The Choice: Pro-active or No Action?

Yesterday, we discussed the folly of the latest and greatest G-O-TEA demands for (even more) austerity. Today, it's President Obama's turn to make the case for a new path forward for economic growth. Just moments ago in Galesburg, Illinois, he discussed his vision for the future... As well as why there are so many challenges in the present.

We’ve seen a sizable group of Republican lawmakers suggest they wouldn’t vote to pay the very bills that Congress rang up – a fiasco that harmed a fragile recovery in 2011, and one we can’t afford to repeat.  Then, rather than reduce our deficits with a scalpel – by cutting programs we don’t need, fixing ones we do, and making government more efficient – this same group has insisted on leaving in place a meat cleaver called the sequester that has cost jobs, harmed growth, hurt our military, and gutted investments in American education and scientific and medical research that we need to make this country a magnet for good jobs.

Over the last six months, this gridlock has gotten worse.  A growing number of Republican Senators are trying to get things done, like an immigration bill that economists say will boost our economy by more than a trillion dollars.  But a faction of Republicans in the House won’t even give that bill a vote, and gutted a farm bill that America’s farmers and most vulnerable children depend on. 

If you ask some of these Republicans about their economic agenda, or how they’d strengthen the middle class, they’ll shift the topic to “out-of-control” government spending – despite the fact that we have cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since I took office.  Or they’ll talk about government assistance for the poor, despite the fact that they’ve already cut early education for vulnerable kids and insurance for people who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own.  Or they’ll bring up Obamacare, despite the fact that our businesses have created nearly twice as many jobs in this recovery as they had at the same point in the last recovery, when there was no Obamacare. 

With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball.  And I am here to say this needs to stop.  Short-term thinking and stale debates are not what this moment requires.  Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you – the people we represent.  And as Washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the stakes for our middle class could not be higher.  The countries that are passive in the face of a global economy will lose the competition for good jobs and high living standards.  That’s why America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity.  Rebuilding our manufacturing base.  Educating our workforce.  Upgrading our transportation and information networks.  That’s what we need to be talking about.  That’s what Washington needs to be focused on. 

Yet instead of this, we're hearing even more talk of even more manufactured crises and haute faux scandals. Congressional G-O-TEA "leaders" are more interested in playing petty politics than enacting good policy. And this isn't even a (federal) election year yet! At this point, they're just hoping to stink up all of Washington and hope some of that stench sticks to Democrats.

This is no way to govern. As we've discussed before, austerity is the antithesis of prosperity. Yet over and over and over again, Congressional Republicans manufacture another Beltway crisis in order to demand more austerity. And as a result, we the people suffer.

Something must change. That's what President Obama was demanding today. And at some point, that's what we the people must decide ourselves.

Can we afford any more austerity? Can we afford any more obstruction? Can we afford to waste time on more manufactured crises that could be used to build a better economy?

Think about it.

No Se Puede, Mittens.

So Republicans are again claiming they're "The REAL Party for Latinos!" Yes, believe it or not, they're now trying to pin the blame for the filibusters they led on comprehensive immigration reform and the DREAM Act on Democrats. Wow. Who are they trying to fool?

Mitt Romney is reaching for his Etch-A-Sketch because he's desperate to shake up and reset his campaign. His trouble with Latin@ and other minority voters is real, especially in key swing states that he would like to wrest away from Obama. PPP recently showed that Obama's support among Latino voters both here in Nevada and in Colorado is especially strong (so strong, in fact, that Obama now has healthy overall leads in both states), and now even PPP's newest Florida poll shows the same over there. Mittens now realizes he's in deep trouble, so he's grabbing that Etch-A-Sketch in a desperate move to reset his own campaign.

But seriously, can Willard make all of us forget what he was saying during G-O-TEA primary season? Remember that early this year, Willard's BFF Kris Kobach, the man behind such extreme, xenophobic "Papers, Please" state statutes like Arizona's infamous SB 1070 and its "copycats" in Alabama & Georgia, praised Mittens' commitment to anti-immigrant extremism. In fact, he exclaimed that "Romney stands far to the right" of the other G-O-TEA contenders on immigration.



No really, Kris Kobach is on record praising Romney's anti-immigrant policies... And Romney is on record embracing Kobach and his hate-fueled extremism!



Yet now, Romney and his RNC buddies want us to believe that he's better for Latin@ American families than Obama? Are they for real? Another infamous figure behind Arizona's SB 1070, recalled State Senator Russell Pearce, boasted that his and Romney's immigration policies are "identical".

And in case Romney's extreme anti-immigrant views aren't bad enough, there's even more for Latin@ voters not to like. His economic policies also aim to slap hard-working Latin@ families en la cara. Let's not forget this.

First of all, he supports Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plans that would cut Medicaid spending by $700 billion over 10 years, reduce food stamps by $127 billion, and cut in half the funding of Pell Grants. Gov. Romney’s own budget plans seek to impose a cap on overall annual federal spending at 20 percent of the nation’s GDP, which would necessarily slash vital programs for the poor and middle class such as Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and Pell Grants. He also signed the Cut, Cap and Balance pledge promoted by a number of conservative and Tea Party groups.

His proposal to fund Medicaid through block grants to the states would result in deep cuts to a program that is at the crux of Latinos’ access to health care. In fact, according to the National Council of La Raza, in 2009, Medicaid and its sister program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, covered more than one in four Latinos and nearly half (49.8 percent) of all Hispanics under age 18—representing 8.5 million children.

Social Security and Medicare are also of particular importance to Hispanics: Over three-fourths of senior citizens rely on Social Security for their income, and overall, Medicare serves approximately 3.5 million Hispanics. Gov. Romney’s plan to raise the retirement age for eligibility for Social Security would have a negative impact on Latinos because it would amount to an additional 13 percent across-the-board benefit cut. This would be especially unfair to low-income workers who are more likely to have significant health problems, and work in physically demanding jobs. It would also affect the elderly, who have a much harder time finding new work after being laid off.

Gov. Romney has also indicated that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would insure 9 million Hispanics that currently lack health insurance, a position supported by only 29 percent of Latinos.

Finally, while Hispanics routinely cite education as a key issue and strongly support our public schools and access to college, Gov. Romney’s pledge to cut the budget would require cutting funds for Pell Grants—a program that benefits 12.1 percent of Latino undergraduate students.

Even now that G-O-TEA primary season is over, Willard is still pandering to the "tea party" by promising to end the "war on the rich" by showering the 1% with even more "Billionaire Bailout" tax cuts while he slashes the American social safety net to death. Does R.Money really think Latin@ voters love the idea of writing even more economic injustice into our tax code and budget? Es Mittens loco en la cabeza?

