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: Super Cmte Picks Threaten Social Security, Medicare
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "...Senate Majority leader Harry Reid announced that his appointees to the super committee Gang of 12 are Senators John Kerry, Patty Murray and Max Baucus. Reid apparently has chosen not to appoint to the Super Committee Bernie Sanders or Sherrod Brown or Jeff Merkley who have forcefully stood with the majority of Americans who want Medicare and Social Security protected and who favor raising taxes on the rich to help reduce the deficit ... Baucus has been a consistent supporter of Social Security, but also is a leading recipient of contributions from the drug companies and the health insurance industry. He has voted against repealing the tax benefits for companies that ship jobs overseas. He voted for the Bush tax cuts and voted to repeal the estate tax ... And Kerry, like Obama, he is fatally attracted to the notion of a grand bargain, sacrificing cuts in Medicare and Social Security in exchange for increased revenues to reduce long term deficits ... If these three are in fact Harry Reid's appointees, progressives must mobilize..."
Murray, Baucus and Kerry First Named To Super Cmte
Reid Super Committee picks "intended to show the Nevada Democrat is serious about forging a bipartisan deal" reports Politico: "...the choice of Murray was already spawning anger from Republicans, who called it a blatantly political move aimed at filling up coffers for the Democratic campaign committee ... By choosing Baucus, Reid may unnerve some liberals who have been skeptical of the Montana Democrat’s deal-making with Republicans over the years ... Kerry, who has drawn fire from the right for calling S&P’s move a 'tea party downgrade,' has been eager to add to his Senate resume a sweeping domestic achievement."
Dean Baker rips Kerry pick: "The Washington Post told readers that Senator John Kerry's appointment to the Supercommittee that is supposed to come up with $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction 'could help appease liberals.' Senator Kerry has repeatedly expressed his willingness to cut Social Security and Medicare ... It is difficult to see why liberals would be appeased by this selection..."
TPM's Brian Beutler's offers "optimistic" take: "Entitlement defenders were hoping for a more progressive bunch than this. But the key on the Democratic side of the new committee isn't so much whether members will agree in principle to some entitlement cuts -- most say they will -- it's whether they'll require as a concession that Republicans agree to increase tax revenues. And through that prism, there's some reason for optimism."
Push for the Super Committee to be transparent. McClatchy: "'Creating a 12-person super committee to do the job of 535 elected representatives is yet another indication of a broken political system in dire need of repair,' Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said in a statement Tuesday. 'That is why it will be critically important for virtually every vote, every hearing and every deliberation to be completely transparent and available for the public to see.' The Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group, agrees ... 'Congress should break with the secretive process that has led us to the point where we are now and ensure the new joint committee does its work in full public view.'"
"S&P Director: GOP’s Balanced Budget Amendment Would Hurt America’s Creditworthiness" reports ThinkProgress.
Contract for the American Dream Sparks New Jobs Push
New "Contract for the American Dream" calls for major jobs and economic stimulus package. The Hill: "'We have a jobs crisis, not a deficit crisis,' the contract reads. 'The federal government must act now to put Americans back to work, and that will require reversing the premature focus on deficit reduction,' Robert Borosage of the Campaign for America’s Future said. In a separate release he called for expanding AmeriCorps and creating new direct work programs he calls Urban Corps, Green Corps and Service Corps."
Contract for the American Dream published as NYT ad in today's print version.
House Dems plan to push Super Committee to embrace jobs measures. WSJ: "A new 'super committee' being set up to cut the deficit will face some pressure to increase spending to jolt the economy, a House Democratic leadership aide said Tuesday. He said that House Democrats on the committee will be pushing for jobs measures to be included in the deal, even though they will cost money upfront."
W. Post's Harold Meyerson urges President to back a "massive" stimulus: "Republicans won’t go for it, but they don’t go for small economic solutions either ... Economically, the case for a massive stimulus is a good deal stronger than the case for the rather minimal one that you’re calling for ... don’t just extend the 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee payroll tax, which is normally set at 6.2 percent. Eliminate the tax altogether, for employers and employees, at least temporarily ... call for renewing aid to state and local governments. Infrastructure bank or no, you need a long-term program to make our nation navigable again..."
Moody's backs infrastructure spending. Bloomberg: "Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Analytics, said that, while the politics aren’t on the side of infrastructure spending, it may be the most effective program for creating jobs. 'It makes sense to invest in infrastructure for three reasons,' Faucher said. It would employ people who would then 'go out and spend. It’s cheap; interest rates are incredibly low; and it improves productivity and growth in the long run.'"
Congress to vote on back pay for furloughed FAA workers reports W. Post.
Gas tax fight may ignite next month as parties proposes competing transportation jobs bills. The Hill: "With the chambers far apart on their proposals for a long-term highway bill ... at least one Democratic aide in the Senate expressed concern that congressional Republicans would attempt to use the gas tax [which expires next month] as leverage in the fight over the competing transportation proposals ... [GOP Rep. John] Mica has proposed a six-year, $230 billion highway bill. He has pegged his proposal to the amount he says the gas tax currently brings into the trust fund. The competing measure is sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) [for] a two-year, $109 billion bill ... Some transportation advocates have begun looking for alternative funding sources to increase transportation spending. A few have even called for increasing the gas tax, which is very unlikely in the current Washington environment."
