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A Millennial Vision for a Millennial America (The Nation)

Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network member Erik Lampmann explains how 1,000 young people came together to envision the government they want and the policies needed to create it. Now maybe they can give everyone else some pointers on how to do that.

Obama Channeling Reagan to Break Credo Government Is the Problem (Bloomberg)

Mike Dorning writes that President Obama, who's acknowledged Ronald Reagan as a transformative figure, may be presiding over another major shift in American politics, ushering in an era in which calling oneself a liberal is no longer treated like a criminal confession.

Kick That Can (NYT)

Paul Krugman argues that, contrary to what the Boehner Republicans would have us believe about the supposed fiscal crisis, the most responsible thing we can do about the debt right now is nothing at all -- at least if their idea of "something" is the alternative.

How Republicans Flipped on Sequestration (NY Mag)

Jonathan Chait notes that the GOP has made a remarkable turnaround, deciding that the defense cuts that would leave us exposed to the ravening hordes are no big deal and that the tax reforms that were the only acceptable revenue source won't raise any money.

U.K. Lesson: Austerity Leads to More Debt (New Yorker)

John Cassidy examines the painful slog that is the British economy under Chancellor George Osborne, who's implemented deep spending cuts that drove up unemployment and lowered tax revenues. Easily the worst idea to cross the Atlantic since Spice World.

Higher Payroll Tax Pinches Those With the Least to Spare (NYT)

Nelson Schwartz writes that the expiration of the payroll tax cut has forced consumers of limited means to cut back, even though the people whose taxes everyone in Washington was worried about raising would consider $20 out of their paycheck a rounding error.

Invisible Women: The Real History of Domestic Workers in America (MoJo)

Maggie Caldwell constructs a timeline to demonstrate that overlooking domestic workers in the current immigration talks is part of a long tradition of pretending our homes and loved ones are cared for by magic pixies who accept our happiness as their only reward.

More states consider welfare drug testing bills (MSNBC)

Morgan Whitaker notes that Republicans in Ohio, Virginia, and Kansas have now taken up the banner of mandatory drug testing for their states' welfare recipients, because you don't really deserve a basic standard of living unless you can prove it in a plastic cup. 

Bad credit ratings sinking job hunters (MoneyWatch)

Kathy Kristof writes that many people looking for work have to overcome not just the weak economy but their own bad (and possibly fictional) credit history, even though the best way for a potential employer to make sure they pay their bills on time is to offer them a job.

Want to be an ambassador in Paris? That'll be $1.1 million. (WaPo)

Brad Plumer notes that the more prestigious, low-stress ambassadorships tend to go to some of the president's richest friends, perhaps so that they don't accidentally start a war with France by using the wrong fork in the middle of an especially fancy state dinner.

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Obama Urges Congress to Act to Stave Off Cuts (NYT)

Michael Shear and Jackie Calmes report that the president wants Congress to pass a smaller package of cuts and tax increases to replace the sequester, hoping to take the edge off their desire to do something pointless and unproductive without going overboard.

Memo to Congress: To bring down the deficit, focus on jobs (WaPo)

Greg Sargent highlights a plan by the Congressional Progressive Caucus that would achieve over $3 trillion in balanced deficit reduction while investing in infrastructure and other stimulus. They're those nerds who got all their homework in on time and did the extra credit.

Susan Crawford for FCC chairman (WaPo)

With FCC chair Julius Genachowski expected to step down soon, Katrina vanden Heuvel writes that Roosevelt Institute Fellow Susan Crawford would be the best pick to promote freedom of information and a competitive marketplace. No fair; we saw her first.

Twenty Years After the FMLA, Our Family Leave Policies Are Dragging Us Down (The Nation)

On the anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, NND Editor Bryce Covert looks at how many Americans still lack paid or unpaid leave and why it's hurting our standing relative to countries where employers don't just ride workers until the wheels fall off.

Are Immigrants Taking Your Job? A Primer (NYT)

Catherine Rampell notes that research shows immigrant and native-born workers are largely complementary rather than competitive, with immigrants taking jobs no one else wants or is qualified for. So the short answer is: No, but they might just give you one.

Grin and Abhor It: The Truth Behind 'Service with a Smile' (In These Times)

Sarah Jaffe expands on recent analyses of the rise of "emotional labor," pointing out that this kind of service industry performance art is also highly gendered, with women expected to serve as both a customer's waitress and his fake girlfriend for the evening.

Eric Cantor's Bold New Vision for America: No Medical Device Tax (TNR)

The House Majority Leader's big speech at AEI yesterday was supposed to unveil his new recipe for rebranding the Republican Party, but Alec MacGillis writes that most of the policy ideas it contained were either warmed over or undercooked and cold in the middle.

GOP Senators Obstructing the Consumer Protection Bureau Receive Loads of Wall Street Donations (Think Progress)

Pat Garofalo notes that the financial industry has donated a combined $143 million to the 43 Republicans who signed a letter promising to filibuster any CFPB director who'd be presiding over a functional agency. It's their own consumption they want to protect.

Tangle of Ties Binds SEC's Top Ranks (WSJ)

Jean Eaglesham and Jessica Holzer write that the SEC has trouble pursuing enforcement cases because its commissioners are so frequently forced to recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest. Sometimes you get your sleeve caught in the revolving door.

Currency Wars, What Are They Good For? Absolutely Ending Depressions (The Atlantic)

Matthew O'Brien explains why a cascade of countries devaluing their currency would be good for the economy in the midst of a global depression, and what exactly that has to do with one senior Federal Reserve official hinting he enjoys wetting the bed.