Ay, yay yay. And "Los Republicanos" wonder why Latin@ voters keep running away from them in droves?

What Do They Have Left? "Culture Wars"?

According to Gallup's latest poll on economic confidence, Americans are increasingly confident in the American economy and our ability to recover from "The Great Recession". And not only are Americans saying this to pollsters, but they're also showing it by buying more products. And that, in turn, allows companies to hire again, which should lead to more good economic news in the near future.

Despite so much pessimism over the economy last year, it looks like America really is making a comeback. And it's happening under President Obama's watch. That's what really scares Congressional Republicans now. As we talked about earlier this month, the G-O-TEA was basing its entire campaign strategy on blaming the horrible state of the economy on Obama. So now that the economy isn't all that horrible any more, what do they have left to campaign on?

Queue Ricky Santorum bashing LGBTQ families and trash talking Washington state's new marriage equality law.



And not to be outdone in the homophobia department, Willard Romney boasted at CPAC last weekend about preventing Massachusetts from becoming "The Las Vegas of Gay Marriage" while he was Governor.



(Jeez, if only we could finally join in on the marriage equality fun!)

Oh, yes. That's right. The "CUL'CHUR WARZZZ!!!!!" are back.

Think about it. House Republicans are apparently caving on the year-long payroll tax cut extension. And already, House Democrats are upping the ante and demanding they end the hostage game on unemployment benefits and Medicare doctor compensation as well. Now that the economy is improving and Republicans don't want to be blamed for causing a relapse into recession, they may now be at least partially retreating from obstruction fights like the one over the payroll tax cut.

So what do they have left to campaign on? Stop that "evil" birth control!

Schisms are emerging within the Republican Party after President Obama’s announcement last Friday that he would tweak his contraception mandate to ensure that religious nonprofits aren’t forced to pay for an employee’s birth control coverage. And as GOP leaders push to repeal the requirement entirely, the White House is welcoming that battle.

The shift is looking like an act of political jujitsu as Obama has not only unified his base but splintered the GOP coalition, which initially appeared united against the President’s rule. Obama won over the Democrats and moderate Catholics who criticized him, while maintaining the support of those who backed the original rule. As an added bonus, he has turned some Republicans who initially opposed his policy against their own leaders.

Splitting from their party leaders are Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of whom criticized the earlier regulation but praised the shift in carefully-worded statements. Neither would say whether they supported an amendment by their Senate colleague Roy Blunt (MO), which would fully reverse the requirement. [...]

“It appears that changes have been made that provide women’s health services without compelling Catholic organizations in particular to violate the beliefs and tenets of their faith,” Snowe told the Portland Herald Tribune. “According to the Catholic Health Association, the administration ‘responded to the issues [they] identified that needed to be fixed,’ which is what I urged the president to do in addressing this situation.”

But wait, according to Nevada's own "Trust me, I'm a doctor!" Joe Heck, his and most of the rest of hiw fellow G-O-TEA culture warriors' opposition to insurance coverage of birth control has "nothing to do with women's health issues". So even Republican US Senators think the G-O-TEA is going too far on its war on women?

This is the Republicans' new dilemma. As Willard Romney is having to find out the hard way, one can't really acknowledge an improving economy while still saying the President has a bad economic record. So Republicans look to be pivoting back to "culture war" issues like marriage equality and women's health care. However as Americans seem to be having less of a problem with gay couples marrying and women getting insurance coverage for birth control, those issues just don't have the same kind of potency that George W. Bush found with them a decade ago...

Except when it comes to the G-O-TEA base. And that's what's really scaring the Republican extablishment.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

While Mittens' general election poll numbers are falling, Santorum's primary poll numbers are rising. And that may largely be due to the "tea party" base seeing Santorum more as "one of them" than Romney. "The Culture Wars" are back, but the "tea" infused Republican base is leading its party to defeat on them.

Does It Matter Who Wins Tomorrow?

As we're only about 24 hours away from all the fun and games of the Nevada G-O-TEA Caucus, the various campaigns are trying all sorts of last-minute attempts to capture momentum and win over any undecided caucus-goers left. Mitt Romney's supporters Someone is floating rumors that Nevada's own Brian Sandoval may end up on Mittens' VP short list. Meanwhile in libertarian fringe-ville, Ron Paul continues to insist that Romney doesn't have the LDS vote locked up. And Newton? Since his faux-populist campaign seems to be going nowhere fast here in The Silver State, he's just giving up.

But even considering all of this, is there something that can influence the upcoming election even more? Yes, but it's probably not what you think. Regardless of what happens at tomorrow's caucus sites, Republicans will have to face this reality. And this.

Think about it. The whole G-O-TEA plan to win the general election this fall has been based on blaming President Obama for a horrible economy. But as their "leaders" in Congress prove they care nothing about improving the economy while President Obama now has a growing body of evidence to prove his economic policies are working. I guess this can explain why Mitt Romney is having a complete nervous breakdown over the new unemployment numbers.

Maybe this also explains his newfound love of Donald Trump?



And this may explain why Nevadans have yet to get excited about the whole G-O-TEA clown car catastrophe.

2012: The #Occupy Election?

Last fall, attention quickly turned to the Occupy Wall Street protest/encampment that (at least temporarily) radically reshaped civic life in Lower Manhattan... And then the thousands of supportive Occupy protests that arose all over the country. Soon, we were talking about "The American Autumn". And then, all of a sudden, by November they seemed to lose steam and close up shop (either due to inclement wintry weather or by police force). At the end of last year, I was wondering how #Occupy would reemerge in 2012.

Now, we have our answer.

Inequality. Fairness. Cracking down on CEOs. These could be hand-painted slogans on Occupy movement signs.

Or they could be the takeaways from President Obama’s latest State of the Union address and his subsequent tour across several swing states. In yet another sign that the Occupy movement’s call for a focus on the income gap has solidified Democratic messaging, the President’s first big political moment of 2012 has a decidedly Occupy Wall Street tinge. [...]

“I think you can empirically say that [Occupy] has brought the issue of income inequality and basic fairness into focus in a way nothing else had for a long time,” the strategist said. “But as for the President, he has been saying the same things about fairness and rules of the road that everyone has to follow, for a long time.”

Think about it. Especially since last fall, President Obama has been talking more about economic inequality. And this subject has become front and center on voters' minds. And progressives finally seems to have a common theme to rally around.

Oh yes, and it also helps that as Democrats have (re)discovered the message of the 99%, the G-O-TEA has embraced the "mystique" of the top 1%.

