Fed Stimulus May Not Be Ending

Bernanke suggests Fed stimulus might continue if economy does not recover fast enough. Bloomberg: "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke opened the door to a delay in reducing the central bank’s bond buying program, saying it will depend on data that economists say are falling short of the Fed’s own forecasts. The Fed’s $85 billion in monthly asset purchases 'are by no means on a preset course,' Bernanke said yesterday in his semiannual testimony to Congress. He added that the Federal Open Market Committee will 'be responding to the data.'"

"The debate is over, and the deficit hawks lost," writes The Atlantic's Matthew O'Brien: "After years of warnings about trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye could see, it turns out they just couldn't see far enough: the budget is moving quickly -- too quickly -- towards balance even without a 'grand' bargain. In other words, we are not Greece ... Our $600 billion of new savings mean the debt is already stabilized. Wait, what $600 billion of new savings? Well, that's how much less the Congressional Budget Office figures we will spend on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid over the next decade compared to what it figured back in February."

Greek parliament passes new austerity measures. NYT: "The changes that have stoked the most public anger, and which prompted labor unions to hold a general strike on Tuesday, are plans to put 25,000 civil servants, including teachers, municipal police officers and school janitors, into a 'mobility plan' by the end of the year, docking their wages ahead of forced transfers or dismissals. By pushing the changes into law, the government secured the release of the first installment of almost $9 billion in rescue loans approved by euro-zone finance ministers last week."

Student Loan Deal May Pass Senate Today

Student loan deal struck, Senate could vote today. AP: "Under the deal, all undergraduates this fall would borrow at 3.85 percent interest rates. Graduate students would have access to loans at 5.4 percent and parents would be able to borrow at 6.4 percent. Those rates would climb as the economy improves and it becomes more expensive for the government to borrow money ... The interest rates would be linked to the financial markets, but Democrats won a protection for students that rates would never climb higher than 8.25 percent for undergraduates. Graduate students would not pay rates higher than 9.5 percent and parents' rates would top out at 10.5 percent ... The deal was estimated to reduce the deficit by $715 million over the next decade."

Sen. Tom Harkin appears to support deal. CNN: "[Harkin] agreed to the deal, one of those sources close to the negotiations told CNN. The Iowa senator's support is key because it would likely persuade most Democratic senators to vote for the bill. Harkin has resisted for weeks agreeing to a plan unless it included caps on how high the interest rates on the loans could rise..."

Obama To Tout ObamaCare Implementation

Obama to update ObamaCare progress today. W. Post: "Obama is expected to focus on insurance company rebates that will be mailed to 8.5 million U.S. households this summer. The rebates, which average about $100 per family, are a result of a provision of the law that requires insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the premium dollars they collect on medical care, rather than executive salaries or marketing."

"Obamacare Is the Right’s Worst Nightmare" says Paul Krugman: "...unless the GOP finds even more ways to sabotage the plan, this thing is going to work, it’s going to be extremely popular, and it’s going to wreak havoc with conservative ideology ... Conservatives are right to be hysterical about this: it’s an attack on everything they believe — and it’s going to make Americans’ lives better."

W. Post's Jamelle Bouie adds: "As the law comes online in the next five months, untold numbers of uninsured Americans will either receive benefits through Medicaid, or they’ll begin to enter the exchanges, receive subsidies, and purchase health insurance. In short order, the Affordable Care Act will have created a constituency for itself — the millions of voters who receive benefits as a result of the law. It will yield countless politicians — at all levels of government — who will want to capitalize on this constituency by working to implement it as best as possible. And this isn’t just true for blue states — you’ll see a similar dynamic in red states, where exchanges will also exist."

Breakfast Sides

Nominations roll on in Senate. AP: "The Senate was poised Thursday to approve President Barack Obama's choice to head the Labor Department after lawmakers, by the thinnest of margins, voted [for cloture] ... After that, they were scheduled to debate Obama's selection of Gina McCarthy to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency ..."

Ed Sec Duncan trying to get GOP support for expanded pre-K. Politico quotes: "There are many, many Republican members of the House and Senate who understand the tremendous dividends here, who understand the [return on investment], and I hope, but can’t promise, but hope that some of them will have the courage to speak up publicly on it."

Immigration advocates prepare for August town halls. Politico: "Some advocates are planning for a confrontational August, with a surge in protests aimed at Republican leaders and lawmakers from swing districts. Others will do what they’ve long done, sending pastors, police officers and business owners to make the conservative case for reform at town hall meetings. Working off a target list of more than 100 Republicans, all are aiming to convince the House that it has no option but to deal with immigration."