As the next Congressional fight over payroll tax extensions and unemployment benefits and pipelines gets set up in the next few weeks for either its final chapter or to be kicked down the road a bit farther, one or the other, you're going to hear a lot from our Republican friends about how much they value work and workers; most especially, they'll tell you, they value American jobs for American workers.
After all, they'll say, creating American jobs is the most important thing of all.
But if we were to look back over just the last few months, some would tell us, we could quickly find examples of how Republicans promote ideas that don't seem to value work or workers at all, much less American jobs.
Well as it turns out, "some" seem to be right; to illustrate one of those examples we'll look back a month or two or three to a time some Republicans might wish was long, long, ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
I took a break to enjoy the holiday, as I'm sure many of you did, but my inbox kept busy, and on Friday came a doozy, courtesy of the Washington Post.
You remember that little bit of a banking crisis we had a couple of years back, where banks around the world might have possibly, maybe, just a little, conspired in a giant scheme to package toxic mortgage loans into Grade A, investment-ready securities instruments, which then blew up in everyone's faces to the tune of a whole lot of taxpayer bailouts?
Well all of a sudden, it looks like an agency of the Federal Government is looking to do something about it, in a real big way.
Last Friday the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced they're suing 17 firms (I'll give you a list, bit it's pretty much all the usual suspects); depending on who you ask the Feds are seeking an amount as high as $200 billion.
As Joe Biden would say, it's a big...well, it's a big deal, anyway, and that's why we're starting the new week with this one.
When last we met, it was to discuss a Big Idea that the Obama Administration might apply to get some job creation going, despite a difficult Congress; the Big Idea was to look at the "Buy American" provisions that exist in our laws, regulations, and Executive Orders and see if we could practice a bit of "jobs arbitrage" by not just meeting the "Made in USA" requirements when governments across this country make purchases, but exceeding them.
(As it stands today, pretty much any "good or service" with more than 50% Made in USA content qualifies as a Made in USA purchase, even if 49% of the "good or service" comes from somewhere else).
At the time, I told you that if all went well we could look forward to comments from both Labor and the Administration as to the practicality of the Big Idea, and as it turns out I have comments for you that hit close to that mark - and a bit more besides:
On Saturday I just happened to bump into Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09); in the course of that conversation I told him what we're doing here, and he wanted to offer a few thoughts of his own...and when you put all that together, I think we're going to have a lot to talk about.
Dan Debicella sent out a mailer. Not surprising. Dan Debicella filled his mailer with the loosest possible interpretations of fact and at least two outright lies. If you've been following Debicella's campaign for Congress so far, this should not be surprising. But even I was surprised by the scope of the distortions, and how easy they are to fact-check.
Let's start with the front. It presents the theme of the mailer (about Himes failing) and a statistic. Saying Himes failed is fine, I guess; that's what Debicella and Himes will debate. But the statistic, which is one part I classify as the "outright lie," is so easy to check, I'm amazed he expects it slip by unnoticed: "Fairfield County Unemployment 10 percent"
It's just invented. If you're gonna just make stuff up, why not 11 percent? Heck, go for 13. Because Fairfield County's unemployment rate is not 10 percent. The preliminary number for July, 2010 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- the most recent county-level stat I could find -- shows Fairfield County's unemployment rate at 8.5%. From June of 2009 to July of 2010, it varied from a low of 7.7 to a peak 9.0. How hard is it to look that up? Let me Google that for you, Dan. You'll find this handy map at a little publication called the Washington Post.
(you should really click the "Let me Google that" link in the preceding paragraph)
When I come across a bogus statistic like this, I try to find a possible source. Was some subset of Fairfield County at 10.0 percent? Was Fairfield County, South Carolina at 10 percent (they wish -- they're at 13.2)? In this case, I couldn't figure out where Debicella got this fake number. In this case, it appears to be made up. And set as the headline on his mailer. Which is an outright lie.
It doesn't get much better on the back.
Debicella trots out a variation on a favorite line of his. He enjoys going for superlative statements like: "Fairfield County got nothing," the stimulus "has done nothing to reduce unemployment," or today's gem -- Himes' economic positions have "Done Nothing More than Add Trillions to Our National Debt." All are obviously untrue. FactCheck.org featured a Debicella ad with that sort of claim and concluded "it's just false to say that the stimulus created 'no jobs' ... or 'has done nothing to reduce unemployment.'" (emphasis mine)
I'm not going to list the 274 stimulus awards completed or underway in Connecticut's 4th District. I'm tempted -- and I've commented on it before -- but I'll hold back. I think the extension of unemployment and the funding of teachers' jobs over the summer did something, no? I imagine the 25 tax cuts the Democrats in Congress enacted in 2009 alone had some effect, don't you think? Saying any policy did "nothing" is easy to disprove.
