Americans have more anxiety about the economy than about any other major national issue Gallup tracks, with 71% saying they worry a great deal about it. “Federal spending and the budget deficit” spark nearly as much concern, at 64%. The environment and race relations rank lowest of 14 issues tested.
Read more at GALLUP.com.
One year after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, Americans are divided on its passage, with 46% saying it was a good thing and 44% saying it was a bad thing. Most Americans are skeptical that the law will improve medical care in the U.S. or their own personal medical care.
Read more at www.GALLUP.com
Yesterday, the Senate nixed two budget-cutting proposals — the House GOP budget bill and the Senate Democratic alternative — and exposed “the fault lines within the Republican and Democratic parties over fiscal issues.” Three Tea Party Republicans “who want deeper cuts” joined all Democrats in a 44-56 vote against the GOP bill. But 11 Democrats joined all Republicans in a 42-58 vote the Democratic plan, with some arguing it cut too little and others arguing it cut too much. The government is currently funded until March 18, after which most federal services will cease if a new funding bill for the remaining six months isn’t passed. White House budget director Jacob Lew said the rejection of the two bills “made it abundantly clear that we are going to need to work together on a bipartisan basis.” But a look at the GOP’s idea of compromise reveals an aggressive need to balance the budget on the backs of the disadvantaged while simultaneously impairing economic recovery. At the Center for American Progress yesterday, Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) advocated an “all of the above” approach that “incorporate[s] mandatory cuts and revenue raisers into the mix” rather than “continuing the fixation on domestic discretionary cuts” in order to reign in the deficit responsibly. While recognizing there are tough decisions ahead to reach budgetary goals, Americans are signaling support for a progressive proposal that can responsibly avoid stymieing economic growth and hurting middle-class families at the same time.
THE SLASH AND BURN: Intent on fulfilling their pledge, House Republicans plowed through the federal budget to reach $57 billion in spending cuts in H.R. 1, their continuing resolution to fund the government through 2011. Bypassing pragmatic cuts to outdated programs and subsidies, the House GOP took their ax to vital public investments and our nation’s most vulnerable populations. It would leave 10,000 low-income military veterans and 10,000 long-term disabled people without housing assistance, nearly one million low-income students without academic support, numerous pregnant women and mothers without food and health care assistance, 11 million patients without health care received at Community Health Centers, and at least 5 million children without access to anti-poverty services when the number of children in poverty is at a record high. While leaving the Pentagon’s record-high budget request intact, Republicans still jeopardized national safety by cutting funding to food safety regulators, local law enforcement, and air transportation safety. And despite making job creation their top priority, the House GOP turned H.R. 1 into a job-killer out to kneecap economic competitiveness by drastically reducing investment in public infrastructure, cutting nearly 50 percent of federal job training funding and potentially driving the unemployment rate “up to 9.7-10 percent.” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and numerous economists have stated that the GOP bill could “cost about 700,000 jobs through 2012.” H.R. 1 ended up being so detrimental to “the drivers of long-term economic growth and job creation” that President Obama promised to veto the bill if passed. “This is a highly politicized slash-and-burn budget,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said after it failed. “This debate is about more than dollars and sense. It’s about real people with real lives.”
THE RESET: The Democratic budget proposal “coalesced around a spending bill that cuts government funding by $6 billion in 2011” — a far less damaging alternative. However, as The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein indicates, the Democratic baseline still fails to “accelerate our economy” because it focuses solely on deficit reduction without offering any spending on economic investments. In a speech at the Center for American Progress yesterday, Schumer called on Congress to “reset” its approach to deficit reduction. “We need to stop falling into the trap of measuring fiscal responsibility in terms of willingness to cut government, and instead focus on what matters — reining in the deficit,” he said and proceeded to offer a more responsible way to do so. First, Schumer revived his proposal from last year to institute a surtax on millionaires and billionaires — a proposal, he noted, that was “the most popular proposal” among Americans in a recent poll. He also advocated for closing the tax gap by going after tax dodging and income sheltering by big corporations, a gap that “has gotten as high as over $300 billion a year this past decade.” Pointing to mandatory spending as “the largest contributor to the deficit,” Schumer also suggested Congress reduce unnecessary subsidies handed out to industries that don’t need them every year. In an interview with ThinkProgress‘s Pat Garofalo, Schumer said oil and gas subsidies “stick[] out like a sore thumb” because “the entire rationale for it is gone.” With the price of oil at $100 a barrel, “the subsidy, in economic terms, doesn’t mean anything other than to make some people wealthy who are already wealthy,” he said. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) agreed, advocating similar millionaire surtaxes and elimination of tax breaks for oil companies to address the deficit. Schumer pushed back hard against cuts to Social Security. “Social Security doesn’t have any problems until 20 years from now,” he said, adding that the deficit needs to be reduced long before then.
