Job Growth Stalls
Only 142,000 jobs created in August. NYT: "...August is the first month since January that hiring slipped below the 200,000 level, an important threshold to beat if the economy is going to be able to absorb new entrants ... There have been several positive economic reports this week, but the August jobs data may take pressure off the Fed to move more quickly than expected on rates."
Fed official says inflation is too low. Reuters: "The president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Narayana Kocherlakota, said on Thursday that inflation was set to stay below the Fed’s target of 2 percent until 2018, which he said was a sign that the Fed should do more to lift inflation and bring down the unemployment rate ... 'Given where we are with inflation, I think that it’s challenging to know why we are removing stimulus from the economy at the rate that we are,' he said."
NYT's Paul Krugman slams the "Deflation Caucus": "...the dominance of creditor interests on both sides of the Atlantic, supported by false but viscerally appealing economic doctrines, has had tragic consequences. Our economies have been dragged down by the woes of debtors, who have been forced to slash spending. To avoid a deep, prolonged slump, we needed policies to offset this drag."
Growth isn't lifting all boats, says Fed. NYT: "Economic growth since the Great Recession has improved the fortunes of the most affluent Americans even as the incomes and wealth of most American families continue to decline, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. For the most affluent 10 percent of American families, average incomes rose by 10 percent from 2010 to 2013. For the rest of the population, average incomes were flat or falling. The least affluent families had the largest declines."
House GOP Meets With Lobbyists On Fall Agenda
Lobbyists get sneak peak at House GOP fall agenda. Politico: "Senior House Republican leadership aides gave K Street lobbyists a peak at their September agenda, just days before lawmakers come back to Washington, according to several sources present. The lobbyists were briefed the same day Republican lawmakers got a memo from Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) about the month’s agenda. In fact, the lobbyists got more information than the lawmakers did in their memo ... the Export-Import Bank’s expiring charter would be dealt with at some point over the next two weeks, according to a source in the meeting. A moratorium on an Internet tax will also be included ... There were more than 50 lobbyists in the McCarthy briefing in the Capitol..."
Republicans aim for regulations. The Hill: "...House Majority Leader Kevin ... McCarthy’s floor agenda for the month, unveiled Thursday afternoon, is chock-full of measures designed to clamp down on what Republicans view as an era of overzealous regulation in Washington ... Among them are the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which would require congressional votes on the most expensive rules, and the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, which requires additional analysis and public disclosure of 'the true cost' of regulations."
While Senate Dems plan green energy vote. The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday said he will bring legislation to the Senate floor by the end of the year to extend tax credits for renewable energy sources ... Reid slammed Senate Republicans for filibustering legislation that would have extended the credits when tax legislation came to the floor in May."
Rep. Paul Ryan promises more gridlock if Republicans take Senate. The Hill: "'Right now, Harry Reid is protecting the president from making difficult decisions,' Ryan said Thursday, 'and I believe that we can unblock a number of things that should at least get to the president’s desk and make him make a decision.' ... Ryan said Republicans would have a two-pronged agenda if they win both chambers of Congress: send Obama bills that highlight the party’s bright contrast with Democrats ahead of 2016, while approving some small-bore legislation that could get signed into law."
Breakfast Sides
Inversions are Congress' fault, says W. Post's Catherine Rampell: "Why are all these firms engaging in complicated tax dodges like inversions? Because they are responding to the incentives our policymakers have embedded in the tax code and corporate governance law. A byzantine, loophole-riddled, high-statutory-rate tax code encourages companies to construct byzantine, Rube-Goldberg-like tax strategies to minimize their tax burdens. Our legislators have created a system in which it’s easier to boost profits through tax strategy innovation than actual product innovation, and firms respond accordingly."
Some Senate Dems publicly pressure Obama to delay immigration action. Politico: "Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) wants Obama to wait until after November. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said he has 'concerns about executive action.' Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, said it would be a 'mistake' for the president to do anything significant ... the flagging support among senators is particularly worrisome to the White House, which will be reluctant to make such a controversial move without the strong backing of congressional Democrats ... White House officials have privately expressed frustration with the timeline to decide by the end of summer, which was first suggested by Senate Democratic leaders back in February."
Hundreds arrested in fast-food worker strikes. HuffPost: "A Fight for $15 spokesperson said that roughly 500 people had been arrested in the demonstrations as of Thursday afternoon, though a portion of those appeared to be citations without arrest ... The high-profile strikes -- which tend to draw national news coverage when they happen -- have helped progressive legislators push through minimum wage hikes on the state and local level in recent months ..."
