Fact Sheet:#AmericanJobsAct

KEY PROVISIONS

• Immediately Invests in Our Roads, Rails and Airports ($50 Billion):  The Senate bill provides $50 billion in immediate investments for highways, transit, rail and aviation, helping to modernize an infrastructure that now receives a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers and putting hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job.  This investment will put people to work upgrading 150,000 miles of road, laying/maintaining 4,000 miles of train tracks, restoring 150 miles of runways, and putting in place a next-generation air-traffic control system that will reduce travel time and delays. The plan includes $27 billion to rebuild roads and bridges, $9 billion to repair transit systems, $5 billion for projects selected through a competitive grant program, $4 billion for construction of the high-speed rail network, $2 billion to improve airport facilities and $1 billion for a NextGen air traffic control system.  The call for greater infrastructure investment has been joined by leaders from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.
• Establishes a National Infrastructure Bank ($10 Billion):  The Senate bill establishes a National Infrastructure Bank capitalized with $10 billion that will leverage private and public capital to help fund a broad range of infrastructure projects. The Bank would be based on the model Senators Kerry and Hutchison have championed, which has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce while building on legislation by Senators Rockefeller and Lautenberg and the work of long-time infrastructure bank champions like Rosa DeLauro and the input of the President’s Jobs Council.
• Asks Millionaires to Pay Their Fair Share Without Adding a Dime to the Deficit. In order to create or save hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, the Senate bill imposes a 0.7% surtax on modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million for both single filers and married couples filing jointly.  The surtax is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

AMERICANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT MODERNIZING OUR NATION’S INFRASTRUCTURE

CNN/ORC Poll: 72% of Americans, 54% of Republicans Support Rebuilding Our Infrastructure. According to a recent CNN/ORC Poll, 72% of Americans support “increasing federal spending to build and repair roads, bridges and schools,” while only 28% oppose. This is up from 64% from September of this year. 70% of Independents and 54% of Republicans support funding our infrastructure. [CNN/ORC Poll, 10/17/11]

Rockefeller Foundation: 72% of Americans Support Infrastructure Bank. The Rockefeller Foundation infrastructure survey, conducted in February 2011, found that 72% of Americans support “Creating a National Infrastructure Bank that helps finance transportation projects that are important to the whole nation or large regions and that funds projects based on merit, not politics.” [Rockefeller Foundation, 2/14/11]

THERE IS BROAD BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT

U.S. Chamber of Commerce: President “Was Right to Call For” Transportation Infrastructure Investments. Thomas J. Donohue, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said after President Obama’s September jobs speech that the President “was right to call for… smart investments in our transportation infrastructure. The administration and Congress must now act on these priorities without further delay in order to save and create hundreds of thousands of American jobs.” [U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 9/8/11]

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials: $50 Billion For Infrastructure Projects Could Create or Protect Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs. “John Horsely, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said at its peak a year ago, the Recovery Act helped employ 64,000 workers on highway projects. He says a concentrated infusion of $50 billion now could lead to the employment of hundreds of thousands more. ‘The president wants to jump-start the economy and create jobs, and so if he could manage to get the authority to spend $50 billion all in one year, you would probably have a much higher number of jobs created, if it all happened in one year,’ Horsely said.” [ABC News, 9/8/11]

President of GOP Mayors and Local Officials Coalition: Infrastructure Spending “Puts People to Work,” Needs to Be “Higher Priority” for Congressional Republicans. “Mick Cornett, the GOP mayor of Oklahoma City, welcomes the infrastructure spending that Obama has proposed in his jobs bill, explaining that mayors witness the impact of such investments on the ground level. ‘Mayors see up close the deferred maintenance that’s going on in nation’s cities…it’s just a ticking time bomb. We also know that it puts people to work,’ says Cornett, president of the Republican Mayors and Local Officials coalition within the U.S. Conference. Obama’s jobs plan proposes new infrastructure spending on everything from rebuilding schools to an infrastructure finance bank–all of which Cornett supports… Cornett says that, by contrast, Congressional Republicans have not put forward any substantial plans to revitalize the country’s infrastructure.”  [Washington Post, 9/20/11]

Associated General Contractors: “Should Congress Fail To Enact” President’s Infrastructure Plan, “Too Many Construction Workers Will Remain Unemployed, The Private Sector Will Suffer, And Taxpayers Will End Up Paying More.” Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, said, “Should Congress fail to enact the desperately needed infrastructure investments the President proposes, too many construction workers will remain unemployed, the private sector will suffer, and taxpayers will end up paying more, later, for infrastructure. Infrastructure projects don’t just create construction jobs… Investing in infrastructure is the most effective way to create good jobs, deliver great roads, build a strong economy and protect taxpayers. That is why the Associated General Contractors of America stands with the president and everyone else who is willing to make the investments needed to revive our industry and rebuild our economy.” [Associated General Contractors, 9/9/11]

American Society of Civil Engineers: Current, Insufficient Funding for Infrastructure Will Cost America More Than 870,000 Jobs and $900 Billion By 2020. Patrick J. Natale of the American Society of Civil Engineers wrote, “Obama’s call for infrastructure investment was not only about jobs but about our competitiveness in global markets. Both the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and the Building America’s Future Educational Fund have released reports showing how we are rapidly falling behind our global competitors such as China, Japan, and South Korea when it comes to investing and modernizing our transportation systems… A recent economic study from ASCE found that even current investment levels in transportation infrastructure will cost the American economy more than 870,000 jobs and suppress the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product by almost $900 billion by the year 2020.” [National Journal, 9/12/11]

