Economy -- Energy Recovery

February 3, 2009

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Ali Frick, Ryan Powers, and Brad Johnson

ECONOMY

Energy Recovery

President Obama's economic recovery and reinvestment plan will begin implementing long-needed changes to our energy infrastructure and start building jobs in a green economy. Recognizing that it is time to "mark a clean break from a troubled past, and set a new course for our nation," the recovery plan's mission is to "immediately jumpstart job creation and long-term growth." Thus, the plan makes a strong commitment to reinvigorating education, basic research, health care, and infrastructure -- investments that deliver returns well above the cost of borrowing. However, many in Congress are questioning this strategy of investment, following Karl Rove's claim that the recovery plan is not "timely, targeted and temporary." Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) attacked education funding, asking, "How many people go to work on Pell grants?" Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) claimed, "It's just a long list of spending items." Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) argued that health care and clean car programs "really would have no impact on the economy." And Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) expressed his dismay that "tens of billions of these dollars are intended to be force fed into so-called green and renewable energy programs under the pretense of job creation." Fortunately, Inhofe is correct when he warns: "This funding boost's real purpose may be to further the political aims of the Obama administration when it comes to offering alleged global-warming 'solutions.'"

ENERGY TRANSFORMATION: "If people want to continue in practices that were more appropriate in the 1950s than today," Center for American Progress President and CEO John Podesta recently told the National Journal, "then I think that they’re going to have to understand that Obama campaigned on a promise of energy transformation." A key element of the economic recovery plan is setting this nation on the path to a low-carbon economy. As former Vice President Al Gore has explained, "We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet." In recent Senate testimony, Gore asked Congress to "quickly pass the plan" because of its "unprecedented and critical investments" in "energy efficiency, renewables, a unified national energy smart grid and the move to clean cars." When Obama first unveiled his plan on Dec. 6, 2008, he announced "a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient" -- not just to save taxpayers "billions of dollars each year" but also to "put people back to work." The version of the recovery plan that passed the House includes "$72 billion for clean energy programs, and another $20 billion for clean energy tax incentives." CAP's Daniel J. Weiss found, "Like the House bill, the Senate bill would invest dramatically more resources in clean energy programs compared to existing 2009 spending levels" -- $78 billion in spending and $31 billion in tax incentives.

SMART POWER: "The United States needs a major overhaul of the electric grid if the country is to meet its economic ambitions and President Barack Obama's hoped-for green revolution," experts say, reported AFP. Obama's recovery plan makes a $20 billion investment in the modernization of our electricity infrastructure. As promoted by General Electric's electric-scarecrow Super Bowl ad, the goal of transforming an often-overwhelmed patchwork of balkanized regional networks into a national "smart grid" based on Internet technology went mainstream. "It's like the Internet for the energy economy," says Katherine Hamilton, head of the GridWise Alliance. Obama's economic recovery plan makes the down payment on three critical, interlocking components: renewable energy, a smart grid with new transmission lines, and next-generation vehicles. "If we're going to be serious about renewable energy," then-candidate Obama explained to Rachel Maddow in October, "I want to be able to get wind power from North Dakota to population centers like Chicago. And we're going to have to have a smart grid. If we want to use plug-in hybrids, then we want to be able to have ordinary consumers sell back the electricity that's generated from those car batteries, back into the grid."

GREEN JOBS, GOOD JOBS: Obama's call for "five million green-collar jobs" in 10 years is at the heart of the economic recovery plan. Investments in education, job training, scientific research -- all of which have been held up by conservatives -- are key to creating "460,000 new jobs" in the next few years and millions more in years to come. Obama's plan follows the framework recommended in Green Recovery, a report commissioned by CAP that found "a strategy to invest in the greening of our economy will create more jobs, and better jobs, compared to continuing to pursue a path of inaction marked by rising dependence on energy imports alongside billowing pollution." Even as politicians dither, the private sector has begun to more forward. Venture capital investment in clean technologies "more than doubled in 2008 to more than $7.5 billion." The fast-growing wind industry "now employs more people than coal mining in the United States." This week, "hundreds of labor, environmental and business advocates" will come to Washington, D.C. for the second annual Green Jobs, Good Jobs Conference and Green Jobs Expo. Speakers including Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) will discuss "how solutions to environmental challenges can be used to drive economic development and create successful and profitable businesses."

MEDIA -- NFL AND NBC REFUSED TO AIR MARRIAGE EQUALITY AD DURING THE SUPER BOWL: The group GetToKnowUsFirst.org has been running 30-second public service announcements around California about marriage equality in the wake of the passage of Prop. 8. The ads typically feature a same-sex couple and their children. On Sunday, however, GetToKnowUsFirst.org's ad did not run on Los Angeles NBC affiliate KNBC. The group attempted to purchase a slot for one of its ads during the Super Bowl. On Friday, KNBC informed GetToKnowUsFirst.org that the the NFL legal department had rejected the ad because they were banning all "advocacy" ads during the entire day of programming. But the NFL and NBC did allow other "advocacy" ads to air that day. For example, viewers saw an anti-steroids ad by the group DontBeAnAsterisk.org and an anti-smoking ad by TobaccoFreeCA.org. (NBC also told CatholicVote.org that the network was not allowing political or advocacy ads, and therefore wouldn't run a pro-life ad.) Unfortunately, this was not the first time that one of GetToKnowUsFirst.org's ads was rejected. Los Angeles ABC-affiliate KABC recently refused to air the same GetToKnowUsFirst.org ad because the content was deemed "too controversial [because] many families will be watching."

