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: Speaker Boehner's Disgrace
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "Seldom have we witnessed a more dishonest speech in prime time than that delivered by House Speaker John Boehner last night on the debt ceiling crisis. 'The sad truth,' he declared, 'is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today.' ... The sad truth is that statement is a bald lie, applied to a president who, far from wanting a 'blank check,' has endorsed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan for an unconscionable $2.7 trillion in over ten years from discretionary spending as ransom to Republican threats ... Today, please join the American Dream Movement, Moveon.org, the Campaign for America's Future and citizens across the country to make your voice known. Go to your legislator’s local office or call the Washington office. Make the message simple. Lift the debt ceiling, protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid."
Grassroots Presses Congress To Prevent Default
Websites overwhelmed after President's call to pressure Congress. Politico: "Monday night Obama took to the bully pulpit and asked Americans to contact their members of Congress and urge them to reach a compromise on the debt ceiling. Since the prime-time, televised speech aired, websites for Hill leaders have been down and other Congressional sites have been on the fritz, including the House Democrats' Budget Committee site. The New York delegation's sites have been down, also."
Boehner vents about dueling primetime TV speeches. CBS: "CBS News' Jill Jackson overhead the Speaker say: 'I didn't sign up for going mano-a-mano with the President of the United States.' His remark was dry in tone, and it was followed by silence as walked down the marble stairs and left the Capitol."
Republicans complain about Dems counting savings from war drawdowns, despite doing it themselves. CNN: "- The No. 2 Senate Republican blasted the debt ceiling package unveiled Monday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying its reliance on $1 trillion in savings from the winding down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan amounts to 'phony scoring.' At the same time, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona acknowledged Republicans have supported the same approach. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin counted the same savings in the budget he proposed earlier this year."
"Republican Leaders Voted for Drivers of U.S. Debt They Now Blame on Obama" reports Bloomberg: "...the speaker, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all voted for major drivers of the nation’s debt during the past decade: Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts and Medicare prescription drug benefits. They also voted for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, that rescued financial institutions and the auto industry. Together, a Bloomberg News analysis shows, these initiatives added $3.4 trillion to the nation’s accumulated debt and to its current annual budget deficit of $1.5 trillion."
Boehner plan would link additional debt limit increase to passage of other cuts recommended by congressional commission. The Hill: "Boehner introduced a plan Monday that would include $1.2 trillion in discretionary cuts. It would also create a special congressional committee to propose a future deficit-reduction package that would be guaranteed up-or-down votes. The major difference with Reid’s proposal is that Boehner’s plan would at first raise the debt by only $1 trillion. A later $1.6 trillion increase would be contingent on passage of the deficit-reduction plan from the special committee. ... [Reid would] establish a special bipartisan committee made up of 12 members to recommend another round of deficit cutting that would receive guaranteed up-or-down votes on the Senate floor by the end of 2011."
Republicans threaten to vote against Speaker Boehner's plan. The Hill: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) ... released a statement saying he would vote 'no' on the measure ... Conservative lawmakers Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) also came out against Boehner's plan ... [Rep.] Tom Cole (R-Okla.) conceded that there was a 'great concern' regarding the portion of the plan that would relegate entitlement and tax reform to a commission ..."
"Boehner Debt Ceiling Plan May Still Trigger S&P Downgrade" reports HuffPost: "...CNN's Erin Burnett relayed word from her sources on Wall Street that the newest Republican plan would not satisfy the credit rating agencies, which have soured on the idea of a short-term solution to the debt ceiling debate. Rather, it was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's approach (padded by counting the savings from the drawdown of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq) that would calm their nerves."
"The GOP's Debt Ceiling Stance Is Economic Nonsense" finds The Atlantic's Derek Thompson: "Republicans say they want to promote job growth. But by insisting on upfront spending cuts, they'll reduce overall demand, force massive state and local layoffs, and reduce help to the unemployed. Republicans say they want to eliminate uncertainty in the economy. But after pushing negotiations to the brink of default, many are insisting on holding this fight between one and three more times before the 2012 election, which multiplies the chance for a financial crisis. Republicans say they want to reduce the deficit. But they've rejected a $4 trillion deficit reduction package over a small portion of tax increases..."
"Harry Reid's Debt Proposal Will Leave Entitlement Benefits Untouched" reports HuffPost: "The plan ... would instead lean heavily on cuts to discretionary spending. The package will also reportedly include roughly $1 trillion in savings that will come from the drawdown of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which the Congressional Budget Office does score). Reid's office was notably hesitant to confirm that detail, cautioning reporters to wait until the final package is unveiled. That said, if entitlement programs remain more or less untouched in the plan, there would be few other areas from which to draw ten-year savings."
"After Boehner Releases Plan That Doesn’t Cut Entitlements, He Rejects Reid Plan For Not Cutting Entitlements" notes ThinkProgress.