Furthermore, there’s an increasing focal point for these messages: Mitt Romney. True, the polls done on Newt Gingrich’s negatives are such that most Dems go to bed at night dreaming of running against the former House Speaker. However, in their heart of hearts most believe it’s just not going to happen, and that Romney will emerge as the nominee. Even a few months ago that thought caused some to tremble: after all, at that point Romney’s path to the nomination apparently ran through taking down Rick Perry and his tea partying talk on Social Security, then presenting himself to the public as the moderate who’d taken on the extremists within his party and won. As it panned out, Romney’s had to run increasingly to the right, and the fact that he tallies so perfectly with OWS’s messages about economic unfairness is the icing on the cake. Don’t expect to see Democratic bigwigs donning Guy Fawkes masks, but do expect to hear their rhetoric draw nearer to that of the protestors.

Remember this?



And remember: Mitt Romney said that while he was here in Nevada to pander to TEA-nut extremists.

And especially as 2012 has begun, Mittens keeps reminding us why he's "Mr. 1%". Even his fellow G-O-TEA contenders are using matters of economic justice to attack Mittens!



Perhaps Occupiers weren't able to convince the Reno City Council to pass their resolution rebuking Citizens United, but they may end up influencing something far bigger: this year's Presidential Election. Again, matters of economic justice are now at the forefront of national discussion. And especially here in Nevada, we need answers on these questions. And at least thanks in part to The 99% Movement pushing to redirect focus onto economic inequality and economic justice, we may finally get them.

Obama's Back in Vegas

So the President is here. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) greeted him at McCarran Airport last night. And despite her husband not always giving President Obama a warm welcome, she obviously displayed far better manners than Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R-WTF??!!).

Goodman briefly discussed housing with Obama last night after HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan came to town to discuss new relief efforts for distressed homeowners that the President announced in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday. Apparently, more details will be coming soon... And local officials can hardly wait for that.

Later today, President Obama will be pivoting to matters of energy security and efficiency when he visits UPS' Las Vegas hub near McCarran this afternoon.

The president’s energy plan, which he introduced in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, has three core components: the safe and responsible development of oil and gas, the creation of clean-energy jobs in the U.S., and increasing energy efficiency, with a special focus on the industrial sector.

That begins at the UPS facility in Las Vegas. The company, in cooperation with local governments and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, won a $5.6 million cost-share investment through the stimulus bill to purchase a fleet of trucks that could run on liquefied natural gas (LNG is a cleaner-burning fuel than regular gas or diesel) and construct a publicly accessible LNG refueling station — the first of its kind in the country.

The natural gas-fueled corridor allows UPS to move merchandise through more energy-efficient engines from Long Beach, Calif., to Salt Lake City, according to senior White House advisers.

It’s a model the president wants to replicate in other areas of the country as well, primarily by upping the incentives to get the country’s transport vehicles off gasoline.

Natural gas has become a focus of this administration, as well as lawmakers and energy advocates of all political stripes, not only because it burns about 30 percent cleaner than petroleum products, but also because it’s far more plentiful than oil in the United States. And, it’s cheaper.

The president aims to begin raising consumption of natural gas by encouraging companies to invest in trucks that run on natural gas with a tax credit, equivalent to about 50 percent of the cost difference between trucks that have engines that run on natural gas versus the standard diesel engine. Implementing such tax credits, senior White House advisers admitted, would require an act of Congress.

As we discussed on Tuesday, natural gas offers opportunities for cheaper, cleaner, and more domestically sourced fuel. Again, natural gas isn't without its own set of problems. But considering its availability and it not being as dirty as traditional oil or coal, it can be useful as a "transition tool" while we're still finding more ways to use renewables.

And of course, there's the possibility of more job creation out of this. And along with housing, jobs is the other big issue Nevadans want to hear about. We'll have to see how Obama threads it all together in his speech this afternoon.

Thanks, G-O-TEA, for Bursting Mittens' Bubble

Rick Santorum must be giddy right now. Instead of suffering an intense media focus on his role in John Ensign's career ending scandal, Mitt Romney just tossed him a reprieve... And a ready-made issue that may yet end Romney's political career. As we've been talking about endlessly here, Romney has a BIG Bain (as in, Bain Capital) problem.

And now, all of a sudden, Newt Gingrich is jumping on it...

“You have to ask the question, is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of people and then walk off with the money?”

Who said it — Elizabeth Warren? Dennis Kucinich? Noam Chomsky?

Not quite, that was Newt Gingrich talking to reporters at an energy company in Manchester on Monday about his new effort to paint Mitt Romney as a greedy one-percenter who finds “clever legal ways” to go about “looting a company” while screwing over its workers. [...]

The former Speaker is making the case that, in contrast to good old fashioned businesses who make stuff, Romney and his ilk have instead gamed the system to create a soulless machine that profits from the misery of others. Whereas Republicans used to merely whisper that Bain was an electability problem for Romney, Gingrich and other candidates are now openly making the case that the invisible hand has failed to stop corporate raiders from hurting American workers — even as they condemn President Obama as a radical socialist for his rhetoric on Wall Street.

“I am totally for capitalism, I am for free markets,” Gingrich assured reporters on Monday. “Nobody objects to Bill Gates being extraordinarily rich, they provide a service.” What he instead is concerned about is when an investor receives “six-to-one returns, and the company goes bankrupt.”

OUCH! And to add insult to injury...

When you go to South Carolina, that was one of those cities that had a business -- it was a photo album and a framing business. And those people are out of work today after Bain Capital basically gut the company. Took $20 million of profit out of it and people lost their jobs. There is a steel manufacturer here in South Carolina. Mitt Romney will have a hard time coming into South Carolina and have the people here think he's anything but a rich Wall Streeter that took advantage of their businesses. People lost their jobs, they lost their pensions, they lost a lot.

The bottom line for Bain was making money. It wasn't about helping the people of South Carolina or trying to keep these people employed. The idea that Mitt stood up and said he's worried about pink slips. This is probably one of the richest people ever to run for president of the United States. Son of a multi-millionaire. An individual -- Mitt Romney has never worried about pink slip. He might have worried about not having enough of them to hand out. But he's not worried about losing his job.

Whoops. I guess Mittens really does have a growing problem on his hands.

And you know what's really funny here? In their zeal for attacking Mittens and destroying his Presidential aspirations, they're actually doing a good job in articulating why their own G-O-TEA policies have failed America. No really, think about it.

Who's been making noise about "vulture capitalists" like Mitt Romney for the last 30 years? And who's been trying to get Americans to realize the consequences of deregulation and "supply side" mayhem? And who's been offering alternative economic policies that really work in creating jobs and providing more stability?

