Robert Kuttner: It's the Jobs, Stupid

Reinstating Estate Tax Would Pay for Jobless Benefits
Reinstating Estate Tax Would Pay for Jobless Benefits Refusing to extend Unemployment Benefits to 1.2 million Americans by adding to the Deficit, Senate Republicans by a 41 to 57 margin on Thursday again filibustered the Democratic Billion Jobs Bill . As it turns out, most of the roughly $35 Billion still needed to pay for it could largely come from a single source: the Estate Tax . But thanks to the same GOP obstructionism, Republicans have chosen a one-year Windfall for a handful of...

GOP Chooses Tax Cuts for Billionaires Over Jobless Benefits for the Unemployed
Refusing to extend Unemployment Benefits to 1.2 million Americans by adding to the Deficit, Senate Republicans by a 41 to 57 margin on Thursday again filibustered the Democratic Billion Jobs Bill . As it turns out, most of the roughly $35 Billion still needed to pay for it could largely come from a single source: the Estate Tax . But thanks to the same GOP obstructionism, Republicans have chosen a one-year Windfall for a handful of Billionaires over millions of Americans in the throes of...

GOP Chooses Tax Cuts for Billionaires Over Jobless Benefits for the Unemployed
Refusing to extend Unemployment Benefits to 1.2 million Americans by adding to the Deficit, Senate Republicans by a 41 to 57 margin on Thursday again filibustered the Democratic Billion Jobs Bill . As it turns out, most of the roughly $35 Billion still needed to pay for it could largely come from a single source: the Estate Tax . But thanks to the same GOP obstructionism, Republicans have chosen a one-year Windfall for a handful of Billionaires over millions of Americans in the throes of...

Read the Group of 20's final statement
T HE G-20 Toronto SUMMIT DECLARATION June 26-27, 2010 Preamble 1. In Toronto, we held our first Summit of the G-20 in its new capacity as the premier forum for our International Economic cooperation. 2. Building on our achievements in addressing the Global ~#~3~#~ Crisis, we have agreed on the next steps we should take to ensure a full return to Growth with quality Jobs, to Reform and strengthen Financial Systems, and to create strong, sustainable and balanced Global Growth. 3. Our efforts...

Obama postpones tax talk until after election
Putting off any tough decisions until after the Election, President Obama warned that grim financial choices are coming -- including a look at the Tax system. "I hope some of these folks who are hollering about Deficits and Debt step up, because I'm calling their bluff," Obama said. "And we'll see how much of the political arguments they're making right now are real, and how much of it was just politics." "These folks" referenced by Obama include congressional Republicans, who have criticized...

Obama vs. the Allies
Rich Lowry A specter is haunting the world: the specter of Canada. To hear President Obama's supporters tell it, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a one-man economic wrecking crew. He led the charge at the G-8 Summit to endorse the goal of advanced nations cutting their Deficits in half by 2013. Obama only reluctantly went along, warning of the ill effects of what the intellectual architects of his Stimulus package plaintively call "premature Austerity." This dreaded Austerity has...

June 29
June 29 Tuesday, 06/29/2010 - 9:02 am by Tim Price | Post a Comment --> Tuesday, 06/29/2010 - 9:02 am by Tim Price | Post a Comment What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical Debates. Without Byrd, Financial Reform Vote in Doubt ( HuffPo ) With Senate Democrats’ working majority reduced to 58 and Republicans like Scott Brown and Susan Collins withdrawing their support, FinReg may not be able to overcome a Filibuster. Preparing for Next Big One ( NYTimes...

SCOTUS: First day wrap-up
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans certainly surpassed low expectations for their performance in Monday's opening day of the Kagan Confirmation Hearings. They sunk all the way into the gutter by vilifying Justice Thurgood Marshall, naming him 35 times . Expect more of that, political posturing in the guise of "tough questions." Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, as well as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), warned of a tough grilling session...

Vandalism, violence, and deficit reduction: Thoughts on the G20 Summit in Toronto
By Michael J.W. Stickings I spent the past several days well away from Toronto's downtown core, well away from the G20 Protest areas, well away from the security net that effectively divided the city into two. I used to live downtown, near the University of Toronto, and I still work downtown, in a high-security area, but I now live in the suburbs east of the city. I didn't ignore what went on, though. I couldn't. It was all over the news, scenes of a Police Car on fire, of Protesters...

Steady Decline Through 2060?
What type of legacy are we leaving our kids? Will we leave them so burdened with overwhelming Debts and Deficits so as to strangle and choke off real opportunities? While Uncle Sam is able to play charades in an ever increasing and dramatic Fashion, Sam’s smaller brethren at the state and local levels do not have those capabilities. On that note, let’s look westward. I wrote in May 2009, “As California’s Economy Goes, So Goes the Country.” Along the same line,...

Why Obama is Sabotaging U.S. Economic Growth
They do not want the United States of America to drive Global Growth anymore. If the Financial Reform Bill passes, the bad Wall Street will win, the good Wall Street will not. And investors and American

POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Tuesday, June 29, 2010
From CNN's Leslie Bentz The CNN Washington Bureau's morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world. Washington/POLITICAL For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com CNN: Senators often Talk past Kagan on opening day of Confirmation Hearing Elena Kagan was the nominee at her Confirmation Hearing Monday for the Supreme Court, but you would not be faulted for believing the Real spotlight was on those not attending- the conservative...

June 29
June 29 Tuesday, 06/29/2010 - 9:02 am by Tim Price | Post a Comment --> Tuesday, 06/29/2010 - 9:02 am by Tim Price | Post a Comment What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical Debates. Without Byrd, Financial Reform Vote in Doubt ( HuffPo ) With Senate Democrats’ working majority reduced to 58 and Republicans like Scott Brown and Susan Collins withdrawing their support, FinReg may not be able to overcome a Filibuster. Preparing for Next Big One ( NYTimes...