THE MAIN STREET VIEW: While House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) might think “Americans don’t have a clue” about the problems facing our economy, the perspective from outside the beltway is pretty clear. Most Americans want to see a compromise on the federal budget to avoid a government shutdown, but 56 percent of Americans chose creating jobs over cutting spending as the more important government priority. Fifty-nine percent of Americans favored repealing the Bush tax cuts, and 49 percent thought defense spending should be a top priority for cuts, “even if it means eliminating programs that bring jobs to your state.” However, Americans “across all ages groups and ideologies said by large margins that it was ‘unacceptable’ to make significant cuts to entitlement programs in order to reduce the federal deficit.” What’s more, a sizable majority supported making wealthier Americans share more of the sacrifice — be it through reduced Social Security and Medicare payments or, the most popular option, a surtax on millionaires. Overall, Americans overwhelmingly rejected cuts to social programs. The progressive plan outlined by the Center For American Progress’s Michael Ettlinger, Michael Linden, and Reece Rushing “brings the budget into primary balance by 2015 and brings our deficits to sustainable levels” through pragmatic cuts in 2015, including “eliminating roughly $35 billion in corporate subsidies” and “targeting $60 billion in specific defense cuts for a 7 percent overall reduction.” Coupling responsible cuts at a more economically viable time while raising revenues — such as “applying a new 2 percent surtax to adjusted gross income above $1 million” — will help achieve important budget goals “while protecting middle-class families, continuing vital economic investments, and adequately funding other national priorities.” While tough choices must be made, “proposing to balance the budget only on tax increases or only on spending cuts” while the economy is still fragile “is both unrealistic and bad public policy.” Any feasible deficit reduction plan will balance both the budget and the sacrifice to avoid crippling the economy and hurting struggling middle-class families.
Republicans have launched an unprecedented budget assault on clean air and public health protections — and Senate Democrats have two weeks to stop it.
The House Republicans’ Continuing Resolution spending bill slashes this year’s remaining EPA budget by almost 60%, and contains numerous amendments that hamstring the Clean Air Act, block the EPA from limiting greenhouse gas emissions for any reason, eliminate funding for climate science and climate pollution monitoring, and make it easier for coal plants to dump certain toxic wastes into lakes and rivers. And the list of radical amendments to defund the EPA Just. Keeps. Going.1
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=7259&id=17506-2591629-Ehd1dhx&t=9
The passage of a temporary spending bill on Wednesday keeps the government funded through March 18th and gives the Senate more time to take a stand against Republican attempts to hold EPA and Clean Air Act funding hostage with threats of forcing a shutdown.
Sadly, the Obama administration is already caving on a number of Republican budget demands.2 So it’s essential that Senate Democrats oppose this budget attack, draw a line in the sand, and filibuster any bill that blocks funding for the EPA to enforce the Clean Air Act.
There are just enough votes to do it. Barely. Strong EPA supporters — especially strong Clean Air Act supporters — are in a minority in the Senate. But if all of our environmental champions stand strong, and we pressure a few of the more tentative supporters to join them, we can protect the Clean Air Act’s ability to limit carbon pollution, and stop the draconian cuts to EPA funding.