And now, it's none other than the Republican clown car circus of candidates themselves that are reminding Americans of why President Obama deserves reelection. Thank you, G-O-TEA. And I actually mean it. ;-)

If "It's the Economy, Stupid", Then Who's Really Stupid?

We often hear this usual refrain from the usual media pundits: "This election will be all about the economy." And of course, there have already been countless references to that famous Clinton '92 campaign line I used in the title above. Now we've also heard many of the same pundits talk about how a prolonged focus on economic issues may somehow hurt President Obama's reelection campaign. So I hope they take a closer look at this... And take a really close look at this.

The numbers are out for job creation and it looks pretty good. The unemployment rate went down to 8.5% from [8.6%] and 200,000 jobs were created.

Here is the hidden gem. While looking into the different sectors, I found that the healthcare sector added 23K jobs in December and a total of 315K jobs in 2011. But if we listened to the right wing meme, the Obamacare law should have caused layoffs. Especially considering Obamacare DIRECTLY regulates the health insurance and healthcare industries.

The healthcare industry has seen their profits increase dramatically in 2011 according to [B]loomberg, “..profit margins at the companies widened to levels not seen since before the recession, a Bloomberg Government study shows.” So much for the talking point, that this law is bad for business.

So for all the G-O-TEA talking points about "ObamaCare kills the economy!!!", the health care industry actually ADDED jobs in 2011. There goes another false radical right meme down the drain! Also, take a look at this (with much thanks to Steve Benen for the beautiful charts!).

Overall, the U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs in December, but as has been the case for a long while, it’s the private sector that continues to fare better. Last month, businesses added 212,000 jobs, making it one of the best months since the recession began.
For the 2011 calendar year, BLS data shows the U.S. private sector has now added 1.89 million jobs in 2011, well ahead of last year’s private-sector total of 1.2 million, and the best year for businesses since 2005. Since March 2010, American businesses have created 3.13 million jobs. (In 2008, the private sector lost 3.8 million jobs, and in 2009, the private sector lost 5 million jobs.)
And with that, here’s a different homemade chart, showing monthly job losses/gains in the private sector since the start of the Great Recession. The image makes a distinction — red columns point to monthly job totals under the Bush administration, while blue columns point to job totals under the Obama administration.

Just for fun, let’s add one more homemade chart, showing annual job losses/gains in the private sector over the last two decades. Red columns point to years under Republican administrations, blue columns point to job totals under Democratic administrations. (Note: 2011 was the best year for private-sector job growth since 2005, and the second best since 1999.)

Upon looking at the real facts and figures, it looks to be crystal clear that the President really does seem to know what he's doing on the economy. When we put money directly in the hands of working class families, consumer demand rises, jobs are created, and the economy grows. That's why it's so crucial to keep in place the payroll tax cut and continue the progress that President Obama kick-started in 2009.

I have been hearing on TV that the [current good] economic news is good for President Obama. And it is. But it misses the point. The news is good for the American people, for American businesses, for American jobs, for the American consumer. And President Obama is not simply the beneficiary of this good economic trend. He is the architect of it. He held the economy from falling off the cliff with the American Recovery Act, he relentlessly pursued and extended unemployment benefits and preserved the jobs of teachers and firefighters; he fought hard for the middle class and got the payroll tax cut and other targeted measures to inject consumer demand; he brought a 35% tax relief to small businesses for providing health care; he gave the fragile economy some breathing room even as the Republicans were trying to choke it off.

If anyone has any doubts about why the Republicans wanted to eliminate the payroll tax cut for middle class and working class Americans, there is your answer. They do not want positive economic news in an election year. After all, Barack Obama has already taken away national security (see: Osama bin Laden dead), fiscal responsibility (see GOP logic: tax cuts do not need to be paid for except the payroll tax cut), and damn nearly every other issue. Their only hope was to demagogue the economy, and the President's efforts seem to be paying off there too. Darn.

And if these trends continue - if jobs keep being created at a good pace, consumer confidence keeps heading north, new unemployment claims continue heading south, and so forth, there isn't much that will stand in the way of President Obama and a second term.

And that's what scares Republicans the most. As we talked about yesterday, they're freaking out over Mitt Romney's real job destruction record getting more attention. And now that reporters are finally paying more attention to Romney's real record of slashing jobs at Bain Capital, he and the entire G-O-TEA are in trouble.

Remember this MoveOn video from yesterday?



Believe it or not, it gets worse. Not only did Romney's Bain Capital slash 750 jobs at Missouri steel company, GS Technologies, and not only did Romney and Bain slash pension and health care benefits for GST workers, but Bain also had the gall to demand a $44 million federal government bailout of GST because Romney's Bain Capital underfunded GST's pension fund! And Mitt Romney wants to call himself a "job creator"? Seriously?

No wonder why even some Republicans can't hide the reality about Mitt Romney being so hopelessly out of touch with the 99%...



And why other Republicans have to go to such extreme measures to turn attention away from Romney's terrible jobs record.



Congrats, Rick Santorum! You're still crazy!

And Mitt Romney is still a job destroyer. And Barack Obama is still the candidate with the best record on real job creation and good economic stewardship. No wonder why Obama's poll numbers aren't looking so bad now.

Is It Over Just Yet?

Mitt Romney may be trying hard to crown himself as "the chosen one", but it may really not be over just yet. Rick Santorum is now hiring Nevada staff, and he's making noise about staying in the race for more primary and caucus contests to come. I guess that's why he's turning up the TEA-nuttery in New Hampshire and repeating the odious radical right lie about how much the working poor pay in taxes (and staying mum on how little big multinational corporations pay).



But wait, isn't Mitt "the establishment pick" with all the money and all the resources to lock this up and do so quickly? Perhaps so, but the G-O-TEA base won't let him.

Romney, who is expected to win in New Hampshire, still remains the leading candidate — but not a candidate with groundswell support from Republicans, said Eric Herzik, the chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“I’m not the only person saying this, but he (Romney) started the race (in Iowa) with 25 percent of the vote, and he ended the race with 25 percent of the vote,” said Herzik, a registered Republican. “That says Republicans have not warmed up to Mitt. And that is why Santorum is the next and probably last of the great evangelical conservative challengers.”

The fractured vote in Iowa showed that the Republican Party has issues, Herzik said.

“This is a party that is split among social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and those with antigovernment feelings, so the message of the Republican Party is not clear coming out of Iowa,” he said.

Unfortunately for Romney, Herzik is right. The G-O-TEA base is just not that into Mittens. No matter how hard his campaign tries to spin it into something else, that's what the Iowa results revealed.

