MORNING MESSAGE: No Grand Bargain Without Jobs Trigger
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "The presidential candidates and Congress should be pressed to adopt a budget version of the 'jobs trigger.' Putting people back to work is the first step to getting our books in order. So Congress should pass a fiscal trigger as part of any grand bargain – comprehensive deficit reduction measures will kick in only when the economy is moving, and unemployment comes down to 5% or so."
Romney Struggles To Escape "47%" Hole
Romney tries to get past "47%" debacle by touting RomneyCare. AP: "Campaigning in Ohio on Wednesday, Romney told NBC News that he understands Americans' lives and the challenges they face. In citing the Massachusetts health care law, he said, 'Don't forget, I got everybody in my state insured.'"
Bloomberg investigation uncovers how Romney avoids taxes to build "dynastic wealth.": "The sale of DoubleClick shares received before the company went public … sheds new light on Romney’s estate planning -- the art of leaving assets for heirs while avoiding taxes. The Republican presidential candidate used a trust considered one of the most effective techniques for the wealthy to bypass estate and gift taxes. The Obama administration proposed cracking down on the tax benefits in February. … Romney’s effective income tax rate in 2011 was about 14 percent. He has also enhanced his family’s wealth by moving assets worth $100 million into a trust while taking steps to avoid paying any gift taxes … 'People like Mitt Romney make a lot of money, but they pay very little income tax,' said Victor Fleischer, a tax law professor … 'Then by dodging the estate and gift tax, they are able to build dynastic wealth. These DoubleClick documents really show that tax planning in action.'"
Ryan defends Romney's low tax rate. ThinkProgress: "Ryan told Cincinnati’s WLWT that paying such a low rate was justified because low capital gains rates boost job creation … The problem with Ryan’s logic is that there is little evidence that the capital gains preference increases job creation."
Ryan budget balanced solely with arbitrary Medicare cut, Politico finds: "In a little-noticed but vital change last spring, the House Budget Committee chairman cut half a point from the annual growth rate he had allowed for Medicare spending. It gave him the extra margin needed to pay for tax cuts and still placate the right by getting to balance in 2040. But it meant breaking with Ryan’s fellow Medicare reformer, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and raised this question that echoes now in the presidential campaign: Did Ryan cut corners with seniors to pay for tax cuts just as he accuses President Barack Obama of doing to finance health care reform? … without the half-point cut, the House Republican budget would still be in the red in 2040. And Ryan’s small adjustment compounds greatly over time: lowering spending for Medicare by hundreds of billions from 2030 to 2040 and well over $1 trillion from 2040 to 2050."
Obama and Romney spar on China while in OH. CNN: "[Romney said,] 'one thing I will do from day one is label China a currency manipulator. They must not steal jobs in an unfair way.' … Obama said … 'He says he's gonna take the fight to them, he's going to go after these cheaters, and I've got to admit, that message is better than what he has actually done about this thing … It sounds better than talking about all the years he spent profiting from companies that sent our jobs to China.'"
Hispanic vote tempting Obama campaign to expand map, compete in AZ. AP: "… with an internal Democratic poll showing Obama narrowly leading Romney, Obama's team might make a play for the state that has seen a 160,000 increase in voter registrations by Democratic-leaning Hispanics over the past four years. Buying television time in Phoenix, the state's largest city, is expensive and Obama advisers are closely watching their finances."
Austerity Rocks Europe
European anti-austerity protests heat up. Reuters: "In some of the most violent confrontations on Wednesday, Greek police fired tear gas at hooded rioters hurling petrol bombs as thousands joined the country's biggest protest in more than a year .. In Madrid, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faced violence on the streets of the capital on Tuesday, and growing talk of secession in Catalonia as he moves cautiously closer to asking Europe for a bailout, aware that such an action has cost other European leaders their jobs … Rajoy presents a tough 2013 budget on Thursday, aiming to send a message that Spain is doing its deficit-cutting homework despite a recession and 25 percent unemployment."
U.S. corporations "hoarding cash" as they worry about "fiscal cliff." Reuters: "Businesses have responded to the risks posed by the fiscal cliff in much the way they have reacted to all worries since the 2008-2009 financial crisis: by hoarding cash. The companies that make up the broad Standard & Poor's 1500 index had $1 trillion in cash and equivalent assets on their books at the end of the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data. That is a hefty sum in comparison to total U.S. gross domestic product, which last year came to $15 trillion."
GOP Learning To Love Akin Again
GOP inches toward supporting Todd Akin again. The Atlantic: "[National Republican Senatorial Committee] Executive Director Rob Jesmer said that the committee hopes 'Todd Akin wins in November, and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead.'"
As more endorsement come in. Reuters: "Santorum and U.S. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a Tea Party leader and major backer of the Senate Conservatives Fund [Super PAC], endorsed Akin on Wednesday."
Breakfast Sides
Record number of households have student debt. AP: "The analysis by the Pew Research Center found that 22.4 million households, or 19 percent, had college debt in 2010. That is double the share in 1989, and up from 15 percent in 2007, just prior to the recession — representing the biggest three-year increase in student debt in more than two decades. The increase was driven by higher tuition costs as well as rising college enrollment during the economic downturn … More well-off families are digging deeper into their pockets to pay for costly private colleges, while lower-income people in search of higher-wage jobs are enrolling in community colleges, public universities and other schools …"
GOP Senators try to reverse NLRB recess appointments in federal court. " Experts say the question of whether Congress can block a president from making recess appointments by staying in pro forma session turns on what counts as a recess — and who gets to decide."
