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: People Power Winning In Ohio
OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: "Support for the repeal of SB 5, the law pushed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich that strips the bargaining rights of public workers, is up to 57 percent ... The support for the repeal effort is particularly noteworthy given the forces arrayed against it. Truthout posted a special report on the effort against the referendum, which is fueled by literally untold millions of dollars in corporate cash ... [But] the onslaught of corporate cash may well backfire, as is Kasich's own high-handedness."
Income Gap Becomes Chasm
Inequality rapidly increasing, finds CBO. NYT: "The top 1 percent of earners more than doubled their share of the nation’s income over the last three decades ... government policy has become less redistributive since the late 1970s, doing less to reduce the concentration of income ... because [these numbers] carry the imprimatur of the nonpartisan budget office, they are likely to have a major impact on the debate in Congress over the fairness of federal tax and spending policies."
And the public notices. NYT: "... two-thirds of the public said that wealth should be distributed more evenly in the country. Seven in 10 Americans think the policies of Congressional Republicans favor the rich. Two-thirds object to tax cuts for corporations and a similar number prefer increasing income taxes on millionaires."
Rising inequality is exacerbated by decline in mobility. The Fiscal Times' Mark Thoma: "...if there is mobility – if we prevent one group from keeping the good jobs through political power or other means and instead use a lottery at the beginning of each week to see which of the qualified workers does which job – then the random allocation of jobs over time helps to solve the inequality problem ... If we continue along the path we are on to an increasingly two-tiered society, and if the middle class continues to experience problems, then there will be less room at the middle tiers of society for those who are trying to move up the ladder."
Former Goldman Sachs director may get indicted. Bloomberg: "Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director once accused of feeding inside information to Galleon Group LLC’s Raj Rajaratnam, will face federal charges, a person familiar with the matter said, making him the highest-ranking executive to be named in the probe. Gupta, 62, will surrender to FBI agents in New York today..."
Clock Ticking On Super Cmte
House and Senate leaders pushing Super Cmte to reach deal. Politico: "...House and Senate leaders are inserting themselves more into behind-the-scenes deficit talks, exchanging proposals and trying to help the so-called supercommittee avert the threat of a $1.2 trillion across-the board spending cut if no agreement is reached ... with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid taking the lead in reaching out to Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a series of recent meetings ... for Senate Democrats especially, there is a growing concern that the GOP leaders must get more involved since their appointees are hesitant to make any deal without clearance from above."
"Tensions flare" inside Super Cmte, reports Roll Call: "... a Democratic Member was presenting a potential plan — which one source indicated would achieve the committee's desired budget savings by having tax increases nearly equal spending cuts — when Republicans, including Sens. Rob Portman (Ohio) and Jon Kyl (Ariz.), became sharply critical ... Tuesday's Democratic proposal represented the position of several committee members but not all Democrats on the panel ... accounts of its flare-ups are leaking may not bode well for finding an agreement ..."
Secrecy still reigns in Super Cmte, says Daily Beast's Patricia Murphy: "'There are a lot of rumors about what’s been agreed to and what’s not,' says a chief of staff to a committee member. 'Anybody who claims they know what’s going on in these rooms is kidding you.'"
Super Cmte member GOP Rep. Dave Camp prepares bill to cut multinational corporate taxes. WSJ: "It’s not clear whether or how the bill might become a part of deficit-reduction talks."
Former WH deficit commission co-chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles to meet with Super Cmte on Tuesday reports Politico.
New poll shows Simpson-Bowles Social Security proposal widely despised by public. Politico: "Projections show that retirees and other recipients would get smaller increases under the modified, 'chained' version of the consumer price index that is meant to reflect changes in consumer behavior ... The poll found that 66 percent of those surveyed opposed changes to the formula, climbing to 73 percent among those older than 55 ... "
Economic historian James Livingston finds private investment does not drive growth. "Consumer debt and government spending do." From NYT oped: "Between 1900 and 2000, real gross domestic product per capita (the output of goods and services per person) grew more than 600 percent. Meanwhile, net business investment declined 70 percent as a share of G.D.P. What’s more, in 1900 almost all investment came from the private sector — from companies, not from government — whereas in 2000, most investment was either from government spending (out of tax revenues) or 'residential investment,' which means consumer spending on housing, rather than business expenditure on plants, equipment and labor. In other words, over the course of the last century, net business investment atrophied while G.D.P. per capita increased spectacularly. And the source of that growth? Increased consumer spending, coupled with and amplified by government outlays."