How else could a candidate like former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who nearly beat the alleged frontrunner Romney in Iowa, actually compete after being in the single digits at the beginning of December? Voters have to really know they don’t want the conventional pick if they’ll go with someone who they really just heard about in the last few weeks of campaigning, even if Santorum did commit to retail politicking in the state.

The main idea seems to be that the GOP fractioning seen over the life of the Obama administration, from the real beginnings of the Tea Party movement, is really showing. If the same percentage of Republicans would be enthusiastic about Paul as they would be about Romney, then the field has reached a sort of ideological parity within the party — the proponents of the conventional choice no longer outnumber the rabble rousers. Of course, the idea would be to find a candidate that can unite the two, but as 2012 has shown, that candidate isn’t in the running.

And already, the same looks to be emerging in New Hampshire as well.

The "enthusiasm gap" has returned... But this time, it's the Republican Party that's suffering from it. They're still wrestling over what to do about Mitt. They know he's the "favorite son" of the Wall Street elite, but they also know he's hiding some deep, dark secrets in his tax returns that could come back to bite all of them later this fall. Oh, and there's that little "vulture capitalist" firm by the name of Bain Capital.

Bain Capital has been responsible for thousands of layoffs at companies it bankrupted, such as American Pad & Paper, Dade International, and LIVE Entertainment, which Romney’s stat completely leaves out. He’s also taking credit for jobs created long after he left the firm to launch his political career. To sum it up, the stat Romney uses [to claim he's a "job creator"] is incredibly dishonest, like much of his jobs rhetoric.

One of Romney’s Bain business partners has said that he “never thought of what I do for a living as job creation.” “The primary goal of private equity is to create wealth for your investors,” he added. And Bain has certainly done that, maximizing earnings “by firing workers, seeking government subsidies, and flipping companies quickly for large profits.” Due to a lucrative retirement deal, Romney is still making millions from Bain, as he goes across the country calling himself “middle class” and joking about being “unemployed.”

Despite Rick Santorum's constant attacks on the 99%, he's now seen by conservatives as "the blue collar guy" who's more relatable to "Middle America" than that white-collar, coastal, Bain Capital elitist. And that's telling. I guess some of these Republicans are starting to publicly admit they will have a major image problem if Romney emerges as their nominee. In an election when not just the nebulous, overarching theme of "the economy", but also the specific worries about income inequality and the slow decay of America's middle class, will be front and center, it just won't look right for the Republican nominee to be boasting of how much money he made while laying off American workers and shipping their jobs overseas.

One big mistake I've noticed in most "mainstream media" coverage of the Republican primary is the dismissal of Rick Santorum as a "One Issue Wonder" who's only claim to fame/infamy is his extreme religious right zeal. Now yes, that really is a big part of who he is as a politician. However, don't "misunderestimate" Santorum's ability to cut through the cultural divide on the right and appeal to those G-O-TEA "culture warriors" looking not just for someone who hates women and gays and people of color, but also someone who seems "populist" and in touch with them (even if Santorum's actual economic policies are just as pro-Wall Street-elite as Romney's). And no matter what ultimately happens to Santorum in the coming weeks, Romney's "99% problem" isn't going away any time soon.

The End of #Occupy? Or a Restart of New Economic Justice Movement?

This morning, the #OccupyOakland encampment is being shut down.

Oakland police have arrested about 25 protesters at the sprawling Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall while hundreds of law-enforcement officers square off against demonstrators downtown in the second such raid of the tent city.

Law-enforcement officers from numerous Bay Area agencies began arriving in force at 5 a.m. as a police helicopter flew overhead. Clad in armor and riot helmets, they stood in lines and surrounded the camp near the corner of 14th Street and Broadway adjacent to Frank Ogawa Plaza, where dozens of demonstrators have been camping to protest economic inequity and corporate greed.

And over the weekend, Occupiers were forcibly removed from encampments in Portland, OR, Salt Lake City, Denver, and elsewhere. There's still a whole lot of drama surrounding #Occupy, but it looks like its moment in the national spotlight is winding down as reports of violence (by anarchists camping there, as well as by police), homicide investigations at Occupy encampments, internal organizational strife, and just plain winter weather are taking their toll on the movement. So is "The 99% Movement" over?

Not quite. Look at what they have accomplished in less than two months. And look at how the national conversation on the economy is changing.





And look at how far the previously unchallenged dogma of inequality and austerity has fallen. Even in Politico's newest poll, there was strong support for progressive tax reform and strong opposition to gutting the social safety net! Obviously, progress is being made.

However, I am concerned about The 99% Movement going forward. Is apathy laced diaspora the best approach to this next election? An election that can take this country in a radically different direction? An election that will again prominently feature the Supreme Court? An election that may feature this guy or this guy, both of whom holding nothing but contempt for the 99%, as the Republicans' Presidential Nominee? An election that will either get Congress working for the 99%, or result in a Congress that's even more hostile to the 99%? When much is at stake here, I don't see the use in progressives sitting out this election to engage in street theater... While "Tea Party, Inc.", is set to spend however much it takes to take full control of the government.

If one wants to change the system, one can't just sit back as a bystander. One must work to create that change. And while protests are fine and dandy and a great way to express one's right to free speech, protests alone will not solve our problems. We have to remember to vote, too.

I know there's been plenty of disappointment to go around on the left side of the aisle... But come on, we can't ignore the facts. Who delivered for us the first big leap to universal health care, more opportunities for returning military veterans, financial reform, student aid, and more? And who doesn't care about smart foreign policy, ending the foreclosure crisis for good, or doing what's really needed to restore our economy?

Oh yes, and there's more at stake than just The White House. Again, if we want change, we can't keep filling Congress with the same extreme "tea party" ideologues. And we can't keep letting these extremists wreck our state houses. And we can't keep letting these extremists push more initiatives to hurt the working class and roll back our civil rights.

Long story short, we need to occupy the voting booths... And we need to be relentless in urging others to join us! That's the only way this 99% Movement can ultimately succeed. And yes, I want to see it succeed. I just don't see how endless conflicts with local governments over actual space to occupy will help the movement. Registering more voters, on the other hand, most definitely will.

Why the Media Don't Get Obama's Campaign

To be fair, how can one really explain this?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

How can we explain this (the new NBC/WSJ poll showing President Obama leading both Mitt Romney and Herman Cain by healthy margins)?

Let me try. First off, President Obama really has a solid campaign... And all the early investment is already starting to show results. As we've talked about here before, folks in "Middle America" may not be excited about Obama, but they're also not stupid enough to believe he alone is the cause of all our problems. Contrary to what Nate Silver suggested last weekend, most Americans may really be smart enough to know this election is more about "Obama vs. Not Obama".