Debicella tries to back up his extreme claim that Himes has done "nothing" for the economy by listing the things he's allegedly done.
Debicella claims Himes:
Offered no help for small business
Voted for the "failed" stimulus plan (he's gonna make me bring out the 100+ Jodi Rell quotes about how great the stimulus was for CT or link to the article about the 56,00 people it kept out of poverty, isn't he?)
The New York Times just announced that America's GDP in the first quarter of the year fell at a rate of over 6%, marking the worst six month economic decline since the 1950's. It also marked the third straight quarter of economic decline going back to Q3 of 2008. So it seems altogether proper that we recall the words of that economic genius and former congressman from Southwestern Connecticut, Chris Shays in early September of last year uttered on NPR's Brian Lehrer Show:
"The fundamentals of our economy are strong. No one can disagree with that."
You nailed it, Bucko! How right you were! And let's recall the endorsement of Shays by Brooks Community Newspapers. They wrote that they wanted Chris Shays back in Washington "working on the economy." Yep, we need that economic genius working on the economy voting with every other Republican against the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan. As Sarah Palin would say: "You betcha!"
We all know what an uphill battle reforming abusive credit card practices has been. As a twenty-five year veteran of that fight, I know it as well as anyone. But this morning, the Senate took a big step up that mountain.
Today, the Senate Banking Committee passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act - legislation I wrote to stop abusive and deceptive credit card practices once and for all. Indeed, 2009 may well prove a watershed moment for credit card reform.
For people like Samantha Moore, a paralegal from Guilford, Connecticut I met a few weeks ago, it couldn't come a moment too soon. In January, she was three days late on a credit card payment - the first late payment in 18 years. For that seemingly minor transgression, she had her interest rate raised from 12% to 27% and her credit limit slashed from $31,400 to $4,500 - told that the reason for the severe penalty was that she hadn't been paying enough to other creditors and that their high credit limit exceeded their income.
Samantha was a victim of "universal default" - where credit card companies use unrelated information, like a late utility bill, to increase that family's rates.
Universal default is one of countless abusive practices credit card companies regularly engage in today that my legislation would put to an end.
Here are a few other practices the Credit C.A.R.D Act ends:
"Any Time, Any Reason" interest rate hikes. Issuers often unilaterally change the terms of a credit card contract before the term is up. One issuer "voluntarily" eliminated these hikes after Congress exposed them. They even ran ads stating that "a deal is a deal." But there is nothing binding them to that commitment, and most issuers have already gone back to the practice - one a Pew Charitable Trusts survey found in 93% of 400 cards issued by the country's largest banks and issuers. This bill makes that practice illegal.
Penalty Rates With No End. Let's say you've been a customer in good standing, and you have a reasonable interest rate of 12%. You pay your bill three days late, and you get raised to a penalty interest rate of 29.9%. Once that penalty rate increase is triggered, there is no limit on how long it will last. From that point on, you continue to pay your bill on time, but despite that, you continue to pay the penalty rate for the life of that card. The amount and duration of the penalty rate is entirely determined by the card issuer. My bill says that after 6 months of on time payment, your rate has to go back down.
Double-Cycle Billing. Say a few months ago, you had a credit card debt of a thousand dollars - and that since then, you've paid off $900 of that debt. It's not uncommon for credit card companies to keep charging interest not on a hundred dollars but on the full $1,000 for another cycle or two. The Credit C.A.R.D Act prevents that practice.
Aggressive Marketing to Young People. Recently, my seven year-old daughter received a credit card solicitation in the mail. Jackie and I laughed it off, but it brings up a serious point: young people are faced with an onslaught of credit card offers. And just as we saw in the mortgage crisis with lenders and borrowers, too often, issuers offer cards to young people without verifying any ability to repay whatsoever. This is particularly true for students, who are flooded with offers the second they set foot onto a college campus - in fact, industry officials have testified to Congress that simply being a college student is considered a "positive factor" toward the ability to pay. This bill simply says that credit card companies must take into account a young person's ability to repay before allowing them to take on what is all too often a lifetime's worth of debt.
The truth is, I've been working with advocates and consumer groups to reform credit card company practices for 25 years. For much of that time, our efforts have fallen on deaf ears. But I think this time is different.
And as we learned in this housing crisis, when companies lure people into deceptive, abusive and predatory financial agreements, it not only means mountains of debt for families, bankruptcy and financial ruin for too many - it can also prove catastrophic for our economy.
That is why I have said again and again that consumer protection must be at the forefront of our efforts to modernize our financial regulatory system. There are so many things we must do to make that possible. But none will be more important than reforming the practices of our nation's credit card companies drive so many families deeper and deeper into debt. It is one issue that quite literally touches every family in the country.
The economy lost jobs for the ninth consecutive month in September, with the pace accelerating to 159,000 jobs. This was the largest one-month fall since March of 2003 when the economy lost 212,000 jobs. ...
