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Grand Bargained Out

"A rosier economic outlook" reduces pressure on Congress for grand bargain, reports The Hill: "With increased federal revenues reducing the deficit, pushing a debt-ceiling showdown beyond the summer and into the autumn, lawmakers have been debating gun control and immigration ... [However,] economic improvement may mask any damage done by the sequester and make it harder for appropriators to undo those much-maligned indiscriminate cuts."

"It is time for President Obama to abandon his hopes of reaching a grand budget bargain with Republicans" says NYT edit board: "For years, the party has demanded entitlement cuts, but the moment the president actually offered one, he was attacked ... Instead of negotiation, Republicans cling to their strategy of extorting budget demands by threatening not to raise the debt ceiling ... Only when the Republican Party feels public pressure to become a serious partner can the real work of governing begin."

"Renewed drive to ease sequester" reports Politico: "The shortlist for the next round of possible sequester saves includes cancer patients, medical researchers, hungry seniors, poor people and pre-schoolers ... Whether any one proposal has a shot at becoming law requires a confluence of events. It needs bipartisan support and at least some semblance of a spending offset to cover the costs."

Austerity Kills

Austerity is increasing the suicide rate and worsening health, argues David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu in NYT oped: "Countries that slashed health and social protection budgets, like Greece, Italy and Spain, have seen starkly worse health outcomes than nations like Germany, Iceland and Sweden, which maintained their social safety nets and opted for stimulus over austerity."

"Europe Tries to Boost Economy After Pressure From U.S." reports Bloomberg: "The bloc’s finance ministers and central bankers left weekend talks of the Group of Seven signaling that they’re poised to scale back austerity, are open to increased monetary aid and looking to unfreeze bank lending ... Still in doubt for economists is what kind of stimulus will actually be delivered ..."

Prof. Robert Pollin tells Real News Network it's time to stop talking about the discredited Reinhart-Rogoff paper: "Maybe it's time we just stop talking about their paper altogether ... Let's get back to talking about austerity ... We've been in a recovery for four years, and there's 21 and a half million people who are unemployed or underemployed ... this, quote, economic recovery has been so skewed to benefit the rich that the gains in income over this four years since we've had a, quote, recovery have been going entirely to the top 1 percent..."

Breakfast Sides

Bangladesh pledges to increase garment worker pay. WSJ: "Workers' groups say the current $38-per-month minimum wage, half of Cambodia's, is barely enough to scrape by on ... Bangladesh's textile minister, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, said the government will soon start talks with labor groups and factory owners to agree on a new minimum wage ... Wages are unlikely to go much higher. Factory owners, who oppose the hike, say they can't afford to pay significantly more to workers because Western consumers have become accustomed to cheap clothing."

Maligned firm handling foreclosure settlement payouts to face Congress. WSJ: "Lawmakers and federal bank regulators are stepping up scrutiny of a consulting firm that twice bungled payments to consumers in a foreclosure-abuse settlement ... To critics, the problems with incorrect checks are the latest evidence that regulators haven't done enough to oversee consulting firms hired to examine banks' mistakes and compensate consumers."

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