Again, OFA is making a real, early investment in building a strong campaign. While pundits in The Beltway obsess over this and other polls, OFA volunteers are on the ground, knocking doors, making calls, and registering more voters. And while the Republicans keep beating each other up over salacious scandals and tea party ideological "purity", OFA volunteers are recruiting even more volunteers as new offices open, more Democratic voters are getting calls, and more neighbors are seeing friendly OFA volunteers at their doorsteps.

It also helps that The White House has finally been succeeding in honing in on a strong economic message. Obama has had to figure out how to get past the obstructionist Congress to deliver his message directly to the American people. He's had to deliver his own message while also allowing Americans to realize who his Republican opponents really are. And he's had to demonstrate to the country exactly how Congressional Republicans are out to sabotage economic recovery and threaten the well-being of the country.

This certainly hasn't been an easy task, especially considering the mostly negative coverage of Obama by the media. I know that whenever I turn on the TV and flip on one of the cable "news" channels, I see this in full force. But when I go out and talk to other people in my local community, the opinions I hear are far more complex and thought-out than the typical TV shouting match.

And maybe that really explains it all. While Obama's campaign is busily, though relatively quietly, building up its volunteer base and developing its road map to winning next year, it's not really creating the kind of incessant drama we're seeing on the GOP/"tea party" side of the aisle. So of course, "NEW!" and "SEXY!" and "CRAZY!" win out and get the media fawning... But they're not fooling the majority of Americans that are getting sick and tired of the craven political games being played by Beltway Republicans as real proposals to put Americans back to work are being blocked.

Yes, Americans are angry... But it's a mistake for media pundits to just assume that "Americans hate Obama!" because the economy isn't in ideal shape. And it's a mistake to completely ignore why we're where we are now. And it's a mistake to just assume that Koch Industries and Karl Rove funded TV ads matter more than the real people power we're seeing develop here in the real world. And it's a mistake to just assume that voters are too stupid to figure out who caused the mess we're in today.

This 2012 campaign certainly promises to be a wild roller coaster ride. It's just too bad that too many in the media prefer to toss real facts and figures overboard as they take us on another wild ride through hype and speculation.

What Will Obama's New Mortgage Program Do for Nevada?

He came back... And so did the Presidential Campaign.



But that's not all. He actually offered something new to the housing policy table yesterday.

While the White House tried to avoid predicting how many homeowners would benefit from the revamped refinancing program, the Federal Housing Finance Administration estimated an additional 1 million people would qualify. Moody's Analytics say the figure could be as high as 1.6 million.

Under Obama's proposal, homeowners who are still current on their mortgages would be able to refinance no matter how much their home value has dropped below what they still owe.

"Now, over the past two years, we've already taken some steps to help folks refinance their mortgages," Obama said, listing a series of measures. "But we can do more."

At the same time, Obama acknowledged that his latest proposal will not do all that's not needed to get the housing market back on its feet. "Given the magnitude of the housing bubble, and the huge inventory of unsold homes in places like Nevada, it will take time to solve these challenges," he said.

Is it a panacea? Not quite, since this is an executive order and not Congressional legislation that can assume broader authority. But for being such a limited program, it can still be of significant use here in Nevada.

Under the new program, homeowners who are current on their payments, have government-backed mortgages and who are up to 25 percent underwater will qualify for refinancing to a lower interest rate.

Although the program doesn’t address principal balances, it would make monthly payments more affordable, giving homeowners more money to spend, stimulating the economy.

The new program would also increase the ability of major banks to compete for the refinancing business, eliminate the need for an appraisal in many cases and reduce refinancing fees — all good things for Nevada homeowners, said Nasser Daneshvary, director of the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at UNLV.

“This is huge,” Daneshvary said. “If this is implemented, people really can find solutions now.”

While some economists are wondering about the overall stimulative effect of this housing policy overhaul, but so far it looks like this will be of help to a number of underwater homeowners in need. And it's definitely a step forward in that refinancing options will finally be available to homeowners who are seriously underwater, as is the case here in Nevada. And it's definitely different from what the Republicans have (not) been offering.

Take a look for yourself at Mitt Romney's housing plan.



Hmmm, I wonder which plan benefits Nevada more... "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit bottom."? Or real, concrete policy plans to start chipping away at the foreclosure crisis?

GOP to Nevada: Drop Dead

This week began with Mitt Romney telling The R-J Editorial Board that he wants to see MORE home foreclosures. Here's what Romney said:

As for what to do for the housing industry specifically, and are there things that you can do to encourage housing? One is don’t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom, allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up. The Obama administration has slow-walked the foreclosure processes that have long existed and as a result we still have a foreclosure overhang.

And here's reality.

Romney’s callous disregard for families losing their homes through no fault of their own is bad enough. But it’s also not true that speeding foreclosures is good for the economy, as every foreclosure drags down the value of the homes around it. The Roosevelt Institute Mike Konczal has pointed to research showing that “foreclosures were responsible for 15% to 30% of the decline in residential investment from 2007 to 2009 and 20% to 40% of the decline in auto sales over the same period.”

And, of course, focusing only on those homeowners entering the foreclosure process legally ignores the vas amounts of fraud that banks perpetrated in order to speed foreclosures, such as robo-signing and fake notarization of documents. Romney already has the lobbyist for a notorious foreclosure mill fundraising for his campaign — perhaps he should take a moment, while he’s in Nevada, to talk to those who are on the other side of the equation.

Now guess who's piggybacking off Romney's callous disregard for formerly middle class homeowners getting roughed up by the big banks? Oh yes, that's right... New GOP frontrunner darling, Herman Cain!

Cain is championing the same group whose bad mortgage loans helped spur the financial implosion of 2008, has left over 1 million Americans with foreclosed homes, and may push an additional 5.9 million Americans to that outcome over the next few years. Banks and their lobbyists have openly “delayed, diluted, and obstructed attempts to address the problem.” Instead, banks unleashed “robo-signers,” officials who sign foreclosure forms without reading them, and managed to set a foreclosure record last year despite their self-imposed foreclosure moratoriums.

What’s more, by calling for an end to the Dodd-Frank regulations to protect foreclosure victims, Cain is jeopardizing key consumer protections for those looking to own a home. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency — which Republicans are hell-bent on obstructing — is designed to stop predatory lending by helping prevent mortgage brokers from putting borrowers into higher interest loans, regardless of their long-term ability to pay. The Dodd-Frank bill also stops banks from selling off an entire loan to avoid the risk of mortgage default, another problem that contributed to the financial meltdown. The law requires lenders to retain 5 percent of every loan — a policy banks are desperately trying to repeal.

