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: Day Of Action
OurFuture.org's Roger Hickey: "Show them we refuse to be evicted – and we are continuing to fight for jobs, not cuts. Click here to join a "We are the 99%" event near you today. In Washington, we are sending a clear message to the budget-slashing "Super Committee," in Washington, DC at 10 AM. A major rally featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders, will take place inside the U.S. Senate – Room 608 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building ... In New York City, civic actions are planned from sunrise to sunset, starting at the New York Stock Exchange and outside City Hall ... rallies will be held all over the country highlighting the economic emergency facing the 99%: broken bridges, crumbling schools and widespread unemployment. The nation will not see a beaten-down people. The nation will see a reenergized unstoppable movement, because there is too much at stake to remain silent."
Supers Squabble Over Bush Tax Cuts
"Super Committee" Dems lower their offer. W. Post: "[The proposal] cut spending by nearly $900 billion over the next decade in exchange for just $400 billion in new taxes ... It also appeared to mark a big step toward the latest Republican position, which called for about $300 billion in new taxes. But Republicans said the offer was a ruse that included at least $800 billion in new taxes from the expiration of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts ... Democrats said the proposal did not address the Bush tax cuts."
Dems also willing to take GOP offer, under four conditions. The Hill: "Supercommittee Democrats say they are willing to accept the latest deficit-reduction offer from Republicans, but only if the GOP drops its demand to lower and extend the Bush tax rates ... Democrats also say Republicans must drop their demand to raise the Medicare retirement age and forego their proposal to use chain CPI to calculate entitlement benefits and tax brackets ... The fourth demand from Democrats is that the GOP deficit-reduction plan include stimulus spending to make 'a real investment in jobs.'"
GOP plan targets itemized deductions while cutting taxes for wealthy. AP: "A GOP plan to raise taxes by $290 billion over the next decade would limit deductions for mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local taxes as part of a deficit-reduction deal. Some workers could also see their employer-provided health benefits taxed for the first time ... The top income tax rate would fall from 35 percent to 28 percent ... Democrats, meanwhile, have panned the plan, saying it would cut taxes for the wealthy, raise taxes on the middle class and generate less revenue than advertised."
Rift in GOP over tax increases. W. Post: "Although it’s not clear how many Republicans are willing to raise taxes, the numbers have been growing in the House and Senate. Activists [against tax increases] say they fear that the presence of rock-ribbed conservatives in that camp and support in the business community for a deal of some sort could be spurring widespread defections."
GOPer slams his own party members for "not dealing with reality." ThinkProgress quotes Rep. Scott Rigell: "Historically, we’ve been around 18 percent, plus or minus, revenue as a percent of gross domestic product. And right now, we’re less than 15 percent. That, too, is a problem. Any Republican who will not admit to this or to confront it and discuss it head on, is not dealing with reality."
Energy Secretary Prepares To Defend Clean Energy Loans
Energy Sec Chu to assure politics played no role in loan program, at House testimony today. The Hill: "'As the Secretary of Energy, the final decisions on Solyndra were mine, and I made them with the best interest of the taxpayer in mind. I want to be clear: over the course of Solyndra’s loan guarantee, I did not make any decision based on political considerations,' Chu will say..."
"Chu will double down on the message that China is doing more than the U.S. in flooding the solar and overall renewable energy market," adds Politico.
Breakfast Sides
Supreme Court review of health reform law includes constitutionality of expanding Medicaid. W. Post: "The administration contends that it has every right to revise the eligibility rules for Medicaid because it is a voluntary program ...[States] are free to withdraw at any time. The administration can also point to a long line of court precedents upholding this 'spending power' of Congress — including past challenges to Medicaid changes. But the states party to the lawsuit argue that this Medicaid expansion is different because the amount of federal assistance at stake is so enormous and so necessary to the welfare of their most vulnerable residents that they don’t realistically have the option of giving it up."
Tea party again screwing up GOP changes to take over Senate. NYT: "Winning the Senate is tantalizingly within reach for Republicans ... But on a state by state basis, there are factors that give the Democrats hope and the Republicans pause. In states like Nebraska, tensions between the Tea Party movement and so-called establishment factions of the party threaten to roil the base. Florida and Pennsylvania have muddled Republican primary fields, with multiple candidates and no real standouts."
States impressed with success of state-run Bank of North Dakota. Bloomberg: "Lawmakers in other states are modeling proposals on the Bismarck bank as activists protest bailouts for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and other financial giants while their customers struggle with foreclosures and unemployment. Supporters say state-run banks, whose deposit base would include tax revenue and other government funds, would have greater control to develop socially minded lending programs favoring average Americans."
