MORNING MESSAGE: Why You Should Join Wednesday's March Against Money In Politics
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "We'll be marching on the headquarters of Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS organization in Washington DC to protest the corrupting, debasing, and anti-democratic influence of money in politics … while the Dems have their big-money donors, frankly they're pretty small potatoes when compared to the deep-pocketed, un-American, anti-Democratic funders of the GOP like the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson … The Republicans and their corporate backers have gone absolutely crazy, not just in buying elections but in pushing a multi-pronged strategy to undermine democracy…"
Final Day of #takeback12
The following are key panels from today's Take Back the American Dream schedule, convening at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC. Registration available on-site. Watch livestream of key panels, and access full conference agenda, at OurFuture.org.
8 AM Progressive Breakfast with Greg Kaufmann, Kate Sheppard, Terrance Heath and Amanda Terkel
8:45 AM Reversing the Right's Offensive on Rights with Sandra Fluke, Barbara Arnwine, Clarissa Martinez de Castro, Rashad Robinson and Wade Henderson
11 AM Power - It Takes A Movement with Van Jones, Billy Wimsatt and more
12:45 PM March to Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS SuperPAC
Obama Campaign Demands Disclosure From Rove Super PAC
"Obama Camp Demands the Names of Crossroad GPS Donors" reports WSJ: "Crossroads is organized under a section of the tax code that allows it to keep its funding sources private. But since the group is spending millions on campaign ads attacking Democrats, it should disclose its donors as traditional campaign committees are required to do, Robert Bauer, the top lawyer for the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee, argued in the complaint."
Take Back the American Dream ends conference today with march on Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS Super PAC.
Today in Austerity Senate Prepares To Cut Food Stamps
Food stamp cuts remain after votes on amendments to Senate farm bill. AP: "The Democratic-led Senate defeated 56-43 a proposal by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., that would have restored strict asset tests for food stamp eligibility [and] saved taxpayers $11 billion over 10 years … A second Sessions amendment, to prevent states from getting bonuses for increasing registration of food stamp recipients, was also defeated … The base bill [still saves] $4.5 billion over 10 years by ending another practice by some 15 states of giving low-income people as little as $1 dollar a year in home heating assistance, even when they don't have heating bills, in order to make them eligible for increased food stamp benefits. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., sought to rescind those savings, saying the reduction would result in half-a-million households losing an average $90 in monthly food benefits, but her amendment went down 66-33."
House GOP bill cuts taxes for wealthy, raises for middle-class, according to new report. W. Post: "…although households earning $100,000 to $200,000 a year would save about $7,000 from the lower tax rates in the GOP plan, those savings would be swamped by eliminating major deductions, according to the report by the Democratically controlled congressional Joint Economic Committee … Households earning more than $1 million a year, meanwhile, could see a net tax cut of about $300,000 annually."
Sen. Min. Leader McConnell adopts tax-the-poor stance. ThinkProgress quotes: "Between 45 percent and 50 percent of Americans pay no income tax at all. We have an extraordinarily progressive tax code already. It is a mess…"
Obama chides Romney campaign for urging Germans, in a German oped, to ignore US appeals for ending austerity. CNN quotes: "I would point out that we have one president at a time and one administration at a time and I think traditionally the notion has been that America's political differences end at the water's edge."
Little movement at G-20 Summit. NYT: "[Obama] appeared to make only modest headway in persuading Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to drop her opposition to more government spending to alleviate Europe’s debt crisis … The meeting did, however, appear to foreshadow a move toward deeper banking integration in Europe, including possible action to put together a banking union that would guarantee deposits. But such a pact is still a ways off…"
Sen. Maj. Leader Reid and Speaker Boehner step up efforts for a transportation bill compromise before June 30 deadline. W. Post: "'Senate Leader Harry Reid and Speaker John Boehner have told Chairman John Mica and me to finish our work this week on the transportation bill,' Sen. Barbara Boxer(D-Calif.) said after a Capital Hill meeting of the four leaders. 'I have asked Chairman Mica to meet continually over the next several days to achieve this deadline.'"
Low expectations for Fed action today. Politico: "Several months of atrocious employment reports have the recovery wobbling but not to the point that would prompt massive intervention, economists say … Wall Street economists anticipate the Federal Open Market Committee could announce plans Wednesday to keep its key interest rate for lending to banks near zero percent through 2015, a policy hinted at in recent speeches by Fed Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen."
Public Backs Help for DREAMers
Huge support for Obama directive in Bloomberg poll: "Sixty-four percent of likely voters surveyed after Obama’s June 15 announcement said they agreed with the policy, while 30 percent said they disagreed. Independents backed the decision by better than a two-to-one margin."
20 GOP senators complain to Obama about his immigration directive, while Sen. Min. Leader McConnell punts. The Hill: "A group of 20 Republican senators led by Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to President Obama late Tuesday questioning the legality of his recent directive … [But] Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Republican lawmakers would wait to weigh in on it until they heard from Mitt Romney on the issue. Romney avoided taking a clear stance on the issue in interviews over the weekend…"
Dimon On Defense
Jamie Dimon faces tough questioning at House hearing. The Hill: "…Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told Dimon he was 'disappointed' when the vocal critic of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law refused to say how much money a financial regulator should need to do their job … He even went so far as to press Dimon on whether his own paycheck was in jeopardy due to the trading gaffe … Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) effectively accused Dimon of being duplicitous when he said before the Senate that he supported large parts of Dodd-Frank, even as his bank pressed regulators working to implement the law to ease its requirements … Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) accused JPMorgan of 'throwing darts' in what it claimed was efforts to hedge risk."
Dimon defiant, defensive on size of JPMorgan Chase. Bloomberg; "Dimon didn’t hesitate to push back against lawmakers who criticized the bank’s lobbying or size. He said big banks like JPMorgan provide loans for homeowners and businesses of all sizes. 'I assume you want us to do that,' he said."
Sens. Sanders, Boxer and Begich look to get bankers off the Federal Reserve. Bloomberg: "The bill to ban employees of bank holding companies or other firms regulated by the Fed from serving on regional boards calls the arrangement a 'conflict of interest that must be eliminated.' … Sanders, an independent, said in a June 14 interview that while Democratic leaders have not assured him they will allow a vote, he will try to force one as an amendment to unrelated legislation…"
