Progressive Breakfast: Boxer Blows Past GOP Boycott

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Boxer Blows Past Boycott, As Tripartisan Trio Works With WH

BREAKING THIS AM: Sen. Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee passes clean energy jobs and climate protection legislation 10-1, shoving aside GOP boycott of mark-up session by not including any amendments. (Sen. Baucus was lone No vote, though he pledged to continue working towards compromise.)

Tripartisan trio of Sens. Kerry, Graham and Lieberman offer optimism on climate compromise after WH talks. Wonk Room quotes Graham: [1] "The green economy is coming. We can either follow or lead ... Our country doesn’t have the infrastructure in place to build a green economy and never will until we price carbon."

Climate Progress quotes Kerry on next steps for compromise: [2] "Our effort is to try to reach out to broaden the base of support beyond the six committees of jurisdiction. And we’re going to do that working very closely with the chairs of those committees as well as with members across the Senate. The key here is to really negotiate once in a sense, not negotiate with ourselves and not negotiate just in the Senate and then not have the White House also at the table. ... We will be working closely with the White House over the course of the next weeks with a few to trying to pull together what ultimately could be presented to Sen. Reid and the leadership as a piece of legislation that we hope could get the 60 votes necessary..."

The Vine's Brad Plumer is cautiously optimistic: [3] "...that doesn't mean it's all placid sailing from here on out ... finding common ground between conservatives and liberals on nuclear power could be a devilish task, although there are signs that many nuclear skeptics are softening their stance ... At this point, the odds of a bill passing still look reasonably decent, but it's looking less and less likely the Senate will make much headway before the Copenhagen talks in December."

Vast majority of economists back market-based action on global warming in new survey. Green Inc.: [4] "A New York University School of Law survey found near unanimity among 144 top economists that global warming threatens the United States economy and that a cap-and-trade system of carbon regulation will spur energy efficiency and innovation."

ClimateWire reports several senators concerned that cap-and-trade approach would lead to market manipulation: [5] "Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) ... has said Congress will probably have to pass financial reforms that regulate the $300 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market before passing carbon cap-and-trade legislation ... Republican leaders, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also said financial reform will probably need to come first to get Republican support ... Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) ... are deeply skeptical about whether a market-based system for reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be safeguarded from abuse and manipulation."

Sen. Sherrod Brown, Blue-Green Alliance release report showing higher renewable energy mandate would create 850,000 jobs. AFL-CIO Blog: [6] "The report says if Congress enacts a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which would require the nation’s utilities to produce 25 percent of our electricity using renewable sources by 2025, it would stimulate enough demand for the component parts needed to make wind turbines, solar panels and other clean energy technologies to create 850,000 jobs at existing U.S. manufacturers across the country."

HuffPost promotes new report on fierce corporate lobbying to kill international deal: [7] "The Center For Public Integrity just released a blockbuster investigative report [8] that details the intense corporate pressure to block an effective global treaty from being reached at the UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen in December, and to halt efforts in individual countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to fierce lobbying behind closed doors, some of the most aggressive tactics deployed by resource giants such as Exxon Mobil, Peabody Coal and other energy and agriculture interests are often the most public: spreading fear and misinformation about the true impact of emissions regulations."

New business group forms supportive of carbon cap: [9] "More than a dozen leading U.S. corporations- including Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), DB Climate Change Advisors (Deutsche Bank Group), Gap Inc., and National Grid- announced the launch of a new initiative to support Congressional action on clean energy and climate change legislation. The goal of the new group, called American Businesses for Clean Energy (ABCE), is to offer a platform for leading U.S. businesses to express their support for meaningful and effective legislation..."

International dispute over climate insurance proposal. ClimateWire: [10] "Advocates for nations vulnerable to climate change are accusing the United States of trying to 'kill' a prominent global warming provision that would create a massive insurance program for countries that face rising destruction from natural disasters ... The program could cost the United States and other developed nations billions every year, and perhaps amount to an admission that Americans are largely responsible for warming the world."