President Reagan Said Infrastructure Investment Was Common Sense. “Common sense tells us that it will cost a lot less to keep the system we have in good repair than to let it disintegrate and have to start over from scratch. Clearly this program is an investment in tomorrow that we must make today. It will allow us to complete the interstate system, make most — the interstate repairs and strengthen and improve our bridges, make all of us safer, and help our cities meet their public transit needs.” [Remarks, 1/6/83]

THERE IS BROAD BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK

Earlier This Year, Two Republican Senators Co-Sponsored an Infrastructure Bank. According to the Washington Post, “Earlier this year, in fact, two Senate Republicans — Kay Bailey Hutchison (Tex.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) — had co-sponsored Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry’s infrastructure bank bill, which bears close resemblance to the proposal in Obama’s failed jobs bill.” [Washington Post, 10/13/11]

• Sen. Hutchison: “A National Infrastructure Bank is an Innovative Way” to Address the Nation’s Water, Transportation, and Energy Infrastructure Needs. “The idea of a national infrastructure bank is an innovative way to leverage private-public partnerships and maximize private funding to address our water, transportation, and energy infrastructure needs. In our current fiscal situation, we must be creative in meeting the needs of our country and spurring economic development and job growth, while protecting taxpayers from new federal spending as much as possible.” [Hutchison Blog, 9/7/11]

Bipartisan BUILD Act Is Endorsed By Chamber of Commerce & AFL-CIO. “Amid growing concerns that the nation’s infrastructure is deteriorating, a group of Democrats, Republicans, and labor and business leaders called Tuesday for the creation of a national infrastructure bank to help finance the construction of things like roads, bridges, water systems and power grids. The proposal — sponsored by Senator John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas — would establish an independent bank to provide loans and loan guarantees for projects of regional or national significance. The idea is to attract more infrastructure investment from the private sector: by creating an infrastructure bank with $10 billion now, they say, they could spur up to $640 billion worth of infrastructure spending over the next decade… To underscore the need for better infrastructure, two frequent rivals were on hand at the news conference: Richard Trumka, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Thomas J. Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the main business lobby. With a nod to the strange-bedfellows experience of having a labor leader as an ally, Mr. Donohue said, ”He and I are going to take our show on the road as the new ‘Odd Couple.’” [New York Times, 3/16/11]

Alliance for American Manufacturing Said Infrastructure Bank Would Create Jobs.  Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, provided a list of recommendations that would create more manufacturing jobs, including, “we need to invest in infrastructure and establish a national infrastructure bank”  [Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, 6/22/11; The Hill, 8/15/11]

Mark Zandi: Infrastructure Bank Would Boost Manufacturing. Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics testified, “To lower the cost of transportation, telecommunications and energy, policymakers could provide consistent support to public investment in transportation networks, the internet backbone, and the electric grid. As a potential example of this support, Build America bonds issued as part of the recent fiscal stimulus efforts have been very successful. A national infrastructure bank, which could marry private capital with financial support from the government, would provide a substantial boost to this effort.” [Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, 6/22/11]

Private Infrastructure Investment Could Create 1.9 Million Jobs. Sphere Consulting LLC reported, “Over $250 billion of private equity capital is currently available, and some additional legislative and administrative changes could accelerate infrastructure projects and enhance funding.” The firm found that private investment in infrastructure could generate 1.9 million U.S. jobs. They suggested that the U.S. “Create a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) that is authorized to lend at favorable terms to both the public and private sectors for qualified infrastructure projects.” [Sphere Consulting, July 2011]

SENATE REPUBLICANS HAVE HISTORICALLY SUPPORTED INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS

Sen. Inhofe Said Conservatives Need To Recognize Transportation is a Place We Need to Be Spending More Money. “I think a lot of the people who are my good friends, and primarily over in the House, who came under the banner of the tea parties and all that, they recognize, yes, they can be a conservative. But when they got home, they said: Wait a minute. We want to not be spending on these big things, but we weren’t talking about transportation. So we have to single out transportation for my friends to recognize there is a place we need be spending more money, not less money.” [Floor Remarks, 10/20/11]

Sen. Johanns Said He “Can’t Imagine” Why Anyone Would “Stand in The Way” of States Working to Rebuild Infrastructure. “I can’t imagine why this body would stand in the way of states trying to rebuild their roads and bridges.” [Senate Floor Speech, 10/19/11]

Sen. Graham: Infrastructure Investments Translates to Job Creation. “So if you’re a Republican and you want to create jobs, then you need to invest in infrastructure that will allow us to create jobs.” [GOP Press Conference, 4/13/11]

Sen. Sessions on the Importance to Invest in Infrastructure: “Jobs Are Created As It’s Being Constructed and You Have a Permanent Improvement to Society That May Be There for a Hundred Years.” Sessions said,“Jobs are created as it’s being constructed and, second, you have a permanent improvement to society that may be there for a hundred years.” [Washington Post, 10/13/11]

Sen. Thune Called Transportation Infrastructure “Critical to Our Nation’s Commerce” “This is a critically important subject for the entire country. Maintaining a transportation infrastructure is just critical to our nation’s commerce. We’ve got a $2.2 trillion backlog out there of infrastructure projects, a $12 billion projected shortfall in gas tax revenues versus current spending levels over the next two years.” [Senate Commerce Committee Hearing, 7/20/11]

Sen. Collins Called Transportation Infrastructure “Essential to Economic Recovery” “One of my highest priorities is to help ensure that our nation’s transportation infrastructure does not fall into disrepair. Safe and efficient transportation is essential to economic recovery and cannot be left solely to state governments, which are struggling with budget shortfalls.” [Press Release, 5/11/11]

