Progressive Breakfast: 30M Defenders Of Social Security Can't Be Wrong

Each morning, Bill Scher and Terrance Heath serve up what progressives need to affect change on the kitchen-table issues families face: jobs, health care, green energy, financial reform, affordable education and retirement security.

Major Coalition Forms To Protect Social Security From Debt Commission

"Coalition of 60 groups representing over 30M Americans launches campaign today to stop Social Security cuts. Strengthen Social Security: [1] "With press accounts indicating that the Administration’s fiscal commission is considering recommending that Congress cut Social Security benefits, a diverse group of organizations are launching a major new campaign to push back and demand that Congress not make any benefit cuts. New polling shows massive public support for members of Congress who support strengthening, not cutting, Social Security."

Which side are you on, asks OurFuture.org's Richard Eskow: [2] "There's a battle going on between those who are defending Social Security - that is to say, the "good guys" - and those like economist Alice Rivlin and Wall Street banker/giveaway king Neel Kashkari, who would cut it."

W. Post's Matt Miller challenges debt commission co-chair for austerity goal: [3] "...Bowles suggested that the long-term goal the commission should adopt for federal spending should be 21 percent of gross domestic product. This sounds like a bookkeeping matter. But Bowles' goal would end progressive ambition, ratify America's declining competitiveness and bury the American dream ... federal spending under Ronald Reagan averaged 22 percent of GDP ... Reagan ran government at this size at a time when 76 million baby boomers weren't about to hit their rocking chairs."

No Good Reason To Block Warren

No one can come up with a good reason to deny Elizabeth Warren. The Atlantic's Joshua Green: [4] "The big banks and credit card companies that oppose her, however, can't very well say that they're afraid she might do a good job, so their lobbyists are instead raising questions about her 'management ability.' ... an old Washington canard that's bogus..."

Notable Republicans lend support to Warren. HuffPost: [5] "Leading Senate Republicans... oppose the noted consumer advocate and bailout watchdog, raising questions about her tenure atop the Congressional Oversight Panel ... [But] two of Warren's Republican colleagues on the bailout panel said Wednesday ... they have found her 'collegial... professional [and]... quite willing to modify her views if presented with well-reasoned cogent arguments.' ... In Thursday's Boston Globe, Charles Fried, a Republican and former solicitor general under Ronald Reagan ... writes in an op-ed that Obama should give Warren a recess appointment."

TNR's Jonathan Cohn adds: [6] "This is a simple question of whether to appoint a qualified crusader to protect consumers from abusive credit practices--an issue on which, broadly speaking, the public has clear and strong feelings."

On MSNBC, Rep. Barney Frank challenges Sen. Chris Dodd's concern that Warren can't be confirmed: [7] "To cave in to the threat of a non-existent filibuster is a terrible idea."

Some in Congress concerned over weak international capital requirements. Bloomberg: [8] "[Sen.] Christopher Dodd and [Rep.] Barney Frank ... plan hearings on the status of global talks to revise bank-capital standards amid worries that proposed rules are being watered down. 'I am concerned the recent proposals out of Basel will result in weak and perhaps even nonbinding provisions that provide credit to banks for holding forms of capital that have little or no value in absorbing losses,' said Senator Ted Kaufman, Democrat of Delaware."

Public Wants Wealthy To Pay Fair Share

Dem Sen. Kent Conrad still arguing to keep Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, for "the moment." Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo: [9] "Conrad replied that taxes need to eventually go up on the rich but 'I don’t think this is the moment' ... [That's] far better than the Republican position of passing deficit financed tax cuts in perpetuity, but it’s still misguided ... the Congressional Budget Office has found that, of the available tax and spending options, cutting income taxes in 2011 is the least stimulative of all."

But Bush tax cuts for the wealthy remain incredibly unpopular. TNR's Jonathan Chait: [10] "Wall Street Journal reporter John D. McKinnon thinks that opponents of tax cuts are gaining momentum ... By a 2-to-1 margin, voters want to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy ... Yes, it's up from 25%, but it's still a distinctly unpopular position."

Paul Krugman finds conservatives making up data to defend the Bush tax cuts: [11] "I think we have part of the key to how Republicans can believe that returning to the Bush agenda is exactly what we need: they’ve invented themselves an alternate history in which wonderful things happened under Bush, and earlier booms have been sent down the memory hole."

No More Mister Nice Blog exposes "The Right's Tax Bamboozlement Game Plan": [12] "They want to make the public believe that it's impossible to separate the cuts for the rich and the cuts for everyone else. They want us to believe that there's one entity: the entire Bush tax cut package -- and, if it expires, we'll all get socked."

