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: Deficit Trouble - Right Here In River City!
OurFuture.org's Dave Johnson: "For those not familiar with The Music Man, here is the lead-up: "River City ain't in any trouble." "Well, we're going to have to create some." Then the Republican Congressman Music Man goes out and whips the town into a state. He does it to sell them ... This 'con game' is what is happening to our own country as well, with the whipped-up terrification over deficits..."
"The Most Fraudulent Budget In History"
Republican budget is "most fraudulent in history" says NYT's Paul Krugman: "...the Ryan budget purports to reduce the deficit — but the alleged deficit reduction depends on the completely unsupported assertion that trillions of dollars in revenue can be found by closing tax loopholes ... which specific loopholes has Mr. Ryan, who issued a 98-page manifesto on behalf of his budget, said he would close? None. Not one. He has, however, categorically ruled out any move to close the major loophole that benefits the rich, namely the ultra-low tax rates on income from capital."
The New Yorkers' James Surowiecki explores the depths of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget hypocrisy: "...despite his rhetorical obsession with 'efficiency' elsewhere, he doesn’t even offer a substantive justification for why defense should get a free pass ... Ryan’s uncharacteristic munificence toward defense requires his cuts elsewhere to be even more draconian, effectively starving most of the rest of the government to death."
Robert Kuttner fears double dip recession on Jan. 1: "First, the legacy of last summer's ill-fated bipartisan fiscal bargain -- an automatic set of budget cuts totaling $1.2 trillion -- kicks in next January 1. Second, President Obama's temporary payroll tax cuts expire. And third -- this is a good witch -- all of President George B. Bush's tax cuts sunset. Just for good measure, there is yet another witch. The temporary extension of the debt ceiling will also expire around the first of the year, giving the deficit hawks of both parties even more leverage. The trouble is that all of this adds up to a massive fiscal contraction."
Romney Takes More Positions At Odds With The 99%
Romney risks working class vote by embracing WI Gov. Walker. The Hill: "Embracing Walker offers major short-term advantages for Romney in Wisconsin, which holds its primary contest Tuesday, as the GOP front-runner looks for the last few wins he needs to lock up the nomination. But it may also risk alienating voters in union-heavy swing states such as Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania — at just the time when Romney and his campaign hope to turn their attention to the general election."
And by dismissing help for students to attend college. NYT's Tom Edsall: "The children of the white working class are in need of financial support to pay for tuition at a two or four-year colleges as a path to upward mobility. The overwhelming majority of Pell Grants, 63.3 percent, go to low income whites ... This year, Romney will need to win by a wide margin among those for whom access to post-secondary education is a key issue ... Romney’s refusal to promise that he will 'give you government money to pay for your college' is a risky approach ...
Obama takes lead in Gallup "swing state" poll thanks to women. USA Today: "The biggest change came among women under 50. In mid-February, just under half of those voters supported Obama. Now more than six in 10 ... Republicans' traditional strength among men 'won't be good enough if we're losing women by nine points or 10 points,' says Sara Taylor Fagen, a Republican strategist ... 'The focus on contraception has not been a good one for us...'"
Privatization Moves Come With a Price
W. Post's Brad Plumer details pitfalls of privatizing state infrastructure: "The deals are frequently complicated and it can be difficult to assess how good a bargain the states are actually getting ... as a recent GAO report found, four of the five privately-funded toll road projects in the last 15 years included non-compete clauses that prevented the government from building nearby roads."
Privatization of immigration control costing lives, argues Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen in NYT oped: "Numerous reports have been filed about misconduct, violence and abuse perpetrated by contractors carrying out migration functions ... government outsourcing has given rise to an industry that encompasses nearly every aspect of migration management in countries across the globe. This shift comes at a price: It eliminates government accountability and runs roughshod over the rights of those subjected to private corporations’ control."
NAFTA Summit Today
President meets with NAFTA partners today. Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama hosts Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico for talks on economic growth and competitiveness, citizen security against terrorism, energy and climate change, according to the White House ... The trilateral meeting may produce further steps toward a 'seamless market,' a transcontinental infrastructure of eased regulatory burdens governing the flow of commerce among the three nations..."
New Apple CEO seen as more interested in improving factory working conditions. NYT: "In contrast to Mr. Cook, Mr. Jobs never visited the factories in China where Apple’s products were made ... [Apple] became the first technology company to join the Fair Labor Association, and it invited the nonprofit global monitoring group to conduct inspections of its suppliers’ factories in China and elsewhere."
Fines Proposed For Foreclosure Fraudsters
Fed proposes fines on banks that committed foreclosure fraud. NYT: "Federal regulators are poised to crack down on eight financial firms that are not part of the recent government settlement ... Some see the Fed’s recommendation as an attempt to push these firms to agree to the terms of the broader mortgage settlement ..."