Flat Perry
Perry flat tax plan scrambles GOP race. The Hill: "...both Cain and Romney were notably silent on Perry’s plan, which would create an alternative 20 percent flat tax, a privatized option for Social Security and a hike in the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare ... But by offering many a lower tax rate without adding any new revenue streams, analysts say Perry’s plan guarantees that the federal government would take in less money under his plan than it does now. That complicates deficit-cutting efforts and raises alarms for the left that Perry will seek painful spending cuts elsewhere."
Perry plan can take money from the poor, give to the rich. NYT's Catherine Rampell: "...the highest-income households (at the 99th percentile) in every structure of family analyzed always benefit from opting into the Perry plan. The poorest households, on the other hand, do not. That’s primarily because the Perry plan, at least as currently described, does not seem to have refundable tax credits..."
Perry plan not simple for taxpayers. The Atlantic's Clive Crook: "...this new tax would be voluntary: taxpayers could choose to be taxed under the existing code if they preferred. This is simpler? To know which code saves you money, you would obviously have to calculate your taxes under both systems. You or your adviser would still have to comprehend the 'carve-outs that make the current code so incomprehensible'. Maybe if you opted for the Perry tax you would be able to file on a postcard--but before making that choice you'd need to do your taxes the old way first. Thanks for nothing."
Or even flat. TPM's Brian Beutler: "'For most people who don’t have big capital gains and dividend income, they’re going to say in the current system,' [CAP's Michael] Linden explained. 'It’s not a flat tax.' Ironically, neither is the new, optional code Perry proposes. 'For very wealthy people who do have big capital gains and dividends — they’ll take the new one, but even that’s not really a flat tax. It’s 20 percent on ordinary income and zero percent on investment income.' ... it would likely starve the government of revenue and either explode the deficit or require massive cuts in federal programs like Medicare, Medicaid and national defense."
Romney retreats on support for anti-worker Ohio law, as support for repeal rises. HuffPost: "Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney waded into dangerous territory Tuesday when he swung by an Ohio phone bank that was rallying support for the state's besieged anti-union bill -- and refused to say if he backed it ... But unfortunately for the former Mass. governor, his past support of the bill is already on the record. As Politico reports, Romney took to his Facebook page over the summer, urging readers to visit a website dedicated to saving S.B. 5 from repeal."
New Presidential Order Addresses Student Debt
President Obama to announce student debt relief. NYT: "President Obama will announce new programs Wednesday to lower monthly loan payments for some students graduating next year and thereafter and to let borrowers who have a mix of direct federal loans and loans under the old Federal Family Education Loan Program consolidate them at a slightly lower interest rate ... Secretary of Education Arne Duncan estimated that the debt-consolidation program could help 6 million borrowers ..."
Romney advisor appears to like President Obama's mortgage plan. ThinkProgress: "The plan was based, in part, on ideas promulgated by Columbia University economist Glenn Hubbard ... Hubbard told NPR, 'It looks like a good plan; I’m glad they’re doing it.' But Hubbard also has a different role these days: leading the Economic Policy Team for the campaign of 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney."
Breakfast Sides
Medicare officials may kick out underperforming drug plans. Kaiser Health News: "While the new system labeled more plans as poor performers, CMS says this is likely to lead to better options for the 28 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries who rely on those plans to help pay for their medications. 'We have raised our standards, and we are not apologizing for that,' said Jonathan Blum, deputy administrator and director for Medicare at CMS, who stressed that benefits have not disappeared. 'We will push as hard as we can to elevate performance. . . . If plans are getting worse, we expect them to get better.'"
Explosive growth of wind and solar power may fade without continued tax credits. NYT: "For wind power, the situation is especially precarious, energy specialists say. The federal production tax credit, which has provided incentives for wind farm operators to produce power since 1992, expires at the end of 2012 ... The solar business faces the expiration of an important grant program at the end of this year. The grants were created as part of the stimulus package, and the industry is lobbying for a one-year extension."
House GOP tries massive assault on public interest regulations. American Prospect's Ben Peck: "The Rules from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) bill would require that any major regulatory rule issued by a federal agency be affirmed by a majority vote in both the House and Senate. The vote would have to take place within 70 days ... its real effect would be to hamstring government agencies so that laws that do not pass muster with the radical Republicans ... would never be implemented. Leaving aside outright opposition to specific rules, many new regulations would fail simply because of time constraints..."
