MORNING MESSAGE: Wall Street’s Unpunished Crimes
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "... it was nothing short of astonishing to hear the Secretary of the Treasury assert yesterday that ... 'most financial crises are caused by a mix of stupidity and greed and recklessness and risk-taking and hope' and adding 'you can't legislate away stupidity and risk-taking and greed and recklessness.' ... Comments like Mr. Geithner’s only add to the perception that bankers have a free pass to commit crimes without fear of prosecution. That’s not just an injustice. It’s also a threat to our economic security. This perception can only be changed if the Administration moves aggressively to hire and staff this Task Force with the best people and best managers possible. The public needs to see action, and it needs to see it now."
House To Vote On GOP Sham Student Loan Bill
House to vote on sham student loan bill designed to give Republicans political cover: "[House Republicans] have hurriedly set a vote for Friday on legislation that would prevent the July 1 rate increase [but] Republicans want to offset costs by taking money from a program within the health care law."
Speaker Boehner calls Presidential tour to rally support for low student loan rates, "pathetic." HuffPost: "'For the president to make a campaign issue out of this and then to travel to three battleground states and go to three large college campuses on taxpayers' money to try to make this a political issue is pathetic.' Boehner added that Obama's campaign should reimburse the Treasury for the trips, including the $179,000-an-hour cost of Air Force One. 'This is the biggest job in the world, and I've never seen a president make it smaller,' said Boehner."
The House GOP budget, backed by Romney, is even crueler to students. TNR's Perry Stein: "...the gradual decrease in the maximum Pell Grant award—and the subsequent rise in loan debt—that the Ryan budget puts in motion could eventually amount to much more than $1000 per student."
Senate Passes VAWA
Senate passes bipartisan Violence Against Women Act expansion, House Republicans prepared to reject. Roll Call: "The House is working on its own version of the measure that is not expected to include provisions in the Senate version explicitly extending protections to Native Americans, illegal immigrants, and lesbian and transgender women. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to consider the bill the week of May 7, with floor action likely to come the week after."
NYT adds: "The final vote was supported not only by moderate Republicans like Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, but also by Republican stalwarts like John McCain of Arizona and unflinching conservatives like David Vitter of Louisiana."
Breakfast Sides
"Federal union blasts Romney over remarks about government workers’ pay" reports W. Post: "...Romney said 'We will stop the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve.' ... 'You know what’s really unfair?' AFGE President John Gage wrote to Romney. 'The specter of having a new boss who thinks so little about the work that you do that he can’t bother getting his facts straight before making the ridiculous and patently false claim.'"
Rep. Paul Ryan tries to claim GOP budget follows Catholic principles, Catholic leaders disagree. Religion News Service: "The chief reason is that Ryan (and other Catholic conservatives and Republicans, like House Speaker John Boehner) has sought to justify his budget priorities in terms of the Catholic principle known as 'subsidiarity,' but the evidence shows his platform and that principle just don't match up."
"ObamaCare" provision estimated to provide $1.3B in consumer rebates this summer. W. Post: "The rule requires most insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect from customers on health-care claims or quality improvement efforts ... any plans that exceeded their limits last year must refund customers the difference by Aug. 1."
Geithner leans on China ahead of trip next week. W. Post: "...Geithner said there had been “\'significant progress' on several economic fronts, including a rise in the value of China’s currency, a run-up in U.S. exports to China, and a gradual opening of China’s economy to outside companies. But in remarks at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, Geithner said fundamental problems remain. China’s use of its financial system to steer credit and other advantages to state-owned companies is chief among them."
American corporate giants creating jobs ... overseas. WSJ: "Thirty-five big U.S.-based multinational companies added jobs much faster than other U.S. employers in the past two years, but nearly three-fourths of those jobs were overseas..."
United Steelworkers take on voter suppression with disturbing video testimonials: "These videos are so shockingly unbelievable but, sadly, 100 percent true: In 2012, in the United States of America, citizens are being denied the right to vote. Among them are Congressmen, veterans, students, retirees and women. Throughout the year, we will be telling their stories..."
