TERRANCE HEATH The False Luxury of Time To Wait The choice is simple. The reform legislation we have doesn't far enough, but it's a step in the right direction, as opposed to standing still or moving backwards. But a step in the right direction, however small, builds momentum for the next step forward. By some estimates, progressives made this reform a great deal better than it would have been had we not engaged. When this reform bill is signed into law, progressive should — and there is every reason to believe we will — start the fight to expand it even before the ink dries on President Obama's signature. We can either take a step in the right direction, or we can take a huge step back. Standing still is not an option.  TAKE ACTION  Tell Your Rep: Pass Health Care Now: With the final vote on health care reform in the House just days away, the right-wing fear-and-smear blitz is in overdrive. We cannot let that drown out the progressive majority that demands health care reform. Tell your House representative: Get Health Care Done. ROBERT BOROSAGE Showdown with "Chermany" Where will the jobs come from? President Obama wants to double America's exports over five years to help generate good jobs. Increasing exports is one ray of hope to generate jobs. But if the US is to sell more abroad and borrow less, countries with trade surpluses — notably Germany and China — will have to spend more, buy more, save less and export less. That is the only way to reduce the dangerous and unsustainable imbalances in the global system that the G-20, governments representing the leading economies in the world, agreed was essential to a secure recovery. Only China and Germany clearly haven't gotten the message. ISAIAH J. POOLE The African-American Community Needs A "Jobs Surge" The nation is facing a jobs crisis, but "crisis" doesn't begin to tell the story in the African-American community. "Five-alarm emergency" comes closer. A report by the Joint Economic Committee released today underscores the severity of African-American unemployment and bolsters the case for a $100 billion jobs bill introduced in the House last week. That report — which included some heretofore unpublished Labor Department data — helped launch a discussion sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus today on what needs to be done to address chronic unemployment. That report noted some particularly troubling effects of the current recession among African Americans: DAVE JOHNSON Chinese Currency Manipulation: "Not A Small Issue" The Chinese currency manipulation issue continues to make news. Economist Paul Krugman lays out the stakes. more from our bloggers >>

American Enterprise Institute's Norm Ornstein rips Republicans for hypocrisy on procedure: "...I can’t recall a level of feigned indignation nearly as great as what we are seeing now from congressional Republicans and their acolytes at the Wall Street Journal, and on blogs, talk radio, and cable news ... In the last Congress that Republicans controlled, from 2005 to 2006, Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier used the self-executing rule more than 35 times [and it] was defended by House Republicans in court (and upheld)."

"Deem and Pass" Is NOT "Without A Vote" notes OurFuture.org's Bill Scher: "If any members of the House do not want to deem the Senate bill passed, they can vote 'No' on the rule which would deem it passed. Any members of the House who vote 'Yes,' would do so by recorded vote, so their constituents will be able to judge their actions."

HuffPost's slams media for awful reporting on the phony attack: "This is all about the House Democrats being scared out of their minds that they'll have to spend even an hour explaining, 'No, we do not approve of the Cornhusker Kickback.' But that's America, circa 2010. It makes the Democrats look timid, but it doesn't make them wrong."

Dems turn process charge back on GOP and insurance industry. The Hill quotes Speaker Pelosi: “If you want to talk about process, let’s talk about the process that the insurance companies use when they say to you, ‘When you become sick, your insurance is cancelled.’ When they say to you ‘You’re on your way to an operation, but your insurance is rescinded because we just feel like it, and we can do it so we will.’” Pelosi said at a press conference. “Or what they say when they say to somebody, ‘You have a preexisting condition and so you cannot have health insurance.’ ... Let’s talk about that process."

TPM's Josh Marshall says Rep. Eric Cantor's demand for an up or down vote on the original senate health care reform bill "taketh the cake": "Really? Have we forgotten why we're here? The entire reason we're in this situation is that Cantor's fellow party members in the Senate won't allow any votes on health care at all."

Weak Tea Party turnout for anti-health care rally. HuffPost: "Tea Party organizers told CNN that somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 people gathered today in Washington D.C. But the Democratic National Committee estimates placed the number of attendees at a mere 300, an amount that they later mocked and used as evidence that 'the air is out of the tea party balloon,' as DNC spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine said..."

NBC/WSJ poll finds political risk for congresspeople no matter which way they vote: "If their representative votes with Republicans to defeat the bill, 34 percent say they would be less likely to re-elect that member ... But if their member of Congress votes with Democrats to pass the legislation, 36 percent say they would be less likely to re-elect that member ... Translation: 'There is no easy place right now in the health care debate,' says McInturff, the GOP pollster."

Congress still fine-tuning final bill to achieve strong cost estimate from CBO. Bloomberg: "Among the issues House leaders and the CBO are discussing are the size of subsidies for middle- and low-income families; changes to the Medicare payroll tax; the amount of funding states get for Medicaid programs for the poor and disabled, and payments to doctors who take Medicaid patients [as well as] the provision affecting the so-called 'doughnut hole,'..."

