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 -- Hire The Young
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "... hire young people to work side-by-side with older and more experienced workers. Together, the generations can rebuild our roads, bridges, highways, and schools ... Our country should be equally ready to 'incubate' new industries – and to help young people become the industry leaders of tomorrow. Our 'youth WPA' should create spaces where smart young people can pursue business ideas in all fields."
Republicans Embrace Tax Hikes On Middle Class, Poor
Slate's Dave Weigel on "Republicans for Tax Hikes": "[The Wall Street Journal] asked Huntsman if 'the half of American households no longer paying income tax—mainly working poor families and seniors—should be brought onto the income tax rolls.' He agreed ... Huntsman, Perry, Bachmann: All of them are taking a bold stand in favor of cognitive dissonance. The main reason Washington couldn't get a 'grand bargain' on the budget and debt ceiling was that Republicans balked at increasing taxes on anyone. How did we get from there to the notion that it would be a good idea to raise taxes on the 60-odd million people who didn't end up owing the IRS any [federal income tax] last year?"
House Budget Cmte Chair Paul Ryan decries tax loopholes, while trying to create them for his donors. HuffPost: "... a look at Ryan's record since he was elected to Congress in 1998 shows that he has tried to create an array of special loopholes for his top contributors, whose interests range from air fresheners to fraternity housing to beer."
Romney will try to counter President's jobs plan next month. CNN: "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will unveil a jobs plan in September, the former Massachusetts Gov. announced Monday. The September 6 event in Nevada coincides with an expected speech from the president after Labor Day..."
Budget Cuts Already Inflicting Pain
Budget cuts already harming kids' education, argue Luis A. Ubiñas and Chris Gabrieli in NYT oped: "The minimum required school day in West Virginia is already about the length of a 'Harry Potter' double feature. In Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, summer school programs are being slashed or eliminated. In Oregon and California this year, students will spend fewer days in the classroom; in rural communities from New Mexico to Idaho, some students will be in school only four days a week. For all the talk about balancing the budget for the sake of our children, keeping classrooms closed is a perverse way of giving them a brighter future."
Will budget cuts undermine new law expanding food inspection? NYT: '“We have to have the resources to implement this law,” [FDA Deputy Commission Mike] Taylor said. 'The stark choice is we either find the resources or we forgo implementing this law the way Congress intended. You can’t build something brand-new without the resources to do it.' The agency is now in the process of writing the food safety rules called for by the law, with the goal of preventing outbreaks like those this summer ... The law requires the most frequent inspections at the riskiest facilities, and [Consumer Federation of America's Carol] Tucker Foreman questioned whether the agency would simply classify fewer operations as high risk to make its job easier. Mr. Taylor said that would not happen."
States with military bases unnerved by possible "trigger" cuts. Stateline: "State officials from Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Virginia and other military-dependent states are being tight-lipped about how deep Pentagon cuts would affect their economies, saying that far too many details of the debt deal are still unknown. But the plan has clearly served as a wake-up call in some states where the Pentagon provides much of the economic activity."
Grassroots Support For Union Election Reform
AFL-CIO sends 21,000 public comments in support of NLRB's proposed union election reform reports AFL-CIO's Mike Hall.
NYT's Joe Nocera claims NLRB hurts jobs by pursuing Boeing allegations of union-busting. Dean Baker corrects the record: " First, this is an issue about the transfer of jobs, not the creation of jobs ... The second point is that Nocera unduly credits Boeing for keeping jobs in the United States ... It actually has outsourced a large amount of work to overseas facilities in the last two decades ... Finally, Nocera misrepresents the issue at hand. No one disputes that Boeing has the right to relocate ... The issue is whether the move to South Carolina was part of an explicit threat directed against the union."
Breakfast Sides
Goldman Sachs CEO lawyers up. USA Today: "He hasn't been charged with any crimes, but the CEO of Wall Street investment giant Goldman Sachs has hired the same high-powered lawyer who represented Enron and WorldCom executives who went to jail for financial shenanigans ... Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein has come under scrutiny for allegations of conflict of interest, fraud and misleading Congress over his firm's role in the 2007-2009 subprime meltdown ... Goldman shares dropped sharply..."
USDA announces $103M for rural broadband. AP: "The states that will benefit from the funding are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming ... As many as one in 10 Americans can’t get Internet connections fast enough to engage in such common online activities as watching video ..."
U.S. begins implementing new immigration enforcement policy better targeting criminals. NYT: "A working group from the Homeland Security and Justice Departments met Friday to initiate a review of about 300,000 deportation cases currently before the immigration courts. Under the policy, immigration authorities will use powers of prosecutorial discretion in existing law to suspend the deportations of most immigrants who, although they have committed immigration violations (which generally are civil offenses), have not been convicted of crimes ... 'This is the Barack Obama I have been waiting for, that Latino and immigrant voters helped put in office to fight for sensible immigration policies,' said Representative Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois ... However, the announcement appeared to signal an end to efforts by the White House to court some of its Republican opponents, with administration officials acknowledging those efforts have failed..."