They don't get it. They really don't get it! Nevada is still on top of the foreclosure heap, families are still losing their homes to foreclosure, and the Republican candidates have nothing to offer.



Perhaps this is why #OccupyLasVegas shouted out on Tuesday when CNN was tossing out the usual pre-debate spin. CNN was trying to keep the focus on the inane and insane inside The Venetian, but they couldn't entirely drown out the voices of the people outside. The 99% refused to be ignored.

"The Republicans want to take us low-income people, they want to take more taxes from us and give to the rich," Las Vegas resident Quenton Gavin said. "They're robbing us for what we don't have."

Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the nation and an ongoing foreclosure crisis. The GOP debate held there offered few solutions, focusing instead on attacking undocumented immigrants, repealing health care reform, slashing taxes and easing regulations.

"It's just the same broken record," Las Vegas resident Judy Ostapow said. "Deregulate, cut taxes for the wealthy, and this is going to stimulate jobs. Well it hasn't stimulated jobs in all these years that they've had these tax cuts and deregulating and it hasn't done anything. It's just made the problem worse."

Look at what the Occupy/99% movement is demanding, what the American people want, and what the Republicans have been talking about this week. The contrast couldn't be any clearer.

Again, there's a reason why these people have been taking to the streets. There's a reason why they've become so frustrated with the current political system. And there's a reason why they couldn't relate to the crap being tossed at the Sands Expo stage on Tuesday.

Right now, the media are focusing on the RNC tag-teaming with New Hampshire Republicans to try to force the Nevada GOP to give up its early caucus. And right now, it looks like the Nevada GOP may cave to a certain extent and push its caucus back to January 17, or perhaps all the way back to February 4. What's so hilarious about this fiasco is that it all started when Florida (again) broke GOP rules by moving its primary to January 31, which drove all the "officially approved early states" to leap-frog Florida. Yet so far, Nevada looks to be the state that will be punished the most for Florida's original sin. RNC Chair Reince Preibus is now promising Nevada Republicans he will do his part to "preserve Nevada's early status in future elections", but how can he be believed when the RNC couldn't stop Florida twice?

And really, this dating drama is just a small part of the bigger picture. More importantly, why won't any of the GOP candidates propose anything to halt the foreclosure crisis, put people back to work, and invest in our economy? Why are a few TEA-nuts more important to that party than the strong majority of the American people? Is it really all about the cold, hard cash?

Nevadans especially want answers on how to solve the foreclosure crisis, how to get people back to work, how to create and implement a 21st century energy plan, and how to move our country forward. But instead, all we hear from the GOP candidates, and their fanatical fans, is how to "take our country back" to The Gilded Age by repealing Wall Street oversight, repealing health care reform, and repealing the entire New Deal. There's a giant elephant in this room that GOP leaders and media pundits either can't see or won't see. No wonder why we keep seeing poll numbers like these.

Republicans to Nevada: "We're Just Not That Into You."

Could it possibly be any clearer?

For months, Nevada Republicans have giddily anticipated how today’s nationally televised presidential debate and subsequent Western leadership conference would draw the eyes of the nation to the state and establish its first-in-the-West caucuses as a key contest for GOP contenders.

Instead, most candidates spent the past week pledging to boycott Nevada’s Jan. 14 caucuses over a dispute the state is having with New Hampshire related to its primary date. [...]

But Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, who placed first and second in the Nevada caucuses four years ago, were the only candidates to hold public rallies by the eve of the debate (which will be aired at 5 p.m. on CNN).

“Most of the candidates, they’re going to use us as a great backdrop ... but you start looking at their plans, and there isn’t really much in there for Nevada,” UNLV politics professor David Damore said. “My fear is that we get sort of taken as a prop.”

Good point. What's really in there for Nevada? Look at Rick Perry's "energy plan" (which was completely copied from these Big Oil hacks), and one can see that all he offers is continued enslavement to the fossil fuel industry. Look at Mitt Romney's tax proposals, and notice that 73.9% of middle class families would see no benefit from his "middle class tax cuts" (which are really more capital gains tax cuts that benefit the super-rich). Meanwhile Herman Cain continues his xenophobic crazy talk, and Jon Huntsman won't even bother coming here because the Nevada GOP hurt the New Hampshire Secretary of State's feelings in moving its caucuses to January 14. And perhaps most puzzling of all, none of them have bothered to come up with any real jobs plan to get people back to work, or anything to help people save their homes from bank foreclosure?

Oh, and don't even get me started on Newt Gingrich...



Again, why do we even bother with these clowns? Isn't it obvious that these Republican candidates are just not that into us?

Corporate profits are now at a 60 year high, but small businesses are still struggling. Real estate tycoons are getting back into the speculation game, yet working class families are still losing their homes to foreclosure. Everything may be coming up roses for these Republicans' big campaign contributors, but folks out here in the rest of America are still struggling.

Think about it. Will we hear anything of consequence at tonight's debate? Are the Republican candidates really taking Nevada's economic worries seriously? Remember what we talked about yesterday on perception and reality. I'm sure the GOP candidates who actually bother to show up at The Venetian tonight will claim ability to wave a magic wand and make all our problems disappear, but look closer. Look past the empty rhetoric. And realize that actions speak louder than words, and that their actions clearly indicate they're just not that into us.

Can 2011 Special Elections Predict 2012? Not Really.

While the corporate media obsess over a special election in a district that has more in common with Appalachia than "Middle America", and over another special election where no Democrat was running in Republican leaning turf, another story is developing that the media are not paying as much attention to. Here, take a look.

Within the [new CNN and Bloomberg] polls there were bad numbers for the President on the economy more generally, which has been the case for months. Obama's approval on this handling of the economy is 36 percent in the CNN poll and 33 percent in the Bloomberg, which matches Gallup, NBC/WSJ, ABC/WaPo and others in the last week or so.

But CNN also asked about the choice between President Obama and Congressional Republicans, who have sustained a huge hit themselves after the debt ceiling fight. 46 percent still say they prefer the President, to 37 percent who prefer Congressional Republicans. 15 percent say they prefer neither. The Bloomberg poll showed a tighter split, but still chose Obama 43 percent of the time to the GOP's 41.

Within the CNN question there are some interesting results. Those under 50, a group more likely to be unemployed, went for Obama by a 51 - 33 split. Even a quarter of self-described conservatives choose Obama over the Congressional GOPers, along with 50 percent of moderates and 78 percent of liberals.

