July 30

What you need to know to navigate today’s most critical debates.

Curbing Your Enthusiasm (NYTimes)
Paul Krugman argues that progressives have good reason to be disappointed with President Obama so far. Will he snub us again with Elizabeth Warren?

What’s so scary about Elizabeth Warren? (CNNMoney)
Warren may look harmless on the outside, but she’s still the stuff of Wall Street’s nightmares.

4 Bogus Attacks Bankers and Their Political Puppets Are Using to Attack Elizabeth Warren (AlterNet)
Zach Carter debunks a few of the anti-Warren crowd’s favorite talking points.

9/11 Responder Aid Package Fails in House (HuffPo)
Republicans blocked a bill that would have provided $7.4 billion in aid to Ground Zero rescue workers who have fallen ill, dismissing it as another wasteful entitlement program. “Never forget” didn’t last very long, did it?

Within the Fed, Worries of Deflation (NYTimes)
More Fed officials are beginning to come around to the idea that it’s time to do something about unemployment instead of worrying about non-existent inflation.

John Stewart Mill vs. the European Central Bank (Project Syndicate)
Brad DeLong suggests that international economists could use a little less detached economic theory and a little more history class.

Social Security Commission Kicks Off By Pointing Out Myths (FDL)
A coalition of progressive organizations is rolling out its campaign to save Social Security from the clutches of the catfood commission.

A spending goal too small for aging America (WaPo)
Matt Miller argues that with the U.S. forced to pay for a growing number of retiring baby boomers, it’s absurd to demand that government spending be frozen at sub-Reagan levels, as deficit commission co-chair Erskine Bowles has done.

Few in U.S. move for new jobs, fueling fear the economy might get stuck, too (WaPo)
Underwater mortgages are tying down the unemployed and reducing labor mobility, creating a serious obstacle to recovery.

Don’t Give the Tax Credit Too Much Credit (NYTimes)
Casey B. Mulligan observes that the Home Buyer Tax Credit has had a much smaller impact on the housing market than some analysts have suggested, weakening the case for its renewal.

The All-Gain, No-Pain Conservative Fiscal Diet (TNR)
Jonathan Chait mocks conservative incoherence on deficit reduction without tax increases.

Facing Steep Odds, 128 House Democrats Revive the Public Option (Washington Independent)
Progressives are hoping to turn the deficit hawks’ rhetoric against them by putting a public health insurance plan back on the table as a cost-cutting measure.

Proof positive: Unemployment benefits NOT a work disincentive (Open Left)
Republicans running for Congress this year may be shooting themselves in the foot by insisting that the unemployed are really just too lazy and pampered to go out and find a job.

Who Profits? Who Learns? (NYTimes)
For-profit colleges and trade schools are an increasingly popular alternative to traditional colleges and universities, but more regulation is needed to prevent these schools from taking advantage of their students.

As Obama Praises Race To The Top’s Success, Congress Cuts Its Funding In Half (Think Progress)
The Race to the Top program has spurred important education reform in over 30 states across the country, but now Congress has decided to slash the program’s budget for no particular reason.

In American politics, stupidity is the name of the game (WaPo)
E.J. Dionne worries that our national political debate has become consistently and fundamentally dumb in an era that demands real, complex solutions to the many problems we face. What could have given him that idea?