S&P Fights New Disclosure Rules
Mathematically challenged S&P fights rule requiring disclosure of errors. NYT: " Three days after Treasury Department officials discovered what they called a mistake in the assumptions used by Standard & Poor’s to justify the downgrade of United States debt, the president of S.& P. wrote to securities regulators saying that ratings agencies should not be required to publicly disclose all errors in their calculations."
S&P downgrade part of a strategy by credit companies to resist new regulations, argues Jeffrey Manns in NYT oped: "The [Wall St. reform] law called for exposing rating agencies to civil liability in securities lawsuits if their ratings were inaccurate .. But the rating agencies struck back [and] have begun a guerrilla campaign of behind-the-scenes lobbying to weaken the commission’s efforts to carry out other parts of Dodd-Frank. The S.& P. downgrade has elevated this simmering standoff to an overt clash. Politicians will be tempted to wave a white flag by granting the agencies a pass from tough regulation in exchange for the agencies’ not downgrading federal debt further. While that approach may give the United States breathing room in the short run, the government should not give in to such extortion."
Bond market ignores S&P. Bloomberg: "For all the conflict between Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration over the debt ceiling and deficits, bond investors say they are more influenced by interest rates, the economy and inflation."
White House manufacturing advisor steps down. Politico: "Many in Washington with manufacturing ties saw Bloom as a key voice for industry in an administration whose economic policies largely came from aides with academic backgrounds ..."
Vows To Press On In Wisconsin
Democrats come up one seat short of taking over Wisconsin state senate. W. Post: "Before Tuesday’s elections Republicans controlled the state senate 19 to 14; they now have a 17 to 16 edge. Two Democrats face recall elections next Tuesday. The party needed to net three wins to regain the upper chamber, which they lost in 2010. That is now impossible."
Wisconsin Dems vow to press on. Journal-Sentinel: "'We went on their turf and we won on Republican turf,' said Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party. 'We will not stop, we will not rest . . . until we recall (Gov.) Scott Walker.'"
Fed Holds Back
Fed refrains from taking new bold steps, but might later. Bloomberg: "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s plan to hold interest rates near zero through at least mid-2013 provoked the most opposition among voting policy makers in 18 years as central bank consensus frayed ... Bernanke’s move shows that a Fed chairman can govern with more than two opposing votes, opening the door to bolder action if necessary, said Roberto Perli, a former economist in the Fed’s Division of Monetary Affairs..."
"The Fed Whiffs" writes ThinkProgress' Matt Yglesias: "Ask yourself what would happen on opposite planet. Suppose that growth were stronger than expected, and that inflation, after looking low, popped back up. What would the Fed do? Obviously, they would change the stance of policy to head inflation off at the pass. But with growth weakening and inflation moderating, they stand pat. Why?"
Foreclosures To Rentals
Obama administration to turn foreclosures into rentals. WSJ: "The Obama administration will announce plans Wednesday to seek investors' ideas for turning thousands of foreclosed properties owned by government-backed entities into rental homes, according to administration officials. The move is intended to put a floor under declining home prices by creating a way to deal with hundreds of thousands of potential foreclosures in coming years."
Jared Bernstein applauds: "I’ve heard two arguments against the idea. One is that it’s a bad deal for taxpayers—I mean, we’re the 'investors' behind these properties right now—who will get stung by firesale prices. Eh—maybe, but from what I’m picking up, that’s happening anyway. The return on these sales is already lousy. I’d just as soon try something that could help carve out a real bottom on home prices. Second, investors buying foreclosed properties in bulk make lousy landlords. It’s a valid concern, but there’s a policy wrinkle in the FHFA/admin’s plan that should help: the proposal ... should include requirements regarding property management and the Feds should reject proposals that aren’t convincing in that regard."
DE AG objects to proposed Bank of America settlement for foreclosure fraud. Bloomberg: "Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said yesterday he opposes the agreement and asked to intervene in the case to protect investors and preserve the state’s ability to pursue legal claims ... The settlement, which requires court approval, calls for Bank of America to pay $8.5 billion to resolve claims from investors in Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage bonds."
Goldman Sachs sued by feds. Bloomberg: "Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was accused by the National Credit Union Administration in a lawsuit of violating federal and state laws in the sale of mortgage-backed securities to now-failed corporate credit unions."
Breakfast Sides
New fuel efficiency standards for trucks. NYT: "...the first time the government has regulated vehicles over 8,500 pounds. The vehicles in this category range from the very largest S.U.V.’s, and pickup trucks that are too big to be household vehicles, all the way to 18-wheelers ..."
NLRB racing the clock. WSJ: "The National Labor Relations Board is hurrying to push through a raft of decisions by year's end, when a pair of vacant board seats could leave an important part of the agency hobbled indefinitely. At the same time, congressional Republicans and business groups, unhappy with recent NLRB enforcement and rule-making initiatives, are signaling that they will try to block any new board nominees President Barack Obama might put forward."