Sen. Lugar Said Addressing The Aging Infrastructure Is “Critical To Our Nation’s Economic Viability” “Addressing the aging infrastructure of our roads, bridges and railways is critical to our nation’s economic viability. Indiana has developed a sophisticated rail network that is central to our state’s agricultural and manufacturing economy. It is important to enhance the existing railways in Perry County to provide a vital link and spur economic growth.” [Press Release, 9/10/08]

Sen. Rubio Called Infrastructure Investment “The Proper Role of Government” “And it is the proper role of government to invest in infrastructure. Yes, government should build roads and bridges, but it should do so as part of economic development as part of infrastructure.” [Speech, 8/24/11]

Sen. Shelby Called Infrastructure Spending “Essential” For Our Economy “Infrastructure spending is essential to our long term economic stability and growth.” [Remarks, 5/19/11]

the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, just announced a $10mil advertising campaign across 8 key states – is this fair?or – should they be investing in American JOBs

URGENT NEWS: One of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful corporate interest groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, just announced a $10 million advertising campaign across eight key states. This is a major piece of their plan to defeat President Obama, seize the Senate and execute a complete GOP takeover of government.

These states represent 72 electoral votes, more than decided two of the past three presidential elections — combined. Eight Senate seats is twice the current slim Democratic majority.

These ads are running now. We must react. We must respond. Now. $1 million by the end of February – combined with our current resources – will allow us to beat the Chamber.

If we lose these states, we don’t just lose the Senate. We lose the White House and our ability to stop Republicans from launching a full-out assault on women’s rights, American workers, and our social safety net. $1 million by the end of February will help us hold the line. Thanks for your help.

Guy Cecil
Executive Director, DSCC

Conservati​ves Urge GOP to Raise Debt Ceiling

 By ThinkProgress War Room on Jul 22, 2011 at 4:55 pm

Default Denialists Called Out By Conservatives

We are now 11 days away from a default on our obligations, and House Republicans appear no closer to agreeing to increase the debt ceiling than they were weeks ago. The business community and other conservatives appear to be reacting to this default denialism with increasing alarm. Here’s a rundown of some of the right-wing calls to raise the debt ceiling.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

We have been telling you for weeks and months that defaulting on our debt is not an option – it has real, immediate, and potentially catastrophic consequences. [...]

The result from political inaction could be devastating.

Financial Services Forum

Failure to raise the debt ceiling and the ensuing default and inability of our country to pay its bills as they come due would have harsh implications for the dollar, the international and domestic financial system, economic growth and job creation. It is critically important that our leaders arrive at a deal to avoid both the negative consequences of a default and address our federal debt and large annual budget deficits in a responsible way.

More than 450 Corporate CEOs

Now is the time for our political leaders to put aside partisan differences and act in the nation’s best interests. It is time to pull together rather than pull apart.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R)

But they’ve got to get this done immediately or the uncertainty for the business community is going to be just devastating to our country.

Mesa Arizona Mayor Scott Smith (R), Vice President, U.S. Conference of Mayors

Anything that upsets the potential for any kind of recovery creates huge problems for the city… We’re sort of at the bottom of the food chin. When you have someone out of work, when you have someone who’s homeless, when you have someone with mental health issues, any interruption, anything that disrupts the economy, hurts our ability to help them.

Many of the social ills that we experience, you can’t just ignore. We have people who are homeless, we have people who are unemployed. They don’t just go away when governments cut their budgets…These are human beings, they still have needs, they still have problems…Our biggest concern is when there’s an across the board cut in spending without thinking about these different needs, you end up paying more.

President Ronald Reagan

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

Although GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has recently remarked that he doesn’t “see carbon as a pollutant,” he certainly regulated carbon dioxide like one while he was governor of Massachusetts.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) defended the Gang of Six’s deficit-reduction proposal with the promise that only “the people sucking off the program are going to be the ones that lose.”

The real sticking point for conservatives opposed to the IOM’s recent recommendations on health care plans isn’t abortion — it’s contraception.

Pulitzer-prize winning undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas had his driver’s license revoked by the state of Washington.

A top Iowa Republican and former Bob Vander Plaats ally tells the pro-discrimination crusader that he and his organization’s “credibility is waning to the point of no impact.”

David Leonhardt is the new New York Times DC Bureau Chief.

Blue Bunny Ice Cream, whose CEO Mike Wells has close ties to Bob Vander Plaats, is feeling the heat over his support for the Iowa FAMiLY LEADER.

Ohio’s unemployment rate rises for the first time in 15 months as Republican Gov. John Kasich’s budget cuts go into effect.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) criticizes President Obama for cutting NASA’s shuttle missions. In reality, it was a former president from Texas who ended the program.

NewsCorrupt: New MoveOn Ad Calls For Congressional Investigation of News Corp

Think Fast …thinkprogress.org

The South Dakota House is considering a bill that could “make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions.” The GOP-backed bill, which passed out of committee, would alter that state’s definition of justifiable homicide to allow killing if committed by a person “while resisting an attempt to harm” that person’s unborn child or the unborn child of a person’s spouse, partner, parent, or child.

ThinkProgress‘ reporting on the ChamberLeaks scandal receives coverage in both the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. The Post’s Dan Eggen writes that the “e-mails reveal plans for a dirty-tricks-style campaign against critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” while the Times’ Tom Hamburger and Matea Gold report that the effort was intended to “monitor and discredit the chamber’s critics.”

