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OVERNIGHT MONEY: Obama seeking to sharpen message
THURSDAY'S BIG STORY:
Focusing the message in Ohio: President Obama heads back to the swing state of Ohio on Thursday, where he will try to draw distinctions between his economic vision and that of his GOP presidential challenger Mitt Romney in an effort to woo voters into his camp.
The speech — at the Cuyahoga Community College Recreation Center in Cleveland — comes after a bad run of economic news, including slower job growth as the president looks for a way to show that he is the best choice for the next four years because, he says, his policies will do more to bolster economic growth down the road.
But Obama won't be the only game in town — Romney is heading to Ohio, as well, to deliver his prescription to lift the economy out of the doldrums.
As Ohio goes, so goes the election.
The president is expected to defend his record, which Democrats have been pushing him to do, while contrasting his policies with those of the former Massachusetts governor.
"He will crystallize the argument as to what this campaign is about," an Obama aide told The Hill's Amie Parnes.
And, don't worry, he will also call out Romney’s economic plan, which includes “more budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy and fewer rules for Wall Street,” as well as a return to the policies of former President George W. Bush, whom Obama has blamed for the continued struggles of the economy.
Republicans hammered Obama last week after he said the private sector was "doing fine."
On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that despite the gaffe, the administration understands the economy is in tough shape.
He acknowledged that, given pressures from Europe, the U.S. economy is not on track to bring down the current 8.2 percent unemployment rate faster, and implored Congress to act on stalled legislation to create jobs,
“It is a very tough economy still ... growth not as strong as we would like,” he said, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that Obama will speak about the “fundamental choice between two very different visions for how we grow the economy, create middle class jobs and pay down our debt.”
“The other side’s plan is a $5 trillion tax cut that explodes the deficit while gutting the investments we need to grow,” he said.
“The president’s plan is to pay down our deficit in a balanced way, a way supported by the majority of the American people, while still investing in education, energy, innovation and infrastructure.”
In anticipation of the dueling events in Ohio, Romney said the president would "speak eloquently, but words are cheap and that the record of an individual is the basis upon which you determine whether they should continue to hold onto their job."
Obama isn't likely to forget congressional Republicans — Ohio is GOP Speaker John Boehner's home state — who are on the list of those who have vexed him by obstructing his jobs agenda.
WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR
Marking it up: The Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up on Thursday the $158.8 billion Labor, Health and Education bill along with the $22.9 billion Financial Services and General Government spending measure, which includes $167 million for disaster relief.
Expect some interesting action at the Labor-Health and Human Services markup, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) saying he will offer an NLRB amendment to the bill that would ban the use of federal funds to implement an August 2011 NLRB ruling, known as Specialty Healthcare, that critics argue allows for the creation of “micro-unions.”
"The NLRB is the grim reaper of job creation," Graham said. "They seem hell-bent on interjecting themselves into private sector business decisions for purely political reasons."
Ring the bell: The Center for American Progress is scheduled to host a debate on Thursday that's raging on both sides of the Atlantic — does austerity work?
Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, a Democrat and close ally of President Obama, is expected to attend the event, which comes as many states have gone through all sorts of budget contortions to get their books in line.
The global economy: The Peterson Institute will hold a lunch featuring Robert Zoellick, outgoing president of the World Bank, on his experience as president of the bank and his outlook on a broad range of global economic and foreign policy issues. He'll wrap up work on June 30.
BREAKING NEWS
Taking one for the team: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon accepted blame Wednesday for the billions of dollars his bank lost on a bad trade while standing firmly behind his criticism of the Wall Street reform law.
Appearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Dimon admitted he was “dead wrong” about the complex bet on corporate debt that damaged his bank’s bottom line and reputation.
"Under any name, what you call it, I will not defend it," he said. "It violated common sense."
"I'm absolutely responsible; the buck stops with me," he added later.
Beyond the bad trade, however, Dimon was resolute in defending his bank, its practices and the financial system at large from criticism, and clashed with Democrats over their calls for heightened regulation.
"We have the widest, deepest, best capital markets in the world,” he said. “It would be a shame to end that out of anger over something like that.”
Although that wasn't enough for some: Dimon was met with noisy protests as he prepared to testify. As soon as Dimon took his seat at the witness table, protesters in the audience stood up and began shouting.
"This man is a crook and needs to go to jail!" yelled one man. "These men are predators on the American taxpayers' money."
Or maybe it's a blip: GOP Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.) said Wednesday that the multibillion-dollar trading loss suffered by JPMorgan was a “blip" and that he hoped lawmakers would use Wednesday’s hearing to focus on ways to improve Washington’s regulation of financial institutions.
“It's not about Congress worried about whether JPMorgan is going to make it or not — I mean, this is a blip on the radar screen,” he said on CNN’s “Starting Point.”
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Initial Claims: The Department of Labor releases its weekly filings for jobless benefits, which have started to tick down again, although slowly.
Mortgage Rates: Freddie Mac releases weekly data on fixed-rate mortgages, which have hit historic lows in recent weeks.
Consumer Price Index (CPI): The Labor Department releases its measure from May of the price level of a fixed market basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. CPI is the most widely cited inflation indicator, and it is used to calculate cost of living adjustments for government programs.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
— McCain: Keep Russian trade, Syria issues separate
— Senate panel to vote next week on trade-related Russia bill, Iraq ambassador nominee
— Stabenow optimistic that hurdles for passing farm bill can be overcome
— Geithner confident on euro zone
— Chamber: North Dakota the boom state of next decade
— Candy-makers heartened by strong vote against sugar program
— Paul not backing down on farm bill
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