They have commandeered a public park, shut down the Brooklyn Bridge, and disrupted counted small businesses, but the Democratic Party establishment appears to be steadily moving toward embracing Occupy Wall Street anyway.
The labor movement, including the SEIU and Transportation Workers Union, have been aiding the protesters in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhatan for some time. Now the Communications Workers of America, the Amalgamated Transit Union, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees are doing the same.
And where Big Labor goes, Democratic office holders can’t be far behind. Yesterday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the largest Democratic caucus in the United States Congress, officially endorsed the Occupy Wall Street movement. This shouldn’t actually be all that surprising. The groups official list of demands reads like the Progressive Caucus platform: “Institute a universal single payer health care system. … Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment. … Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.”
Is this a group whose message Democrats really want to be associated with heading into an election year where voters overwhelming believe the federal government is too large, does too many things, and and, according to the majority of Americans, wastes most of the tax dollars it spends?
Around the Bigs
Fox News, House Republicans Request Special Counsel to Probe Holder on Fast and Furious: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, sent a letter to President Obama yesterday demanding that he appoint a special counsel to investigate whether or not Attorney General lied to Congress about Operation Fast and Furious: “I am suggesting there is a conflict between what the attorney general told us and what these documents that were just released show us. … We need to find out what’s behind that … and give the attorney general the opportunity to tell the truth,” Smith told Fox News.
The Hill, Senate Democrats buck Obama on jobs by changing ‘pay-fors’: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., rejected President Obama’s America Jobs Act Tuesday, admitting his own conference did not support raising taxes on oil and gas companies. Reid said he would try and pay for Obama’s spending bill with a millionaire’s surtax.
The Washington Examiner, Obama pushes jobs bill while ‘green’ program fails: While President Obama pitched his second stimulus bill in Texas yesterday, a new Labor Department study on his first stimulus showed that a $500 million “green jobs” training program intended to create 80,000 jobs had achieved only 10 percent of its goal so far.
The Washington Post, Energy Department was careless with taxpayer money: Private investors with knowledge of the sector and career White House officials both warned President Obama that the Energy Department program which gave $527 million to the now bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, was making bad investments. “Bad days are coming,” one White House budget analyst wrote of the companies the Energy Department chose to give taxpayer money to.
The Wall Street Journal, Housing’s Job Engine Falters: Housing and related sectors fell to 13%of the US. economy in the second quarter of this year. In 2005, they accounted for 16.8%. “People are losing their jobs and never getting equivalent jobs,” Yale University economist Robert Shiller tells The Journal. “That fear is spooking everyone, so people aren’t in a mood to expand.”
Reuters, US Factory Orders Fell Unexpectedly in August: New orders for U.S. factory goods fell in August for the second time in three months, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday.
The Washington Post, Banks defend debit-card fees amid pressure from Washington: The American Bankers Association fired back at President Obama and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Tuesday, accusing the federal government of attempting to control private-sector prices. “It’s disappointing and puzzling that the president would attack a private corporation for responding to government price-fixing that has fundamentally altered the economics of offering a debit card,” ABA President Frank Keating said.
The Wall Street Journal, Greece Shutdown by Nationwide Strike: Government unions shutdown most of Greece’s public services yesterday, including schools, courts, and hospitals. The 24-hour strike against government spending cuts also slowed emergency health services and state-owned companies that were operating at reduced staff levels.
The New York Times, In Europe, Signs of 2nd Recession With Wide Reach: Declining business orders in France in Germany indicate that Europe is heading into it’s second recession in three years.
Campaign 2012
Christie: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference in Trenton, Tuesday, to announce, again, that he is not running for president. “New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me,” Christie said.
Florida: Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Jon Huntsman have all announced they will boycott the January 29th Univision debate due to the network’s hit piece on a relative of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Univision aired a story about a drug bust that happened 24 years ago involving Rubio’s brother-in-law just days after Rubio refused an interview with one of Univision’s liberal programs. NBC and Telemundo will also be hosting a debate that weekend.
West Virginia: Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin, a 36-year politician who took over the governor’s mansion after Joe Manchin left for the Senate, narrowly defeated Republican drilling executive Bill Maloney 49.6 percent to 47 percent in a special election last night. When the race began, Maloney had been down 30-points.
Righty Playbook
Sharyl Attkisson, the CBS News investigative journalist who broke the news that Attorney general Eric Holder lied to Congress, told Laura Ingraham that Justice Department and White House staff yelled and screamed at her over the phone for reporting on the Fast and Furious scandal.
The Corner‘s Ramesh Ponnuru has some questions for David Brooks about Mitt Romney.
RedState‘s Daniel Horowitz shows that “attrition through enforcement” worked in Alabama.
Lefty Playbook
The Washington Post‘s Harold Meyerson says the Occupy Wall Street protests are “rescuing America.”
Talking Points Memo‘s Ryan Reilly details what options the Obama Justice Department has to overturn state anti-voter fraud laws.
The Washington Post‘s Ezra Klein reports from the Cleveland Clinic’s annual innovation summit: “Business types really hate Barack Obama. Everybody sort of knows that, but it’s hard to get a sense of it if you’re not in the room listening to them laugh bitterly at questions like, ‘Does Obama understand the damage regulations are doing to business?’”