Conservatives Side With Big OIl On Spill Bill

Conservative stand with Big Oil, oppose spill bill. The Hill: [13] "Republicans reiterated their concerns about Democratic plans to lift the $75 million liability cap on economic damages from offshore spills. They allege unlimited liability would make it financially impossible for small and mid-sized companies to afford insurance needed to operate in the Gulf of Mexico."

Conservative also attack bill for trying to regulate natural gas drilling. Politico: [14] "Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said the new requirements could effectively end onshore natural gas production ... 'There’s not a problem with hydraulic fracturing' ... [Sen. Maj. Leader Harry] Reid dismissed the GOP criticism, saying the new language simply requires companies to disclose the mix of their chemical blends, not to stop extracting gas ... there is fear that the process could pollute local water supplies ... [In] the documentary film “Gaslands," ... people living near hydrofracking projects showed their tap water running dark and murky and sometimes even igniting on fire."

Dem Sen. Mary Landrieu seeks compromise on oil spill liability cap. The Hill: [15] "Landrieu’s proposal echoes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) bill by retroactively lifting the current $75 million liability cap on [BP, but] breaks with the Democratic liability provision authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) that allows unlimited liability for future spills ... Under Landrieu’s plan, damages of between $250 million and $10 billion would be covered by a mutual insurance fund to which all oil-and-gas producers would contribute..."

TNR's Brad Plumer sees conservative hypocrisy on oil spill liability: [16] "Reid's energy bill would remove this liability cap entirely ... If an oil spill causes billions and billions of dollars in damage to surrounding areas, then the company at fault has to pony up ... If that means bankruptcy, then so be it ... Republicans, in turn, have offered up a more subtle alternative [with] varying liability limits on individual companies ... Beyond that, the costs of the spill would be shared by all companies drilling offshore, up to $20 billion ... Republicans are basically proposing a socialized insurance system for oil companies, while Democrats want to leave them to the not-so-tender mercies of the free market."

Government scientists still trying to determine extent of Gulf damage. W. Post: [17] "Up to 4 million barrels (167 million gallons), the vast majority of the spill, remains unaccounted for in government statistics ... 'There's so much noise out there now saying the gulf is dead or the gulf will come back easily,' [NOAA head Jane] Lubchenco said. 'The truth is in the middle.' The government's accounting of what became of all the oil will be key to making this final judgment."

Underwater oil plumes remain a concern. Miami Herald: [18] "Federal and academic researchers can't say for sure yet how big they are, what is likely to happen to them over time or whether the concentrations, which fade from strong around the well to barely detectable 40 miles away, are toxic to marine life."

Time's Michael Grunwald makes the case that the damage has been exaggerated: [19] "Yes, the spill killed birds — but so far, less than 1% of the birds killed by the Exxon Valdez. Yes, we've heard horror stories about oiled dolphins — but, so far, wildlife response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of any mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh restrictions on fishing and shrimping, but so far, the region's fish and shrimp have tested clean, and the restrictions are gradually being lifted ... The disappearance of more than 2,000 square miles of coastal Louisiana over the last century has been a true national tragedy ... [But National Audubon Society VP Paul Kemp] compares the impact of the spill on the vanishing marshes to 'a sunburn on a cancer patient.'"

Plenty of oil left, at least, to spill. Mother Jones' Kate Sheppard: [20] "Calhoun County, Michigan is in the midst of what might be the worst oil spill ever in the Midwest ... Louisiana also had to deal with another gusher yesterday as a tug boat struck a wellhead..."

Can BP take a tax write-off on spill cleanup? The Hill: [21] "Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is asking Finance Committee leaders to investigate BP’s intent to claim a $10 billion tax deduction for costs related to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill ... 'How would BP be able to generate $10 billion in tax savings, when $12.2 billion of BP’s $32.2 billion charge on its financial results appears to be for nondeductible statutory penalties and fines?'"

Carbon Cap Coming To The West

"Don't look now, but cap-and-trade is coming to the United States—and there's nothing the Senate can do about it," reports TNR's Brad Plumer: [22] "California, New Mexico, and three Canadian provinces—Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia—unveiled a plan to set up a carbon-trading system for greenhouse gases by January 2012 ... assuming this system does get up-and-running, it could well help seed a larger national climate program down the road."

NRDC's Lowell Feld urges grassroots to stop Sen. Jay Rockefeller from handcuffing EPA on carbon pollution: [23] "... what Rockefeller is proposing would tell the EPA -- at least for two years, although we know that justice delayed is often justice denied! -- that it has to be asleep at the switch, that it must not hold polluters accountable ... Is that the lesson the Senate learned from the Gulf of Mexico disaster?"

How hot is it? Climate Progress' Joe Romm: [24] "After the hottest decade on record, it’s the hottest year on record, hottest week of all time in satellite record, and we may be at record low Arctic sea ice volume ... FoxNews had me on twice for the big snowstorms (during the hottest winter on record), but no invitations during the record-smashing heat waves hitting the nation and world. Go figure!"