Riot police officers in Iran beat protesters and fired tear gas yesterday across the country, “as security forces around the region moved — sometimes brutally — to prevent new unrest in sympathy with the opposition victory in Egypt.” Witnesses and reports said around 30,000 protesters took to the streets.

Yesterday, the House passed Patriot Act provisions to extend the government’s authority to conduct “roving wiretaps of suspected terrorists,” to access suspected terrorists’ business and other records, and to monitor so-called “lone wolf” suspects. After failing to pass these provisions earlier this month, the House voted 275-144 to extend these measures until Dec. 8, 2011.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is appealing to fiscal conservatives on Capitol Hill to scrap plans to build an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter . Gates has been trying to stop funding for the project, which he has described as “emblematic of wasteful government spending.”

Common Cause sent a letter to the Supreme Court yesterday asking for a clarification: though a Court spokeswoman previously said Justice Clarence Thomas only did a “brief drop-by” to a conservative, Koch-organized event in 2008, Thomas’ financial disclosure report reveals four days of accommodations, paid for by the conservative Federalist Society. “I don’t think the explanation they’ve given is credible,” said Common Cause vice president Arn Pearson.

President Obama unveiled a $3.7 billion budget yesterday that ” would trim or terminate more than 200 federal programs next year,” while also maintaining spending on a number of public investments. “The cuts target defense, heating assistance and the environment.”

An Ecuadorian court has ordered oil giant Chevron to pay $8.6 billion to clean up pollution it caused in local rain forests. Chevron denies it caused the pollution, but the judge has ordered the fine be doubled if the company doesn’t publicly apologize within 15 days.

A group of California political activists calling themselves the The Third Lantern plan to launch a website called the Issa Files where they will publish investigations into the “personal and business history” of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). The group also plans an aggressive TV advertising campaign aimed at the new chairman.

And finally: Former First Lady Barbara Bush, watching her husband get choked up talking about his affection for her, quipped that he was acting like noted weeper John Boehner . “You know what?” Barbara told George. “You could be Speaker of the House.”

Ethics:The ChamberLea​ks Scandal

An investigation by ThinkProgress has revealed that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce explored employing three “private security” firms to surreptitiously investigate the Chamber’s political foes (and even their families and children), and to wage an underhanded cyber-campaign against them. According to emails obtained by ThinkProgress, the Chamber hired the lobbying firm Hunton & Williams, which in turn solicited work from three computer security firms — HBGary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies (collectively dubbed Team Themis, after the Roman goddess of law and order). Hunton asked Team Themis to develop tactics for damaging or discrediting progressive groups and labor unions, in particular ThinkProgress, the labor coalition Change to Win, the SEIU, US Chamber Watch, and StopTheChamber.com. The Chamber’s efforts to target opponents began after a ThinkProgress investigation last year raised questions about whether the business lobby was using money from foreign corporations to fund its political attack ads. According to one document prepared by Team Themis, the campaign included an entrapment project. The proposal called for first creating a “false document, perhaps highlighting periodical financial information,” to give to a progressive group opposing the Chamber, and then to subsequently expose the document as a fake to undermine the credibility of the Chamber’s opponents. In addition, the group proposed creating a “fake insider persona” to “generate communications” with Change to Win in an attempt to mislead and undermine them. Even more disturbingly, emails reveal that HBGary, which spearheaded the work for the Chamber, apparently thought families and children were fair game, as an executive with the firm circulated numerous emails and documents detailing information about political opponents’ children, spouses, and personal lives, such as where they attended religious services.

EMAILS LEAKED: ThinkProgress acquired the emails after they were leaked by the pro-WikiLeaks hacktivist community “Anonymous,” which was responsible for taking down websites of oppressive regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, and those of American corporations that have censored WikiLeaks. Anonymous leaked the emails after HBGary executive Aaron Barr bragged to the Financial Times that he had identified the members of Anonymous, and planned to sell the information about them to Bank of America, which has supposedly been targeted by WikiLeaks, and to federal law enforcement officials investigating the “hacktivists” for their cyber attacks. Barr claimed that he had penetrated Anonymous; in response, Anonymous hacked into Barr’s email and published more than 40,000 company e-mails last week. Another 27,000 emails were published this weekend. Last week, it was revealed that Team Themis, on behalf of Bank of America, had planned to target proponents of WikiLeaks, such as Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald, who has been an outspoken defender of WikiLeaks. Themis planned “actions to sabotage or discredit” Greenwald, a PowerPoint presentation contained in the emails showed.

UNDERHANDED TACTICS: The emails, from late 2010 and early 2011, illuminate the espionage project as it developed. Members of Team Themis bragged to each other about exploiting vulnerabilities in social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook — likely in violation of terms of use policies — to collect information about their targets. In one November 24 email, after a conference call with Hunton & Williams, one team member wrote, “We need to blow these guys away with descriptions of our capabilities, IP, and talent. Make them think that we are [James] Bond, Q, and money penny all packaged up with a bow.” Disturbingly, this spying included target’s families. One target was Mike Gehrke, a former staffer with Change to Win. Among the information circulated about Gehrke was the purported “Jewish church” he attended in Washington and a link to pictures of his wife and two children. Barr’s profile of Brad Friedman, co-founder of The Brad Blog, included information about his life partner and his home address. This tactic of targeting opponents’ personal lives and family, it seems, was not simply a random event. Rather, it was a concerted and deliberate effort to use anything possible to smear the Chamber’s political opponents. Ironically, Barr had complained about the invasion of his own privacy after the emails were leaked, and Hunton & Williams was just named the “top firm for privacy” this week by Computerworld.