Weekly Audit: Brown-Nosing Wall Street Reform
More than two years after the collapse of Bear Stearns, the House and Senate finally ironed out their differences on Wall Street Reform in the wee, small hours of Friday morning. The Bill now goes back to both the House and Senate for final approval, but it’s fate in the Senate is uncertain following the defection of Tea Party Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). The resulting Bill has several things going for it, but largely misses the critical structural lessons of the Great Financial Crash of...

Stock futures tumble on global economic worries
NEW YORK (AP) - Stock futures and Interest Rates tumbled Tuesday after fresh signs of a Global economic slowdown spooked investors. Asian Markets tumbled overnight when Japanese data showed its country's recovery slowed and China's Market was hurt by an initial public offering that pulled investors away from the rest of the Market. European indexes opened sharply lower after Greek workers again walked out of their jobs to Protest steep Budget cuts. Interest Rates fell in the Bond Market as...

New Jersey legislature passes Christie's budget
Governor-elect Chris Christie gives a thumbs up sign as he sits with Lt. Governor elect Kim Guadagno at the Robert Treat Academy Charter School Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in Newark, N.J., the day after he won over Incumbent Jon S. Corzine. Christie said with the visit to the highly successful School, he wanted to highlight his plans to improve education. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) TTRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s Democratic-controlled Legislature has approved a $29.4 Billion Budget, sending...

The Windsurfer's Windfall
Last Year, in his ongoing struggle to remain relevant, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) took the legislative reins on the contentious issue of Climate Change. Now Kerry, against the backdrop of an Oil-soaked Gulf, is hoping to ride the current crisis to push his American Power Act to the top the Democrats' legislative agenda and propel himself back into the national spotlight. Tuesday's White House meeting with key administration officials and senators presents Kerry with his best chance to convince...

U.S., Europe At Odds Over Economic Recovery
On the final day of the G-20 meeting in Toronto, leaders are still struggling to find middle ground between growth and Budget cuts. European nations are slashing Spending, but the Obama Administration says the cash flow shouldn't be slowed down just yet. Guy Raz talks to David Walker, former Comptroller general of the United States and president of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, about whether the United States needs to step back and take another look at the Budget. Copyright © 2010...

America Speaks Back: The Effort to Gut Social Security and Medicare Takes a Hit
The opponents of Social Security and Medicare are getting in high gear. After all, it makes perfect sense that after the collapse of a Housing Bubble has just destroyed the life savings of near retirees that we would cut their Social Security and Medicare. Okay, at least in Washington that makes perfect sense. President Obama’s Deficit commission is moving forward with Social Security and Medicare explicitly in their sights. They got a Dry Run for how this effort is likely to sell with...

Why Did Democrats Reject the Republican Stimulus Plans?
Republicans blocked a Democrat-supported bill to extend relief to cash-strapped families and states. This morning, I despaired . Then I called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office to listen to reasons why I was wrong to mourn ... or at least to blame Republicans for my despair. "We offered Legislation for both short term extensions that were fully paid for," said Don Stewart, Communications Director for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. "We used their own offsets to pay for...

Opening Bell: 06.29.10
Banks Financing Mexico Drug Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal (Bloomberg Markets Magazine) Just before sunset on April 10, 2006, a DC-9 jet landed at the International Airport in the port City of Ciudad del Carmen, 500 miles east of Mexico City. As Soldiers on the ground approached the plane, the crew tried to shoo them away, saying there was a dangerous oil leak. So the Troops grew suspicious and searched the jet. They found 128 black suitcases, packed with 5.7 tons of Cocaine, valued at...

Clashes break out at Greek protest
Clashes have broken out between demonstrators and Police at a Protest against Government Spending cuts in Athens, the Greek capital. Riot Police fired Tear Gas at Activists chanting "burn parliament" on Tuesday, just hours before politicians were to begin debating a Pension Reform to tackle the nation's Debt crisis. Dozens of masked youths threw chunks of marble and petrol bombs, and set rubbish bins on fire, while running clashes continued along a major avenue lined with shuttered...

In Summer's Heat, Washington Seeks Refuge in the Loophole (Guest Voice)
In Summer’s Heat, Washington Seeks Refuge in the Loophole by Michael Winship I spent part of last week in Washington, DC, and the heat already was so oppressive I recalled the old story that during the summer the British Foreign Service used to classify the capital as a hardship post, allowing Embassy employees to go about their official business clad in pith helmets and shorts. In pre-air Conditioning days, the Federal Government simply shut down so Civil Servants could escape to some...

Richard Smith: Did We Wind Up With Any Reform of the Shadow Banking System?
By Richard Smith, a London-based capital Markets IT consultant In my last post, “ Tracking the Rabbit through the Anaconda ” , I mocked Geithner a bit and promised you all a spot of moaning about what’s missing from the Financial Reform Bill. Well, the anaconda has now had the time it needed to produce its offering. As an outsider considering the 20 hour orgy of Bill consolidation and last-minute horsetrading that rounded off the whole process, I must say I find the US...

Conservative group launches second Nevada ad against Reid
From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser A new Television ad from American Crossroads is targeting Sen. Harry Reid. Washington (CNN) - An independent conservative organization is firing away at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. American Crossroads announced Tuesday that it's releasing a second Television commercial in Nevada that targets the four-term Democratic senator, who is up for re-election this year. The ad, titled "Really," challenges Reid's assertion that he can do more...