House Health Care Vote Expected Saturday

AP: "The House is steaming toward a historic vote [11] on President Barack Obama's remake of the U.S. health care system, with Democratic leaders increasingly confident and the powerful seniors' lobby AARP about to get on board ... Leaders stopped short Wednesday of declaring they had the 218 votes needed to pass the bill, and they were still negotiating language on abortion and immigration. But scheduling the vote meant those issues would have to be resolved and undecided lawmakers would have to declare themselves ... Action is slower on the other side of the Capitol, where senators are awaiting an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office..."

GOP alternative covers almost no one, yet doesn't cut the deficit as much. NYT: [12] "The Republican bill, which has no chance of passage, would extend insurance coverage to about 3 million people by 2019, and would leave about 52 million people uninsured, the budget office said, meaning the proportion of non-elderly Americans with coverage would remain about the same as now, at roughly 83 percent ... the Republican bill would reduce future federal deficits by $68 billion over 10 years, compared to a reduction of $104 billion by the House Democrats’ legislation."

Strengthening, Weakening of Financial Reform

Boston Globe reports Rep. Frank may fix loopholes in derivatives reform bill: [13] "House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, under fire from some fellow Democrats and consumer groups for carving out what they call loopholes in legislation designed to prevent another economic meltdown, said in a letter released tonight that 'there may be a problem here'' and that he wants to reconsider ... Heather Booth, director of Americans for Financial Reform, said in an interview that she raised concerns about loopholes in the legislation and she said Frank responded that he would try to tighten such exemptions. Booth said she left the meeting encouraged. Booth stressed, however, that her group still has concerns about whether all of the loopholes will be closed."

House cmte backs weakening amendment. CQ: [14] "The panel also voted 37-32 to approve an amendment by Scott Garrett, R-N.J., and John Adler, D-N.J., that would permanently exempt businesses with a market capitalization up to $75 million from complying with independent auditing requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley law (PL 107-204)."

Dodd to release bill next week, hold financial reform markup before Thanksgiving, reports CQ: [15] "Still, passing an overhaul package in the full Senate before the end of the year could be difficult, given serious concerns from the panel’s ranking Republican, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama."

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Robert Reich, in Salon, tells Blue Dogs to back additional stimulus or risk losing re-election: [16] "Everything else on the table -- a new jobs tax credit, more loans to small businesses, more help to troubled homeowners, another extension of unemployment insurance, another round of subsidies to first-time home buyers -- are small potatoes relative to the importance and likely effect of a larger stimulus. Some of these initiatives may do some good, but even combined they'll barely make a dent in the growing numbers of jobless Americans ... [The Blue Dogs are] more politically endangered next November if the the job numbers aren't moving in the right direction by then than if they vote for a larger stimulus now."

Senate passes unemployment insurance extension. HuffPost: [17] "The GOP called for the check Wednesday night, having had enough of the fight over an extension of unemployment benefits that the party had held up for several weeks. While the Senate was stuck in parliamentary limbo, some 200,000 people actively looking for work lost their unemployment benefits. The bill extends unemployment benefits for an additional 14 weeks across the country, and in some states with the highest unemployment the extension goes to 20 weeks. The extension itself was not controversial and passed 98-0. Getting there, however, was a Herculean parliamentary task that provides insight into just how hard it is to pass even popular legislation in the Senate with a minority party intent on opposing the majority's agenda step by laborious step." House may vote today, reports Bloomberg. [18]

Biz tax credits included in unemployment bill. The Hill: [19] "Democrats anxious about high unemployment have shifted gears and are poised to expand a stimulus provision that would quickly put $33 billion in the pockets of businesses. The Senate on Wednesday approved a tax break that allows firms to carry back losses to get refunds on taxes paid over the past five years, and the House is expected to follow ... The carryover won’t serve as stimulus and will only give more money to businesses, said liberal economist Dean Baker."

White House Debunks 7 Green Stimulus Bill Myths [20] reports Treehugger.

Concern that IMF too weak to address global imbalances. Bloomberg: [21] " The Group of 20’s effort to shift the global economy away from dependence on U.S. spending and Chinese savings may fail because the International Monetary Fund lacks the power to enforce its policy prescriptions, the IMF’s past three chief economists said."