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: Something Can Be Done
OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: "If there was one message that united the various speeches that launched the Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, it was perhaps summed up by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich ... the right's ability to make the public demoralized and cynical about the government [must be stopped]. 'The worst thing is when people say that nothing can be done,' he said. 'Then we know the other side has won.' But, in fact, something can be done ... where the Take Back the American Dream conference is being held, there is a buzz that suggests that progressives do not have to choose between selling out or checking out; that there is a fight to be fought and the beginnings of a strategy to win it. And a lot of credit goes to the inspiration coming from the hundreds of people who have camped out in Manhattan's financial district." Check out video highlights from Day 1 of Take Back the American Dream.
"Take Back the American Dream" Wakes Up Washington
The Dreamers and the Occupiers jolt political establishment. McClatchy: "Frustrated with Congress, outmaneuvered by the tea party and all but silent as the GOP swept the 2010 elections, liberals say they've had enough ... Monday's opening of the three-day 'Take Back the American Dream' conference took place as small but vocal bands of protesters demonstrated in various cities nationwide to support the ongoing 'Occupy Wall Street' protests in New York."
Highlights on today's "Take Back the American Dream" agenda: 7:30 AM Progressive Breakfast roundtable, 8:30 AM Rep. Barney Frank, 1:30 PM Richard Trumka.
Watch the conference live at OurFuture.org and at Free Speech TV.
"Occupy Together now lists over 125 ongoing, planned or potential Occupy events in the United States" reports Daily Kos.
Occupy Wall Street continues to grow. W. Post: "Despite having no single leader and no organized agenda, the protesters insist they are on the verge of translating their broad expression of grievance into a durable national cause. 'The criticism has focused on the lack of cohesion in our message and demands,' said Arthur Kohl-Riggs, 23, a political activist from Madison, Wis. But what the critics don’t understand, he said, is 'the value of forming a direct democratic movement' that is not controlled by political elites."
Union support huge step forward. Daily Beast's Michelle Goldberg: "... unions have recognized that despite some stylistic differences, Occupy Wall Street shares many of their goals. For progressives, this alliance is a tremendously encouraging sign ... there’s visible solidarity between blue-collar workers and the counterculture."
House GOP Tries To Kill American Dream ... and American Jobs Act
House Maj. Leader Eric Cantor declares American Jobs Act dead. McClatchy: "'The president continues to say, "Pass my bill in its entirety,"' Cantor said. 'The outset, the all-or-nothing approach is just unacceptable.' ... senior administration officials outlined their plan to use October and November to bear down on 61 House Republicans from districts that voted for Obama in 2008..."
Business owners says higher taxes on wealthy will not reduce hiring. ThinkProgress: "...members of the group [Patriotic Millionaires] like Ask.com founder Garrett Gruener noted that a higher tax rate makes 'zero difference' in how he invests: ... 'I’m not sure what the connection is' between raising tax rates and hiring, said Anchor Brewing CEO Keith Greggor. Anchor has added 26 full-time and 10 part-time employees since last year. Not a lot of 'small-business owners I know are millionaires,' Greggor added."
House GOP begins to budge on transportation jobs bill. W. Post's Brad Plumer: "... earlier this year, House Republicans unveiled a six-year, $230 billion transportation bill that would’ve represented a 30 percent cut in spending from current levels. That’s all we can afford, they said ... Unions clasped hands with the Chamber of Commerce and argued that a sharp cut in infrastructure spending didn’t make a whole lot of sense right now. State transportation officials moaned loudly. And Obama’s jobs speech, which included a call for $50 billion in new infrastructure spending, put Republicans on the defensive. The result? [House Transportation Cmte Chair John] Mica is now toiling away on a new $300 billion highway bill that would keep funding at current levels for the next six years."
CBS poll finds Obama still not blamed for economy: "A new CBS News poll finds that nearly seven in 10 Americans believe President Obama has not made real progress in fixing the economy ... Still, most don't blame the administration for the state of the economy. Asked who was most to blame, Americans cited the Bush administration (22 percent), followed by Wall Street (16 percent), Congress (15 percent) and then the Obama administration (12 percent.)"
Trade Deals Move Closer To Passage
White House submits trade agreements to the House, passage expected: "...it agreed to submit the deals to Congress only after receiving what administration officials described as sufficient assurances that House Republicans would also approve an expansion of benefits for displaced workers."