Coal industry rep doesn't deny trying to organize companies to shovel corporate cash into defeating candidates. ABC: [25] "[International Coal Group's] Roger Nicholson defended the solicitation he sent to other coal execs. 'My letter stated the obvious,' said Nicholson ... Tony Oppegard, a Kentucky lawyer and mine safety advocate, said he was concerned about the effect of the coal industry's deep pockets ... Oppegard said he thought that incumbents like Ben Chandler were being targeted because of their work for mine safety."

AZ Anti-Immigrant Law Stymied

Judge temporarily blocks AZ anti-immigrant law. W. Post: [26] "It also set up a legal struggle that is likely to play out over several years and across numerous states, with Brewer vowing to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and legal experts saying the high court is likely to hear it ... preliminary injunctions must meet a high legal standard, and [Judge Susan] Bolton specified that the government 'is likely to succeed on the merits' of much of its argument."

Record numbers of attempted immigrants dying on the border. NYT: [27] " The bodies of 57 border crossers have been brought in during July so far, putting it on track to be the worst month for such deaths in the last five years ... tougher enforcement measures have pushed smugglers and illegal immigrants to take their chances on isolated trails..."

Prez Touts Small Biz, Auto Turnaround

President presses GOP to stop blocking small biz lending bill. NYT: [28] "...Democrats say Republicans are stalling the small-business bill and Republicans say that Democrats will strangle small businesses with higher taxes and heavy-handed regulation — though Mr. Obama, in New Jersey, emphasized that he had cut taxes for small businesses eight times."

GOP Sen. George LeMieux playing key role. Politico: [29] "The latest version of the Senate small business bill includes a major investment in a new initiative LeMieux wants to curb fraud in Medicare –another hot issue for Florida."

NYT explores stimulus money subsidizing private sector hiring, as Congress considers extension: [30] "Congress is now considering whether to extend the subsidy, which would expire in September, for an additional year. A House vote is expected on Thursday or Friday ... The effectiveness of these programs will not be clear for many months, if ever. As the stimulus money dries up, employers will decide whether to keep the workers at their own cost or cast them back into the unemployment pool. Moreover, some economists fear that people hired with government subsidies may simply be displacing other workers, rather than adding to total employment ... About 247,000 workers will have been placed in these subsidized jobs ... States, cities and local companies have been among the biggest advocates for extending the program beyond September. Small businesses benefit in particular since having an additional worker can make a bigger difference to a company with a small staff."

"Obama to tout auto turnaround" reports Politico: [31] "When the president travels to Michigan on Friday, he’ll tout the revival of General Motors and Chrysler since the auto companies received billions in federal aid and government-assisted bankruptcies ... The auto companies’ success of late – the industry turned an operating profit in the first quarter for the first time since 2004 – is a bright spot in what remains a dreary economic climate..."

W. Post's Neil Irwin sees tomorrow's GDP figure a key indicator: [32] "The recovery faces a crucial test over the next couple of months: Either it will pick up vital momentum from increased consumer spending and investment or stall out, dipping into a period of anemic growth -- or perhaps even another recession ... Forecasters are expecting that gross domestic product rose at a rate of 2 to 2.5 percent rate in the April-through-June quarter, which would be too slow to drive down the jobless rate."

Breakfast Sides

Approval for health care reform law keeps rising. W. Post: [33] "Opposition to the landmark health care overhaul declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent ... Fifty percent of the public held a favorable view of the law, up slightly from 48 percent a month ago ... Independents, who can tip the balance in elections, split 48 percent to 37 percent in favor, compared with 49 percent to 41 percent a month earlier..."

Congress passes reduction in crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity. McClatchy: [34] "In 2006, 81.8 percent of crack cocaine defendants were black, 8.8 percent were white and 8.4 percent were Hispanic, according the Sentencing Project report. For the same year, 57.5 percent of powder cocaine defendants were Hispanic, 27 percent were African-American and 14.7 were percent white ... The House bill raises the five-year mandatory minimum sentencing trigger for crack possession from five grams to 28 grams and eliminates mandatory minimum sentencing for simple possession of crack. Possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries a mandatory minimum five years in prison under the bill."

WSJ's Thomas Frank shreds Newt Gingrich's latest book: [35] "At one point, he starts in to berate those who get paid more than they deserve ... The reader expects Mr. Gingrich to follow this up by denouncing Wall Street's bonuses ... but instead he chooses to scold unionized auto workers, unionized teachers, and unionized postal employees ... This is a book about political corruption ... yet it neglects to mention the Jack Abramoff affair and even includes two chapters co-written with the Institute for Policy Innovation's Peter Ferrara ... a minor personality in the Abramoff affair ... the former congressman faults the Obama administration for being too harsh on offshore drilling..."