A ‘CAREFULLY WORDED NONDENIAL DENIAL’: On Friday, the Chamber released its second denial of involvement in the controversy, calling our investigation “baseless” and claiming that HBGary’s proposal “was never discussed with anyone at the Chamber” and that “the Chamber was not aware of these proposals until HBGary’s e-mails leaked.” However, as FireDogLake‘s Marcy Wheeler wrote, their response is a “carefully worded nondenial denial.” Using Hunton & Williams — the same law firm/lobby shop which the Chamber hired last year to sue the Yes Men — as a middleman allows the Chamber to hide behind the firm, but that doesn’t mean they were not involved. First, the emails clearly indicate that the “client” whom Team Themis was assisting was indeed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The reason why the Chamber can claim not to have “hired” HBGary is because until as recently as a week ago, the security firm was working on spec. As Wheeler pointed out, a February 3 email shows that Hunton & Williams simply got “HBGary to do a month of work for free to decide whether they want to hire them.” They were expected to be paid $250-300 thousand per month, and the deal was very close to being complete when the emails were leaked. The emails also reveal that lawyers from Hunton & Williams met with the Chamber numerous times in order to brief them on the status and progress of Team Themis. A January 13 email shows that the private security firms assumed the project was “a go.” An email from February 3 showed that Hunton & Williams wanted the firms to work on spec “and then present jointly with H&W to the Chamber” on or around February 14. It’s unclear whether that meeting will be still be taking place today.

Economy: Obama Goes To The Chamber

Yesterday, President Obama addressed the leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the influential, ideological right-wing trade association that represents mostly large multi-national corporations. Obama told the assembled executives and corporate lobbyists to “ask yourselves what you can do for America,” not just for company bottom lines. “I want to be clear: Even as we make America the best place on earth to do business, businesses also have a responsibility to America.” Citing a long history of corporate fearmongering about government regulations, Obama made a “robust argument in favor of an active regulatory role for the federal government.” Obama urged the audience of business executives to “get in the game” and spend some of the trillions of dollars corporations have banked in the past year on job creation. “We need to make America the best place on Earth to do business,” the president promised. The Chamber’s top lobbyist, R. Bruce Josten, quickly rejected the President’s promotion of the “social compact” with America’s working families. “Bottom line, the most patriotic thing a company can do is ensure it is in business and take steps to stay in business; otherwise everyone loses and more people lose their jobs.”

THE CHAMBER AND JOBS: Indeed, much of the Chamber’s executive leadership has spent the past few years rewarding themselves with millions of dollars in additional compensation while eliminating American jobs. Trucking manufacturer Navistar Inc., on the chamber’s board, has laid off workers at factories across the country. Meanwhile, the company has enjoyed healthy profits, and Navistar CEO Daniel Ustian increased his total compensation to $8.43 million. As agricultural manufacturer Deere and Co. recorded high profits, the company slashed hundreds of jobs in Illinois, Iowa, and North Dakota. Meanwhile, Deere CEO Samuel Allen was awarded a compensation package in 2010 of $12.29 million. Health insurance company WellPoint, also on the Chamber’s board, has reported record profits and extraordinary executive compensation. In 2009, WellPoint CEO Angela Braly was awarded a 51 percent compensation boost, from $8.7 million in 2008 to $13.1 million. As WellPoint’s trade association secretly transfered $86 million to the Chamber to fight health reform, the company shed thousands of jobs across the nation. Despite bloated rhetoric about the virtues of “free enterprise,” the Chamber demanded taxpayer bailouts for its bank members, billions in taxpayer money for its defense contract members, taxpayer money forcleaning up BP’s oil spill, and preferential tax cuts for its millionaire executives. The Chamber has a history of being singularly focused on boosting short-term profits, not creating American jobs by investing in the future. It has pushed for unfettered free trade deals, sponsored a series of conferences to teach businesses how to outsource jobs to China, and even lobbied against legislation that would have helped create over 1.7 million jobs.

THE CHAMBER AND POLLUTION: In his speech, Obama said American business needs to acknowledge that “not every regulation is bad.” At a Washington, D.C. press conference last week, U.S. Chamber of Commerce officials blasted Obama’s call for a clean energy future built on modern standards. Christopher Guith, vice president for policy at the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said a national clean-energy standard is “ridiculously premature,” even though 25 states have renewable and alternative energy standards. The Institute’s president, former Bush official Karen Harbert, said that the United States should instead allow “increased access to land for oil and gas drilling both onshore and offshore,” drilling a deeper hole with fossil fuel dependence. This opposition to clean-energy job creation on behalf of big oil is nothing new for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the last decade, the Chamber led the opposition to action on climate change, promoting global warming denial. Its history of defending pollution at the expense of the health of the American public and American jobs, however, goes deeper. Just as it is doing now, the Chamber petitioned to weaken the Clean Air Act in 1982, 1990, and 1997. The Chamber has opposed hazardous waste dumping bans, trade sanctions in NAFTA for failure to enforce environmental laws, and the reinstatement of Superfund taxes on toxic polluters. The Chamber’s anti-regulatory campaign is strongly supported by House Republicans. After the President’s speech, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) lashed out: “Far from changing tack, his administration is taking steps to protect the job-crushing regulations in its health care and permanent bailout laws, while plotting a backdoor national energy tax.”

