MORNING MESSAGE: Raise the Roof to Raise the Floor
OurFuture.org's Robert Borosage: "Today, Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George Miller offer a ray of light amid the austerity blight in Washington. They are announcing introduction of a bill –the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 –to raise the minimum wage gradually to $10.10 and index it so it adjusts annually with inflation. Their legislation would also raise the minimum wage for tipped workers (at present a miserly $2.13 per hour) for the first time in 20 years ... Speaker Boehner will refuse even to give this bill a vote – for if it came to the floor, it would surely pass. It will require a national mobilization to demand legislators sign a discharge petition even to get it a vote. That will come next. For now, enjoy this rare display of common sense in a city bereft of it."
$10.10 Minimum Wage Bill Introduced Today
Harkin and Miller tell HuffPost why they propose a higher wage than President Obama: "'I think it's too low,' Miller said of Obama's $9 proposal. 'If you're going to index it at that level, you lock people into a sub-minimum wage. We've always struggled to have the minimum wage keep up with the times. You play catch-up, and we need to stop that. Establish it at what it should be -- [roughly] 10 dollars an hour -- and then index it, and get on with life so you don't keep falling behind.' Explaining their more ambitious proposal, Harkin said $10.10 would get the minimum wage closer to its real-value historical high, not seen since the late-1960s."
The people want a raise. USA Today: "A recent USA TODAY/Pew Research Center poll found that 71% of Americans supported Obama's call for raising the minimum wage. But most Republicans and pro-business groups have already voiced opposition on the issue, and the upcoming bill has little chance of survival in the GOP-controlled House."
House GOP Seeks To Lock In Sequester Cuts
House GOP bill to keep government open keeps most sequester cuts. W. Post: "The funding resolution would, for example, prohibit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from defunding beds in detention facilities where illegal immigrants are being held. That proposal came after Republicans were angered when several hundred illegal immigrants were released from holding facilities last week in anticipation of the cuts. The measure also would provide $2 billion in new funding for embassy security, a response to an attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi ... Republicans propose to offset that money with cuts elsewhere, such as extending a salary freeze for federal employees and members of Congress."
GOP seeks flexibility for sequester cuts to military spending, Dems want same for everything else. TPM: "If the measure clears the House this week, Senate Democrats could thus attempt to replace the 'continuing resolution' portion of the spending bill with full appropriations measures for government agencies, all of which would still be subject to sequestration. But that would require acquiescence from House and Senate Republicans, and GOP leaders will face resistance from some rank and file members who oppose softening sequestration, or handing greater discretion over its cuts to the Obama administration."
Sequester cuts hit schools for military and Native American families immediately. HuffPost: "Impact Aid is supposed to make up for decreased property taxes in school systems based on federal land. So the school districts that rely on the funding most significantly often serve large swathes of Native American children and the children of military personnel. While the cuts to most federal education funding streams such as Title I for poor students or special education money won't go into effect until next school year, Department of Defense schools and school districts relying on Impact Aid lost out over the weekend..."
WH tries to shift focus away from sequester. The Hill: "President Obama will shift his focus to immigration, gun control, increasing the minimum wage and other second-term priorities now that the sequester cuts have begun."
New Ryan Budget May Split GOP
House Budget Chair Paul Ryan may pressure GOP to break Medicare pledge, sparking backlash. The Hill: "House Republican centrists are furious that GOP leaders are considering abandoning their pledge not to change Medicare retirement benefits for people 55 years and older ... After agreeing to write a budget resolution that will balance the budget over the next decade, Ryan conceded that he might have to adjust the age to as high as 59 ... Even if Ryan does raise the age, it would likely be closer to 56 or 57, providing lawmakers with a technical 'out' when they return home to their districts, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said, pointing out that the initial Ryan budget passed two years ago."
“'One of the last presidents to balance the budget was Herbert Hoover,' [GOP Rep. Peter] King added darkly, reports W. Post.
Senate Budget Chair Patty Murray trying to "thread the needle" for 10-year budget resolution. Politico: "Murray’s plan is still being developed, but it could be split 50-50 between spending cuts and new taxes, with some Democratic senators on the panel pushing for tax increases upward of $1 trillion ... It is also widely expected to include fast-track procedures to overhaul the Tax Code despite resistance from the powerful Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus ..."
Still Too Big To Fail
"Fed Official Says More May Have To Be Done To Break Up Big Banks" reports ThinkProgress: "...Federal Reserve Board member Jerome Powell said that lawmakers may want consider new measures to break up the nation’s biggest banks ... Federal Reserve Board member Daniel Tarullo also recently floated the idea of capping bank size as a percentage of the economy."
"Senate Report Said to Fault JPMorgan" reports NYT: "While a trader known as the 'London whale' has come to represent a multibillion-dollar blowup at JPMorgan Chase, Congressional investigators have discovered that the problems involved more senior levels of the nation’s largest bank. A report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations highlights flaws in the bank’s public disclosures and takes aim at several executives, including Douglas Braunstein, who was chief financial officer at the time of the losses..."
Fannie and Freddie propose reducing involvement in mortgages. Reuters: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will form a new joint company for securitizing home loans as a steppingstone toward reducing government involvement in the mortgage market ... the Federal Housing Finance Agency intends to pave the way for a single securitization platform, forcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to abandon their current separate systems."
Jeb Double Flips On Immigration
Jeb Bush double-flips on immigration reform in one day. W. Post: "Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R), who seemed to back off his previous support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants during an interview with NBC’s 'Today Show' early Monday, said in a later interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd that he could support one under the right circumstances. 'I think we need comprehensive reform, and if there is a path to citizenship that has enough of a realization that we have to respect the rule of law, then so be it,' Bush said."
Retreat from citizenship "stuns reformers" reports TPM.
"Rubio splits with former mentor Jeb Bush" reports The Hill.
