By Lori Montgomery
More than 60 senators from both parties are calling on President Obama to lead them in developing a comprehensive plan to rein in record budget deficits, a powerful sign of bipartisan willingness to abandon long-held positions on entitlement spending and taxes.
In a letter to be sent Friday to the White House, the senators urge Obama “to support a broad approach to solving our current budget problems” along the lines of recommendations issued last year by a presidentially appointed commission. That plan calls for sharp cuts in government spending, elimination or reduction of dozens of popular tax breaks and an overhaul of Social Security that would include raising the retirement age to 69 for today’s toddlers.
“While we may not agree with every aspect of the Commission’s recommendations, we believe that its work represents an important foundation to achieve meaningful progress on our debt,” the senators wrote. “By approaching these negotiations comprehensively, with a strong signal of support from you, we believe that we can achieve consensus on these important fiscal issues.”
The letter was drafted by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), who said in a conference call Friday with reporters that it took them only a couple of days to convince a super-majority of their colleagues to sign the letter.
moreThis is what Congress is focused on instead of jobs.
Krugman:
The Forgotten MillionsMore than three years after we entered the worst economic slump since the 1930s, a strange and disturbing thing has happened to our political discourse: Washington has lost interest in the unemployed.
Jobs do get mentioned now and then — and a few political figures, notably Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, are still trying to get some kind of action. But no jobs bills have been introduced in Congress, no job-creation plans have been advanced by the White House and all the policy focus seems to be on spending cuts.
So one-sixth of America’s workers — all those who can’t find any job or are stuck with part-time work when they want a full-time job — have, in effect, been abandoned.
It might not be so bad if the jobless could expect to find new employment fairly soon. But unemployment has become a trap, one that’s very difficult to escape. There are almost five times as many unemployed workers as there are job openings; the average unemployed worker has been jobless for 37 weeks, a post-World War II record.
<...>
Did these members of Congress listen to the President's
press conference last week?
How many of them are going to rally around this:
Kerry introduces BUILD Act to create a new American Infrastructure Bank Bob Herbert:
The Master Key<...>
Senator Kerry will introduce legislation next week to create a federal infrastructure bank — officially, the American Infrastructure Financing Authority — to provide loans and loan guarantees to large, essential infrastructure projects. The loans will be seed money used to leverage other sources of funding.
“These are strictly loans — not grants — for commercially viable projects,” the senator said. “The federal government does no more than 50 percent of the loan. We expect that to leverage $600 billion or so in infrastructure investments over time.”
Mr. Kerry said the initial cost to the government would be $10 billion. Other proposals to establish an infrastructure bank have been more ambitious and more expensive. Senator Kerry is anticipating — or, at least, hoping for — bipartisan support and a nod from the Obama administration for this more modest initiative.
<...>
Creation of an infrastructure bank would be an important indication that leaders in Washington are still capable, despite most of the available evidence, of moving beyond partisan paralysis to engage one of the biggest challenges facing the country. If there is such a thing as a master key to a better American future, investment in the nation’s infrastructure would be it. That is the biggest potential source of jobs. That is how you build the foundation for new and innovative industries.
<...>
Congress needs to do its job and pass the
President's 2011 and 2012 budgets, which includes
infrastructure, job creation and other investments Updated to add this from
The Hill:
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Republicans signing the letter:
Sens. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), John Barrasso (Wy.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Scott Brown (Mass.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Dan Coats (Ind.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), John Cornyn (Tex.) Mike Crapo (Idaho), Mike Enzi (Wy.), Lindsay Graham (S.C.) John Hoeven (N.D.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (Tex.), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kansas), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), James Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kansas), Richard Shelby (Ala.), John Thune (S.D.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.).
Democrats signing the letter:
John Kerry (Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Joseph Lieberman (Conn.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Mark Begich (Ark.), Thomas Carper (Del.), Mark Udall (Colo.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Dianne Feinstein (Caif.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Christopher Coons (Del.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Benjamin Cardin (Md.), Al Franken (Minn.), Mary Landrieu (La.) , Kent Conrad (N.D.) , Mark Warner (Va.), Richard Durbin (Ill.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Herb Kohl (Wis.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Tom Udall (N.M.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio).
(emphasis added)
Senators Blumenthal and Brown are on Senator Sanders'
Defend Social Security Caucus.
Are all these Senators going to support the BUILD Act, the President's budgets, the state waiver amendment to the health care law and raising the income cap on Social Security?
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