Dems Thrown Down On Taxes
Dems "to go on offense on raising taxes" reports The Hill: "Congressional Democrats want Republicans to sign off on $50 billion worth of tax increases to eliminate the sequester’s automatic spending cuts ... Democrats say they would not accept any budget deal unless it includes tens of billions in new tax revenue. Their opening bid is $1 in new taxes for every $1 in spending cuts to offset the cost of ending sequestration for domestic and defense discretionary spending programs. They add that Republicans will have added incentive to agree to tax increases because a disproportionate share of the sequester for 2014 will hit defense programs."
Status quo in Sept. job report: "Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.2 percent ... Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 63.2 percent, and the employment-population ratio at 58.6 percent, were unchanged in September. Over the year, the labor force participation rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point, while the employment-population ratio has changed little."
Obamacare Ohio Win
OH Gov. defies own Republican Party and state legislature, pushes through Obamacare-funded Medcaid expansion. NYT: "By a 5-2 vote, an obscure committee, the Controlling Board, which normally oversees relatively small adjustments to the state budget, accepted $2.5 billion in extra Medicaid funds from the federal government. The money, recently approved by Medicaid administrators in Washington, will provide coverage for 275,000 Ohioans who have not been eligible for the program ... The vote was an extraordinary — and possibly illegal, critics in Mr. Kasich’s own party said — end run by the governor around the General Assembly."
Though some OH Republicans may sue reports W. Post.
HHS Sec to testify to House next week on website glitches.
Relief For Climate
"U.S. Carbon Emissions Lowest Since 1994" reports National Journal: "Although the recession contributed to emissions decline, continued dropoffs in 2012 indicate policy and usage patterns are giving carbon reductions some staying power. EIA also cited weather, as a warm year proved less taxing on heating demands. Residential electricity use and transportation emissions also trended below levels from recent years. One industry group credited the growing natural-gas industry with helping lower emissions."
Energy-efficiency plays major role. Time's Bryan Walsh: "The single biggest factor in the emissions drop was a more than 5% decrease in the energy intensity of the U.S. economy — the amount of economic value it gets per unit of energy. That’s largely about energy efficiency, as businesses and households reduce energy waste..."
Breakfast Sides
Detroit bankruptcy faces judge. NYT: "At issue are whether Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan had the authority to force Detroit into Chapter 9, and whether his decision violated the state’s constitutional protection of public employee pensions. Those and other topics will be the subject of hearings this week during the critical eligibility phase of the federal bankruptcy case."
"$13 Billion JPMorgan Settlement Is a Good Start—Now Someone Should Go to Jail" writes The Nation's William Greider: "That’s real money, even for a trillion-dollar bank. So this is progress. After years of scandalous indifference, the Obama administration appears to have found its backbone ... In the negotiations, Holder has refused to give Dimon what he seems to want most—an agreement to drop the criminal charge and settle for bigger money instead. That might weaken the storm of private lawsuits already filed by the victims of JPMorgan’s fraudulent profiteering. The star banker kept raising his bid. The AG kept saying no way. Americans should stay tuned and maybe send fan mail to the Justice Department, urging the prosecutors to hang tough."