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=7259&id=17506-2591629-Ehd1dhx&t=10
Republicans claim these cuts are about reducing the deficit. If they actually believe that, then Republicans are telling us that they are incapable of achieving deficit reductions without endangering the lives of millions of Americans.
If its funding continues, the Clean Air Act will save 4.2 million lives, and prevent 43 million cases of Asthma from 1990 to 2020. These health benefits, and avoiding costs that would otherwise be passed onto citizens and the government, makes the Clean Air Act one of our most cost effective pieces of legislation, saving us 30 times more than it costs to implement.3
Americans know this. Numerous recent polls show that overwhelming majorities of the public support tighter Clean Air Act limits on carbon pollution, and explicitly oppose Republican attacks on the EPA.4
Of course, these cuts aren’t about our deficit, or the will of the people. At all. They are about handcuffing the EPA, and pushing the legislative agenda of big polluters like the Koch brothers, the Chamber of Commerce, and other oil, gas and coal giants who were able to spend unlimited funds to elect the most polluter-friendly congress in history, and are now spending millions on lobbying to preserve their ability to freely pollute our nation and avoid the massive public health costs they pass on to us. (“You’re welcome. Love, polluters.”)
The Continuing Resolution budget battle is just the first of these attacks on the Clean Air Act. There will be more. On Thursday, Rep. Fred Upton and Sen. Jim Inhofe introduced a bill to permanently block the Clean Air Act from regulating climate pollution. It is co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller has cosponsored legislation to delay the Clean Air Act’s climate limits for two years — that bill has six Democratic co-sponsors.
This battle may be won or lost in the Senate. And with few if any votes to spare, supportive Senators must make clear right now that they will oppose this attack on EPA funding, and filibuster all future attempts to gut the Clean Air Act.
http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=7259&id=17506-2591629-Ehd1dhx&t=11
Thank you for fighting the Republicans’ radical anti-environmental agenda.
Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
Earlier this month, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “sent shockwaves across the state” when he unveiled a budgetary bill that would strip most of the state’s public workers of collective bargaining rights, essentially devastating state government employees’ ability to negotiate for fair wages, benefits, and working conditions. At the time, many local news observers thought the bill would easily pass. After all, Republicans won commanding majorities in the legislature during the last election and stood united in support of the bill. Yet on the eve of the bill’s certain passage, all 14 state Senate Democrats fled the state, denying the Senate the quorum needed to proceed and freezing the anti-labor bill in its tracks. Tens of thousands of Wisconsinites then took to the streets in support of the “Wisconsin 14,” invigorating a nascent progressive movement. And all around the country, Americans inspired by Wisconsin’s example are taking action and battling attempts by conservative-led state governments to attack organized labor, slash education and environmental funding, and to make America a country where only the privileged and well-connected can prosper. While conservatives may believe that the last election gave them a wide mandate to decimate the social safety net and enact policies that will make us an even more unequal country, it appears that Americans disagree. By trying to enact their radical agenda, conservatives have stirred America’s Main Street into action. The progressive protests that are sweeping the country are defending the American Dream itself, the idea that anyone, no matter what their socioeconomic background, can succeed and prosper.
ASSAULT ON THE MIDDLE CLASS: While Walker’s assault on his state’s public employees’ labor rights is the most visible assault on the middle class, conservative governments across the country are waging similar campaigns. In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich (R) is backing legislation similar to Wisconsin’s in that would gut the organizing rights of public employees. Kasich has already killed his state’s federally-funded high-speed rail project, which will cost Ohio $400 million in infrastructure investment and thousands of jobs. While he justifies these moves by claiming he’s tackling his state’s deficit, he also is championing a slew of tax cuts that could actually double the state’s deficit. New Jersey’s Gov. Chris Christie (R), who previously vetoed progressive efforts to raise taxes on his state’s millionaires, is trying to ram through steep cuts to education funding and municipal assistance. In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal (R) has unveiled cuts to the state’s treasured subsidized college tuition program, HOPE, which would lead to hundreds of thousands of college students paying thousands of more dollars out-of-pocket in order to be able to get a higher education. Deal is also cutting overall education spending by seven percent, and he simultaneously plans to dramatically reduce the corporate income tax rate, further reducing the state’s revenue coffers. Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) has dismissed tax increases while simultaneously slashing funding for K-12 education, because, he argued, “That’s where the money is.” Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has unveiled a spending plan that includes “$1.2 billion in cuts to schools, universities, local governments and other areas while asking public employees for $180 million in concessions” while at the same time giving $1.8 billion in tax cuts to businesses.