CBO wait risks delaying vote past this weekend. Roll Call: "That delay appeared to push a vote to Saturday at the earliest because House leaders want to give Members at least 72 hours to read the bill. If the package isn’t unveiled Wednesday, Democrats would not be able to keep the 72-hour rule and vote before President Barack Obama is scheduled to leave for his trip to Indonesia and Australia."

Anti-health care corporate lobbies vastly outspending reform advocates in final days. Politico: "...a pro-reform coalition announced that it would spend $1.7 million on advertising in about 17 districts urging House members to back the final bills and pledging support come the November midterms. But opponents, led by the Chamber and a coalition of other business trade groups, are spending about $750,000 a day, in essentially the same districts."

Howard Fineman reports on MSNBC that Rep. Dennis Kucinich will announce switch to "Yes" at press conference today. FireDogLake's Jane Hamsher calls on Kucinich to return donations if true.

"Members of the middle class are losing their health insurance faster than any other income group, according to a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, reports HuffPost.

"Big Insurance Rate Increase for Pennsylvania Poor" headlines NYT.

NYT chronicles Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's strategy of non-stop obstruction: "Even Mr. McConnell’s fellow Republicans say somewhat admiringly that he can be a secretive and coldly calculating tactician with an eye for political openings, someone more consumed by political strategy than ideology or philosophy."

Dodd Bill Hit From All Sides

Bank lobbyists poring through Dodd bill. Politico: "Banks, credit unions and financial firms that operate in more than one state are taking aim at language that would enable states to pass stronger consumer protection rules than the federal statutes ... The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ... is already increasing its ad buys inside and outside the Beltway opposing the consumer [protection agency] piece in Dodd’s bill."

Republicans on banking cmte complain Dodd is moving too fast, but leave door open to support: "Most of the unhappy GOP senators are expressing their displeasure in temperate terms, leaving alive hope that they may still come on board at some point in the legislative process. But not all ... In a positive sign for the bill’s Senate prospects, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), No. 4 in GOP leadership said ... 'a lot of our people do want to vote for something.'"

GOP has no strategy on financial reform yet, reports Roll Call: "More so than on any other issue this Congress, Republicans appear nearly unanimous in their hope that a consensus can be reached and that the Senate ultimately produces a bill that they can support. But several influential Republicans acknowledged Tuesday that the Conference has yet to settle on a road map for financial regulation and is stuck in a wait-and-see mode."

Lobbyists opposing new fee to assist with identifying systemic risk. CQ: "[The bill] contains a provision that would result in assessments on financial institutions with more than $50 billion in assets [to] fund a new Office of Financial Research ... on top of cash that large institutions would have to pay into another fund to cover the potential collapse of large financial firms..."

Fed will control CFPA budget notes Dean Baker: "This means that if the Fed believes that the agency is causing too much trouble to the financial industry, it would have the power to squeeze its budget so that it would become less troublesome."

NYT op-ed contributor Daniel Carpenter rips decision to put CFPA in Fed: " The Fed’s politically reactive posture is the exact opposite of the sustained care that consumer financial protection demands."

Bernanke to argue for retaining all bank oversight in congressional testimony today. Bloomberg: "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank is best qualified to oversee the largest financial institutions and should retain its oversight of smaller banks as well."

W. Post Ezra Klein argues the Dodd bill fails to deal with failed regulators: "...this bill gives those failed regulators more power and autonomy, not less. It deals with the information that they didn't have and it deals with the authority they didn't have, but it doesn't deal with their failure to want to regulate."

Wonk Room's Pat Garofalo defends Dodd approach to "too-big-to-fail": "...it bars financial firms from owning more than 10 percent of the assets in the financial system, while creating a Financial Stability Oversight Council ... that will recommend stricter capital and leverage standards for firms as they grow ... firms will have to write living wills, laying out their interconnectedness and liabilities in the event that they fail ... on this piece, he does seem to have thought through a workable way to ensure that firms have a hard time becoming gigantic, and have no expectation of a taxpayer funded bailout, regardless of their size."

PRWatch.org's Mary Bottari lists 7 positives and 6 negatives of the Dodd bill, including criticism of "too-big-to-fail" provisions: "Capital requirements and leveraging requirements to be set by regulators [but] No break up of the too big to fail banks, no prevention of too big to fail."

Bipartisan Bill Presses China On Currency

Bipartisan Senate bill aims to pressure China on currency manipulation. CQ: "The measure unveiled Tuesday ... would change the criteria used in making that decision and force Treasury to report to Congress biannually on 'fundamentally misaligned currencies' ... If the “priority” countries did not address alignment concerns within 90 days, the administration would be required to take action at the International Monetary Fund and end federal procurement from those countries. After 360 days, the U.S. Trade Representative would be required to request dispute settlement proceedings at the World Trade Organization ... Prospects for action [at the committee level] remain unclear..."

NYT edit board calls for international response to China: "One way would be to press the I.M.F. to officially pronounce on whether China is breaking the rules and manipulating its exchange rate. That is part of the fund’s job ... it would help if some other countries — certainly those in the European Union, but perhaps aspiring players including India and South Korea — started publicly making the case that the cheap renminbi is hurting them, too."