First Read from NBC News: The Great Disconnect five years later – Friday, 13 September 2013

The Great Disconnect five years after Lehman Brothers’ collapse… NBC/WSJ poll: Public down on the economy, down on Wall Street… GOP’s own economic disconnect — policy vs. values… Public opposed to raising debt ceiling by 2-to-1 margin… More NBC/WSJ poll numbers (on health care) to come on Monday morning… And Biden heads to Iowa on Sunday.

*** The Great Disconnect five years later: So much has improved since Lehman Brothers’ Sept. 15, 2008 collapse, which marked the beginning of the U.S. financial crisis. The Dow is up. So are corporate profits. The unemployment rate has gone down, though not where it was in Sept. 2008 (6.1%). And the housing market has been roaring back. But other measures show how the recovery still hasn’t been felt by all Americans. Median household income hasn’t improved since 2008, and the number living below the poverty level has increased. Consequently, there’s a gigantic disconnect about the U.S. economy five years after Lehman’s crash and Wall Street’s rescue: Some Americans, as well as corporate America, are doing very, very well. Other Americans, mostly the folks on Main Street, aren’t. “The top 1 percent of U.S. earners collected 19.3 percent of household income in 2012, their largest share in Internal Revenue Service figures going back a century,” the AP wrote earlier this week.

*** NBC/WSJ poll: Down on the economy: This reality is reflected in our new NBC/WSJ poll. Despite the good news on the economy over the past few months (at least statistically speaking), just 27% think the economy will get better over the next 12 months — the lowest percentage in our poll since July 2012. In addition, 52% disapprove of Obama’s job, which is the highest number for him since Aug. 2012. Americans also are worried about economic mobility. Of the respondents who identified themselves as poor or working class, only 29% say it’s likely they’ll be in the middle class over the next several years, down from 36% who said this in 1998. And when asked what worries respondents the most in their lives, the top answers — they were allowed up to two — were health care (34%), saving enough for retirement (29%), paying for groceries and utility bills (26%), and the cost of college (21%). Note: Down on this list was job security (17%), which suggests that many Americans aren’t struggling to find jobs; rather they’re struggling IN THEIR JOBS with wage stagnation especially as the cost of health, education and retirement all go up.

*** Also down on Wall Street: And oh, the American public isn’t too happy with Wall Street. Just 14% have a positive view of it, versus 42% who have a negative view. (Compare those numbers with Obama’s 45%-42% fav/unfav rating, the GOP’s 28%-44% score, and the Tea Party’s 25%-42%.) You probably didn’t need a poll to tell you many of these things above, but sometimes you need it to bring these issues to the forefront and take a sledgehammer to the media and political classes in the Acela Corridor. The big disconnect is made even bigger since the economy has recovered so much more quickly in the New York-to-DC area, so the very folks who are in charge of policy (or covering the people in charge of policy) are living in a bubble.

*** GOP’s own economic disconnect: policy vs. values: The NBC/WSJ poll also shows that the Republican Party has made gains on the economy since Feb. 2013, right after Obama began his second term in office. The GOP has a 4-point advantage (33%-29%) on which party is better dealing with the economy. Back in February, it was Democrats with a 2-point edge (32%-30%). So that’s the good news for the GOP. The bad news is its perception about looking out for the middle class. Per the poll, Democrats hold a 17-point advantage (41%-24%) on which party is seen as better looking out for the middle class. More significantly, the poll asked which individuals or groups represent the middle class either very well or fairly well. The results: Bill Clinton 48%, Barack Obama 39%, Dem Party 37%, George W. Bush 28%, Republican Party 23%, Tea Party 22%. Another way to put it: All the Democratic groups or leaders fare better than their GOP counterparts. This all suggests the GOP has its own disconnect between policy and values. It might be winning on the economy because it doesn’t control the White House. But the party’s brand — when it comes to representing middle-class values — is a mess.

*** Public opposed to raising debt ceiling by a 2-to-1 margin: Here’s one final set of numbers from our NBC/WSJ poll:  By a 2-to-1 margin (44%-22%), the American public does NOT think the debt ceiling should be raised. However, Obama and others have power to change attitudes here. In the June 2011 NBC/WSJ poll, Americans were against raising the debt ceiling by a 39%-28% margin. But a month later — after significant attention to the issue — those numbers flipped: 38% said the debt ceiling SHOULD be raised, versus 31% who said it SHOULD NOT. The question is if the president still has the juice to turn those numbers around.