Both sides still talking, reports CNN: "...behind-the-scenes talks are underway between Democratic and Republican leaders about a bipartisan deal to end the crisis, according to two Senate leaders intimately involved in the situation."
McConnell holds fire. Roll Call: "Despite mass GOP discontent with the Reid proposal — freshman Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire called it 'totally insufficient' — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refrained from offering a flat-out rejection in his remarks on the floor earlier in the day."
Jobs Crisis Quietly Persists
Employers turning their back on the unemployed. NYT: "A recent review of job vacancy postings on popular sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder and Craigslist revealed hundreds that said employers would consider (or at least “strongly prefer”) only people currently employed or just recently laid off ... Given that the average duration of unemployment today is nine months — a record high — limiting a search to the 'recently employed,' much less the currently employed, disqualifies millions ... Even if Congress passed a measure forbidding companies from making current employment a requirement for job applicants, companies could still simply decide not to hire people who are out of work. Discrimination would be difficult to prove."
Recession hitting people of color the hardest, finds Pew. NYT: "...median wealth of Hispanic households fell by 66 percent from 2005 to 2009. By contrast, the median wealth of whites fell by just 16 percent over the same period. African Americans saw their wealth drop by 53 percent. Asians also saw a big decline, with household wealth dropping 54 percent. The declines have led to the largest wealth disparities in the 25 years that the bureau has been collecting the data..."
TNR's John Judis blasts President and Speaker for "Hooverian logic": "... in framing the choice the country needs to make, Obama embraced the same Republican economic assumptions about debts and deficits that got Herbert Hoover in trouble after the 1929 stock market crash ... Look, politics is fine. It was good to see Obama draw some political lines, and I’d rather see a Democratic president re-elected. But more is at stake here ... Obama needs to tell people what’s really wrong with the economy, and what needs to be done. Otherwise, he is not doing his job."
"The Trade Deficit is the Most Important Deficit" argues New Deal 2.0's Jon Rynn: "We need to narrow the federal budget deficit by growing the economy, which generates wealth, part of which is then used for more revenue for the government. Narrowing the budget deficit by slashing spending will actually increase the deficit ... Closing the trade deficit, on the other hand, would actually create millions of jobs ... We can close the trade deficit by engaging in a serious industrial policy, one which will pull the manufacturing sector back up by rebuilding the infrastructure to prevent the worst of global warming and wean us away from oil..."
President's approval weighed down by decreasing support on the left. W. Post: "...Obama receives higher marks from crucial independents than Republicans when it comes to jobs. But appeasing his own party could prove to be a bigger challenge. The Post-ABC poll found that the number of liberal Democrats who strongly support Obama’s record on jobs plunged 22 points from 53 percent last year to 31 percent. The number of African Americans who believe the president’s actions have helped the economy has dropped from 77 percent in October to just over half of those surveyed."
FAA suffering partial shutdown after GOP refuses to reauthorize agency without conditions. Politico: "The stalemate that began over a plan by House Republican to slash subsidies to rural airports — and Senate Democrats’ anger over a bill that guts a pro-union mediation ruling — is now costing the government roughly $30 million a day in uncollected taxes. And it led the FAA to furlough thousands of employees in 35 states as well as shut down dozens of much-needed airport projects, like upgraded control towers and expanded runways, just weeks before summer construction season ends."
Will The Banksters Ever Get Prosecuted?
NYT's Joe Nocera slams Wells Fargo settlement: "...the Fed did not force Wells Fargo to admit guilt ...The $85 million fine was a joke; in just the last quarter, Wells Fargo’s revenues exceeded $20 billion. And compensating borrowers isn’t going to hurt much either. By my calculation, it won’t top $20 million. Most upsetting of all, the settlement raises the question that just won’t go away: Why can’t the federal government prosecute financial wrongdoers?"
MA resists 50-state foreclosure fraud settlement as insufficient. Bloomberg: "Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said the state won’t sign on to any settlement of a nationwide foreclosure probe that includes certain liability releases for banks, joining officials in at least two other states who have raised concerns over terms of a possible deal. ... 'We’re not prepared to do a broad liability release for either securitization issues or for MERS until we’ve completed that piece of investigation,' she said."
Breakfast Sides
Obama administration steps up pressure on health insurers under Affordable Care Act. NYT: "The Obama administration will soon take over the review of health insurance rates in 10 states where it says state officials do not adequately regulate premiums for insurance sold to individuals or small businesses ... Starting Sept. 1, federal and state officials will begin to scrutinize proposed rate increases of more than 10 percent to determine if they are justified. White House officials say their ability to publicize excessive, unreasonable rates will be a major protection for consumers under President Obama’s health care law."
President makes his immigration reform case to La Raza. LAT: "Obama's comments seemed aimed at defusing criticism that he has not done enough to change immigration law ... Blaming GOP intransigence, Obama said, 'I need a dance partner here — and the floor is empty.'"
