DISPATCHES

WEAKEST INEVITABLE NOMINEE EVER

Many national pundits were ready to wrap up the presidential nominating process on Feb. 4 when Mitt Romney, after outspending his rivals by many multiples, finally got a majority of votes in a partisan event with his victory in the Nevada caucuses. But after the dust cleared, it turned out that Romney won 50.1% of only 32,894 votes cast in the Silver State. As Markos “Kos” Moulitsas noted at Daily Kos (4/6), that means Mitt got the support of 3.5% of the 471,292 registered Republicans in the state. “Not exactly lighting it up, is he?” The turnout didn’t even match the 44,000 Republicans who participated in Nevada’s 2008 caucuses (which Mitt also won), much less than the 116,000 Democrats who turned out for the 2008 Democratic caucuses. Hillary Clinton won Nevada, but couldn’t stop Obama, who then marshaled the newly registered voters to carry the state in the general election. The eventual Republican nominee won’t have much to work with from this Nevada caucus turnout.

Kos also noted that the Nevada GOP caucus turnout was 90% white, up from 88% white in 2008. The GOP caucus was 5% Latino, down from 8% four years ago. With 26.5% of the state's population Latino, and almost half of the state’s growth in that group, the GOP is becoming whiter, “a sure-fire recipe for long-term irrelevancy,” Kos wrote.

Meanwhile, an ABC/Washington Post poll conducted Feb. 1-4 showed Obama leading Romney 51-45 and leading Gingrich 54-43. The poll also found that the more voters heard about Romney, 52% said they liked him less while only 24% liked him more.

On Feb. 7, Rick Santorum got a second wind in his campaign when he won Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a non-binding primary in Missouri. Romney even finished third in Minnesota, behind Ron Paul. Could be a long way to Tampa Bay for the Mittster.

SENATE DEMS CONCEDE TO GOP ON UNION RULES. The Senate voted 75-20 to approve a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (2/6) despite union protests that the bill contains amendments that make it harder to organize transportation workers. Among the new provisions: union organizers would have to get 50% of workers to sign union cards calling for an election (up from 35% under current rules). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) reportedly agreed to the higher card-check threshold in exchange for Republicans giving up on non-voters being counted against the union when the certification vote is held, but union officials are concerned that management will get to decide who was in the potential bargaining unit. Then, in the inevitable litigation, the list of who signed union cards would have to be disclosed, allowing management to intimidate and retaliate against union supporters. Also, in case of a merger, if the larger workforce is non-union, the existing union would be dissolved without an election.

Fifteen Democrats voted against the FAA reauthorization, presumably because of the anti-union provision. They were Akaka (D-HI), Blumenthal (D-CT), Brown (D-OH), Cardin (D-MD), Casey (D-PA), Franken (D-MN), Gillibrand (D-NY), Harkin (D-IA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Leahy (D-VT), McCaskill (D-MO), Merkley (D-OR), Mikulski (D-MD), Sanders (I-VT), Stabenow (D-MI).

Five Republicans voted against the FAA reauthorization, presumably because it allows unions and/or government regulation of airlines. They were Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Lee (R-UT), Paul (R-KY) and Risch (R-ID).

MITT’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU. Mitt Romney's defenders say his statement that “I'm not concerned about the very poor” was taken out of context, but Jonathan Cohn wrote at TNR.com (2/1) that the quote in context is hardly innocuous. “I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there,” Romney said on CNN (2/1). “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90%, 95% of Americans who right now are struggling, and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.”

Cohn noted, “To give Romney his due, he clearly wasn’t saying that he was indifferent to the very poor. And I assume that, deep in his heart, he is not. Instead, Romney was saying that, as president, he wouldn’t make the very poor a top priority, because they are doing well enough, at least relative to the middle class. But where on earth did Romney get that idea?”

Cohn noted that more than half of all children in poor households experienced a major hardship, such as hunger or living in overcrowded conditions, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The poor struggle to pay for food and heat, as well as rent and health care. And while Romney vowed “to repair” holes in the safety net, the policies he has proposed would have the opposite effect, as he has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act and he has pledged to reduce non-defense spending by a half-trillion dollars by 2016.

Cohn concluded: “Romney’s political strategy here seems clear to me: He’s trying to drive a wedge between the poor and the middle class, convincing the latter that they lose out to the former when Democrats are in charge. And the strategy may work. It’s certainly helped Republicans before. But the big beneficiary of Romney's plan to reorder fiscal priorities is not the middle class. It’s the very wealthy, who would get substantial tax benefits and who will usually be fine with weakened public services.

“So maybe Romney’s quote is misleading after all. It suggests that only the poor would be afterthoughts in a Romney presidency, when even many non-poor Americans would be forgotten, too.”

ROMNEY DEFENDS PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUNDING. Mitt Romney joined the ranks of anti-women’s-health extremists when he said, in a radio interview with Scott Hennen (2/6), that he doesn't think the Komen foundation should continue to fund cancer screening at Planned Parenthood. Then he went further: “I also feel that the government should cut off funding to Planned Parenthood ... Look, the idea that we’re subsidizing an institution which is providing abortion, in my view, is wrong. Planned Parenthood ought to stand on their own feet, and should not get government subsidy.”

Approximately 3% of Planned Parenthood's budget goes to provide abortion services and many of its clinics do not provide abortion services. But Kaili Joy Gray noted at DailyKos.com (2/6) that Romney sought the endorsement of Planned Parenthood in 2002 when he was running for governor and “pretending to be a staunch supporter of women's rights.” And the Boston Globe noted that in 2005 then-Gov. Romney required all hospitals in the state — even Catholic hospitals — to provide emergency contraception to victims of rape.

POLL: CATHOLICS SUPPORT OBAMA ON BIRTH CONTROL. Mitt Romney also hopped on board the “Obama is attacking Catholics” train, criticizing the administration’s ruling that employers and insurance companies must provide coverage for birth control, with an exemption for religious institutions whose primary mission is ministering to the faithful, but a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute (2/7) indicates that a majority of Catholics are OK with that ruling.

More Catholics (58%) than Americans as a whole (55%) agreed that “employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception and birth control at no cost.”

Joan McCarter noted at DailyKos.com (2/7): “Given the fact that 98% of Catholic women who’ve had sex are using birth control [according to the Guttmacher Institute], and 99% of American women are using it, support for its coverage by insurance companies shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone other than maybe Rick Santorum (or Mitt Romney, depending on which day of the week it is).”

SANDERS PROPOSES TO CURB CORPORATIONS. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has proposed a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that in 2010 allowed corporations to get involved in political campaigns, which has led to the rise of nearly unaccountable corporate-funded “Super PACs.” The Saving American Democracy Amendment, which is sponsored by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) in the House, states that:

• Corporations are not persons with constitutional rights equal to real people.

• Corporations are subject to regulation by the people.

• Corporations may not make campaign contributions or any election expenditures.

• Congress and states have the power to regulate campaign finances.

For more information or to lend support, call Sanders’ office at 202-224-5141, email press@sanders.senate.gov or see sanders.senate.gov.

REPORT DETAILS ALEC INFLUENCE IN OHIO. A new report released Feb. 6 by People For the American Way Foundation, Common Cause, the Center for Media and Democracy and Progress Ohio reveals the deep ties between the corporate-controlled American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Ohio state lawmakers. “ALEC in Ohio: The Corporate Special Interests that Help Write Ohio's Laws” (site.pfaw.org/pdf/ALEC-in-Ohio.pdf) demonstrates ALEC’s policymaking influence with an in-depth analysis of the organization’s ties to key Ohio lawmakers, as well as a side-by-side comparison of nine ALEC “model” bills and actual Ohio legislation, including:

• Attacks on workers by severely limiting collective bargaining, eliminating public employment through outsourcing and privatizing government functions;

• Diminishing public education through private school voucher programs and private scholarship tax credits;

• Encouraging privatization of state prisons to benefit the private prison industry;

• Voter suppression bills designed to disenfranchise thousands of eligible Americans;

• Draconian anti-immigrant measures that criminalize undocumented workers and penalize their employers;

• Creation of barriers for consumers and injured parties in seeking justice from corporations in a court of law;

• Measures to prevent implementation of health care reform.

Of course, similar model bills have been introduced and passed in other states controlled by Republicans.

Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga noted that Republicans passed SB 5, the ALEC bill that repealed collective bargaining rights for Ohio public employees (and which Ohio voters overwhelmingly overturned in a 2011 ballot initiative). “When Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected SB 5 last year, they sent a clear message that they will not tolerate attacks on Ohio’s middle class,” said Burga. He called for legislators to cut their ties with ALEC and align themselves more closely with the interests of those they were elected to represent.

CORPORATE TAX RATE PLUNGES. In recent decades, corporate tax revenue has plunged, falling from about 6% of gross domestic product in the 1950s to less than 2% today, due to a proliferation of corporate tax breaks and the use of offshore tax havens. Pat Garofalo noted at ThinkProgress.org (2/3) that corporate tax receipts as a share of corporate profits have hit their lowest point in 40 years.

Corporate tax receipts as a share of profits are at their lowest level in at least 40 years. Total corporate federal taxes paid fell to 12.1% of profits earned from activities within the US in fiscal 2011, which ended 9/30, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s the lowest level since at least 1972, and well below the 25.6% companies paid on average from 1987 to 2008.

Even the 25.6% share of profits that went to corporate taxes over the last quarter century comes in below the top statutory corporate tax rate of 35%. Meanwhile, corporate profits are currently at a 60 year high, rebounding back to above where they were before the Great Recession hit.

SUPER SOLIDARITY IN INDIANAPOLIS. Just a few days before the Super Bowl brought the spotlight to Indianapolis, the Republican-controlled Indiana Legislature pushed through a “right-to-work-for-less” bill and Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) signed it into law. Tens of thousands of workers marched from the statehouse to Super Bowl village, where construction workers, teachers, grocery clerks and truck drivers chanted, “Remember November,” vowing to take back the state door by door, neighborhood by neighborhood. In another rally (2/3), DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, and NFL players joined Hyatt housekeepers as well as construction, office and steel workers to demand Hyatt end its abuse of subcontracted workers and hire outsourced workers directly. Smith said NFL players would continue a year-old boycott of Hyatt over its treatment of workers.

After the Indiana Senate approved (28-22) the “right to work for less” bill (2/1), Mike Hall noted at the AFL-CIO blog that a similar bill was passed in Indiana in 1957, but voters not only turned out the Republican majority in the next election cycle, but the law was repealed in 1965. “As working men and women did in the 1950s and ’60s, this generation of Hoosiers will now rise up, join forces and repeal this anti-worker agenda again,” Indiana AFL-CIO President Nancy Guyott said.

ARIZONA GOP STEPS UP ON UNIONBUSTING. The AFL-CIO blog also notes that Arizona Republicans hope to go farther than their counterparts in Wisconsin with a slate of bills that would eliminate the scourge of public-sector unions in the state. The bills would ban collective bargaining by public employees, end automatic payroll deductions for dues and prohibit compensation for performing union duties. These measures go even further than the union-stripping bills that enraged Wisconsinites last year and, unlike in Wisconsin, Arizona police and fire unions would not be exempted. Nick Granias of the right-wing Goldwater Institute, which is joining ALEC and other right-wing groups in driving the agenda, told TalkingPointsMemo.com, "In Arizona, we believe that the political will exists to do even more comprehensive reform. The environment, the climate that we face in Arizona is much more receptive to these kinds of reforms than Wisconsin is.”

Republicans are expected to bring up “right to work for less” legislation in the New Hampshire Legislature. Gov. John Lynch (D) vetoed a bill approved by the Republican-dominated Legislature last year and Republicans were unable to override it.

UNION MEMBERSHIP NOTCHES UP. Despite the Republican efforts to outlaw unions, overall union membership increased by 49,000 from 2010 to 2011, including 15,000 new 16-to-24-year-old members, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tula Connell noted at AFL-CIO's blog (1/27) that an increase of 111,000 in the private sector was offset by a decline of 61,000 in the public sector, making the rate of union membership essentially unchanged at 11.8%, with some 14.8 mln US union workers. Public-sector density increased from 36.2% to 37% through November 2011, while private-sector union membership remains at 6.9%. The largest increases in union membership were in construction, health care services, retail trade, primary metals and fabricated metal products, hospitals, transportation and warehousing.

HEALTH BILL SAVES SENIORS $2.1B. The Affordable Care Act has saved 3.6 mln people enrolled in Medicare $2.1 bln on their prescription drugs in 2011, the US Department of Health and Human Services reported. The law, which Republicans are promising to repeal, provides a 50% discount on brand-name prescription drugs and, beginning this year, a 14% discount on generics.

QUIET TRIUMPH OF OBAMA CARE. Harold Pollack and Greg Anrig, writing at WashingtonMonthly.com (1/30), expressed surprise that President Obama, in his State of the Union speech, barely mentioned the accomplishments of his Affordable Care Act, which is shaping up as a “quiet triumph.” In five areas where the health care law already has had an impact, Pollack and Anrig wrote, the act (1) has brought coverage to 2.5 mln young adults; (2) is delivering major savings to seniors on prescription drugs and preventive care; (3) has offered new coverage protections for those with pre-existing conditions. (4) has made structural changes that are already making the health system more efficient; and (5) brings greater fairness, transparency an integrity to private insurance, with the federal government now helping states scrutinize large insurance plan rate increases.

As Pollack and Anrig concluded, “Health reform has already improved the humanity and effectiveness of our health care system. President Obama is entitled, and obliged, to embrace his own signature domestic policy accomplishment.”

‘SINGLE-PAYER’ STALLS IN CALIF. SENATE. A bill to set up “Medicare for all” universal health care coverage in California fell short of the 21 votes needed to pass the bill in the state Senate (1/26). The bill had the support of a majority, but the 19-15 vote failed to clear the 21-vote threshold needed to pass the Senate, as four moderate Democrats abstained and one Dem joined the Republicans voting no. Similar bills passed the legislature in 2007 and 2009, only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), California Healthline reported.

JOBS REPORT DEPRESSES REPUBLICANS. The nation’s unemployment rate in January fell to 8.3%, down from December's 8.5%, and the economy added 243,000 jobs, with growth in manufacturing and construction, according to the latest figures released (2/3) by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate has dropped by 0.8 percentage points since August and to the lowest point since February 2009, shortly after President Obama took office. The number of jobless workers dropped to 12.8 mln, down from December’s 13.1 mln. But the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 5.5 mln, about 42.9% of the unemployed.

Republicans who have worked for the past three years to undercut any economic recovery were loathe to credit President Obama or the Democrats. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) played down the new jobs. “What I’m suggesting to you today is that we can do better,” Boehner said at a press conference on the jobs report. “The American people are still asking a question: Where are the jobs? And while the unemployment rate is down slightly and a few more Americans are at work, we still have millions of Americans that are looking for work.”

In fact, American people are increasingly recognizing that the GOP is intentionally sabotaging recovery efforts. A Suffolk University poll in October found that 49% of Floridians agreed that the GOP was cynically hampering efforts "to jumpstart the economy" in order to thwart Obama's re-election. Public Policy Polling in November found that 50% of registered voters nationally had come to that conclusion.

The unemployment insurance program for the nation’s jobless workers expires Feb. 29. A conference is under way between the Senate and House over two very different one-year extensions of the UI program passed late last year. Republicans would slash federal benefits, impose harsh new restrictions and move to dismantle unemployment insurance. They also are trying to restrict EPA air pollution regulations and require the administration to approve the Kestone XL tar sands pipeline.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said, “The seeds of sustainable job growth are clearly present — if Republicans in Congress do not succeed in weakening the recovery.”

Manufacturing saw an increase of 50,000 jobs, mostly in durable goods, and the construction industry gained 21,000 jobs. Professional and business services added 70,000 jobs, leisure and hospitality added 40,000 jobs and health care jobs grew by 31,000. Government employment was essentially unchanged, but over the past year, 276,000 public employee jobs have been lost.

FEDS DENY WAIVERS ON HEALTH INSURANCE REBATES. Texas regulators will not be allowed to phase in a new rule designed to penalize health insurance companies that spend more than 20% of premiums on overhead, the Austin American-Statesman reported (1/27). The US Department of Health and Human Services said Texas failed to convincingly back up claims that the new rule, part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, will force a significant number of companies to stop offering policies to Texans who directly purchase health insurance instead of receiving it through their employers.

Under the rule, insurers that devote more than 20% of premiums to overhead costs will have to refund the difference to customers. The first round of rebates, for policies purchased in 2011, must be paid by 8/1.

Officials with the Texas Department of Insurance had asked that the rule be phased in over four years.

Consumer groups praised the federal ruling, saying an estimated $160 mln will have to be repaid this summer. "Texas' request put insurers' profits over consumers' pocketbooks and would have set up the state to miss a critical opportunity to slow rising insurance premiums," said Blake Hutson with Consumers Union .

About 725,000 Texans purchase their own health insurance, and almost two-thirds would have qualified for rebates if the standard had been in place in 2010, state figures show.

Another 6.1 mln Texans are uninsured — that's one of every four Texans are uninsured, the highest rate in the nation. Texas Republican legislators want to block implementation of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act but they have done little to otherwise provide affordable insurance for people whose employers don’t provide coverage. The state’s health insurance regulatory agency has little authority to limit rate increases.

SMALL BIZ OWNERS BLAME JOB EXPORTS, NOT REGS. Small business owners say that weak customer demand — not government regulations — is their biggest concern and that the best way to create jobs is to eliminate incentives to move jobs overseas. A poll of 500 small business owners by American Sustainable Business Council, Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority found that the conservative boogieman of regulations was fifth on the list of concerns, after ending job export incentives, boosting consumer demand, increasing consumer purchasing and investing in infrastructure such as road and bridges. Also, 86% of those surveyed said regulations are a necessary part of a modern economy. See mainstreetalliance.org.

CHINA THREATENS US AUTO PARTS JOBS. More than 1.6 mln American jobs in the nation’s auto supply chain are at risk unless China’s illegal trade practices are curtailed, according to three new reports released (1/31). Mike Hall at AFL-CIO notes that two reports from the Economic Policy Institute and one from Stewart and Stewart, a law firm that has won cases challenging China’s unfair trade practices, detail China’s persistent and growing violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and outline plans by China’s government to use these same tactics to boost their auto parts exports even further.

In the past 10 years alone, China’s auto parts exports to the US have increased by 850%, while jobs in the parts industry declined by more than 400,000. Products in the US auto-parts trade include tires, engines and electrical and electronic equipment. About 75% of jobs in the US auto industry are in the auto-parts sector, with direct and indirect auto parts jobs in virtually every state, according to the report, "Growing Threats to the US Auto-Parts Industry from Heavily Subsidized Chinese Tires and Parts," at epi.org. A second report, "Putting the Pedal to the Metal: Subsidies to China's Auto-Parts Industry from 2001 to 2011, cites $27.5 bln in government subsidies to the Chinese auto-parts industry and notes that China's central government has committed to disbursing an additional $10.9 bln in subsidies for industrial restructuring and technological development of the industry.

BANK TRANSFER DAY GOT 610,000 TO SWITCH. An estimated 5.6 mln big bank customers switched banks in the last 90 days, Javelin Strategy & Research reported. Of those, the research firm said at least 610,000 cited Bank Transfer Day as their reason, according to Mandi Woodruff of Business Insider.

After Bank Transfer Day (11/5/11), the Credit Union National Association reported that 650,000 customers made the switch to credit unions. A month later, they backpedaled, putting the figure at a little more than 214,000, Woodruff noted, but the Javelin report shows that the growing chasm between consumers and financial institutions is nothing for big banks to sniff at.

Bank Transfer Day was the catalyst for 11% of customer defections and more than a quarter cited bank fees as their reason for leaving, Javelin reported. The angry bank switchers represent nearly a three-time increase over the amount who took their funds out of large banks for similar reasons during the previous 90 days.

FLA. LAWMAKER FORGETS TO REMOVE ALEC TAG. Progressives have tried to expose the influence the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wields in state legislatures across the country, but Alex Seitz-Wald of ThinkProgress.org notes that one Florida lawmaker is making it too easy.

Funded almost entirely by large corporations, ALEC produces “model legislation” favorable to industry that state lawmakers can introduce as their own bills. Usually, the legislators tweak the language of the bills to make them state-specific or to obfuscate their origins. Usually, but apparently not always.

In November, Florida state Rep. Rachel Burgin (R) introduced a resolution that would officially call on the federal government to reduce corporate taxes, but she apparently forgot to remove ALEC’s mission statement from the top of the bill, which she seems to have copied word-for-word from ALEC’s model bill. Within 24 hours she noticed the gaffe and replaced the bill with a new version that excluded the ALEC boilerplate, but the original version is available at ThinkProgress.org for 2/2.

SOAKING THE POOR, STATE BY STATE. Poor residents of Washington state pay the highest percentage of taxes as a percentage of their income, the Corporation for Enterprise Development reported. It ranked states based on the state and local taxes paid as a percentage of income of the poorest 20% as a multiple of the rate paid by the richest 1%. The poorest 20% in Washington pay 17.3% of their income in taxes, 6.7 times the 2.6% tax rate the top 1% pay. Florida ranked second in soaking the poor, who paid 13.5% of their income, 6.4 times the 2.1% the richest paid. South Dakota ranked third, as the 11% paid by the poor was 5.8 times the 1.9% paid by the rich. D.C. was the only place where the rich, taxed at 6.4%, paid more than the poor, at 6.2%. See (assetsandopportunity.org/scorecard).

DEMS KEEP OREGON CONGRESS SEAT. Progressive former state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici (D) soundly defeated a Republican businessman in a special election for northwestern Oregon's 1st Congressional District (1/31). Bonamici defeated Republican businessman Rob Cornilles, 58-42% to replace David Wu, who resigned last year. During the campaign, Bonamici called for the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes, job creation through infrastructure investment and protection of Social Security and Medicare. She will fill out Wu’s remaining term and be on the ballot for a full two-year term in November.

COBURN DEFENDS FRIENDSHIP WITH OBAMA. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was forced to defend his cordial relationship with President Obama at a townhall meeting in Edmond, Okla., the Oklahoman reported (4/5). A woman questioned why Coburn is considered to have a warm, personal relationship with the president, a Democrat who failed to win any of Oklahoma's 77 counties four years ago. "I want to try to be able to have an influence on Barack Obama because he's still our president," said Coburn, who served in the Senate with Obama before he won the White House. “He's not just their president; he's our president. He is the president — that office matters.