ECONOMY -- SENATE GOP FLOAT $3.1 TRILLION STIMULUS PLAN CENTERED ON TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH: Yesterday during a press conference, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reiterated his opposition to President Obama's economic recovery plan, expressing concern about its long term cost. "We have been throwing figures around like it was paper money. We are already looking at, before we even do this, at over a trillion dollar deficit for this year," McConnell said. Other Senate Republicans have echoed McConnell's rhetoric but the only alternative they are offering is a plan written by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) based on a series of permanent tax breaks for corporations and wealthy Americans. According to a Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis, this plan will cost $3.1 trillion over 10 years -- nearly three times the cost of Obama's plan. Permanent tax cuts are one of the least effective ways of stimulating the economy, according to both Moody's Economy.com and the Congressional Budget Office. Furthermore, slashing government revenues would leave deep structural deficits for generations to come. McConnell is fond of saying that a stimulus bill should be "timely, temporary, and targeted." However, the plan Senate Republicans are backing fulfills none of these criteria.

JUSTICE -- ATTORNEY SAYS ROVE WILL COOPERATE WITH DOJ PROBES: After months of insisting he has no legal obligation to comply with Justice Department probes, Karl Rove's attorney told TPM Muckraker that Rove will cooperate with the DOJ's inquiry into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. The Justice Department's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility released a report in September explicitly stating that an earlier probe on this matter was "hindered" by Rove's refusal to cooperate. In the interview, Rove's attorney Robert Luskin claimed that Rove was acting at the direction of President Bush's White House counsel's office, saying, "It was not his [Rove's] call... it was not up to us decide." However, Rove seems to be intent on avoiding testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, which is also investigating the attorney scandal. Just days before Bush left office, then-White House Counsel Fred Fielding wrote to Luskin instructing Rove not to testify and claiming Bush's executive privilege extended even after the end of his presidency. The Committee issued a new subpoena of Rove on Jan. 26, but Rove told Fox News's Bill O'Reilly that he had no intention of testifying. Huffington Post reports that as of Sunday, Rove was still indicating he would refuse to appear before, much less testify to, the Judiciary Committee.

A new USA Today/Gallup polls finds that "Americans overwhelmingly want Congress to pass an economic stimulus bill." Two-thirds say the package will boost the economy but regarding personal finances, half "say it either would have no effect or even make things worse." Nevertheless, only 17 percent say "Congress should reject a stimulus bill altogether."

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said yesterday after meeting with Tom Daschle that he was "satisfied that Daschle’s failure to pay more than $120,000 in back taxes wasn't intentional and he would vote in favor of the nomination at next week's hearing." Baucus said Daschle's tax issues didn't make him "less qualified"to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

President Obama is mounting a media offensive to promote passage of his $800 billion-plus economic recovery plan. He will sit for 10 minute interviews with ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and CNN anchors today between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.

On Capitol Hill today, thousands of union members will deliver 1.5 million signatures in support of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it much easier for workers to unionize. The workers "are expected to be joined by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA)," who are both prominent supporters of the legislation.

The share of businesses with fewer than 10 workers that offer health benefits has declined by 16 percent since 2001 and "the economic downturn has only accelerated the pressure on small-business owners" to cut back on their employee health coverage. Rising premiums have prompted more than half of small businesses to make it more difficult for their employees to afford coverage, surveys say.

In a "symbolic" gesture to cooperate with Republicans, Senate Democrats have agreed to drop "two controversial spending programs in the Senate economic stimulus bill: $75 million dollars for anti-smoking programs, and $400 million for STD and HIV prevention." As ThinkProgress has reported, despite right-wing objections, STD prevention funding could ultimately save the country billions.

In the last six months of 2008, eight companies that would benefit from the $700 billion bank bailout bill "spent roughly $366,000 on events and charities connected to members of Congress." For example, the conservative Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute "will see its annual gala in May 2009 partly sponsored by a TARP recipient” that has received $935 million in Treasury funds so far.

First Lady Michelle Obama is "crafting a policy-driven agenda that will bring working-family issues into the White House." A former speech writer for Nancy Reagan predicted, "This is not going to be a first lady focused on sleeveless designer dresses and puppy names but on serious and complex issues."

And Finally: Looking for a souvenir commemorating one of the most famous personalities of the 2008 election? Patriot Portrait Collectibles of Indignico Inc. has your answer: an "authentic Mexican Black Velvet Painting" of Joe the Plumber. The portrait is titled "The Last of The Undecideds," with the subheading, "A Republican Party Deep Thinker." It's yours for just $250.

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Eric Holder as the first African-American attorney general, "opening a new chapter for a Justice Department that had suffered under allegations of improper political influence and policy disputes over harsh interrogation practices."

THINK PROGRESS: MSNBC'S Joe Scarborough: President Obama's trying to "buy off people" with "pure, straight socialism."

WONK ROOM: Senate Republicans' "temporary and targeted" tax cuts are permanently targeted to the wealthy.

POLITICAL ANIMAL: Do conservatives still love the Congressional Budget Office now that it says 78 percent of President Obama's recovery plan will be spent in the first 18 months?

FEMINISTE: At least five sexist ads were featured during the Super Bowl.

MONTANA: Utility scraps coal plant for low-carbon power.

MARYLAND: "Partners of gay and lesbian Maryland state employees and their children would be entitled to health benefits under a proposal announced yesterday by Gov. Martin O'Malley."

CALIFORNIA: Prop. 8 has been the most expensive social issue campaign in history.

"He had a reverence for the office, that's why he didn't get partisan."
-- Rush Limbaugh, 2/1/09, on President Bush

VERSUS

"High-ranking political appointees at the Justice Department labored to stock a prestigious hiring program with young conservatives in a five-year-long attempt to reshape the department's ranks, according to an inspector general's report."
-- Washington Post, 6/24/08

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