Progressive Breakfast: Speech Impacts Congress

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Prez Speech Reverberates On Capitol Hill As Talks Continue

Another poll shows bounce for reform. CBS: "Last week, just 40 percent of these adults approved of how the president was handling health care. More, 47 percent, disapproved. After the speech, 52 percent said they approved and only 38 percent said they disapproved. Those are the best assessments for Mr. Obama's handling of health care shown all year by CBS News Polls."

NYT suggests Obama persuaded some House liberals to be flexible on public option, Senate moderates not to worry about cost: "Mr. Obama signaled that he could accept an alternative to a government-run insurance plan, influential Democrats who previously seemed wedded to the public insurance option hinted that they, too, might be flexible. They included the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Representative Henry A. Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, both from California, and who both, like Mr. Obama, say they still prefer the public option, and view it as crucial to passing a bill in the House ... Senators who attended the meeting at the White House said the main topic of discussion was controlling the overall cost of the health care plan. Several said they were optimistic that they could eventually support the bill."

House Progressive Caucus chair tells HuffPost's Kathleen Wells public option pledge remains in effect, but notes some "slippage":

Kathleen Wells: So, the pledge that you signed for a robust and strong public option?

Congressman Grijalva: It's active.

Kathleen Wells: It's active. You are still holding firm to that pledge?

Congressman Grijalva: I am, and I think there's been some slippage; no question
.
Kathleen Wells: Can you be more specific when you say "slippage?"

Congressman Grijalva: There are some members that now say a trigger is not the death knell for a public plan. I disagree with that. But generally speaking, I think the Progressive Caucus has grown up and I think we are very committed to the fact that we have to have that.

Kathleen Wells: This trigger mechanism is off the table for you entirely?

Congressman Grijalva: Yes...

Baucus Caucus still futzing with compromise bill reports W. Post.

Wavering Dem Sen. Begich praises Obama after his meeting with moderates on Rachel Maddow Show, reassured on deficit and senior benefits, says public option won't determine his vote one way or other.

WH believes deficit trigger will never need to be pulled. NYT: "[Obama] has argued that his proposed overhaul would result in even bigger savings from greater productivity in the health industry. The trouble for Mr. Obama is that such savings cannot be scored by the Congressional Budget Office. Even if they could be counted, most would not be likely to emerge within the budget office’s 10-year time frame. The beauty of a trigger, according to administration officials and its supporters, is two-fold: Initially it would help secure the budget office’s fiscal blessing. Once in law, the trigger would never be pulled because big savings eventually would be realized."

NYT sums up insurance industry reaction: "Mr. Obama also made clear that the industry’s biggest worry — [a public option] — was not a necessary ingredient ... Mr. Obama has already agreed to grant one of the industry’s dearest wishes: a requirement that everyone have coverage ... [but] there is still a possibility that Congress will back the creation of some sort of government-run plan, which is what insurers fear most ... Insurers also say they are worried about many of the new fees and taxes being proposed, including Mr. Baucus’s idea of charging the industry $6 billion a year in fees..."

The Hill sees Obama setting stage for simple majority vote in Senate: "By offering Republicans olive branches during his address to Congress on Wednesday, Obama has set up a win-win situation. If GOP lawmakers embrace compromise, a healthcare bill would pass Congress easily. But the more likely scenario is that Republicans will continue to oppose Obama’s plan, and the president later this fall will be able to note he tried to strike a deal with the GOP but could not. That will set up a Democratic argument that Senate leaders have been forced to use a partisan budget tool known as reconciliation to pass a health bill through the Senate by a simple majority, instead of 60 votes. Under the budget plan they passed earlier this year, Democrats could invoke the reconciliation process on Oct. 15."

New Poverty, Income Data Show Lost Decade Under Bush

Economix's David Leonhardt delivers the (not so) shocking news: "The typical American household made less money last year than the typical household made a full decade ago ... In the four decades that the Census Bureau has been tracking household income, there has never before been a full decade in which median income failed to rise ... . One, economic growth in the current decade has been slower than in any decade since before World War II. Two, inequality has risen sharply, so much of the bounty from our growth has gone to a relatively small slice of the population."

Time's Justin Fox adds: "I don't know how much of this was bad luck and how much was bad policy (nobody does), but there's really no getting around the fact that the Bush presidency was an economic debacle. Americans got poorer on his watch."

Geithner predicts unemployment will drop next year. W. Post: "Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, appearing in a town hall program ... on CNBC, said that 'absolutely, absolutely,' unemployment will be lower this time next year."

