Daily digest – A line in the sand

What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical debates.

Obama Debt Reduction Plan Calms Democrats’ Concerns On And Off Hill (HuffPo)
Back in 2008, it probably would have been tough to convince progressives that Barack Obama’s most inspiring act in his third year in office would be to leave Social Security cuts out of his deficit plan.

Warren Buffett Rule: Class Warfare or Tax Fairness? (ABC)
Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Joseph Stiglitz insists that tax loopholes for the rich are not part of some natural law of the universe. But what about the 11th Commandment, “honor thy hedge fund?”

Did Obama Just Kill Congress’ Budget-Cutting Super Committee? (MoJo)
Andy Kroll points out that if you combine Obama’s veto threat with the Republican Super Committee members’ pledge to never raise taxes, you get guaranteed failure.

The Devilish Detail of Obama’s Speech: Deep Medicare, Medicaid Cuts (The Nation)
John Nichols argues that even if the president could find cuts that wouldn’t affect patients, it’s a bad idea to be pushing for less Medicare instead of more Medicare.

Obama Deficit-Reduction Plan Would Allow Federal Debt Collectors To Contact People On Their Cellphones (HuffPo)
If that doesn’t work, it triggers another provision that allows your local postal workers to start drunk dialing you and asking why you don’t love them anymore.

Worry About a New Wave of Layoffs (NYT)
Catherine Rampell reports that as the economy teeters, workers who just got a foot back in the door fear they’ll be asked not to let that door hit them on the way out.

Young, Poor, and Desperate (Slate)
Eliot Spitzer notes that while policymakers are deeply concerned about preserving the safety net for seniors, they’re abandoning the next generation to fend for themselves. Sucks to your asthmar.

Fighting Poverty Now (The Nation)
Katrina vanden Heuvel lays out 10 common sense solutions that could make a difference right away, which is already two strikes against them.

UBS Scandal Is a Reminder About Why Dodd-Frank Came to Be (NYT)
Banks would have an easier time protesting new proprietary trading rules if they hadn’t just proved that trusting them to police themselves is like letting the Hamburglar run his own McDonald’s franchise.

The Geithner mystery solved (Salon)
Glenn Greenwald makes the case that after being advised by progressive economists on the campaign trail, Barack Obama didn’t wake up one morning and realize he’d accidentally staffed his entire administration with Wall Street cronies.

Side Jobs Bolster Some Lawmakers’ Paychecks (WSJ)
From appearing in Miley Cyrus movies to selling grapes, our representatives have all sorts of ways to make money when they’re not busy failing to do their real jobs.

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Posted by New Deal 2.0 on Sep 20 2011. Filed under New Deal 2.0, the reading room. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry