MORNING MESSAGE
The Bipartisan Cromnibus Saga: A Final Assessment
The
Cromnibus guarantees another year of growing inequality and declining security
for most Americans. Once more, vital investments are shortchanged. Once more,
austerity is favored over jobs. Once more, the bill is larded with ... special
interest giveaways: repeal of a key part of financial reform for Wall Street,
allowing banksters to gamble not only with other people’s money but with
taxpayer guarantees for their losses; an expansion of big money in politics;
continuing cutting of EPA’s capacity; the stunning authority to cut the vested
pensions of already retired workers and much more.
Sanders Targets Big Banks
Sen. Sanders has plan to break up the big banks.
OurFuture.org’s Richard Eskow: “Sanders’ website announced on Saturday that
the Vermont independent ‘will introduce legislation to break up Wall Street
megabanks that are using a bill before the Senate this weekend to put taxpayers
on the hook for the banks’ risky investments.’ … introducing a measure that is
designed to put members of the United States Senate on record before the voters:
Are they willing to break up the big banks or not?”
“Citigroup Will Be Broken Up” predicts Baseline
Scenario’s Simon Johnson: “These are not left vs. right issues. And the key
divide is certainly not the liberal left against anyone else. This is a broad
coalition of people who care about financial stability — and who are fighting
against a mighty lobby … We are going back to the original Republican principles
and courage at work the last time this country took on – and won against –
concentrated corporate power.”
Dems Debate Way Forward
Hillary mum on Warren’s derivatives fight. The
Hill: “The reason for Clinton’s silence, some of her staunchest supporters
say, is that she likely supported the spending bill — even if she didn’t want to
go on record with that support … Clinton allies also think that a bigger
movement that the anti-Wall Street camp favors her candidacy: The anti-gridlock
movement.”
Pelosi stands with the left. Roll Call: “With 138
Democrats joining her in rejecting the cromnibus, Pelosi could be heading into
the 114th Congress with a strong hand. In taking such a dramatic stance favored
by the left-leaning base, she endeared herself to even the most liberal
rank-and-file lawmakers who had post-election gripes with leadership. She could
even end up walking into work in January with her own Democratic version of the
Republicans’ ‘hell no’ caucus, a voting bloc dedicated to thwarting the House
GOP leadership’s best-laid plans.”
WH downplays friction. W. Post: “‘The difference
on the Democratic side was one related to tactics, not principle,’ [WH spokesman
Josh] Earnest said. Many Democrats thought that watering down a piece of Wall
Street reform wasn’t a good idea, he said. ‘The difference in tactics, though,
it’s the president’s view that it was important to sign this bill.’ If that did
not happen, there would be a more limited three-month agreement, and Democrats
would soon have to vote on another spending bill — this time, with Congress
under complete Republican control.”
GOP attacks against the IRS will eventually mean
higher taxes. W. Post’ Catherine Rampell: “The spending bill passed over the
weekend contains a lot of terrible provisions. But long-term, the most damaging
may be its cuts to the Internal Revenue Service … Spending on tax collections —
unlike almost any other kind of federal spending — is, unequivocally,
arithmetically good for reducing deficits … Audits have slowed, and by many
metrics, customer service quality has plummeted … ‘tax morale’ will wane and tax
cheating will likely rise. Which will require higher statutory tax rates to make
up for the shortfall.”
Fed May Hike Rates Soon
Fed expected to move toward higher interest rates
this week as economy seen as improving. Bloomberg: “The Federal Reserve will
look past low inflation and drop a pledge to keep interest rates near zero for a
‘considerable time’ as it seeks an exit from the loosest monetary policy in its
100-year history, economists said … The FOMC will release its statement at 2
p.m. tomorrow, along with forecasts for the benchmark federal funds rate,
unemployment, inflation and growth.”
But Fed chair still cautious. NYT: “he nascent
uptick in wages has prompted further warnings from the more hawkish members of
the Fed’s policy-making council who want the central bank to start tightening
monetary policy sooner, rather than later, to ward off what they see as a
potential threat of inflation. But Ms. Yellen and a majority of Fed policy
makers, pointing to evidence that inflation remains well under the central
bank’s 2 percent target, do not appear to be unduly alarmed and probably still
prefer to leave interest rates as low as possible until the trend is better
established.”
Manufacturing up. WSJ: “U.S. manufacturing output
climbed past its prerecession peak this fall, suggesting the American economy is
on solid footing despite growing signs of weakness abroad.”
But failure of recovery to reach middle class hampers
Dems. NYT: “In one camp are Democrats who argue that if they do not take
some credit, they will continue to receive little. Others counter that boasting
would backfire, infuriating millions of Americans who do not see the economy
improving for them or their children. Many, including President Obama, fall in
the middle: still seeking to strike some balance, more than five years after the
recovery officially began, between extolling progress and recognizing the pain
that lingers.”
Breakfast Sides
Another GOP governor backs Obamacare expansion of
Medicaid. NYT: “Under mounting pressure from financially strapped hospitals,
Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee proposed on Monday an alternative plan for
expanding Medicaid that he said would bring health coverage to tens of thousands
more poor residents of his state without following traditional Medicaid rules …
to cover some 200,000 low-income residents through their employer’s health
insurance plan or the state’s Medicaid program … [He] still needs an official
federal waiver and the approval of the Republican-controlled Legislature…”
Sen. David Vitter vows to black AG nomination over
immigration. USA Today: “‘We’ll have the opportunity to push back on
executive amnesty with one of our first major battles: the attorney general
nomination,’ Vitter said in a statement … [Sens.] Cruz and Lee have called on
Lynch to state whether she supports Obama’s plan to protect nearly 5 million
undocumented immigrants from deportation.”
