MORNING MESSAGE: Grand Bargain v. Deal for All
OurFuture.org's Isaiah J. Poole: "Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Keith Ellison, D-Minn., are trying to get political support for a congressional resolution that would repudiate any 'grand bargain' on the federal deficit that cuts Social Security, Medicare or other programs vital to economic security. Their resolution calls for a 'Deal for All' that would protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; contain 'serious revenue increases,' including corporate tax loopholes and higher tax brackets for the highest-income earners; significant reductions in defense spending; and 'strong levels of job-creating Federal investments in areas such as infrastructure and education.'"
Dems Maneuver To Maintain Majority On Taxes
Senate Dems shelve estate tax increase to keep majority on ending Bush tax cuts for wealthy. Politico: "Since there was no consensus in the Senate Democratic Caucus over the levels to tax estates transferred after a person’s death, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told senators Thursday he’d drop that provision … Democrats want to muster at least a simple majority of senators so they can blame Republicans for protecting wealthy families at the expense of a tax break for 98 percent of Americans … A vote is expected next week…"
Both parties using legislation to frame election, prepare for Dec. negotiations. W. Post: "In the absence of any serious negotiations of the fiscal issues ahead, the legislative agenda on Capitol Hill had become particularly light, which created the opening for each side to begin firing at the other on the tax-and-spending issues. Democrats said that in preparing for what they believed would be several weeks of Republican attacks accusing them of wanting to raise taxes and decimate the military budget, they decided to fire the first shots."
Romney Inadvertently Promotes Govt Help For Biz
Romney touts small businessman who didn't receive help from government … excepte that he did. CBS: "Company owner Brian Maloney [said] 'I take umbrage at the suggestion that people don't start and build businesses,' … But in an interview with Boston-based reporter Jon Keller of WBZ-TV, Maloney acknowledged that his business received some government help. 'The only way I was able to come here, because I had no money, was with an industrial revenue bond,' Maloney said in the interview. Industrial revenue bonds are typically issued by local and state governments to attract new business to an area. They create low-interest loans for new development and startups."
Majority wants to see Romney's tax returns. CBS: "Fifty-four percent of adults nationwide say the presumptive Republican presidential nominee should provide further returns to the public. That includes three in four Democrats, more than half of independents, and 30 percent of Republicans."
Ann Romney says "you people" ain't gonna get 'em. HuffPost: "Mitt Romney's wife is reinforcing her husband's refusal to make public several years of tax returns, telling ABC News 'we've given all you people need to know' about the family's finances. 'You know, you should really look at where Mitt has led his life, and where he’s been financially,' she said in her interview with Robin Roberts. 'He’s a very generous person. We give 10 percent of our income to our church every year. Do you think that is the kind of person that is trying to hide things, or do things? No. He is so good about it.'"
Romney is clearly "wiling to bet against America" with his money, says NYT's Timothy Egan: "…one of the most devastating political ads of the last decade — Romney warbling 'America the Beautiful' while the screen shows his tax havens and foreign shelters — hit its target like a bunker-busting bomb. Those are his American exceptions. What’s wrong with American banks? American businesses? American start-ups? American treasuries? [And] Romney promises to govern as he invests. He wants to overhaul the tax system so that overseas profits of American corporations would escape United States taxation. This would create an incentive for corporations to shift even more jobs and capital overseas."
Biden slams GOP for filibustering anti-outsourcing bill. CNN quotes: "They maintained a tax cut to take your company abroad and refused to give a tax cut to bring your company home."
Obama hits Romney on Medicare. Bloomberg: "'It’s wrong to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare just so millionaires and billionaires can pay less in taxes,' Obama told a crowd of supporters in Jacksonville … 'if that voucher isn’t worth enough to buy the health insurance that’s on the market, you’re out of luck, you’re on your own,' Obama said. He said one study said it would mean an additional cost of $6,400 for Medicare, compared with today."
Breakfast Sides
WH, HHS defend legality of state government waivers in welfare-to-work program. WSJ: "The White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have both pointed to a 2005 letter signed by 29 Republican governors asking Congress to grant them waivers from some of the requirements in federal funding for the welfare program … 'We do not go as far as these governors in supporting state flexibility,' Ms Sebelius wrote in letters Wednesday to House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.), and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah)."
"Report Details Woes of Student Loan Debt" reports NYT: "It provides new estimates for total outstanding student loan debt: more than $1 trillion in 2011 … Cumulative defaults on private student loans exceeded $8 billion … That total has risen in the last decade as lenders bypassed college financial aid offices and marketed loans directly to students … many lenders lowered their underwriting standards so that they could originate and then sell off more loans, even if the loans were based on terms the borrowers could not possibly fulfill."
Some GOPers tried to break ranks on clean energy bill. Politico: "At least three House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans had publicly expressed reservations about the GOP-backed 'No More Solyndras Act' during the past week. They griped, to varying degrees, about a provision that would effectively end the loan guarantee program — and argued that it needs to be reformed, not killed … The GOP infighting was not lost on The Wall Street Journal editorial board, which lambasted the Republican lawmakers who have raised concerns …"
