Daily digest – Obama books his own appointments

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

Financial Regulation: Back to the good ol’ days of 2008. (Washington Monthly)
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Mike Konczal argues that if Republicans take the White House, the last few years’ worth of incremental reforms are as good as gone, allowing us the chance to relive Wall Street’s greatest hits.

No More Mr. Nice Obama (TAP)
Harold Meyerson writes that by using recess appointments to install a CFPB director and three new NLRB members, President Obama is telling Republicans they don’t get to dismantle agencies and repeal laws they don’t like just by refusing to cooperate.

Who is Richard Cordray, and what is he going to do? (WaPo)
Suzy Khimm profiles the CFPB’s new leader, who took on leading financial firms and foreclosure mills as Ohio’s AG but has promised he won’t commit the unforgivable sin of being too aggressive in defending consumers from financial predators.

2012 As 1937 Redux? (Slate)
Republicans adopting FDR as their role model might seem like an improvement, but Michael Moran worries they’ll emulate one of the biggest mistakes of the president they love to hate by forcing through deep spending cuts that stall the recovery.

Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs (NYT)
The U.S. prides itself on being the place where anyone can get ahead by working hard, but recent studies show that we’re falling behind other countries in economic mobility as inequality deepens and the rich pull up the ladders behind them.

Obama to unveil austere Pentagon strategy (WaPo)
The president will travel to the Pentagon today to outline his plan to cut the defense budget by up to $1 trillion, which will include both reducing the size of our active military and ceasing to pay contractors lots of money for stuff we don’t want.

The Fed’s Advice on the Housing Crisis (NYT)
The Fed is apparently catching up on the latest news from 2006, as it sent Congress a white paper noting that there’s a major housing crisis they should do something about, perhaps with the help of the two huge mortgage firms they’re propping up.

How to Save the Global Economy: Whip Up Inflation. Now. (Foreign Policy)
Menzie Chinn and Jeffry Frieden argue that a little inflation is needed to help weak euro zone countries get their finances in order and stimulate growth in the U.S., even if the thought leaves some central bankers waking up in a cold sweat.

The Decline of the Public Good (Robert Reich)
Robert Reich argues that despite Mitt Romney’s claims that Democrats have turned America into an “entitlement” society, conservatives have already eviscerated most government programs that don’t serve the truly needy, like bank executives.

For A Working Class Champion Focused On Social Mobility, Rick Santorum Seems To Be Pretty Interested In Cutting Rich People’s Taxes (Slate)
Matthew Yglesias reviews the tax plan proposed by Romney’s rival du jour and notes that it’s pretty much in line with modern Republican orthodoxy, though it has the advantage of at least acknowledging that poor people exist.

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Posted by Nunzia Rider on Jan 5 2012. 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