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: Ignorance Index IV: Job Killing De-Regulation
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "House Speaker John Boehner and his Tea Party comrades regularly assail 'job-killing regulations that are strangling employers all over the country.' Lurid, graphic, and no doubt focus group and message dial tested, these very words – job-killing regulations strangling employers – are on the palm cards for every conservative politician or Fox World anchor. But, as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor would say, 'How can anyone believe that?' Here’s a chart of what’s happened to corporations and to workers since the recession officially ended. Profits are up; CEO salaries are soaring. It isn’t employers who are being strangled; it is their workers. In reality, the whole mantra of 'jobs killing regulation' could only come from a command central that rivals Orwell's Ministry of Truth, touting 'ignorance is strength.' We just lost 7 million jobs in a devastating recession largely caused by Wall Street’s excesses – aided and abetted by what turned out to be 'job killing DE-regulation."
Credit Report
Moody's has already put the nation's credit rating on review for possible downgrade. WaPo: "Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday it has put the U.S. government’s top-notch credit rating on review for a possible downgrade because of the risk that Washington will not raise the federal debt ceiling in time to avoid a default. The firm added that even a brief failure of the government to pay its bills would mean that the United States’s Aaa rating .would likely no longer be appropriate.' The announcement comes after Standard & Poor’s, another of the major credit rating agencies, has said that it would dramatically downgrade the U.S. government’s credit rating if payments were missed."
Standard & Poors joined Moody's in slating the nation's credit rating for possible downgrade. Reuters: "Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has warned there is a one-in-two chance it could cut the United States' prized triple-A rating if a deal on raising the government's debt ceiling is not agreed soon. Putting the U.S. on negative watch, S&P warned that it could cut the rating this month if talks between the White House and Republicans remain stalemated. Any cut would be by one or more notches, it added. ;Today's CreditWatch placement signals our view that, owing to the dynamics of the political debate on the debt ceiling, there is at least a one-in-two likelihood that we could lower the long-term rating on the U.S. within the next 90 days,' the agency said in a statement on Thursday. The deadline to raise the ceiling is on August 2."
President Obama has started the clock, giving lawmakers 23-36 hours before "decision time" on the debt limit. HuffPo: " President Barack Obama gave lawmakers 24 to 36 hours to finalize the path forward for raising the debt ceiling during the latest high-stakes White House meeting on Thursday. 'It’s decision time,' the president told attendees, according to the notes of a Democratic official. 'We need concrete plans to move this forward.' As the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline approaches, Obama and congressional leadership from both parties met for their sixth straight day of talks. There were no verbal altercations between the president and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), as there had been the day before. In fact, multiple Democratic sources relayed that Cantor barely spoke. ...Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who earlier in the day had warned lawmakers that the government was "running out of time" to negotiate, again stressed to attendees the perils of not just failing to raise the debt ceiling but of not reducing the nation's deficit and debt. ...Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), meanwhile, reiterated his position that the administration's approach was insufficient for resolving the nation's debt problem. 'He continued to press the White House to get serious about reducing spending in a meaningful way,' a Republican aide said. ...If it all sounded familiar, it's because these are the exact same arguments each side has been making for days, if not weeks."
Joe Scarborough says "This is George W. Bush's debt." Washington Monthly: "'Five years from now? It’s Barack Obama’s. But right now, this is what happens when you spend the type of money you spent from 2001 to 2009…. This is what we have been led to in 2011. This is George W. Bush’s debt…. You can’t just put this on Barack Obama.' Now, to a certain extent, Scarborough is only telling part of the story. From his perspective, Bush-era fiscal irresponsibility is the result of reckless spending, and it’s a point with merit. Republicans paid for two wars, health care expansion, and a new education law without even trying to pay for any of it. What Scarborough neglects to mention is that the debt spiraled because of tax cuts, which the GOP also didn’t try to pay for. But the host’s larger point is accurate and important. Those complaining most about raising the debt ceiling don’t fully appreciate the fact that Democrats aren’t the ones who created this mess."
