By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
Click here to receive the Daily Digest via email.
Join the Roosevelt Institute today at the Four Freedoms Awards
Today, October 16, the Roosevelt Institute will honor Wendell Berry, Paul Krugman, Ameena Matthews, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and Sister Simone Campbell in a free public ceremony at St. James’ Episcopal Church in New York City. Doors open at 5:30pm, and the ceremony will begin promptly at 6pm. The ceremony will be livestreamed: watch on our website.
House GOPers Pushing for Anti-Birth-Control Measure in Debt Ceiling Deal (MoJo)
Tim Murphy reports that while the House proposal to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling already contains provisions that would never pass the Senate, that isn't enough for some Republicans. They want to see a conscience clause included in this deal.
- Roosevelt Take: Roosevelt Institute Fellow Andrea Flynn writes about the GOP's last attempt to push anti-birth control measures in economic policy, during the lead up to the shutdown.
We're Approaching the Worst-Case Scenario for House GOP Hostage-Taking (The Atlantic Wire)
Philip Bump considers just how bad the Republicans' attempts to cast the shutdown as a kidnapping situation is getting. House Republicans are back to proposing the same ideas that were turned down before the shutdown, which even the Senate Republicans oppose.
Debt Talks in Disarray as House Balks (NYT)
Jonathan Weisman reports that House negotiations on the shutdown and debt ceiling fell apart on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, credit rating agencies are already concerned by Congress bringing the country to the brink again.
Wall Street Doubts Debt Deadline and Puts its Money on 1 November (The Guardian)
Based on Wall Street announcements on their Treasury bond holdings, Heidi Moore suggests that big business thinks the U.S. won't actually default on October 17. Whenever default day falls, it could cause huge damages to the social safety net.
Nightmare Scenario: What Happens If We Actually, Truly Default? (NY Mag)
Kevin Roose lays out an hour-by-hour schedule of how default day would work out, based on discussions with financiers and policy experts. They suggest that a debt ceiling increase would happen within the day - but the damage would last much longer.
North Carolina Suspends Welfare Program Thanks To The Shutdown (ThinkProgress)
Bryce Covert says that until today, all the states were covering federal funding for their Temporary Aid for Needy Families programs. North Carolina's announcement won't be the last if the shutdown continues, so families and children who rely on that program will be in trouble.
Fast-Food Wages Come With a $7 Billion Side of Public Assistance (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Susan Berfield looks at two studies on the amount of public assistance that fast food workers receive in order to make ends meet. McDonald's says it pays competitive wages, but more then half of fast food workers are enrolled in least one public assistance program.
New on Next New Deal
The Truth About the GOP's Phony Shutdown Offer
Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow and Director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Rediscovering Government Initiative Jeff Madrick writes that until Republicans pull their threat of default, Democrats and the President can't take their offers seriously.