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 Defining Issue Of Our Time
OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: "There were a few disheartening misses, but the president deserves credit for several refreshingly audacious moments in his speech, including a pronouncement that addresses a campaign we and several other organizations launched to oppose a sweetheart deal with big banks whose behavior caused the financial crisis. At the very least, we now know that whatever deal the administration cuts with these banksters won't include a White House concession of immunity from investigation and prosecution of criminal behavior ... the president correctly called the restoration of "the basic American promise" that people who educate themselves, work hard and play by the rules can climb the economic ladder 'the defining issue of our time.' ... on this defining issue of our time, conservatives have it catastrophically wrong, and the president is pointed in the right direction. The challenge for the progressive movement is to add the bold demands and sharp contrasts needed to fill out the vision of the America we must move toward."
President Frames The 2012 Debate In SOTU
President lays out agenda to restore middle class. LAT: "...proposing to require millionaires to pay at least 30% of their income in taxes and to eliminate deductions that save companies money if they move jobs overseas. He also proposed rewards, in the form of lower corporate rates, for businesses that manufacture and create jobs in the U.S. Heavily emphasizing income inequality and its causes, Tuesday’s speech included several ideas that have already gotten a cold reception in Congress, including a program to upgrade roads and bridges and a fee on banks to help 'responsible' homeowners refinance their mortgages."
"President Obama called on Congress Tuesday to toughen laws against securities fraud" reports NYT: "The issue of how to deal with Wall Street firms that repeatedly violate securities laws has come into focus in recent months ... Currently, the S.E.C. can try to bring contempt charges only if a company has broken previous vows not to violate the law ... Mr. Obama said that banks and financial companies should be held accountable for their actions and should face the same type of consequences as anyone else who has been charged with breaking the law."
Gives shot in the arm to "clean energy standard." The Hill: "Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is getting close to unveiling a proposed 'clean electric power standard ... Obama said. 'But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven’t acted.' Obama then touted other renewables proposals he’s pursuing without Congress. But Bingaman took a glass-half-full approach to Obama’s decision to mention the standard in a speech."
But also boosts natural gas drilling. Bloomberg: "Hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to free gas trapped in rock, could create more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade, Obama said yesterday ... Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford in a statement criticized the emphasis on fracking, which he said poses risks to water supplies ... Obama said the drive for new drilling would be accompanied by regulations to ensure safe drilling practices. Those would include a requirement that companies operating on public lands disclose the chemicals used in the fracking fluid."
TNR's Jonathan Cohn praises general direction in support of active government to create jobs: "... Obama called for more action to boost American workers and the industries that employ them – whether it was tax changes to deter American companies from relocating overseas or more spending on infrastructure, an idea that both parties once supported. He also renewed his call for investments in clean energy, suggesting (at least implicitly) that with early government support the U.S. could create a manufacturing nucleus – the kind that now exists for computers abroad ... The overall scale of what he outlined on Tuesday was modest. But in principle Obama is absolutely right: 'What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other industries.'"
Mark Thoma wants more: "I wanted a plan that puts immediate job creation at the forefront. However, this plan is largely tax cuts, it's piecemeal, and it's mostly directed at our long-run problems. Bringing business home doesn't happen overnight, R&D takes time, so does infrastructure, and so on. Millions of people need jobs now, not later. They don't have time to wait, for example, for manufacturing to move from China back to the US, and there's no certainty that will happen in any case. What was missing from the speech is a strong, coherent plan to create jobs immediately."
Swing voters embrace the speech. LAT: "...a group of 50 swing voters armed with dial meters recorded strongly favorable reactions to his proposals on taxes, renewable energy, overcoming partisan divisions and defending the middle class ... 'The most surprising' aspect of the reaction was 'the lack of polarization' among the voters, [said pollster Stan Greenberg]."
Institutional investors say "capitalism is in crisis," according to Bloomberg poll: "... a majority in the Bloomberg Global Poll agree that income inequality hurts the economy and that governments need to do something to address it ... Those surveyed also voice reservations about the financial industry’s role in society, with seven in 10 seeing at least some truth in the argument that banks have too much power over governments."
President Announces New Bank Investigation
NY AG Schneiderman to head up new federal-state investigative unit. HuffPost: "Schneiderman is an increasingly beloved figure among progressives for his criticism of a proposed settlement between the 50 state attorneys general and the five largest banks. His presence atop this new special unit could give it immediate legitimacy among those who have criticized the president for being too hesitant in going after the banks and resolving the mortgage crisis."
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage praises: "“After months of troubling rumors that the White House was urging state attorneys generals to hold banks blameless - and after months of protests by concerned Americans - the President is doing the right thing by announcing an investigation of the big banks ... we hope that news reports are true that he plans to choose Attorney General Schneiderman - who has bravely refused to accept a deal that protected the banks from prosecution -- to lead this investigation into the foreclosure crisis. His appointment to lead the Justice Department investigation would put a champion in charge - and would the whole effort tremendous credibility."