Economic pessimism continues to infiltrate the thinking of American voters, and you don't have to look hard for an answer as to why. When CNN asked whether respondents feel they are better off today than they were three years ago, 58 percent no. It's not surprising given a previous CNN poll that showed 8 in 10 people think we are still in a recession, which means that many voters think we have been in a downturn since the President was elected. Gallup showed that there's been little help from the actual economic indicators, so there are many legitimate reasons for Americans to remain upset. But has the data shows, the GOP hasn't provided a silver bullet on the economy either, and voters are yet to embrace them as economic stewards. The jobs plan, which is enjoying initial support, is unlikely to change that view.

And if you want to dig deeper to see this story for yourself, look at the CNN internals and the Bloomberg internals. Even in the worst case scenario (Bloomberg's), Republicans can't beat President Obama on the issue the Beltway media pundits have all concluded should be Obama's political anvil sinking him next year. And according to CNN, American voters yet again proclaim that they want more focus on job creation than deficit reduction, and that they much prefer Democratic job creation ideas (such as aid to state and local governments, and infrastructure programs) than the Republicans' pandering to crazed teabaggers (in wanting to slash Social Security and Medicare to death).

Of course, last night's special election results weren't good for Obama or Congressional Democrats, but on the other hand many in DC are forgetting the local dynamics of both races. Here in Nevada, Kate Marshall positioned herself to essentially run against Obama, which demoralized the Democratic base and caused the entire election to be played on the Nevada GOP's turf. And in New York, Orthodox Jews and older white "Reagan Democrats" turned hard Republicans made that election into a referendum on Israel, social issues, and internal Brooklyn & Queens political drama. And while special elections tend to produce dramatic results as of late, they rarely provide a clear forecast of the political climate of the following election cycle.

What will be far more telling in the coming weeks and months, however, is what happens to the economy next, how politicians and political parties react to the state of the economy, and how voters respond to the politicians' reactions. Greg Sargent and Kevin Drum correctly point out that most Americans' view of Obama pretty much hinges on the state of the economy.

People who aren't pure partisans really do vote mostly based on the state of the economy, and they don't seem to care much why the economy is bad. When times are tough, they throw the bums out. It doesn't much matter if the bums have been trying hard.

But is it possible to overcome this dynamic if you barnstorm the country making it clear that your opposition has been working day and night to keep the economy in a ditch? The historical evidence doesn't provide much hope on that score, but then again, I'm not sure an incumbent in recent memory has really tried very hard to make something like this stick. Certainly Obama hasn't given it much of a go yet. But there's still time before next November.

Actually on that last part, Drum misses something... Something that we Nevadans saw for ourselves last year when the same Beltway media pundits were writing Harry Reid's political obituary long before Election Day.





While I agree that the state of the economy very much drives voters' decisions, the ultimate destination doesn't have to be "throw the bums out", especially when the replacement of "the bum" is someone whose agenda goes directly against what the voters want. Again, Reid proved this strategy works when he clearly demonstrated the consequences Nevada would have faced had we replaced him with Sharron Angle. Don't underestimate President Obama's ability to pivot like this and place the blame for economic turmoil exactly where it belongs.



And considering what Republican primary voters seem increasingly likely to do, this is exactly what Obama needs to be doing. How Obama and Republicans address American concerns about the economy will have much more of an effect on next year's election than a couple special election results from last night.

Why "The J Word" Matters

Yesterday, US Labor Secretary Hilda Solis came here to Las Vegas to explain how the American Jobs Act will make an impact on Nevada's beleaguered economy once passed.

President Obama’s jobs plan would have a significant positive effect on Southern Nevada’s economy by putting construction laborers back to work, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said today in Las Vegas.

Solis met with the Las Vegas Sun editorial board following an appearance before the Laborers’ International Union of North America at Paris Las Vegas.

Solis said she expects Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan, unveiled to a joint session of Congress on Thursday and detailed in a bill sent to legislators today, to garner bipartisan support because it uses ideas from both sides of the political aisle.

“Economists say anywhere from 1 million to 1.9 million workers in the construction industry (would be put to work),” Solis said. “That would have an immediate impact on places like Nevada, particularly here (in Las Vegas) where the housing boom was the hardest hit.”

Obama’s proposal includes tax breaks for small businesses, economic stimulus programs and a national infrastructure “bank” to fund roads, bridges, airports, seaports, railways, refineries and to upgrade schools. The president has proposed reducing tax deductions, modifying entitlement programs and increasing taxes on the most wealthy to pay for those programs.

It's a broad ranging piece of legislation that tackles job creation from multiple angles...



Yet House Republicans are already set to reject it and start another possible government shutdown melodrama, even as some progressive Democrats in the House are complaining that it isn't enough. However, one prominent voice in DC rose to say something that Congressional Republicans really did not want to hear.

"If policymakers want to achieve both a short-term economic boost and long-term fiscal sustainability the combination of policies that would be most effective according to our analysis would be changes in taxes and spending that would widen the deficit today, but narrow it in the coming decade," [Congressional Budget Office chief Doug] Elmendorf told the panel's 12 Democrats and Republicans. "The combination of fiscal policies that would be most effective would be policies that cut taxes or increase spending in the near-term, but over the medium and longer-term move in the opposite direction."

This is a generalized version of precisely what President Obama is proposing -- a $447 billion jobs bill that will increase spending on hiring programs, and reduce payroll taxes; accompanied by deficit reduction measures that take effect in 2013, to more than cover the cost of the jobs bill.

As we've talked about before, "austerity" does nothing but harm fragile economies in need of investment to recover and grow again. Yet even as top IMF economists point this out to the world, this is what we hear from the Republicans seeking to defeat President Obama next year.





Cheering on the deaths of the uninsured? Arguing over the value of Social Security? And while the Republicans keep playing in "Tea Party Fantasyland", a record 46.2 million Americans were hit by poverty last year. If there is ever a time to shift into overdrive to focus on job creation and put money in people's pockets again, it's now. But instead of offering any credible ideas on that, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and their enablers on Capitol Hill would rather obsess over "Tea Party" fantasies that would further destroy America's middle class, like ending Social Security and scrapping health care reform. (No wonder why Perry's and Romney's poll numbers are dropping like rocks!)

This is the great disconnect. For far too long, it seemed like far too many policy makers in The Beltway were obsessing over issues that "Middle America" couldn't care less about while they were out of work and asking where the jobs are. But while President Obama is reaching out to "Middle America" to explain what the American Jobs Act will do to help them get the work they need to rejoin the middle class, Republicans yet again seem to care more about pleasing teabaggers than actually doing their job.