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: "President Ryan" -- The Corporate State's Long Game
OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: "The Corporate Right's leadership may have already concluded that this year's Presidential election is likely unwinnable. Ryan then becomes the perfect choice for VP: With one move, the nation's most genuinely radical national politician became the leading contender for the 2016 nomination. Ryan will turn out the GOP base and give it a lift in down-ticket races. And most importantly, a far-right radical has been given four months to preach an extreme vision of America on a national platform."
Romney-Ryan Struggle To Talk Taxes
Romney and Ryan struggle to explain their tax plan on 60 Minutes. Roll Call: "In one especially awkward moment, Ryan jumped in to clarify Romney's desire to reduce the rates of every taxpayer by eliminating tax shelters. Romney, a wealthy businessman, is reported to have had, at least at one point, multiple offshore accounts, including in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands."
And WSJ notes Romney's math doesn't seem to add up: "… Mr. Romney said he wouldn’t propose shrinking the share of taxes that the wealthiest Americans currently pay … But Mr. Romney has previously said he intends to reduce income-tax rates across the board by 20%, offsetting the cuts by eliminating various tax breaks he hasn’t identified yet. A study by the Tax Policy Center concluded that even if his plan was written to benefit low-income Americans as much as possible, it would still 'provide large tax cuts to high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle- and/or lower-income taxpayers.'"
Ryan gave more tax returns to Romney then he will give to the public. HuffPost: "Presumptive vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said on Sunday that while he turned over 'several years' of tax returns to the Romney campaign during his vetting process, he would only make two years of tax returns public for voters."
And Medicare
In interview, Romney embraces Ryan plan to undermine Medicare with voucher option: "What Paul Ryan and I have talked about is saving Medicare, is providing people greater choice in Medicare …"
And slanders President Obama's cost-saving Medicare reforms: “There's only one president that I know of in history that robbed Medicare, $716 billion to pay for a new risky program of his own that we call ‘ObamaCare,’”
TNR's Jonathan Cohn explains "Mitt Romney's Astoundingly Cynical Medicare Strategy": "Yes, the Affordable Care Act includes substantial cuts to Medicare. But Ryan's own budget, which nearly every House Republican voted to pass and which Romney has said he would sign as president, leaves those cuts in place and uses them to finance other priorities. In other words, the Romney campaign is attacking a proposal that Romney and his allies endorse … Obamacare puts the money back into the pockets of people who need help with their medical bills … [Ryan's budget] actually takes those new benefits away."
While Florida Looms
Ryan not well-known in FL, yet. W. Post: "'Paul Ryan’s his name?' asked Floyd Register, 62, a county worker who hasn’t quite decided who he will vote for in November … Told in general terms that Ryan’s plan would restructure Medicare for future generations of seniors, Register said that he would need to know more details …'It’s the unknowns' that concern him … Lorina Johnston, 54, said she heard the name Paul Ryan for the first time Saturday … Although she is leaning toward Romney, Johnston, who is being treated for breast cancer, said that Ryan’s Medicare proposal 'does make you a little nervous.' Asked whether the prospect of changing Medicare could sway her from voting for Romney, she said, 'It could.'"
Ryan heads to FL to try to head off exodus of seniors. WSJ: "[Ryan] will head to central Florida next weekend and likely confront questions about his proposal to overhaul Medicare for future seniors. The trip will be a test for Mr. Ryan…"
Romney risks letting FL get away. Politico: "The biggest danger for Romney is in Florida, with its must-win 29 electoral votes and heavy senior population, Republicans said it was crucial to inoculate voters on Ryan’s 'Roadmap,' part of which would turn Medicare into a voucher-based system for future retirees … A well-placed source said Republicans recently did an extensive regression analysis war-gaming what states are most crucial given the polling. The single state that Romney absolutely had to have in all the various combinations: Florida."
Ryan Helps Dems Make Their Case
Ryan helps Democratic effort to focus on Bain. NYT: "Those Democratic anti-Bain ads, according to [Priorities USA's] Burton, have been designed to soften up the electorate to make it possible to run, in the near future, commercials linking Romney to the Ryan budget. The anti-Bain commercials have the long-range goal, in Burton’s words, of 'building a "thought structure" among voters of a guy who makes decisions based on profits, and not on the concerns of middle class families.' Adding Ryan to the ticket serves to greatly facilitate development of this 'thought structure.'"
Ryan doesn't help Romney attract non-whites. HuffPost's Janell Ross: "…Romney has done more than eliminate the possibility of the nation’s first Latino vice presidential nominee. Political analysts told The Huffington Post that in the careful parlance of national politics, the Romney campaign also confirmed that it likely views minority voters as an unwinnable portion of the electorate in 2012."
Romney's claim that Ryan knows how to work across the aisle doesn't hold up. HuffPost: "He's been in Congress for nearly 13 years, but Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has only seen two of his bills pass into law during that time … [a] law in July 2000 that renames a post office in his district [and] legislation to change the way arrows (as in bows and arrows) are hit with an excise tax."
Krugman says Ryan is "a fraud.": "…he is, in fact, a big fraud, who doesn’t care at all about fiscal responsibility, and whose policy proposals are sloppy as well as dishonest. Of course, this means that he’ll fit in to the Romney campaign just fine."
Breakfast Sides
Mayor Bloomberg tries to press candidates on immigration. NYT: "…Mr. Bloomberg will go to Chicago, home to President Obama’s campaign organization, to hold a public discussion on immigrants and their role in the economy with William M. Daley, a former chief of staff in the Obama White House. In the evening, Mr. Bloomberg will hold a similar discussion with Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corporation, in Boston, where Mitt Romney’s campaign has its headquarters."
CFTC has been pursuing Libor scandal for three years. NYT profiles: "The Barclays case has now thrust [Gary] Gensler — and his once-obscure agency — into the spotlight. In June, the commission reached a settlement with Barclays in the rate-manipulation case, which produced the largest fine in the agency’s nearly 40-year history. The deal is expected to be the first of many, as Mr. Gensler’s team leads a global investigation into rate-rigging at more than a dozen big banks … 'It was a toothless agency,' [Rep. Barney Frank] said, but when 'Gary became chairman, he was very aggressive.'"
Midwest farmers riles at Congress over lack of farm bill. NYT: "Farmers are complaining loudly to their representatives, editorial boards across the heartland are hammering Congress over its inaction, and incumbents from both parties are sparring with their challengers over agricultural policy … While the most recently enacted farm bill will not expire until next month, disaster relief that would have helped some livestock producers cope with the high costs of feed and fodder lapsed last week. And with big disagreements in Congress over proposals to overhaul insurance and other provisions, farmers are finding it difficult to plan for any recovery in the next growing season."
Joseph Stiglitz and Mark Zandi team up to push "mass mortgage refinancing" in NYT oped: "A mass refinancing program would work like a potent tax cut. Refinancing would also significantly reduce the chance of default for underwater homeowners … Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, has proposed a remedy … A government-financed trust would be used to buy the mortgages of homeowners who had refinanced at an interest rate that was about 2 percentage points more than the record-low Treasury rates at which the government borrows … Homeowners would see lower mortgage payments and rebuild equity more quickly. Taxpayers would get their money back, with interest, and would gain further as a stronger economy lifted tax revenues."