THE CHAMBER AND INFRASTRUCTURE: Following the President’s State of the Union address, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue issued a rare joint statement supporting “Obama’s call to create jobs and grow the U.S. economy through investment in our nation’s infrastructure.” “Whether it is building roads, bridges, high-speed broadband, energy systems and schools,” they wrote, “these projects not only create jobs and demand for businesses, they are an investment in building the modern infrastructure the country needs to compete in a global economy.” Even with the support of business and labor, the president is going to have an uphill battle putting “more people to work rebuilding crumbling roads, rebuilding our bridges.” Many Republican leaders in Congress are strongly opposed to infrastructure investment. “I understand the goal, but right now this is going to be – anytime you talk about ‘investment’ it means new spending,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD) carped. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the House Budget Committee chairman, is planning “unimaginably steep reductions of 26 percent to transportation and housing.” The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of 175 House conservatives, “wants to completely de-fund Amtrak and high-speed rail.” Republican governors have killed billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects in Ohio, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. It remains to be seen whether the heavily right-leaning Chamber will actually fight Republican leadership to invest in America.

Monday mashup &some News …

did you know …it’s Black History Month

Campaign 2011…

Today, President Obama will meet with the Chamber of Commerce …whom in my opinion helped the Republican Tea Party hold the middle class hostage until they gave the bush bonus giveaway to the rich.

I do not know about anyone else but debates are just a fraction of what i use to make my choice of who to vote for elections. I have been following what the Republicans have been saying and or doing over the months let alone the last few years, gone to YouTube to check out comments, questions and the behavior on the part of these candidates. What stands out for me is that they continue to backtrack, lie and or ignore legitimate questions. They often choose to be interviewed only on one station, usually with the same party line -that is troubling and should give pause to anyone who doesn’t know who they will vote for-words matter, anyone practicing exclusion, targeting minorities and willing to throw fellow Americans under the bus to take back their America-(what does that even mean)? In addition, politicians that are so extreme are not worthy to hold Public office or seat in Congress. These positions of power call for working for “We the People” not some or a select few -they say they want the Government out of our lives yet when it comes to “social issues”; they want to control All Americans by way of privatizing most if not all social programs. If you want less government, why among other things tell women what they can do with their own bodies. The stance on less government is definitely a joke when they pull out that whole family values platform. Republicans are for Profits before the People on steroids. They are into privatizing everything, which will put our democracy at risk from the bottom up -the real world understands that the government works for the people -Cops, Teachers, EMT, and Firefighters! In addition, shame on States that make people pay for such services. It makes you wonder about what these States did with the stimulus money targeted toward government programs. I wonder is there “a dirty little secret” in States that would choose to let your house burn down if you have not paid up your privatized service and let’s be honest if the Republican Tea Party gets back in control that is what will happen. If Republicans repeal replace or eliminate –Social Security and other governmental programs, which is more likely to happen because as of late -they, the Republican Tea Party have not announced an alternative plan. When will Republican Tea Party constituents ask themselves how will going back to the failed spending of 2007 be a good thing, telling people how to live or love and practice discriminatory behavior to folks considered under protected status.

Politicians say, do and offer up resolution or promises that are over the top and because the fight is on to win a seat in Congress or keep your seat, it is obvious it does not mean candidates will give great politics or ideology, but how much money you have to look good and out PR your opponent. I have to say it was nice to see that even with all the money thrown out there by Whitman, Fiorina, angle, O’Donnell and others running for midterm elections. The people were listening, watching and made a decision that these embarrassing women were unqualified to hold public office let alone be described as possible public servants of all the people not just some or a select few. In the en People with or without money can be offensive.

We live in a time when money is speaking excessively loud in the world of Politics, protected by activist judges like some in the Supreme Court. I absolutely believe it is time for all of us to complain and or call them out when one side decides to push the envelope too far right of center instead of the so-called “fair and balanced” news of old. The wonders and need to tweet, FB and or blog about how Republicans have all the cable, major newspapers, magazines and whatnot that dominate the airwaves are offensive. If you listen folks or companies like the Chamber of Commerce, who seems to not only represent right of center Corporate America but pushes business to outsourcing jobs. A guy like Murdoch gives to both sides of an issue and when one side becomes more of a commodity and gets more airtime he feeds it. The NRA supports 58 democrats as well as a whole lot of Republicans because they can make money on both sides of the issue, which is hypocritical and offensive.

Americans cannot do a thing about all the money given up by these corporate giants yet. We can object to the lies coming from Fox, fear mongering and race baiting this station engages in what seems like on a daily basis…even CNN has moved right of center and though that rhetoric has 1st amendment on its side it is still offensive. As a person of colour and as a mom hearing Glenn beck send subliminal nonsense out into the airwaves with actual people choosing to do the wrong thing instead of right -and people get hurt and now worse …that is my prob.

My sense of democracy means total cooperation from both sides of an economic collapse yet the Republican Tea Party has decided they will take all the money you’re handing out but vote no or scale down most if not all legislation as well as throw their own constituents under the bus in order to regain power -that is not democracy.