The U-6 index, which is a broad measure of labor market slack including underemployed and discouraged workers, hit 11.0 percent, the highest level since April of 1994. ...
Job loss was sharpest in manufacturing, where employment fell by 51,000 in September, and is now down by 442,000 from its year ago level. ...
This report should remove any lingering doubts that the economy is in a recession.
[T]he U.S. economy is "flat on the floor"' after a cardiac arrest as companies struggle to secure funding and unemployment increases.
"In my adult lifetime I don't think I've ever seen people as fearful, economically, as they are now," Buffett said today in an interview with Charlie Rose to be broadcast tonight on PBS. "The economy is going to be getting worse for a while." ...The credit freeze is "sucking blood'' from the U.S. economy.
While Chris Shays is denying that the foundations of our economy are buckling, Jim Himes took the time on Thursday to point out some of the cracks. He also exposed some of the roots of the problem, including Congressmen like Shays whose regulation-busting policies over the last decade created the financial tremors we're seeing now. Speaking like a man who's actually worked at an investment bank, Himes then laid out some steps to prevent this kind of meltdown from happening again.
In a press conference on Thursday in Norwalk, Himes said:
It was just two weeks ago that my opponent Christopher Shays said, "Our economy is fundamentally strong. No one can disagree with that." Well, he could not be more wrong. ...
One of the many ways the economy is not fundamentally strong is the fact that 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. ...
We are here fundamentally because over a period of years Washington has taken the referee off the field. ... Chris Shays was among those who bought into the Republican anti-regulation ideology. He said, and this is a quote, "The last thing I like seeing is regulation."
Now we're all learning what the sweeping and devastating consequences of that attitude are.
Himes criticized U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, for his recent comments that the economy is fundamentally strong and no one can disagree with that.
"I disagree on both points," said Himes. "The fact is that as a result of some terribly misguided policies in the last 8 years American families are struggling and suffering like never before."
Pelosi echoed Himes' criticisms saying, "The economy may be strong to him but families across America are concerned with losing their jobs, losing their health care, losing their homes and are all concerned with losing their standard of living."
Shays defended his statements saying that the fundamentals of the economy are indeed strong.
America has the best educated and best trained workforce in the world, he said. The industrial base and the agricultural base of the country are among the strongest in the world as well, said Shays.
"These are all fundamentals and they're all strong," he said.
Perhaps the reason Shays uses the same spin that McCain uses in insisting that the economy is "strong," despite all evidence to the contrary, is that Shays supported the legislation that caused this mess.
Shays, like McCain, voted in favor of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This bill, as the Washington Post explains: "allowed AIG to participate in the gold rush of a rapidly expanding global banking and investment market. But the legislation also helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments.
In voting to support the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Shays said:
I voted for the Financial Services Act, also known as Gramm-Leach-Bliley for its principal authors, because it will update our depression-era banking laws so they keep peace with an evolving market. In my remarks on the House floor, I stated:
The simple fact is, these banking reforms are long overdue. The anti-affiliation provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act are sorely outdated and have increasingly impeded the United States' ability to compete in the new world economy. Encouraging greater competition will lower prices for financial services and improve products, benefiting consumers and the economy.
(h/t Met00)
If Shays thinks the economy isn't broken, how can he fix it?
From lying through his teeth to showing he is completely OUT OF TOUCH.
John McCain, September 15, 2008
Dow Jones Industrial, September 15, 2008
Let me see. Energy crisis! check. Housing crisis! check. Highest unemployment rate (6.1%) in 5 years! check. The largest drop in the stock market since 9/11! check.
And, OUT-OF-TOUCH John McCain states that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong. Well, which fundamentals are he talking about? Is anyone reading this diary really more well off now than they were 8 years ago? Has anybody who owns their own home checked the value of their biggest asset lately? If the majority of your assets are in stocks, mutual funds or other liquid assets, can you honestly say you are worth more now than just three years ago? The S&P500 is at levels lower than what it was more than three years ago (and it has a good chance to be lower tomorrow.)
If you do not own your own home or have minimal equity security investments, are you still better off now than you were 8 years ago? Or 4 years ago?
The economy has tanked. And, the panic has begun to set in--in Wall Street. But, John McCain still thinks that the fundamentals are strong. If you don't know how many houses you own and if you think what constitutes rich is if you have at least $5 million, I guess you could confidently say that:
Alan Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, has written up a history lesson for us all in the New York Times. And it blows the old canard about Republicans being better for the economy and taxes, all to hell.
How is Connecticut doing in appealing to young adults? Sadly, not very well. Housing costs are high, the jobs do not pay well enough and in some parts of the state, the jobs simply are not there. When a young adult has a choice when they finish college, many leave Connecticut.
