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MORNING MESSAGE: Push Beyond The Limits Of Obama’s Infrastructure Jobs Plan

OurFuture.org's Isaiah Poole: President Obama’s infrastructure investment plan, released officially Wednesday afternoon, is an important step in the direction of what America needs: a full-employment plan that puts Americans back to work rebuilding an America of shared prosperity. But it is just a step, and a modest one at that, reflective of the constraints on the political agenda that have been imposed by the Washington political establishment. Progressives should not accept these limits – not when we have 16 percent unemployment rate in the construction industry and nearly 8 percent unemployment in the economy as a whole, and when we have literally trillions of dollars worth of projects that need doing to support future economic growth."

Republicans Aren't Trying To Stop Sequester

Dems slam Boehner for adjourning House all week with sequester looming. The Hill: "They're hoping the lull of this week's congressional recess will attract attention to the Republicans' stated willingness to allow the sequester to take effect on March 1 rather than submit to new tax revenues..."

Republicans say the want/don't want the sequester. NYT: "...the House is moving forward on a legislative agenda that assumes deep and arbitrary cuts to defense and domestic programs — once considered unthinkable — will remain in place through the end of the year ... Republicans need not do anything and deep spending cuts they have demanded for years will go into force automatically. Speaker John A. Boehner wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday: 'As the president’s outrage about the sequester grows in coming days, Republicans have a simple response: Mr. President, we agree that your sequester is bad policy.'"

Sequester could take 0.5% off of GDP growth this year reports NYT.

Pentagon warns of 800,000 furloughs. W. Post: "In the most detailed account of the ramifications of across-the-board cuts, called the sequester, Defense Department officials said civilian personnel could be put on leave one day a week for 22 weeks — effectively cutting their pay by 20 percent for nearly six months."

Republicans winning the battle of time, says W. Post's E. J. Dionne: "Here is the most important thing about the battle raging in the capital over $85 billion in automatic spending cuts: Republicans are losing the argument but winning the time war ... The more time we spend on pointless disputes about budget cuts no one is expected to make soon, the less we spend trying to solve the problems that confront us today..."

Dean Baker slams Simpson-Bowles goal of debt-to-GDP ratio of below 70%: "Where did the 70 percent number come from, divine inspiration? It is clearly not grounded in reality. Japan has a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 200 percent and can still borrow long term at just 1.0 percent interest."

President Announces "Fix It FIrst" Plan

President prepares infrastructure initiative. NYT: "The first element of the plan is a 'fix it first' policy that calls for investing $50 billion in transportation infrastructure, subject to Congressional approval ... The second part of the plan would draw on private investment from across the nation and around the world for federal, state and local projects. It revives the president’s call for creation of a National Infrastructure Bank ... The third portion of the plan would work to eliminate red tape in permits and review for infrastructure projects."

"Cities group worried about funding" reports The Hill: "The National League of Cities has expressed concern that President Obama’s renewed call for infrastructure spending could put the current tax exemption for municipal bonds in danger ... The exemption for municipal bonds survived the debate over the 'fiscal cliff,' but advocates remain concerned that the tax break will be on the block in future negotiations."

"Shifts Focus from New Building to Repair" reports Transportation Nation: "President Barack Obama’s new $50 billion infrastructure plan — a remarkably consistent number he’s pushed several times before — has a twist. This time, the President wants to prioritize fixing roads and bridges over building new ones, which has been the previous focus of most U.S. government transportation spending."

Florida Flips On ObamaCare

FL Gov. Rick Scott flips on ObamaCare, expands Medicaid. NYT: "Florida was one of the states that sued to try to block the law, and, after the Supreme Court ruled last year that though the law was constitutional, states could choose not to expand their Medicaid programs to cover the poor, Mr. Scott said that Florida would not expand its programs. Mr. Scott said on Wednesday that he now supported a three-year expansion of Medicaid ... "

"Governor Scott has singlehandedly added 1.3 million people to the Obamacare coverage expansion" notes The American Prospect.

Breakfast Sides

W. Post explains "How immigration threatens to tear the GOP apart": "'The GOP faces a choice between the politics of math and the politics of anecdote,' explained Glen Bolger, a prominent Republican pollster. 'The politics of math is pretty clear. The numbers of Hispanics are growing, and politically we cannot afford to get a shrinking piece of a growing pie. The politics of anecdote is that illegal immigrants are only taking jobs, selling drugs, and joining gangs. That’s clearly not the case, and we cannot pretend that it is.'"

While WI Gov. Scott Walker pledges public education cuts to subsidize lower taxes. Reuters: " Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker proposed a nearly $70 billion biennial budget on Wednesday that combines income tax cuts with increased spending on transportation infrastructure and private education. Walker, a first-term Republican facing re-election next year, said he would offset the tax cuts and spending increases contained in his 2013-2015 budget by redirecting some funds away from public schools and healthcare, freezing aid to local governments and selling off state assets such as power plants."

China to implement carbon tax. NYT: "The Xinhua report about China’s plans did not say how big a tax the country would impose, but it pointed to a three-year-old proposal by government experts that would have levied a 10-yuan ($1.60) per ton tax on carbon in 2012 and raised it to 50-yuan ($8) a ton by 2020. Those prices are far below the $80 (500-yuan) a ton that some experts have suggested would be needed to achieve 'climate stability,' and which would raise the cost of gasoline by about 70 American cents a gallon. China’s plan will not make a serious dent in global warming, though the tax may still have some beneficial impact within the country, where air pollution is a serious problem."

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