Other News …

**Packers defeat the Steelers -Superbowl

**Palestinians watch Egypt with a sense of hope

**Huff Post/ AOL deal -for $315million

**Missing Google exec released by authorities after sev days

**Thailand/Camboida still trading military fire…charges over ancient temple

**Cuomo’s budget moving through NY has hit NYC schools

**merger deals causing stocks to climb

**Groupon - epic failure -Superbowl commercial -tasteful comments on the back of what seems like Tibetans

**Justice Thomas‘s wife has decided to try her hand at being a lobbyist …

**Factories are doing well but no new hiring being done

CSPAN …

Senate Ethics Committee appoints special counsel in John Ensign case

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/01/senate-ethics-committee-appoints-special-counsel-j/

House Republicans move to slash domestic programs

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110203/ap_on_re_us/us_congress_budget_3

Obama signs nuclear treaty documents Wednesday

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110202/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_russia_nuclear

Shortly after announcing an overhaul of the nation’s homeland security measures, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), joins C‑SPAN’s Newsmakers to expound on the new approach to prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. http://c-span.com/Events/DHS-Secretary-Janet-Napolitano/10737419403/

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Egypt will not back to the way it was before protests disrupted the country, President Obama said tonight in a pre-Super Bowl interview. Speaking to Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly, the President would not say when Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak would step down http://c-span.com/Events/President-Obama-Egypt-Not-Going-Back/10737419356/ 

Professor Elizabeth Varon teaches a class on fugitive slave laws in the run up to the Civil War at the University of Virginia. Passed in 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act indirectly resulted in the expansion of the Underground Railroad by which slaves could escape from Southern slave-holding states. http://c-span.com/Events/Lectures-in-History-Fugitive-Slave-Laws/10737419325/

Think Fast …thinkprogress.org

“Republican leaders are scaling back” their campaign pledge to seek $100 billion in budget cuts, claiming that “because the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, will be nearly half over before spending cuts could become law.” The cuts they seek will now be in the range of $50-60 billion.

President Obama is reportedly considering naming JP Morgan Chase VP William Daley as his new chief of staff. Daley opposed the Democrats‘ recent push for health care reform and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While working for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2007, he championed financial deregulation and headed up JP Morgan Chase’s lobbying against financial reform.

According to ABC News, Tea Party maven Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is “seriously weighing whether to seek Republican nomination for president in 2012.” Bachmann will travel to Iowa to meet with “political forces” and “party elders close to the caucus process” before making her final decision.

President Obama will likely not issue a signing statement asserting his constitutional authority to bypass a recent congressional action barring him from bringing Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for trial. Instead, Obama will strongly criticize the ban, but stop short of setting up a bypass, which would be an unprecedented assertion of executive authority over the Congress.

House GOP leaders are drawing fire from their political ally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over their intention to cut highway and mass-transit programs. With $41 billion a year at stake, the Chamber said in a letter last week “that subjecting highway spending to the uncertainty of annual budget cuts would lead to more job losses in the battered industry.”

A small group of “unusually energized” hedge fund executives dumped $10 million into defeating Democrats before November’s elections, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity and NBC News. The Wall Street moguls were able to escape initial public notice by funneling money through various third-party groups and other obscure organizations.

The Obama administration “will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning ” included in the new health care law, an abrupt change because the new rule just took effect January 1. The New York Times notes that, while “administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor.”

An immigration bill filed by Kentucky Republicans yesterday is even stricter than Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 bill, which has been challenged in federal court by President Obama. Kentucky’s bill, which Republicans hope to pass by the end of the week, includes a provision that would allow law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants for trespassing.

And finally: Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray (D) is being hailed as a hero after he rescued two kids from a burning minivan, but his actions almost got him punched in the face. Murray was driving through his hometown of Worcester when he noticed smoke, called 911, and rushed to save the kids trapped in the car. However, the children’s grandmother originally thought Murray was trying to kidnap them, and said she almost punched him.

Three Days to Stop CEOs from Stealing Shareholder Votes

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	The recently passed Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act gives shareholders—including workers’ pension funds—the chance to vote on CEO pay. But Big Business front groups are putting together devious loopholes, and we only have three days to stop them. Take Action: Don’t let Big Banks and Wall Street brokers stamp out “say on CEO pay.”

Starting in 2011, shareholders will be able to vote on CEO pay packages. This is great news because:

1. Even if you don’t have any sort of pension, or own any stock, the bottom line is the new Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will help rein in CEO pay if it’s allowed to work. That’s a good thing for working people and the whole economy.

2. Pension funds hold TRILLIONS of dollars in assets belonging to people who are currently working, as well as retirees. So starting in 2011, there’s a chance to use the collective power of working peoples’ pension money to rein in out-of-control CEO pay that goes against the interests of shareholders.

But the new law is already in danger. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable and other Big Business groups are lobbying hard for devious schemes to gut the new law’s “say on CEO pay” provisions, and we only have three days to stop them. They want the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to give corporations more control over the proxy voting system—which is how most shareholders would cast votes on CEO pay.

You can help stop their proposals by sending a public comment to the SEC. But hurry! The deadline to submit your comment is Wednesday, Oct. 20.

Tell the SEC: Shareholders should vote on CEO pay—not Big Banks and Wall Street brokers. (If you add your own words and personalize your comment, even a little, it will make a much bigger impact.)

If Big Business wins on CEO pay, the rest of us lose. The Chamber wants to give Big Banks and Wall Street brokers power to vote on behalf of shareholders—knowing they’ll almost always vote to rubber-stamp excessive CEO pay. And the Business Roundtable wants to weaken investor privacy protections so corporations can send shareholders junk mail soliciting votes in favor of…whatever votes management wants.

Send your public comment to the SEC: Don’t let Big Banks and Wall Street brokers rubber-stamp CEO pay.

Groups representing Big Business are hoping to sneak through these seemingly “technical” changes while nobody’s paying attention. But the fact is, these proposals will undermine the voting rights of shareholders in corporate elections—and because shareholder voting rights will rein in CEO pay, that’s a big deal for everyone who cares about working people in America.

We need your help to make sure the voices of working families are heard in this debate, loud and clear. Can you help? Personalize and submit a public comment now. It only takes a moment.

Thanks for making sure working people keep their say on CEO pay.