Dangerous Debt Game
Eugene Robinson explains why Republicans' little game with the debt ceiling is so dangerous: "Let’s review why the little game Republicans are playing is so dangerous. If the debt ceiling is not raised by Aug. 2, the United States government faces default. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, a man not given to hyperbole, said Wednesday that the result would be a “huge financial calamity” — and the wound, he noted, would be entirely self-inflicted. 'Fairly soon after that date,' Bernanke said, 'there would have to be significant cuts in Social Security, Medicare, military pay or some combination of those in order to avoid borrowing more money.' ...In a larger sense, though, it doesn’t matter whom we owe. Choking off the government’s ability to borrow would cause an unimaginable cash-flow crisis — at least $306 billion in bills for August against just $172 billion in revenue The most hopeful sign is that some Republicans, at least, understand that their refusal to give an inch, even as Democrats show a willingness to compromise, means the GOP will be blamed if Social Security checks don’t go out on time. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned that the party’s 'brand' could be destroyed."
Joshua Holland can tell you five disastrous consequences of a debt ceiling meltdown: "Most Americans are unsure what a default actually means, and with good reason – it's virtually (but not entirely) unprecedented. So what might happen if the worst-case scenario should come to pass? We run down some possibilities below. ...1. Around August 3, Some People the Federal Government Owes Money To Will Stop Getting Paid ...2. Real People Would be Hurt, Badly (Especially in the 'Red' States) ...3. Hurting the Economy: Demand Would Crash Further; Personal Debt Would Rise ... 4. Hurting the Economy: Interest Rates May Skyrocket ...5. It Would Increase the Deficit. This is what's at stake in this bit of Beltway kabuki theater. Serious policy analysts can and do debate the precise measure of these impacts, but nobody operating within the bounds of intellectual honesty disagrees that a default would be extremely painful. Yet, again, a plurality of Americans – especially conservatives – want to see this tragic scenario come to pass. And it's not just that they don't understand what's at stake – they're being willfully misled by their anointed leaders."
Raucous Caucuses
Republicans leaders are cornered between the President and the tea party. NPR: "Meanwhile, it's clear that the disagreements between partisans may not be as much of a eventual dealbreaker as the intraparty differences between Republicans. The split between Obama and Republicans is nothing compared to the gap between GOP leaders and their Tea Party fueled rank and file. Top congressional leaders appear to have essentially painted themselves into a corner between Obama on one side and the just-say-no bloc of House Republicans on the other. Still, congressional Republican leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader, and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio are signaling their firebrands that perhaps its time to pull the ripcords on their parachutes. That the warnings seem to be going unheeded is leaving many people with a sinking feeling."
Republicans are bolting from McConnell's deal. Politico: "House Speaker John Boehner could face a revolt if he follows Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s lead in trying to give the president the power to lift the debt ceiling. House Republicans spit on McConnell’s proposal Thursday, even as Boehner refused to dismiss the idea... But earlier in the day, Boehner declined to pronounce the death of McConnell’s plan, which has gained some traction in the Senate and is being held in reserve as a last-resort option to avoid an economic disaster. Rather than getting a vote as is, the plan will more likely move forward in another form or alongside appetizing additives intended to help Republicans in both chambers digest the debt hike and a cession of power to the president."
Meanwhile, moderate Dems may not play dealmaker role this time. Politico: "Moderate House Democrats, long presumed to be the linchpin voting bloc needed to seal a debt-limit deal, are watching the latest breakdown in negotiations and coming to a new conclusion: Don’t count on us. These centrist Democrats, who are used to being political targets for Republicans and irritants for their own party, were critical to keeping the government open in the shutdown debate back in April — 81 Democrats helped push the spending resolution across the finish line after dozens of conservatives bailed on the deal. But this time around, moderate Democrats are starting to sour on the process, arguing that the intractability among Republican rank and file is threatening their support."
Obama is on notice: Don't diss Dems on the debt deal. NPR: "Republicans have been reluctant to buy into a debt-ceiling deal that includes tax hikes. Some Democrats fear the White House is going so far to please Republicans that President Obama is throwing his own party overboard."
Cantor Can't Deal
Ezra Klein explains why Obama walked out of the debt ceiling meeting with Cantor: "The breakup of the meeting, while dramatic, seems a bit less so if you know that Obama also said "I'll see you all tomorrow" before leaving the room. But, as if confirming Obama's accusation that this was all "posturing," Cantor immediately rushed to reporters to inform them of the president's dramatic exit. Nevertheless, one goal of the talks is now fulfilled. In his initial remarks announcing the White House negotiations, Obama said one goal was that 'the parties will at least know where each other’s bottom lines are.' Now they do. Last night, Obama was clear with Cantor: either Republicans have to give on revenues or they have to give on their demand to match each dollar in debt-ceiling increases with a dollar in spending cuts. But there's no $2.5 trillion package -- which is the size of the debt-ceiling increase needed to get us through the next election -- that's all spending cuts. The Republican Party, meanwhile, doesn't have a bottom line so much as it has bottom lines, some of which conflict."