President also proposes plan for reduced mortgage payments in SOTU. NYT: "The program would broaden the availability of government-backed mortgages to include many borrowers whose loans are held by private companies and who have been unable to persuade those lenders to reduce their interest rates ... The new plan would require Congressional approval, a difficult hurdle for any legislation in the current polarized environment. Still, some Republicans have expressed support for expanding the availability of refinancing, and White House officials insisted that the plan was not an act of theater."
Fed had been agitated for more help on mortgages. Bloomberg: "The proposal follows Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke’s call for lawmakers and the Obama administration to offer more aid for housing as the U.S. central bank helps to push down rates on 30-year loans to 3.88 percent for homeowners who can qualify. The Fed, which is holding short-term borrowing costs near zero and buying government-backed mortgage bonds, said in a paper sent to Congress this month that a previous administration effort to make refinancing easier had failed to go far enough."
Republicans have a reason to support President's mortgage plan. HuffPost's Mark Steitz: " The top ten Congressional Districts that could benefit from refi are all, 100%, Republican represented --- and 40 of the top 50 districts are Republican represented."
Tax Fight Brews In Congress
Payroll tax cut talks not starting off well. NYT: "...negotiators are far apart in how to cover the $160 billion it would cost to maintain the cut, extend expiring unemployment benefits and avoid deep cuts in fees to doctors treating Medicare patients ... Republicans said they wanted to include 'job creation' measures, including one blocking environmental regulations for commercial boilers and another forcing the construction of [the Keystone] oil pipeline ... Democrats ... emphasized tax 'fairness' and demanded that tax cuts for workers be paid for in part with tax increases on the affluent."
Senate Dems prepare tax votes. Politico: "...Democratic officials say there will be votes in the coming weeks on extending the Bush tax rates — excluding for incomes of more than $1 million. They will propose legislation to increase taxes on carried interest — and there’s even a push to include that tax increase as a way to offset the cost of a yearlong extension of the payroll tax cut affecting 160 American workers. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that Democratic negotiators would also seek to enact a millionaires’ surtax to finance the payroll tax break and expiring jobless benefits."
Public Stews Over Romney's Low Taxes
Mitt Romney is "Exhibit A" in the tax debate, says W. Post: "To Democrats, Romney is benefiting from an unfair tax code that permits a man who made nearly $21 million last year to pay just 15 percent in federal taxes ... To Republicans, Romney is an exemplar of the capitalist system, a wealthy man who propels the economy through successful investments. Many of them think he should pay even less to the federal government. Indeed, Newt Gingrich ... has proposed eliminating taxes on investment income altogether — a move that would push Romney’s tax rate near zero."
Romney's returns leave questions unanswered, notes TPM: " In 2010, Romney carried over $4.9 million in capital losses from 2009 ... as tax lawyer Ed Kleinbard told reporters during a Tuesday conference call organized by the DNC, 'that means he paid no tax on any of his capital gains in 2009, including tax on his carried interest in 2009.' ... there is one tax strategy that could have allowed Romney to avoid a big, 35 percent tax on unrelated business income, as it pertains to his massive individual retirement account — if that account is invested in an offshore entity. When asked Tuesday if Romney has ever benefited from this strategy, his trust adviser Brad Malt said, 'I don’t know the answer to that — let us get back to you on that.'"
Breakfast Sides
Lawmakers struggle to pass transportation jobs bill without earmarks. Politico: "...leaders are trying to figure out how to pass a $260 billion, five-year transportation bill (in the House) or a $109 billion, two-year bill (in the Senate) while at the same time telling lawmakers they may not have anything to show for it in their home districts to ward off headlines like: 'Congressman X just voted for a bloated XXX billion highway bill.' ... lost is the opportunity for a member of Congress to stand next to a new bridge or transit project and say: 'Because of me, that project got done.'"
Indiana Dems refuse to allow quorum in attempt to stop anti-union bill. NYT: "'We don’t have enough votes to govern the chamber, but we have enough votes to govern the timetable of what work is done,' said Representative Scott Pelath, who like each of the other absent Democrats is facing $4,000 in fines — and the threat of more fines for each day of absence. Whether the Democrats will come to the House floor on Wednesday, Mr. Pelath said, remained to be determined."
Volcker rule still faces Wall Street resistance. Politico: "...financial-sector lobbyists now warn that any missteps in crafting the final guidance for the rule could endanger the stock and bond markets ... Wall Street critics said the push is just the latest spin on a continued effort to neuter a rule that the industry has consistently opposed ... At a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing last week, regulators admitted their challenges in drawing a bright line between the different types of trades, a problem largely caused by a lack of solid data ... the financial industry plans to capitalize on the confusion among regulators."