CQ reports WH claims 1 million jobs saved by stimulus so far: "A White House assessment of the effect of the economic stimulus package in its first six months says that the nation’s job losses since the first of the year would have been much worse if the law had not been enacted.
Council of Economic Advisers, released Thursday, estimates that in August more than 1 million more jobs existed than otherwise would have been the case. 'We are still losing jobs,' said Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers. But, she added, 'what we would have been facing were it not for the money that’s gone out would have been truly devastating.'"

SEC inspector general offers Madoff lessons. W. Post: "Kotz urged that the SEC set up a system to vet tips and complaints that come into the agency and catalog them under a timeline. The SEC received at least six warnings about Madoff's business over the years, including one that explicitly warned he was probably running a Ponzi scheme. Kotz also recommended that SEC officials reviewing tips and complaints be experienced in the subject matter relevant to the tip or complaint. His review found that SEC officials often looked in the wrong places in the Madoff case because they were not trained in detecting Ponzi schemes. And, among about 40 other suggestions, Kotz said it was important for the SEC to ensure that investigators know when to independently verify information provided by subjects of probes. Kotz's report said the SEC didn't take even basic steps to check on what Madoff told officials ... Harry Markopolos, a whistleblower who wrote several letters to the SEC warning about Madoff, also testified Thursday and gave the agency high marks for working fast to try to right itself. In previous statements he had been sharply critical."

Climate Bill Friction In Senate

Politico reports committee chairs Sens. Baucus and Boxer are jostling over carbon cap jurisdiction: "...liberals have complained that Baucus’s obsession with getting Republican support for the health care bill has slowed progress on the issue, and they worry the same thing will happen on climate change ... But Montana’s energy mix, some argue, could help Baucus persuade moderate Democrats to support the legislation. Coal- and manufacturing-state Democrats may trust a version of the bill drafted by Baucus instead of Boxer."

Mother Jones airs concerns that Senate keeps letting climate bill deadlines slip: "...not only is there still no bill, but talk of a concrete deadline has disappeared entirely. Boxer's panel will only commit to producing a bill—not voting on it—'later in September,' according to a statement. Reid's office is even more vague, merely saying that the majority leader 'fully expects the Senate to have ample time to consider this comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation before the end of the year.' ... Environmental groups contacted by Mother Jones maintain that the delay is no cause for panic."

Another power company is leaving anti-climate bill coal coalition. Grist's Bruce Niles reports: "Only a week after the nation’s third largest utility, Duke Energy, announced it was terminating its membership in the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), citing disagreement over clean energy legislation, another company has followed suit. Alstom Power is joining Duke for similar reasons ... Duke has also withdrawn its membership in the National Association of Manufacturers [because] NAM is currently running a misleading ad campaign against clean energy legislation ..
The big question now is why is General Electric staying in the coalition?"

Another forged lobby letter. Change.org's Emily Gertz: "House investigators have discovered another forged letter sent to a Virginia representative in June, urging him to vote against the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill. As The Washington Post reports, this brings the total number of fakes up to 14 so far ... , this letter pulled patriotic heartstrings, by appearing to come from a local American Legion post. The letter lauded the continued use of coal-fired energy, and urged Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) to vote against the Waxman-Markey bill ... as this 14th forged letter was surfacing, over 150 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were on their way to meet with their senators and the White House to urge passage of climate and clean energy legislation, to preserve national security."

Key climate issue unresolved before G-20 meeting. ClimateWire: "Newly revised Treasury Department documents obtained by E&E show that the United States still has not determined how much money wealthy nations should raise to help developing countries cope with global warming, even as Europe has pledged to give up to $15 billion annually ... Climate negotiations are getting down to the wire, with 16 negotiating days left before countries meet in Copenhagen to hammer out a new global emissions treaty. Developing nations have long considered funding to help them adapt to climate change and lower their own emissions trajectory critical to any international pact, and have voiced impatience with the lack of specificity in current talks."

WH tells Congress to pass climate bill to help international talks. NYT: "The Obama administration’s senior negotiator on global warming warned Thursday that developed and developing nations remained deeply divided in talks on reducing greenhouse gases and that time was running out before United Nations treaty negotiations in December. The negotiator, Todd Stern, the State Department special envoy on the issue, told a Congressional panel that it was critical that Congress act on proposed energy and global warming legislation to demonstrate the nation’s willingness to play its part in reducing harmful emissions."

Chamber of Commerce and auto dealers sue to stop strong CA emissions rules. LAT: "The suit filed Tuesday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Automobile Dealers Assn. seeks to block the waiver that the Environmental Protection Agency granted to California under the Clean Air Act to set vehicle emissions standards ... The lawsuit isn't challenging the standard directly. Rather, it argues that the waiver sets a dangerous precedent of allowing a state to regulate what should be a national issue: global warming."

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