WORKING AMERICA FIGHTS BACK: To the chagrin of right wingers like Walker, Americans have decided that they don’t want to live in a country where their labor rights are destroyed and their children grow up in the most unequal era since the 1920s. All over the country, ordinary Americans are fighting back, because they understand that if you want a strong middle class you need organized labor and important social services. Yesterday, Indiana House Democrats inspired by Wisconsin’s example fled the state to prevent the passage of a bill that would enact “right-to-work” policies that would cripple the right to organize in the state. After the departure of the House Democrats, hundreds of unionized workers and students marched into the state capitol and began a sit-in in solidarity with the state’s labor unions. Meanwhile, as many as 10,000 union workers and other Ohioans demonstrated both inside and outside the state house in Columbus, as former Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) joined the rally to show their support for the protests. So many people showed up that the Ohio Highway Patrol was ordered to lock the doors of the state capitol to stop more demonstrators from getting into the building. At least 2,000 demonstrators rallied in Olympia, WA, against state budget cuts and in solidarity with the Wisconsin protests. In Montana, hundreds of “conservationists, sportsmen, firefighters, teachers, correctional officers and others” gathered at the state capitol to defend the state’s environmental laws and protest budget cuts. Hundreds of teachers in Idaho marched against legislation that would layoff 700 teachers and leave schools severely understaffed. Emboldened, the South Central Federation of Labor, a Wisconsin union federation consisting of 97 unions and representing 45,000 workers, voted on Monday to endorse a general strike if the state’s anti-union law is passed by the legislature. Although the strike would be restricted by federal law thanks to the 1947 anti-labor Taft-Hartley Act, it represents a courageous act of civil disobedience and solidarity.
CONSERVATIVES BACKING DOWN: There is evidence that the massive groundswell of legislative disobedience and grassroots protests that have erupted all over the country have started to succeed in forcing conservative governments to back down. Despite the passage of Indiana’s right-to-work bill out of a House committee, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) “signaled [yesterday] afternoon that Republicans should drop the…bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures.” Conservative Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) refused to endorse Walker’s anti-union bill for his own state, saying, “My belief is as long as people know what they’re doing, collective bargaining is fine.” Right-wing Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) also said he has no plans to enact a Wisconsin-style law. Although in Michigan, Gov. Snyder does plan to take aim at public worker compensation, he so far has said he’s “not interested in making Michigan a right-to-work state, or going wholesale after the bargaining rights of unionized workers.” One reason these conservatives may be backing down is because they realize Main Street America is against their anti-middle class agenda. A USA Today/Gallup poll found that 61 percent of Americans oppose a Wisconsin-style anti-labor law and only 33 percent favor such a law.
DEFENDING THE AMERICAN DREAM: As CAP Senior Fellow Van Jones writes, this new Main Street progressive movement seeks to “renew and redeem the American Dream.” “It’s time to draw a line in the sand — nationally,” he writes. “Someone has to stand up for common sense and fairness.” A coalition of progressive groups and organizations is taking up this call to “Save the American Dream” by announcing rallies at every single statehouse in the country on Saturday at noon. The groups, led by Moveon.org, are calling for Americans to “[d]emand an end to the attacks on workers’ rights and public services across the country. Demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.” It is up to Americans to ensure that states do not balance their budgets by gutting important services and attacking public workers in order to deal with the effects of a recession caused by Wall Street‘s misdeeds — not those of policemen, firefighters, teachers, students, and other hard-working middle class Americans.
Be a Seed for Change 
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