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: Today's Big Idea: Invest In Public Education
OurFuture.org's Jeff Bryant: "The federal government must insist that states and cities invest in creating the finest public education in the world, from universal preschool, to modernized public schools, to advanced training and affordable college. When cash-strapped states and municipalities can't sustain investment in schools, revenue sharing from federal sources should continue to make up funding shortages. And the federal government must continue its traditional role -- established by Brown vs. Board of Education and the establishment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act -- of intervening when states flagrantly impose inequitable and undemocratic distribution of funds for public education."
President Plans Major Jobs Address
President to announce job creation and deficit reduction package after Labor Day. AP: "The proposal will include a broad package of tax cuts, construction work and help for the millions of unemployed Americans who have been unemployed for months ... To pay for his jobs ideas, Obama will challenge the new 'super committee' in Congress to go well beyond its goal of finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction, with part of the savings used to cover some of his economy-jolting help without sinking the nation deeper in debt."
LAT on what might in the President's package: "...could include tens of billions of dollars to renovate thousands of dilapidated public schools and a tax break to encourage businesses to hire new workers ... Supporters estimate that [a] $50-billion program [to rehab schools] would underwrite half a million jobs..."
Republicans announce opposition before hearing it. NYT: "...Republican leaders served notice that they would oppose stimulus measures now or higher tax revenues later. That signals another contentious budget battle this fall..."
Robert Reich says the President has to go "big.": "...Republicans won’t go along with any jobs initiative he proposes – even a tiny one. Better they reject one that could make a real difference than one that’s pitifully small and symbolic."
President says his deficit reduction component will be "similar to the plan I put forward to the speaker" in CBS interview.
Conservatives seek to keep GOP Super Committee member Rep. Fred Upton in line. Hotline: "When asked whether there were any Republican House members they were looking at in terms of primary challenges, [Club For Growth President Chris Chocola] answered that the Republican conference has gotten more conservative -- but that the Michigan Republican is someone he'll have his eye on as the super committee convenes."
Perry Is A Climate Science Denier
Perry says climate science has "not been proven" reports W. Post.
Perry's rejection of climate science fails to impress NH Republican questioner. NYT: "...Jim Rubens, a Republican activist and high-tech investor from Etna, asked Mr. Perry about climate change ... Mr. Perry’s answer did not sit well with Mr. Rubens. 'He’s a very impressive candidate, but he was factually wrong on the earth’s climate,' Mr. Rubens said."
Climate science puts Romney and Huntsman at odds with Perry. W. Post: "Perry stands in stark contrast to Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who repeatedly has said on the campaign trail that he believes the science behind global warming [but] does not support a cap-and-trade policy ... 'We’re not going to win a national election if we become the anti-science party,' John Weaver, Huntsman’s chief strategist, said ... 'It appears that the only science that Mitt Romney believes in is the science of polling, and that science clearly was not a mandatory course for Governor Perry.'"
EPA main target of GOP presidential candidates. NYT: "Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota wants to padlock the E.P.A.’s doors, as does former Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas wants to impose an immediate moratorium on environmental regulation ... Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the former Utah governor, thinks most new environmental regulations should be shelved until the economy improves. Only Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has a kind word for the E.P.A., and that is qualified by his opposition to proposed regulation of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming."
At rural IL town hall, President Obama cautions farmers not to believe hysterical rumors about regulations. WSJ quotes: "If you hear something is happening, but it hasn’t happened, don’t always believe what you hear ... A lot of times, what will happen is the folks in Washington — there may be some staff person somewhere that wrote some article or said maybe we should look into something. And I’m being perfectly honest, the lobbyists and the associations in Washington, they’ll get all ginned up and they’ll start sending out notices to everybody saying, look what’s coming down the pike. [But] i we don’t think that there’s more benefit than cost to it, we’re not going to do it."
GOP Candidates Fight To Protect Wealthy From Taxes
Romney rejects raising payroll tax cap to strengthen Social Security. ThinkProgress' Travis Waldron: "...Romney reiterated that raising the cap amounted to a tax increase he would not support, and falsely claimed that it wouldn’t 'begin the solve the problem' facing Social Security’s long-term viability..."
Perry calls for creating massive tax loophole for multinational corporations. ThinkProgress' Pat Garofalo: "[Perry said that] corporations should be allowed to repatriate money [from other countries] without paying any taxes at all ... Even the corporations lobbying for a repatriation holiday haven’t gone as far as to call for the elimination of taxes on repatriated earnings..."
S&P Under Investigation
S&P under investigation for contributing to financial crisis. NYT: "...the Justice Department has been asking about instances in which the company’s analysts wanted to award lower ratings on mortgage bonds but may have been overruled by other S.& P. business managers ... If the government finds enough evidence to support such a case, which is likely to be a civil case, it could undercut S.& P.’s longstanding claim that its analysts act independently from business concerns."
SEC has been illegally destroying documents for 20 years, alleges whistleblower Darcy Flynn. NYT: "The destroyed files comprise records of at least 9,000 preliminary inquiries into matters involving notorious individuals like Bernard L. Madoff, as well as several major Wall Street firms that later were the subject of scrutiny after the 2008 financial crisis, including Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and Bank of America ... The agency’s records were routinely destroyed under an S.E.C. policy, since changed, that called for the disposal of records of a preliminary inquiry that was closed if it did not get upgraded to a formal investigation ... Mr. Flynn said that S.E.C. officials discussed whether to lie about the document destruction because they might be open to criminal liability."
Wall Street tries to block Dodd-Frank provisions in court. NYT: "The catalyst has been a federal appeals court decision in July striking down an S.E.C. rule that would have made it easier for shareholders to nominate company directors ... In recent weeks, lawyers and Wall Street trade groups have gathered in Washington to ponder the next big case ..."
Breakfast Sides
Health insurers will have to provide "plain English" explanations of coverage plans, under new Affordable Care Act rules. W. Post: "Officials likened the new summary to the 'Nutrition Facts' label required for packaged foods ... The regulations would require insurers to provide the summary on request, rather than waiting until someone applies for a policy or pays an application fee, a position that drew praise from consumer advocates."
AFL-CIO plans to work for Obama's re-election. The Hill: "Despite the frustration labor activists have expressed toward the administration for the deals it has cut with congressional Republicans, Obama still provides a better alternative to a potential Republican president, said Michael Podhorzer, the labor federation's top politics officer ... the union is likely to announce this fall that it's creating a so-called 'super PAC' that can spend and receive unlimited amounts of campaign donations."
