TODAY: |
MORNING MESSAGE
Richard Eskow
We Lost the 'CRomnibus' Fight, But at Least Someone's Fighting The "CRomnibus" spectacle was a return to the showdown days of past years, with another phony "drama" ginned up around a "must-pass" bill in order to serve up a "compromise" – a "bipartisan" one, of course – that serves the interests of corporations and wealthy individuals. But hold the cynicism, because all is not yet lost. "A few more such victories and we are undone," the Greek general Pyrrhus supposedly said. But we're looking at the opposite situation: A few more losses like this, and we might be getting somewhere.
Democrats debate how Sen. Warren can maximize her influence. The Hill: "Associates and observers of Warren believe she will spend her new political capital on the issues that brought her to Washington in the first place — defending consumers and the middle class and fighting the power of Wall Street … But many in the Democratic Party say Warren should set her ambitions higher. What better place to fight for consumers, they say, than from the Oval Office? … supporters say she already has the influence she needs, regardless of what title she holds."
NYT's Paul Krugman explains what the CRominbus did to Dodd-Frank: "One of the goals of financial reform was to stop banks from taking big risks with depositors' money … Dodd-Frank tried to limit this kind of moral hazard in various ways, including a rule barring insured institutions from dealing in exotic securities … this isn't the death of financial reform. In fact, I'd argue that regulating insured banks is something of a sideshow, since the 2008 crisis was brought on mainly by uninsured institutions like Lehman Brothers … But what Congress did is still outrageous…"
More Dem divides to come, says Politico's David Rogers: "Democrats in Congress seem torn between two choices: Dig in, or head to the hills and try to rebuild a guerrilla army … a contest less about principle in the end than price … Pelosi and Warren saw the carve-out as a powerful symbol, even a bugle call, for Democrats to help the party reconnect with struggling families who aren't enjoying the same recovery as the Wall Street banks … By contrast, Lowey and Mikulski saw the same bank language as an irritant but also leverage with which to gain money to strengthen the very same regulators—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission—charged with implementing Dodd-Frank."
Weiss fight "escalates" reports Politico: "On Friday, Weiss supporters circulated a letter sent to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee from four people who previously held the undersecretary job arguing that Weiss was perfectly suited to the position … Warren tweeted in response to the CEOs' letter: 'Wall St CEOs think Antonio Weiss would do a great job overseeing Wall St reform. Doesn't that make you feel better?' … the White House was adamant Friday that the administration would not give up on Weiss and dismissed the idea that it might pull his nomination to appease Democrats angry about the cromnibus."
But "WH insists things are good with Warren" reports The Hill: "White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Friday described their relationship as good, and said the pair 'have the same kinds of goals and priorities.' He noted that the White House and Warren had worked together just weeks ago to scuttle an emerging proposal from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that would have permanently extended a series of tax credits for corporate interests."
Holdup of CRomnibus in Senate let nominees go through. W. Post: "After Reid (D-Nev.) exploited a weekend rebellion on immigration by rogue Republican senators as a $1.1 trillion spending bill was up against the clock, the Senate will move ahead this week on key executive branch nominations submitted by President Obama that appeared to be stalled not long ago … Reid plans to set in motion votes for Vivek Murthy to serve as surgeon general, Daniel Santos to take a seat on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board and Frank Rose to serve as an assistant secretary of state. Then, Reid will set up votes for Antony Blinken to serve as a deputy secretary of state and Sarah Saldaña to head the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency."
Preliminary international climate deal sets up formal agreement at December 2015 UN summit. AP: "A compromise deal salvaged by climate negotiators in Lima early Sunday sets the stage for a global pact in Paris next year, but a consensus could not be reached on nations submitting to a rigorous review of their plans for greenhouse gas emissions limits … more than 190 countries agreed on what information should go into the pledges that countries submit for the expected Paris pact … The final draft of the deal alleviated … concerns with language saying countries have 'common but differentiated responsibilities' to deal with global warming."
More from Politico: "The agreement reached in Lima would commit all countries to outlining domestic plans by early next year to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. Those plans would lay the foundation for a major climate accord that countries hope to clinch in Paris at the end of 2015. Sunday's deal marked the first time that all countries agreed to reduce their emissions … The final text also includes a token reference to the so-called 'loss and damage' issue, which developed countries have long argued has not received enough attention in the talks. But it does not offer any substantial approach to addressing the massive economic losses poor countries have suffered from the effects of climate change."
But it won't be legally binding. NYT: "The strength of the accord — the fact that it includes pledges by every country to put forward a plan to reduce emissions at home — is also its greatest weakness. In order to get every country to agree to the deal, including the United States, the world's largest historic carbon polluter, the Lima Accord does not include legally binding requirements that countries cut their emissions by any particular amount. Instead, each nation will agree to enact domestic laws to reduce carbon emissions and put forth a plan by March 31 laying out how much each one will cut after 2020 and what domestic policies it will pass to achieve the cuts."
And not enough to avert a climate crisis. TNR's Rebecca Leber: "The Lima accord is both unprecedented and not ambitious enough … Unlike the Kyoto treaty, which didn't require cuts from China and India and wasn't ever ratified by the U.S., Paris is meant to include all of the polluters, even the developing nations. The agreement covers up to 90 percent of global emissions … [But t]here is little chance countries will reach a deal that limits global warming to 2 degrees Celsius … Countries would have to commit to more ambitious targets than they're clearly ready for in order to stay within this range."
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