Larry Summers, America, Agree: No Social Security Cuts
"Voters In Key States Really Don't Want Social Security Cut" reports HuffPost: "A new survey looking at 10 key House and Senate districts found that voters therestrongly oppose cutting Social Security benefits -- a stance that may imperil lawmakers in next year's elections. The survey, conducted by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling and funded by MoveOn.org, polled voters from five House districts -- in Arizona, California, Massachusetts and New York -- and from five states -- Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and Washington. The incumbent in nine of those districts and states sits on the House-Senate conference committee currently negotiating a new federal budget. Nine of those lawmakers are also facing a tough reelection contest in 2014."
Larry Summers says Washington should be ‘obsessed’ with long-term economic stagnation, reports WSJ: "'That is a much more urgent threat to every American interest than anything about Social Security benefits in 2035, that is a much greater risk to American interests than anything about the emergence of hyperinflation coming from monetary policy,' Mr. Summers, now a Harvard University professor, said at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council annual meeting. 'That is where concern ought to be.' Instead, Washington policy makers have become too absorbed worrying about budget deficits and rising national debt–issues that would be helped with faster economic growth, Mr. Summers said."
Safety net helped us manage the recession. NYT: ". Robert A. Moffitt, an economist at Johns Hopkins University, says in a new paper that the country’s social safety net did a good job during the recession, expanding by half a trillion dollars. Mr. Moffitt looked at means-tested programs including food stamps, Medicaid, unemployment benefits and the earned income tax credit to determine the increase between 2007 and 2010. He found that spending increased by $500 million and the total caseload rose to 310 million from 276 million ..."
Reid Moving Towards Filibuster Reform
Reid threatens filibuster rules change. The Hill: "'I’m at the point where we need to do something to allow government to function,' Reid said when asked if he would consider using the nuclear option, a controversial procedural tactic for changing Senate rules. The proposed rules change would not affect Supreme Court nominees, said Democratic sources. The tactic would allow Democrats to change the Senate’s rules with a simple-majority vote ... A senior Democratic leadership aide said Reid could move before Thanksgiving but would first have to lock down the votes."
Sen. Feinstein flips. WSJ: "'We need to change the rules now,' Ms. Feinstein told reporters Tuesday, describing what she told her colleagues earlier in the day. 'Republicans say: "What goes around comes around — wait until we’re in charge." I can’t wait until they’re in charge — the moment is now.' Ms. Feinstein said she had been hesitant earlier to change the Senate’s longstanding rules, after nearly all 100 senators met in an emotional closed-door meeting to reach a deal on executive nominees in July. 'We left with a very good feeling there would be a new day. Well, the new day lasted for maybe a week, maybe for two weeks and we’re right back to the same kind of partisan rejection of appointments that existed before,' she said."
Baucus Proposes Corporate Tax Reform
Multinational corporations criticize Baucus tax reform proposals. Politico: "Both options include a minimum tax on future foreign profits and a one-time tax on existing income parked abroad. They are expected to be revenue-neutral over the long term, according to Finance Committee staff, but the exact revenue impact has not yet been estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation. Baucus did not specify what he expects the underlying U.S. tax rate will be, but he is aiming for a corporate rate below 30 percent, down from the current top rate of 35 percent ... 'This draft appears to penalize multinationals and will make it more difficult for companies to compete globally,' said Cathy Schultz, a lobbyist with the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents big companies, including Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble."
But key loopholes remain, says PIRG: "...the two options laid out for a minimum tax on foreign profits leave in place strong incentives to shift profits offshore, and could allow a multinational to reap more than a five percentage point tax discount for claiming it earned its profits offshore ... Chairman Baucus’s discussion draft does deserve praise for closing some of the most-abused offshore tax loopholes ... Ending the ‘check-the-box’ loophole, which allows multinationals to ‘disregard’ foreign subsidiaries for tax purposes simply by checking a box, has been estimated to save nearly $80 billion over ten years..."
Springtime for Immigration?