Politico quotes Speaker Boehner: "We will quickly begin the required process to consider these bills and intend to vote on them consecutively and in tandem with Senate-passed TAA legislation [to aid displaced workers.]"
As trade deals move, so does Senate on China currency . W. Post: "A similar bill passed the House by a large margin last year, and congressional leaders give the new measure a strong chance of passage, potentially putting both China and the Obama administration in an awkward position."
But House may not pass identical China legislation. NYT: "...while the Chinese currency measure enjoys Republican support in the Senate, it is viewed less favorably in the House, where Representative Dave Camp ... is expected to offer his own less aggressive version later this year."
Senator Goes Rogue To Push Super Committee
Dem Sen. Mark Warner tries to forge "Grand Bargain" despite being left off Super Committee. Politico: "...Warner is mounting a campaign both inside and outside the Senate, meeting with senators and lobbyists in an effort to push the supercommittee to cut a much bigger deal ... some of this maneuvering — from a junior senator — doesn’t appear to be going over very well with Democratic leaders."
Parties disagree what debt limit deal really says about military cuts. The Hill: "Republican aides are using the lack of clear legislative language to question whether there is a legal order to cut [$350B] from the annual military budget ... Democrats counter that the Budget Control Act mandates spending caps for specific areas of the federal government, meaning those big Pentagon cuts are required to fit within those limits."
Austerity agenda squeezing foreign aid during politically sensitive time. NYT: "The financial crunch threatens to undermine a foreign policy described as 'smart power' by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, one that emphasizes diplomacy and development as a complement to American military power."
President Defends Clean Energy Investments
President defends clean energy loan program. CBS: "The president, addressing Solyndra's failure in a Monday interview with ABC News, said his administration knew that 'not every single business is going to succeed in clean energy,' but argued that 'if we want to compete with other countries that are heavily subsidizing the industry's future, we've got to make sure that our guys here in the United States of America at least have a shot.'"
As does NYT's Joe Nocera: "[The Energy Dept.] is not acting like a venture capitalist. Rather, it is funding projects that have already attracted private capital — lots of it. The private sector, in other words, is still the one picking winners and losers ... Why is the government doing this? Because this is precisely where the private sector fails. As Rothwell puts it, 'The program is supposed to overcome the commercialization valley of death.'"
Memo from House Dems defends WH process over Solyndra: "The documents the Committee has received do not support the allegations of political favoritism. They show (1) there was vigorous internal debate among officials at the Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget about the Solyndra loan guarantee; (2) this debate was appropriately elevated to senior officials in the White House; and (3) the decisions involving Solyndra were made on the merits with no regard to the identity of the private investors."
"Former McCain Adviser: 'Really Stupid To Blame Solar In General' For Solyndra Failure" reports HuffPost.
"White House threatens to veto bills to delay EPA air pollution regulations" reports The Hill.
Bill McKibben accuses WH of being too close to lobbyists backing the Keystone XL pipeline, in NYT oped: "Even as the State Department was supposedly carrying out a neutral evaluation of the pipeline’s environmental impact, key players were undermining the process ... That’s exactly why cronyism is such a problem. The people writing these e-mails don’t have expertise — they have connections."
President Touts CFPB To Stop BofA Debit Card Fees
President cites BofA debit card fee hike as reason to allow Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to function. WSJ: "...Mr. Obama said the debit-purchase fees are 'exactly why we need somebody whose sole job it is to prevent this kind of stuff from happening.' ... Mr. Obama suggested the federal government could crack down on fees when banks are treating consumers unfairly. 'You can stop it,' he said, adding that the government can tell the banks 'you don’t have some inherent right just to, you know, get a certain amount of profit, if your customers are being mistreated.'"
Inspector general report finds Fannie Mae did little after learning of foreclosure abuses during Bush administration. NYT: "After receiving information from a shareholder in 2003 about foreclosure abuses by its law firms, Fannie Mae assigned its outside counsel to investigate ... That law firm concluded in a 2006 analysis that 'foreclosure attorneys in Florida are routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits,' and that the practice could be occurring elsewhere ... The inspector general’s report said that it could not be determined whether Fannie Mae had alerted its regulator [and] both Fannie Mae and its regulator appear to have ignored other signs of problems..."
