MORNING
MESSAGE
The
Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service is calling for support of two
House resolutions that urge restoration of overnight mail service standards and
a continuation of six-day delivery ... These resolutions are in response to a
new attempt to manufacture a crisis in postal delivery ... Here’s how to
manufacture an anti-government “crisis”: cut funding for a government service
and put people who want to kill the service in charge of managing the service
... Declare a “crisis” and say that government doesn’t work so “reform” is
needed. Of course the “reforms” involve gutting the service, privatizing it,
corporatizing it – anything but serving the public.
Highway Bill Vexes Washington
Sen.
McConnell rules out gas hike, downplays repatriation, for highway trust fund.
Politico: “‘We’re not going to raise the gas tax,’ McConnell said …
McConnell (R-Ky.) also said he was ‘skeptical’ about the prospect of using a
bipartisan plan from Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to
overhaul some corporate taxes as a way to pay for [the trust fund.] … That
leaves Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to search for spending cuts
or unused money elsewhere…”
Yet
House Republican floats gas tax hike. The Hill: “The measure, sponsored by
Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.), would offset the gas tax increase with a $133 income tax
credit that would be offered to drivers to minimize the impact of higher prices
at the pump.”
And
Sen. Schumer pushes repatriation. The Hill: “…Schumer suggested that he
could get behind an extension until the end of the year that would allow
lawmakers to fill in the gaps in the tax framework he crafted with Portman … he
also acknowledged he and Portman had a ways to go to flesh out all the details
of a framework that faces roadblocks this year.”
Conservatives
look to prevent Ex-Im Bank renewal from being attached to highway bill. The
Hill: “They said they would use every procedural tactic available to make
sure the bank can’t continue to operate, including resisting efforts to merge
Ex-Im’s reauthorization with legislation funding highway projects … Boehner has
said that bank opponents would be allowed a vote on an amendment stripping the
Ex-Im language from the highway bill. But privately, Ex-Im critics concede that
they likely do not have the support to win that vote.”
Germany Roadblock To Greek Deal
“The
U.S. Must Save Greece” argues Joe Stiglitz in Time: “… the Federal Reserve …
will have to take on once again the role of lender of last resort. Greece needs
unconditional humanitarian aid; it needs Americans to buy its products, take its
vacations, and show a solidarity with Greece and a humanity that its European
partners were not able to display.”
Germany
has “flunked” its leadership test with Greece, argues Bruce Ackerman in NYT
oped: “…it’s not too late for the chancellor to undo her mistake … she
should encourage the I.M.F. to mediate the increasingly bitter dispute. The fund
is the only institution that has earned credibility from both sides. Its
long-term plan provides the only serious framework that promises to minimize
creditor losses and maximize Greek prospects.”
“Merkel
Is Europe’s Economic Bully” says Bloomberg BusinessWeek: “While Merkel has
thumped her fellow leaders into painful reforms, she has dodged needed changes
at home … Germany runs a tremendous current account surplus—7.5 percent of GDP
in 2014, compared with 2 percent for China—which means it should be buying more
from the rest of Europe, stimulating exports and growth there.”
Congress Takes On School Testing
House
moves first on No Child Left Behind reform. NYT: “The House version of a
revised education bill includes a provision that would permit low-income
students to transfer federal dollars between school districts, something the
Obama administration has pledged to veto. The bill, which passed, 218 to 213 had
almost no Democratic support … While both bills retain the annual reading and
math tests required under current law, states would be given latitude to decide
how those assessment tests would be used to measure school and teacher
performance. The Senate version, however, would require states to continue to
use the tests as a significant accountability factor while the House measure
does not.”
Voucher
amendment defeated in Senate. W. Post: “Sen. Lamar Alexander … proposed an
amendment to the education bill that would allow low-income students to use
federal tax dollars to pay private school tuition … Alexander’s amendment was
defeated by a vote of 45 to 52, with some Republicans joining Democrats to vote
it down.”
Breakfast Sides
Housing
advocates cheer new anti-discrimination rules. NYT: “Ed Gramlich, a senior
adviser at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, cautioned that change was
likely to come slowly. Local governments that receive federal funding are
required to draw up plans once every five years … Still, he described the new
requirement as ‘tremendous.’ Until now, he said, local governments have
basically had the freedom to decide for themselves whether they were complying
with the 1968 law.”
Martin
O’Malley lays out Wall Street reform plans. W. Post: “The proposal from the
former Maryland governor seeks to boost funding to ‘police bad behavior on Wall
Street,’ to ensure that government-appointed regulators of the financial sector
are more independent and to re-instate the Glass-Steagall Act…”
“Low
Incomes Constrain Half of World” reports NYT: “Data analyzed by the Pew
Research Center concluded that more than half the world’s population remains
‘low-income,’ while another 15 percent are still [poor, living] on $2 a day or
less … those who had escaped poverty are still teetering on the edge of being
poor.”
Rep.
Steny Hoyer to bring back “Make It In America.” Roll Call: “… the next phase
of the effort will involve conversations with job creators, employers, academics
and think tanks, with a finished agenda ready for rollout hopefully before the
year’s end … On Thursday, he and fellow chief deputy whips will convene a
hearing and take testimony from roughly 21 lawmakers…”
Tax
revenue up, deficit down. Reuters: “The United States budget deficit shrank
by $52 billion, or 14 percent, during the first nine months of the 2015 fiscal
year versus year-ago figures … Individual income taxes were up $153 billion over
a year ago, with a whopping 16 percent gain in nonwithheld receipts that include
tax payments for stock market gains…”
Progressive
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