Connecticut has the highest number of adults 25-34 leaving the state compared to any other state since 2000. You need to earn $21.11 an hour or $44,000 a year to afford a 2 bedroom apartment, while 72% of the jobs created between now and 2014 are projected to pay less than $40,000 a year. And that's if young adults even stay that long, because 47% leave the state for college!
Why do we need young adults? Communities rely on adults for labor intensive, life saving jobs, such as police officers, firemen, and health care professionals. That's only a most critical example, as young adults are needed to keep the economy going in all areas so that businesses and organizations can succeed.
What needs to be done? We have to take action. We have to come up with ways to unite the state on the issue as well as find ways for local communities to address the issue directly. Grassroots organization can have a significant impact in driving the businesses, developers, and political leaders to take initiative of developing communities that better cater to the needs of the state. At the end of the day, it's up to us.
On Tuesday, July 15th from 6-8 pm at the Miller Memorial Center Library Senior Center (ironically) in Hamden, the Greater New Haven Young Democrats will be hosting a panel discussion to address this issue. Details can be found on the event page. There will be more discussions throughout the state with details to come in the near future.
We have an opportunity to change this course to make Connecticut's future better. It is imperative that we as an activist community unite to take initiative to create a better home for our future.
Just when you thought the economy had hit rock bottom. The Conference Board, a non-profit global business organization has reported that its consumer confidence index has dropped to its lowest point since the last recession in 1992. The New York Times paints the grim picture:
Tuesday’s data suggested a nation struggling with expensive gas and devalued homes, where people are fearful for their jobs and wary about where the economy is headed.
Any positive signs that economists and forecasters may have cited need to be thrown out the window. Even with the consumer confidence index at 50.4%, down a whopping 7.7% from May, the worst may still be yet to come. This report should be a wake up call to legislators across the country on behalf of a nation in desperate need of more help.
As the economy worsens, more and more key players are getting on board with the idea of a second economic recovery package. But not everyone's where we need them to be to get something done in time to matter. For example Rep. David Obey (D-WI), powerful chairman of the Appropriations Committee free associated to Congress Daily (subscription only) and revealed that he doesn't quite get how urgent doing something to stave off this recession is:
"People use all kinds of terminology; I don't care if you call it a second supplemental or a second economic [stimulus] package -- to me there are all kinds of things that we need domestically -- but we need finish this job [war supplemental] before we can start thinking about the next one"
This pains me. Not only are House Democrats punting on telecom immunity, they're putting war spending ahead of domestic spending.
As I wrote on myDD, Bush's first economic stimulus package just didn't work. We didn't get the big sweeping surge of economic growth we were promised. Even what good news we've gotten was drowned out by a chorus of story after story of bad economic news. The costs of living are growing rapidly as employment becomes harder to find. Food is getting more expensive as food bank lines grow longer. The longer Congress waits to act, the worse things will get.
And the states can't wait for the aid that Democratic leaders say must be included in a second stimulus package either. State spending is the last prop holding up the economy and is at a tipping point. More than half of the states are facing crippling budget shortfalls that total $48 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. In the absence of aid from the federal government, states have been forced to cut vital services for many of our most vulnerable citiznes. The Center on Budget and Policy Prioritiesgives outlines the chopping block:
At least 12 states have implemented or are considering cuts that will affect low-income children's or families' eligibility for health insurance or reduce their access to health care services.
At least 10 states are cutting or proposing to cut K-12 education; three of them are proposing cuts that would affect access to child care.
At least 11 states have proposed or implemented reductions their state workforce. Workforce reductions often result in reduced access to services residents need.
And when states are forced to do things like cut their state workforce, the economy suffers even more. According to CNN/Money:
With falling revenue from sales and income taxes, and property-tax declines looming, states, cities and towns have already laid off tens of thousands of government employees. Many expect more job cuts ahead as public officials struggle to balance their budgets.
Economists say that cutbacks in jobs and spending by local governments could be a major drag on the overall economy.
It's cool that Obey recognizes the need for a second stimulus package. But he also needs to understand that each day he lets pass without doing something means the economic hole we're in is that much deeper and is going to require that much more federal spending to help us get out of.
Okay folks, no Google, and please self-DQ if you've read the David Sirota blog today. Who gave this quote about uber-GOP business elitist Grover "Drown the government in the bathtub" Norquist:
"Grover's never been in government, doesn't have to balance a state budget, never had a state constitution forcing him to deal with a balanced budget. Grover's never been in a situation where he couldn't borrow money so he didn't have to raise taxes or tell old people he's just going to take them out of the nursing home and drop them on the curb. If Grover wants to run for governor, there's an election next year in _________. He can get his residency requirements lined up. And there are 36 other states he can run in next year."
We all know what an uphill battle reforming abusive credit card practices has been. As a twenty-five year veteran of that fight, I know it as well as anyone. But this morning, the Senate took a big step up that mountain.
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