but the reality is the science of it indicates that most of it, if not all of it, is caused by natural causes,' he said on Fox News. 'And as to the potential human contribution to that, there's a great scientific dispute about that very issue.'"
At least two presidential candidates on record questioning need for a minimum wage. W. Monthly's Steve Benen: "Michele Bachmann, for example, has argued that eliminating the minimum wage would eliminate unemployment entirely. Asked [yesterday] to defend this claim, Bachmann refused, but conceded she’s consider eliminating the policy ... Campaigning in Iowa, Herman Cain was reminded of his efforts to combat minimum wage in the 1990s, and asked for his position on the issue today ... 'I don’t think the current minimum wage is necessary because most companies are paying higher than the minimum wage.'"
President Makes Manufacturing Push In Iowa
Manufacturing workers in Iowa praise President's jobs speech. Des Moines Register: "Obama found a generally friendly audience at the plant ... Independent voter Joe Hesse, 44, who is a plate manager at Alcoa, said he thought Obama’s speech was on the mark. 'Our business is coming back. Our volume’s back,' he said ... Democrat Retina Rummels, 44, had watched as more than 350 of her fellow Alcoa workers were laid off in two waves, starting in the first quarter of 2009, and has seen the company rebound and rehire those workers. 'I think everything the president has done since he’s been in office has contributed to the way the economy is going,' said Rummels, a plant supervisor."
President still beats all GOPers, despite weak economic numbers, in new McClatchy poll: "Romney comes closest, losing 46-42 percent, but he's lost some ground; in April, Obama led Romney, 46-45. In other matchups, Obama beats Giuliani 48-41 percent; Bachmann 49-37 percent; Perry 48-39 percent; Pawlenty 47-33 percent; and Palin 56-30 percent."
President's team disagrees with pollster Stan Greenberg on economic message. Time: "[Greenberg] fears President Obama may make a huge mistake by trying to convince voters he saved the economy from a much worse fate. 'No one is going to give you much credit for what you have done for this recovery,' says Greenberg ... 'Stan seems to feel that you can run for President and be President without putting things in context in any way,' [says David] Axelrod [who] has argued that a forward-looking message needs to include clear mentions of both the current successes of the President and the Republican approach that Obama believes helped create the current situation."
President to hold news conference this morning reports NYT.
Bank Of America May Settle
Bank of America nears $8.5B settlement with investors over bad mortgage deals. NYT: "The settlement would wipe out all of the company’s earnings in the first half of this year, and it could also provide a template for deals with other big banks that face tens of billions in similar claims ... The proposed settlement is with a group of more than 20 investors that include the asset managers Pimco, Metropolitan Life and BlackRock, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ... [Meanwhile,] 50 state attorneys general are in the final stages of settling an investigation into abuses by the biggest mortgage servicers, and are pressing the big banks to pay up to $30 billion in fines and penalties."
Bank regulator faces criticism for proposed rules that undercut state consumer protection laws, including from Treasury. NYT: "Banks, state regulators and consumer advocates have been sparring in legalese-filled comment letters over the last month in response to rules proposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks. Even the Treasury Department has criticized the comptroller’s rules and sided with state officials, saying the rules do not hew closely enough to the Dodd-Frank legislation ... some consumer advocates say that financial companies were able to get away with lax lending standards and predatory behavior during the surge in home sales before 2008 in part because the lenders could claim that more restrictive state rules did not apply to them."
Breakfast Sides
HHS shelves research project on access to care after doctor backlash reports NYT.
Homeland Security and Education Dept. heads push for immigration reform. The Hill: "Napolitano said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have the resources necessary to remove the estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally. The DREAM Act, she said, would grant conditional citizenship to people who pose little or no threat to society and allow DHS to pursue the most harmful illegal immigrants."
Unions to invest pension funds into infrastructure. NYT: "The A.F.L.-C.I.O. said it would announce on Wednesday that it intends to work with pension fund managers to ensure that at least $10 billion in union pension money is made available in the next five years to finance infrastructure projects. Richard L. Trumka, president of the labor federation, will present the plan at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago as part of organized labor’s effort to get the federal government, banks and money managers to do more to issue bonds or create other mechanisms to finance infrastructure projects."
Ohio anti-union law faces repeal effort. NYT: "...the group leading the effort saying it had enough signatures to put it on the ballot and could deliver them to the state on Wednesday."