Immigration advocates eye spring for bill. McClatchy: "...advocates who’d pressed for a House floor vote by the end of the year are readjusting their strategy and expectations. They see a six-month window to bring immigration to a vote before campaigning season kicks into full gear ... Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice, one of the strongest proponents for a comprehensive overhaul, said he welcomed a House plan to introduce a series of bills as long as the result was a comprehensive solution. He also offered some wiggle room on the highly charged 'path to citizenship.' 'If they’d detail a proposal that is a "no special pathway" approach and they do a number of things within that proposal that would, in fact, allow for normal channels to be used by undocumented immigrants in America (to attain citizenship), we could make that work,' he said. 'But they have to come forward with something.'"
Rep. Paul Ryan envisions "seven or eight bills," reports WSJ: "He also said he believed there were a number of House Republicans who would support the ability immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally to eventually secure citizenship. But he said the process would be burdensome and drawn out – potentially taking up to 15 years – incentivizing immigrants to enter the U.S. legally. The Senate bill, which House leaders have rejected, would provide a 13-year path to citizenship."
Health Care Enrollments Keep Progressing
CNN survey shows health care enrollment picking up pace: "As of Tuesday afternoon, at least 133,257 people had chosen new insurance plans in the 14 states with their own signup apparatuses. Nearly half of them were enrolled in the past two weeks ... Enrollment is harder to pin down in the 36 states using HealthCare.gov, although it's running well behind the states with their own programs. As of November 2, just 26,794 people had enrolled in the HealthCare.gov states. CNN's current tally for this group is 43,743 enrollees, but that's based on just a handful of states that have provided updates ... nearly 900,000 people have completed applications for new insurance but have not yet selected a plan."
Mixed response from states to Obama's loosening of ACA grandfather clause. NYT: "Of the 13 states that have so far said they will allow consumers to renew canceled plans, all but four are led by Republican governors and have generally been opposed to the new health care law. Of the eight that have said they will not carry out the policy, six are in Democratic-led states, many of which have actively worked to put the law into effect and have argued that allowing such an extension could undermine its success."
JPMorgan Settles
JPMorgan settles for $13B. NYT: "The settlement amounts to roughly half the bank’s annual profit ... prosecutors are seeking to hit Wall Street where it hurts most: the bottom line. After critics faulted the Justice Department for imposing fines considered little more than a slap on the wrist, [Justice's Tony] West and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. have signaled to the nation’s biggest banks that the billion-dollar mark is now a floor rather than a ceiling ... [JPMorgan] also admitted to a statement of facts that outlined how it failed to fully disclose the risks of buying risky mortgage securities from 2005 to 2008 ... Still, some critics of Wall Street are seeking harsher penalties. They question why the Justice Department’s has pursued civil penalties, rather than criminal charges, against the nation’s biggest banks. 'Unless you hold the executives accountable, it really is just the cost of doing business,' said Bart Naylor, a policy advocate at Public Citizen, who noted that the settlements hurt shareholders more than executives. And during a conference call on Tuesday, Marianne Lake, JPMorgan’s chief financial officer, emphasized that $7 billion of the settlement was tax-deductible."
More on the settlement details from NYT: "Much of the $13 billion payout, roughly $7 billion, will go toward compensating those investors who were harmed. The largest beneficiary is the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which announced a separate $4 billion deal with JPMorgan last month. The agency oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing finance giants that scooped up billions of dollars in the mortgage securities that later imploded. Other beneficiaries will include the National Credit Union Administration and state attorneys general in California, New York and Illinois ... $4 billion will go to struggling homeowners in hard hit areas like Detroit and certain neighborhoods in New York where abandoned homes still dot the landscape. Half of that relief will go to reducing the balance of mortgages in foreclosure-racked areas, offering a so-called forbearance plan to certain homeowners, briefly halting the collection of their mortgage payments. For the remaining $2 billion in relief, JPMorgan must reduce interest rates on existing loans and offer new loans to low-income home buyers. The bank also will receive a credit for demolishing abandoned homes to reduce urban blight."
