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: The Forgotten Leading Actor In The American Dream Story
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "Unions are under siege. Their numbers are down. Economically, fewer and fewer working people look to unions as a way out of their struggles. Politically, Democratic analysts suggest that the emerging majority that is the core of the Obama majority can win without the white working class. In our big-money politics, union contributions are far less important. Democratic presidents and Congresses under Clinton and Obama notoriously failed to pass or press even modest labor law reforms that could curb some of the most egregious employer abuses against the right to organize. But it is worth remembering just how vital unions are to democracy..."
GOP Payroll Tax Bill Yields Veto Threat
White House issues veto threat after House passes disingenuous version of payroll tax cut extension. The Hill: "The administration’s veto threat referenced provisions that Republicans use to pay for the bill, including the repeal of funding for the 2010 healthcare law and measures that, the White House said, broke a spending agreement hatched this summer during the debt-limit deal. Obama has previously threatened to reject the GOP bill over the inclusion of a measure forcing the administration to expedite a decision on the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline ... Republicans included measures delaying environmental regulations, limiting the duration of jobless benefits and restricting benefits for illegal immigrants, among other sweeteners. They proposed to offset the cost of the bill in part by extending a federal-worker pay freeze and reducing certain Medicare benefits for the wealthy."
Senate GOP delays vote. NYT: "Senate Democrats said they had been hoping to take up the House bill Tuesday night, so they could shoot it down, but they said Republicans wanted more time. While Mr. Reid refused to back away from his party’s idea of paying for the payroll tax holiday with a surcharge on income over $1 million, it appeared that the idea was losing steam, and that some form of compromise would be forged."
Senate Maj. Leader Reid suggests compromise. Bloomberg: "...Reid hinted at his next step by saying he would add $35 billion in extensions of miscellaneous tax breaks to a payroll tax cut. The expiring breaks, which include incentives such as a research and development tax credit and a benefit for banks’ overseas operations, expire Dec. 31 ... Reid didn’t say how or whether the cost of the tax-break extensions would be covered in the payroll package."
Reid slams GOP cuts to jobless aid. HuffPost quotes: "I think what they have in the proposed bill is the wrong side of ridiculous ... They cut out a couple score of weeks. And listen to this one: As I read the bill, as my staff reads the bill, they require drug testing for people who are drawing unemployment compensation... So there are reforms necessary, but not this."
"Dems in favor of Keystone pipeline reject [GOP] payroll tax bill" reports The Hill: "... the wider House package also included a number of provisions that pro-pipeline Democrats found objectionable ... Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), a pipeline backer that nonetheless voted with his party against the House GOP bill Tuesday, citing what he called inadequate unemployment insurance provisions."
Gingrich Tax Plan Blows Gigantic Debt Hole
"Gingrich’s Tax Plan Would Cause Perpetual Trillion Dollar Deficits, Triple The Debt By 2024" reports ThinkProgress' Seth Hanlon: "...we assumed that he adopts all of the draconian spending cuts in House Budget Committee Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget ... And yet Gingrich’s tax giveaways are so enormous that there wouldn’t be nearly enough revenue to fund even this extreme conservative vision of government."
"Top Economists Call for Higher Taxes on Mega-Rich" reports AFL-CIO's Mike Hall: "A new study by a team of top economists finds that if the tax rate for the highest-income Americans was pegged at—drum roll please—83 percent—it wouldn’t impact anyone but the 'mega-rich.'"
The ambitious Congressional Progressive Caucus jobs bill reveals the "limits of the jobs debate." W. Post's Katrina vanden Heuvel: "The CPC’s 'Restore the American Dream for the 99 Percent' legislation incorporates many of the smartest proposals for moving forward. It would provide programs to put 2.2 million Americans to work now — with a School Improvement Corps, a Parks Improvement Corps, a Civilian Conservation Corps and a Student Jobs Corps. It would create a national infrastructure bank, with a potential $250 billion in capital and the ability to leverage conservatively $625 billion for vital infrastructure programs ... The CPC bill calls for more investment than any other jobs bill, yet it is not commensurate with the crisis we face ... deficit fears put a brake on even the CPC’s vital jobs agenda."
Dem poll memo makes case that architect of House plan to end Medicare is beatable. Politico quotes: "Ryan’s favorable rating has declined to 54% positive, his job rating is 55% and his reelect is 54%—all this before the beginning of an active campaign against Ryan. When voters hear positive information about Rob Zerban and Paul Ryan, Ryan’s support weakens further to 52%. Rob Zerban’s description receives a better than 3 to 1 positive reaction."
Breakfast Sides
Dwindling child care aid squeezing working class. NYT: "... it has been eaten away over the years by inflation and growing need and recently by state budget cuts, leaving parents struggling to find other arrangements to stay employed ... At least two states, Arizona and Utah, are no longer appropriating state general funds for child care at all. According to a recent report by the [National Women's Law Center], families in 37 states were worse off this year than last year as waiting lists grew, co-payments rose, eligibility tightened and reimbursement rates for providers stagnated."
Post office closures delayed. W. Post: "The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday that it will delay the closure or consolidation of thousands of post offices nationwide in response to requests from lawmakers who said Congress first needs to pass legislation to overhaul the cash-strapped mail agency."
State breaks for corporations not producing jobs. NYT: "Economic development programs cost states and cities billions of dollars a year, but many programs require little if any job creation, fewer than half call for wage standards, and fewer than a quarter require the companies to provide health care for their workers, according to a study of program requirements scheduled to be released Wednesday by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit research organization that tracks corporate subsidies. Some merely require companies to invest in plants or new equipment, which could actually enable them to reduce their head counts."
2.5 million more young adults now have health insurance thanks to "ObamaCare," according to new HHS report. AP: "That drop [in uninsured young Americans] is 2 1/2 times as large as the drop indicated by previous government and private estimates from earlier this year ... nearly 36 percent of those age 19-25 were uninsured in the third calendar quarter of 2010, before the law's provision took effect. That translates to more than 10.5 million people. By the second calendar quarter of 2011, the proportion of uninsured young adults had dropped to a little over 27 percent, or about 8 million people."
