President Drives Minimum Wage in Post-SOTU Tour
Obama pushes minimum wage at Maryland Costco. McClatchy: "Obama came to Costco to highlight that the company’s CEO pays entry-level employees such as cashiers and stock associates $11.50 an hour, while the average hourly salary is $20 an hour before benefits or overtime"
President today to kick off job training effort at Wisconsin factory. W. Post: "As he did in West Mifflin, Pa., on Wednesday., the president will tour the facility, make remarks and then sign a presidential memorandum. This directive will kick start an across-the-board review of how to best reform federal training programs, which Vice President Biden will oversee, to help Americans get the skills they need for good, in-demand jobs."
"Republicans make overtures to middle class" reports W. Post: "In the past few days alone, three senior GOP senators unveiled an alternative to Obama’s health-care law that offers a conservative vision for covering the uninsured, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) summoned experts to a Capitol Hill hearing to discuss new ways to help the poor, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) proposed making childless adults eligible for a lucrative tax credit currently available only to working families. The challenge for Republicans is convincing voters that their newfound concern is sincere ... For now, those ideas remain just ideas, rough sketches without formal legislation. People in both parties say the prospect of either side pushing significant legislation through Congress in an election year is slim."
Blowback Against Fast-Track
Sen. Majority Leader Reid throws a wrench in President's fast-track trade plan. Politico: "Reid made it abundantly clear that he has voiced his concerns to Obama’s administration, as well as the outgoing chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and his replacement, Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who would take the lead on the issue once Baucus departs to become U.S. ambassador to China. 'Everyone knows how I feel about this,' Reid said just off the Senate floor. 'Sen. Baucus knows. Sen. Wyden knows. The White House knows. Everyone would be well-advised to not push this right now.'"
But CNN notes: "While Reid personally opposes the measure, he did not rule out allowing it to come up in the future."
Clyde Prestowitz details "The all-too-real costs of free trade to average Americans" in LAT oped: "...Washington keeps negotiating so-called free-trade agreements that seem to open the U.S. market while leaving others relatively closed. A major reason for this is the classic economists' argument that the generally lower consumer prices that may arise from imports will exceed the more limited wage losses that may occur in a few specific industries, and therefore, on balance, free trade will always and everywhere be a win-win arrangement. In other words, despite the millions of jobs lost as a result of the rising U.S. trade imbalance, the overall U.S. economy is supposed to be better off today than 10 years ago because of lower prices for consumers. The argument is that the wage losses occur only in a limited number of industries, while the lower prices are available to the entire population. This simplistic analysis is incomplete and wrong. Its key assumption is that the economy is at full employment..."
Former House Majority Whip David Bonior says trade deals undermine effort to reduce inequality, in NYT oped: "While many analysts focus on the number of jobs lost from Nafta and similar pacts — and some estimates say upward of a million — the most significant effect has been a fundamental change in the composition of jobs available to the 63 percent of American workers without a college degree ... According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly two out of every three displaced manufacturing workers who were rehired in 2012 saw wage reductions, most losing more than 20 percent ... They joined the glut of workers competing for low-skill jobs that cannot be done offshore in industries like hospitality and food service, forcing down real wages in these sectors as well."
Progressive Caucus members seek support for part-time workers. Roll Call: "Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, vice chairwoman of the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, has been promoting a 'bill of rights' for part-time workers that would mandate extending benefits similar to those provided to full-time workers. It would provide most part-time workers with employer-mandated coverage under the health care law and increase access to family and medical leave and to 401(k) plans."
Reams of evidence support investment in early education, details NYT's Nick Kristof: "Republican critics focus on (and misunderstand) a major, well-designed project called the Head Start Impact Study. It found that Head Start produces educational gains that fade away ... Yet early education has always had an impact not through cognitive gains but through long-term improvements in life outcomes ... One rigorous study led by Eliana Garces, then of U.C.L.A., found that Head Start graduates were more likely to graduate from high school and attend college than their peers ... Jens Ludwig of University of Chicago found that Head Start reduced child mortality in elementary years, apparently because of screening and treatment referrals ... When experts weigh these benefits against short-term costs, preschool for at-risk kids from low-income families more than pays for itself."
Dem, Union Resistance To GOP Immigration Proposal
AFL-CIO pressures Boehner to accept path to citizenship in immigration reform. W. Post: "AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka ... said in an interview Wednesday that a border plan being developed by House Republicans was a 'nonstarter' because it would stop short of offering citizenship to the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants ... Trumka was emphatic that, if a 'direct' path to citizenship is not included, the AFL-CIO would withdraw from a broad coalition [supporting reform] ... Trumka said he is adamant because employers take advantage of noncitizens to drive down wages and benefits in ways that hurt American workers."
Pelosi says House Dems insist on citizenship. CNN: "House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi drew a bright line on the most contentious issue in the debate, insisting, 'In our caucus, there has to be path to citizenship.' ... [But] Pelosi said she spoke to Boehner, and he assured her the new GOP outline 'will be good' and that the new proposals 'will be acceptable to probably all of us, and I hope that is the case.'"
"Immigration showdown to take center stage at Republican retreat" reports The Hill: "Top House Republicans will face growing skepticism from reform-minded conservatives when they pitch their principles for an immigration overhaul Thursday at the party’s annual retreat. In interviews over the last several days, conservatives said that while they expect the principles to be broadly acceptable, they are less inclined to support a push by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and others to advance specific legislative proposals heading into the midterm election campaign."
