Geithner Takes Stand
Geithner defends, but recharacterizes, AIG bailout on the stand. Bloomberg: "Geithner attempted to take back a statement he’d made earlier about AIG shareholders being 'effectively wiped out' by the bailout. 'It’s true I used the phrase,' Geithner told Boies. 'It wasn’t completely accurate' because shareholders were provided with a substantial benefit as a result of the rescue, he said. Geithner also backtracked slightly from a comment he made that the government takeover of AIG gave it the power to 'carve up, dismember, sell or restructure' the insurer. 'It’s not the most precise language,' he said."
DoJ prepares to prosecute banks, and bankers, for currency rigging. Bloomberg: "U.S. prosecutors are pressing to bring charges against a bank for currency-rate rigging by the end of the year, and actions against individuals will probably follow in 2015, according to people familiar with the probe. The Justice Department may seek guilty pleas from several firms, including at least one in the U.S., said one of the people, asking not to be named because details of the investigation aren’t public. "
IMF Sounds Alarm
IMF warns global economy in trouble without public investment. NYT: "... Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the fund, said global growth risked being stuck in a rut for a long time. 'If nothing gets done in a bold way, there is a risk of a new mediocre' level of growth for the global economy, she said. And she took note that Germany could do more to stoke growth in Europe. 'Given Germany’s current position, it could certainly spend more on infrastructure,' she said."
Bloomberg edit board tells US to step up: "Debt burdens, long-term unemployment and poor infrastructure are holding back growth in many developed countries. In countries that can afford to borrow, such as the U.S. and Germany, careful investment in transportation and communication systems could pay for itself -- boosting growth by enough to reduce public debt burdens. In fiscally challenged countries such as Greece, household and corporate debt relief could free up funds for consumption and investment."
"Austerity has been an even bigger disaster than we thought" contends W. Post's Matt O'Brien: "The fundamental economic question of the last five years has been a simple one: how much does stimulus work? The answer, according to a new paper by Daniel Riera-Crichton, Carlos Vegh, and Guillermo Vuletin, is much more than we previously thought. And that means austerity has also hurt more than we thought — so much so that it might even be self-defeating. That's right: cutting spending in a slump might actually make debt problems worse."
Voter Suppression May Determine Midterms
"Republicans Are Trying to Make Sure Minorities and Young People Don't Vote This November" reports Mother Jones: "...many states are feverishly litigating to defend newly implemented voting restrictions that could prevent many voters from casting a ballot. The outcomes of those cases could shape critical races—and even influence which party wins control of the US Senate ..."
Koch brothers group found spreading voter registration misinformation. Facing South: "The North Carolina State Board of Elections announced this week that it is investigating a controversial mailer the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) sent to thousands of state residents that contained inaccurate information about voter registration ... a Class I felony ... this is not the first time that AFP has been embroiled in a controversy about misleading voters. It has faced similar accusations in at least three other states..."
Republican Senate candidate in Georgia embraces outsourcing. NYT: "...When asked about outsourcing in a 2005 deposition, Mr. Perdue said, 'Yeah, I spent most of my career doing that.' ... this week, asked to defend the statement, he went further: 'Defend it? I’m proud of it. I mean, this is a part of American business. It’s part of any business. I mean, outsourcing is the procurement of products or services to help your business run. I mean, people do that all day.'"
Right-Wing State Legislatures May Nullify Dem Gov Wins
Conservative Republicans are entrenched at the state level. NYT's Tom Edsall: "Twenty-three state governments are now under the complete control – governor, house and state senate — of the Republican Party, more than at any time since Dwight D. Eisenhower won the presidency in 1952 ... The election on Nov. 4 offers Democrats an opportunity to end Republican Party domination in as many as five states by defeating incumbent governors in Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia. But even if they win, Democrats will not have the power to reverse conservative legislation. Wherever possible, Republicans in these 23 states redrew legislative district lines after the 2010 census..."
AFL-CIO competing hard in state legislative races. W. Post: "Union spending this election cycle is likely to be in the range it was for the last midterm election in 2010: about $250 to 300 million, by some estimates ... 'We are playing in state legislative races at a level we haven't before,' [AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka] said at a morning roundtable at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington. 'Partly that's because we can get things done -- like increases in the minimum wage -- there that we can't at the federal level.'"
Breakfast Sides
Hillary skeptics build up grassroots influence in key states. The Hill: "At a minimum, the groups hope their efforts will push Clinton to the left. And if the political winds blow just right, the activists hope Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will take the plunge — and turn their organizing work into the foundation for her candidacy. Officials from Democracy For America, a liberal group, are getting involved in local-level politics by endorsing state House and Senate candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire ... Ready For Warren, a group that is trying to draft Warren to run for president, is planning to open field offices in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina ... Meanwhile, the liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee has been working for months in New Hampshire."
Labor Dept. delays minimum wage increase for home health care workers. NYT: "With numerous states pushing for a delay, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would put off enforcement of its plan to extend minimum-wage and overtime protections to the nation’s nearly two million home-care workers ... it would not enforce the rule for six months — from Jan. 1 to June 30. For the second six months of the year, the department said, it would 'exercise its discretion' in whether to bring enforcement actions ... Home-care industry officials warned that the increased costs caused by the new rule might make many families unable to afford home care ... some states warned of increased Medicaid costs ..."
Canada planning tar sands pipeline to Atlantic, in lieu of Keystone. Bloomberg: "Its end point, a refinery in the blue-collar city of Saint John, New Brunswick, operated by a reclusive Canadian billionaire family, would give Canada’s oil-sands crude supertanker access to the same Louisiana and Texas refineries Keystone was meant to supply ... The project still faces political hurdles. U.S. and international greens who hate Keystone may not like this any better ... 'The best way to get Keystone XL built is to make it irrelevant,' said Frank McKenna, who served three terms as premier of New Brunswick..."