Sincerely,

Manny Herrmann, Online Mobilization Manager
AFL-CIO

P.S. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is already trying to buy our elections with gobs of money from secret donors. Don’t let the Chamber undermine our new rights to rein in excessive CEO pay, too. Tell the SEC to put the interests of shareholders—including working families and the pension funds that hold our retirement dollars—before the interests of corporate executives who are trying to suck the rest of us dry.

Media Matters: Saving the country, Murdoch-style

	October 15, 2010
Media Matters: Saving the country, Murdoch-style  At the annual News Corp. shareholders meeting in New York this morning, CEO Rupert Murdoch was forced to answer a battery of questions from frustrated shareholders regarding the company’s controversial contributions of $1 million to both the Republican Governors Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Asked to explain the reasoning behind the contributions, Murdoch said they were made “in the interest of the country and of all the shareholders … that there be a fair amount of change in Washington.” According to Murdoch, the donations, while “unusual,” had “nothing to do with the editorial policies” of News Corp.’s media properties. He also brushed off his widely reported comment that News Corp.’s donation to the RGA was a result of his friendship with former Fox News employee and current GOP gubernatorial candidate John Kasich, calling it a “throwaway line.” However, Sir Rod Eddington, chairman of the audit committee, did tell a representative from the Nathan Cummings Foundation — which sent a letter to the board of directors earlier this week calling for full disclosure of News Corp.’s political contributions — that the foundation’s proposal would be reviewed and that News Corp. would “act expeditiously.” Whether or not a disclosure policy is actually implemented, Murdoch made one thing clear: Shareholders will not select recipients of donations. If shareholders disagreed with directors’ decisions, Murdoch said, “you have the right to vote us off the board.” Fox News: “simply unstoppable” Murdoch may not agree with everything that’s said on Fox News or know who exactly is advertising on Beck these days, but there is one thing he does know: Fox News is “simply unstoppable.” In his letter to shareholders this year, Murdoch wrote: “The Cable Network Programming segment was again our biggest growth driver. In 2010, operating income increased 37% over the prior year to a record $2.3 billion. All major networks showed impressive growth and, in the U.S., the FOX News Channel is simply unstoppable. FNC led the increase in affiliate revenue growth and outperformed CNN, MSNBC and CNBC combined in total viewers, for both prime time and total day categories.” In 2010, Fox News’ revenues increased 23 percent from 2009. Now, admittedly, 2009 was a rough year for News Corp. Overall, the company’s revenues decreased 8 percent, and according to Murdoch, it was “among the most challenging in our Company’s 56-year history.” Yet there was a bright spot. In 2009, Fox News’ revenues increased 26 percent from 2008. In 2008, Fox News’ revenues increased 21 percent from 2007. In 2007, Fox News’ revenues increased 19 percent from 2006. In 2006, Fox News’ revenues increased 13 percent from 2005. In 2005, Fox News’ revenues increased 20 percent from 2004. You get the picture. Rupert Murdoch is cashing in big on hate and lies. Beck’s big Chamber bailout This week, Fox News host Glenn Beck joined News Corp. as a major backer of the Chamber of Commerce: Beck’s call for donations to the Chamber on the October 14 edition of his radio show earned him on-air praise from the group’s top brass and drove so much traffic to the Chamber’s contribution website that it crashed. Apparently an adherent of the view that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” so-called populist warrior Beck implored his audience to fork over their hard-earned cash to corporate darling Chamber of Commerce, “just because the Obama administration hates them.” (The White House’s request that the Chamber disclose its anonymous campaign donors evidently qualifies as “hating” them.) “I don’t agree with everything the Chamber does,” Beck said, citing the Chamber’s pro-immigration reform position, but that hardly hampered his newfound solidarity. Any reservations anti-TARP, anti-stimulus Beck may have had about the pro-TARP, pro-stimulus Chamber were tossed aside. Declaring the Chamber “our parents, our grandparents — they are us,” Beck ponied up $10,000 and told his listeners, “I would like to make this the biggest fundraising day in the Chamber’s history.” Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s executive vice president for government affairs, even went on Beck’s show that day to thank Beck personally for his efforts. “Glenn, just so you know, as a result of you,” Josten said, “[our website has had] the single highest contribution we’ve ever received for an entire day, and that’s just for the first hour.” Indeed, a Chamber official later told Politico: “I don’t have exact numbers, because money is continuing to pour in. It even crashed our servers. The phones blew up today — people were calling all day long. Bottom line: Today was the single largest day of online fundraising that we have ever had in the history of the Chamber.” Rupert Murdoch’s other speech Murdoch gave another speech in New York this week. Two days before he spoke to News Corp. shareholders, he stood before the Anti-Defamation League and said: “Today it seems that the most virulent strains” of anti-Semitism “come from the left.” There was no acknowledgment that his own Fox News personalities have a history of promoting anti-Semitic sources and mainstreaming people who have associations with anti-Semitic groups. Last week, we pointed out that “[o]ver the past few months, several anti-Semitic authors and theories have popped up in Glenn Beck’s TV and radio monologues, and Beck’s audience of millions is, unwittingly or not, being exposed to some of the most hateful rhetoric of the last century.” And according to the Anti-Defamation League, Beck historian and frequent Glenn Beck guest David Barton has spoken at events hosted by the Christian Identity movement, which “asserts that Jews are ‘the synagogue of Satan’; that Blacks and other people of color are subhuman; and that northern European whites and their American descendants are the ‘chosen people’ of scriptural prophesy.” That’s Murdoch’s Fox News: simply unstoppable.