Top Dems want to send Cantor back to the kiddie table. TMP: "Behind the scenes, leading members of both parties have concluded that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is an impediment to resolving the debt limit standoff, and should back down. Now, Democrats are publicly calling for him to get real or go home. 'House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has shown that he's shouldn't even be at the table,' said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a blistering floor speech Thursday morning. 'And Republicans agree.' In a press conference shortly after Reid's floor speech, one of his top deputies, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) explained the Dems' frustrations. 'He is basically standing in the way,' Schumer said. 'It can't just be Eric Cantor deciding everything. If Eric Cantor decides everything, I fear we'll be in default.'"
Cantor's on thin ice with some in the GOP, too. Politico: "For years, Democrats from Obama on down have sought to make Cantor a whipping boy, as they think his persona is too smug for mainstream America. The Senate’s Democratic Policy and Communications Committee pulled this quotation from Cantor’s high school yearbook to portray him as unreasonable: 'I want what I want when I want it.' But after Cantor spent a decade rising through Republican ranks as a protégé of former House Majority Leaders Roy Blunt and Tom DeLay, it’s not just Democrats who believe he hasn’t yet grown into his role as the No. 2 Republican in the House and a national leader. Critics said he has been petulant in his dealings with the White House, and in positioning himself to the political right of Boehner whenever possible. They point to him walking out on the Biden talks, dominating nearly a week’s worth of discussions with the president and congressional leaders and complaining about being kept in the dark on the Obama-Boehner talks. 'He lost a lot of credibility when he walked away from the table … It was childish,' said one House Republican with close ties to Cantor who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve their friendship. 'This is his time to perform.'"
E.J. Dionne explains that Cantor is why Obama can't celebrate yet: "Here's the worrisome scenario: Cantor takes every domestic spending cut that was discussed as part of the negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden, declares that the administration has blessed them, and packages them together for a vote. Never mind that Cantor walked out of the talks before there was serious negotiation about defense cuts and revenues, and thus no real agreement. Cantor, who needs to embarrass the Democrats and pull Obama down from the commanding heights, was shrewd to get the administration talking early about cuts in domestic spending and to put a lot of its cards on the table. He can now play those cards against Obama by forcing the president to reject reductions he had once considered when a larger agreement looked possible. This might look like a political game. But at this stage, House Republicans can't afford to end this whole sorry episode with a whimper. The bang they are looking for could yet cause a lot of collateral damage."
Breakfast Sides
The FBI will open an investigation into News Corp.'s hacking of 9/11 victims. CNN: "The FBI has launched an investigation into Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. after a report that employees or associates may have attempted to hack into phone conversations and voice mail of September 11 survivors, victims and their families, a federal law enforcement source told CNN Thursday. "We are aware of the allegations and are looking into them," said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation. 'We'll be looking at anyone acting for or on behalf of News Corp., from the top down to janitors,' to gather information and determine whether any laws may have been broken. Because the investigation just began, it's too early to say when the first interviews will be conducted, the source said, adding the probe is a 'high priority.'"
News Corp.'s hack work could turn Fox News into a news corpse, writes the Guardian's Megan Carpenter: "Any proof that News Corp did try out its phone hacking here could jeopardise more than an as-yet incomplete acquisition or one newspaper. As the LA Times noted, convictions among News Corp employees could potentially endanger the company's broadcast licences in the US and, as King's call for an FBI showed, endanger the company's reputation among once-loyal conservatives. That would likely be a bigger loss to the company than even News of the World, given Fox News' near-monopoly on conservative viewers these days."
Sarah Palin's movie debuted ... to an empty theater, writes Conor Friedersdorf in the Atlantic: "It isn't strictly accurate to say that I sat through the whole movie alone. Just as the previews started, two young women walked in giggling together and took seats three rows behind me. ...But they only lasted 20 minutes before walking out. ...Afterward, I found a theater manager, told him I was a reporter, and asked if he could give me numbers about ticket sales. 'Did anyone pay and not show up?' He said that they'd sold out all the Harry Potter movies until 2 a.m., and that all 5,000 seats looked full. 'No,' I said, 'I saw the Sarah Palin movie. Do you know the figures for that one?' 'Oh,' he said, "I can't release sales figures.' 'In hindsight, do you wish you'd had one more screen showing Harry Potter?' He had no comment."
