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: Americans Decide Corporations Ain't People
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "They tell us corporations are people. But people? Not so much. That Right used that argument that in yesterday's elections, but it's starting to look like voters in swing states and the heart of Red America have had enough ... That anti-human, pro-corporate definition of personhood is part of what Ohio voters soundly rejected yesterday when they overturned the laws passed by its Republican Governor and legislators, who forbid union activities on the part of state employees. In a radical redefinition of the personhood principle, these voters decided that teachers and administrators and other state workers are actually ... people. And as people, they have the right to organize and bargain for themselves."
Another GOP Debate, Another Fact Check
Presidential candidates get economy completely wrong. NYT: "There is a basic problem with the argument, made by several candidates, that the government forced mortgage lenders to make bad loans: most subprime loans were made by companies that were not subject to any kind of federal regulation ... Herman Cain suggested that the chief problem holding back companies was regulatory uncertainty ... [But] a plurality of companies consistently say that the 'single biggest problem' they face is low sales, not red tape or taxes. The Labor Department’s data on mass layoffs echo this finding ..."
Mitt Romney flip-flop-flips back to opposing auto industry rescue. McClatchy: "He said he’d preferred to let the auto industry go through bankruptcy reorganization on its own, rather than with taxpayer help and government direction. 'Whether it was by President Bush or President Obama, it was the wrong way to go,' he said."
President Obama suggests GOP debates will be material for his campaign ads to Latinos. USA Today quotes: "We may just run clips of the Republican debates verbatim. We won't even comment on them, we'll just run those in a loop on Univision and Telemundo, and people can make up their own minds."
"Reagan's son says his father would have been attacked in current GOP debates" reports McClatchy.
Super Cmte Dems Counter Offer
Super Cmte Dems offer plan with 50-50 split of increased revenue and spending cuts, including Medicare. Bloomberg: "The Democratic proposal includes a so-called trigger that would raise $650 billion if the U.S. tax code isn’t revamped by Jan. 1, 2013 ... Tax writers would receive instructions to cap individual tax rates at 35 percent, overhaul corporate taxation and maintain the progressivity currently in the code ... The Democratic plan also would include $350 billion in cuts to Medicare, with $250 billion from providers and $100 billion from beneficiaries. Another $200 billion in cuts would come from other mandatory programs. The plan would include $400 billion in cuts to discretionary programs, with $200 billion from defense and $200 billion from non-defense programs."
GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander pushes more taxes and more cuts to retirement security. Bloomberg quotes: Republicans have put revenues on the table. Democrats have put entitlements on the table. We need to put more of each on the table and get a result.”
As does Dem Sen. Richard Durbin. W. Post quotes: "The fact that some Republicans have stepped forward to talk about revenue, I think, is an invitation for Democrats to step forward and talk about entitlement reform as well as spending cuts."
But Politico reports Supers are leaking, not compromising: "The deficit supercommittee has quickly devolved from secret talks to full-fledged public brawl, with both sides leaking details of horse-trading and exchanging bitter charges ... Throughout Wednesday afternoon, Republicans had zeroed in on the talking point that Democrats had 'walked away' from the negotiating table, even as the two sides continued to swap ideas to avert across-the-board cuts ... Baucus fired back. 'We’re not walking away; we wanted a deal; I want a deal — everybody in the room wants an agreement...'"
Settling For Settlements?
Judge questions SEC settlement with Citigroup. Bloomberg: "U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who in 2009 rejected a $33 million settlement between the SEC and Bank of America Corp. (BAC), spent much of an hour-long hearing yesterday asking both sides why he should approve an accord that doesn’t require Citigroup to admit any wrongdoing."
Credit Slips' Adam Levitan rips proposed foreclosure fraud settlement: "... let's just call this HAMP 2.0. It's like a sequel to a bad movie. We know how it is going to end. Let's just stop wasting everyone's time here. If this is the best the Administration can do, we might as well adopt the Mitt Romney foreclosure plan--stand aside and let the system do its work."
GOP Rep. Paul Ryan, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and former President Bill Clinton all say, bring back Glass-Steagall finds ThinkProgress.