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The unemployment crisis that lies behind the US monthly jobs report (Guardian)

Heidi Moore argues that even a relatively strong jobs report like the one published last week comes with an asterisk so large it makes everything else look like a footnote: namely, that America still has 15 million people unemployed and no real idea what to do about it.

In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn't Better... It's Brutal (NYT)

Catherine Rampell writes that every generation has its own tale of economic woe, but none as bad as those near retirement, who have had years shaved off their lives by hardship. Meanwhile, moocher babies continue to demand diamond rings to keep them from crying.

At this pace, the U.S. won't get back to full employment until 2022 (WaPo)

Brad Plumer notes that we still have nine years to go before we reach full employment at our current growth rate, though there are a lot of variables that could skew that number in either direction. For instance, with a little effort, Congress could bump itself up to a +0.

Weak Economy, Wrong Debate (HuffPo)

Robert Kuttner writes that despite ample evidence that cuts to government spending are hurting the recovery, deficit hawks are still obsessed with the debt-to-GDP ratio, which they have arbitrarily decided will cause the trumpets to sound and the seven seals to open.

Why the U.S. Government Never, Ever Has to Pay Back All Its Debt (The Atlantic)

Matthew O'Brien notes that the government and its debts can both exist in perpetuity, so conflating federal and household budgets doesn't work unless you're talking about a family of highly leveraged immortals. But they never really dealt with these issues in Twilight.

Friends of Fraud (NYT)

Paul Krugman writes that by threatening to filibuster the re-appointment of Richard Cordray to head the CFPB, Senate Republicans are continuing their efforts to block the agency from acting as a consumer watchdog until it's been safely muzzled and de-clawed.

Who Decided U.S. Megabanks Are Too Big to Jail? (Bloomberg)

Simon Johnson argues that we deserve some answers about how the Department of Justice decided that our major financial institutions had so thoroughly booby-trapped the economy that it couldn't even exhale in their presence without a bomb squad on standby.

Banks, at Least, Had a Friend in Geithner (NYT)

With Tim Geithner's tenure at the Treasury Department in the rear view mirror, Gretchen Morgenson explains why his claims that his work served the broad interests of the economy demand a very specific reading of "served," "broad," "interests," and "economy."

The 2012 Election's Price Tag: $7 Billion (MoJo)

Andy Kroll notes that FEC estimates confirm the 2012 election was the most expensive political cycle in history, just like every presidential election before it. But if they try to top this in 2016, networks might have to buy time for TV shows in between the campaign ads.

This Week in Poverty: Time to Take on Concentrated Poverty and Education (The Nation)

Greg Kaufmann and Elaine Weiss look at how breaking up pockets of concentrated poverty and segregation can boost achievement among low-income students. Or we could just give them more archery training to help compete against their fellow tributes.

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Government is hurting the economy -- by spending too little (WaPo)

In light of the report that the economy contracted in the last quarter of 2012 due partly to cutbacks, Ezra Klein notes that one man's big government socialism is another man's premature and destructive fiscal retrenchment. But the first man is utterly delusional.

The Economy Just Shrank, But This Is the Best Negative GDP Report You Will Ever Read (The Atlantic)

Derek Thompson argues that the silver lining for this cloud is that important indicators like personal consumption and investment are still growing at a healthy clip despite the drag from fiscal policy. Imagine what we could do if the policymakers were on our side.

2013 Sequestration Likely to Happen Despite Ominous GDP Report (HuffPo)

Sam Stein, Arthur Delaney, and Sabrina Siddiqui ask whether the negative growth report has shocked Congress out of complacency, but there's still no sign they can cooperate long enough to stop the sequester they created to punish themselves for not cooperating.

Fed Holds Steady on Strategy; Cites 'Pause' in Growth (NYT)

Binyamin Appelbaum writes that the FOMC has announced that the Fed plans to continue the open-ended stimulus program it first introduced in December, particularly since the economic recovery seems to have settled in for a long winter's nap over the holidays.

Paul Krugman vs. Joseph Stiglitz (TNR)

Surveying the recent dispute between the progressive Nobel laureates about whether inequality has hurt the recovery, John Judis agrees with Stiglitz that it's holding back consumer spending. On to the next round of judging for the talent show portion of the competition.

The Hidden Prosperity of the Poor (NYT)

Thomas Edsall reviews the conservative case that America's poor are secretly doing just fine because the basics and even the luxuries are getting cheaper. So don't worry about those 42.6 million people living in poverty; they'll upgrade to Blu-ray one day.

Immigration, yes. Indentured serfdom, no. (Salon)

Michael Lind argues that while most components of the bipartisan immigration reform proposal are reasonable, the last thing we need is a guest worker program that comes as close as it legally can to slavery. America needs to learn how to treat its guests first.

5 Key Tasks for the New Secretary of Labor (In These Times)

Labor expert Kate Bronfenbrenner tells Roger Bybee that an effective replacement for Hilda Solis will have to be outspoken, creative, and ready for a fight. And that's just what it will take for the new Labor Secretary to get some attention within the Obama administration.

Obama's Jobs Council Fail (MoJo)

Erika Eichelberger notes that President Obama's jobs council, led by GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, is set to dissolve this week, though it sort of dissolved itself by meeting all of four times in total and not at all in the last year. Way to stay on top of that, everyone.

Post-Lehman, the push for global financial protection stalls (WaPo)

Howard Schneider and Danielle Douglas write that five years after the last great meltdown, efforts to reform the financial sector have reached an impasse because a) regulating is hard and b) policymakers are distracted by other problems they're not solving.