*** More NBC/WSJ poll numbers to come: By the way, we’ll have one final installment of NBC/WSJ poll numbers we’ll release first thing Monday morning — on the health-care law and its implementation.

*** Biden to Iowa: The other thing on our radar screen is Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to Iowa on Sunday, where he’ll attend (along with San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro) the annual Harkin Steak Fry in Indianola, IA between 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET.

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This story was originally published on Fri Sep 13, 2013 9:06 AM EDT

*** Friday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: A special discussion on the 5^th anniversary of the financial collapse with former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair and former TARP executive pay czar Ken Feinberg… Latest on the New Jersey boardwalk fire and the Colorado flooding… Plus the Economist’s Greg Ip, former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), fmr. Bush 43 Administration spokesman Tony Fratto and Politico’s Maju Raju join the Gaggle.

*** Friday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts interviews Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) on Syria and the budget battles raging on Capitol Hill… MSNBC Contributor Jared Bernstein joins to discuss the new NBC News/WSJ Poll on Americans’ attitudes toward the economy five years after the Lehman collapse… Today’s Agenda Panel includes:  The Huffington Post’s Sabrina Siddiqui, ThinkProgress.Org’s Igor Volsky and Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis.

*** Friday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, reporting from Geneva, interviews former Sen. Richard Lugar, NBC Terror Analyst Michael Leiter, MSNBC Nuclear Expert David Albright, Syria Deeply Co-Founder Lara Setrakian and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Anne Gearan.

*** Friday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews Hiram College political science professor Jason Johnson, Sirius XM’s Michael Smerconish, and Ohio ACLU policy director Helena Bottemiller on school board attempt to ban “The Bluest Eyes”

*** Saturday’s and Sunday’s “Weekends with Alex Witt” line-up: As part of her weekly “Office Politics” series, MSNBC’s Alex Witt interviews liberal author Joe Conason.

*** Saturday’s “MSNBC LIVE WEEKENDS” line-up: Craig Melvin’s guests include Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY); former South Carolina GOP Chair Katon Dawson; MSNBC contributor Goldie Taylor; Thomas Reese, senior analyst for The National Catholic Reporter; Mark Glaze of Mayors Against Illegal Guns; Gayle Lemmon with the Council on Foreign Relations; Jonathan Allen of Politico; Scott Anderson, author of “Lawrence in Arabia”; NBC News Terrorism Analyst Evan Kohlmann; former hacker Kevin Mitnick; Foreign Policy magazine’s Shane Harris; Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation; Danielle Nierenberg of FoodTank; and artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

*** Sunday’s “MSNBC LIVE WEEKENDS” line-up: Craig Melvin’s guests include actor and author Bill Cosby; George French, president of Miles College; Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI); Gen. Barry McCaffrey; Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center; syndicated columnist Bob Franken; and Esther Armah, political commentator and playwright

The New York Times: “Starting a second day of talks on the Syria crisis, Secretary of State John Kerry had a three-way meeting Friday morning at the Palais de Nations here with his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, and Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations envoy on the Syria issue.”

AP: “With a military strike against Syria on hold, President Barack Obama tried Thursday to reignite momentum for his second-term domestic agenda. But his progress could hinge on the strength of his standing on Capitol Hill after what even allies acknowledge were missteps in the latest foreign crisis.”

Five years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers (which will be Sunday), Americans continue to overwhelmingly dislike Wall Street, according to the latest NBC/WSJ poll. Wall St. has a 14/42 fav/unfav, lower than any other group or person polled. President Obama gets a 45% fav, the Tea Party 23%. Obama’s disapproval on the economy is the highest it’s been in a year, with 52% disapproving, and just 27% think the economy will get better in 12 months. Part of Obama’s disapproval is likely because of the disconnect between Wall Street and the job market. Recovery in the job market has happened at a much slower pace than the gains on Wall Street. Perhaps because of that, the GOP has seen a bounce in their economic numbers with people saying they prefer Republicans on the economy and the federal deficit. But Democrats still dominate on who is standing up for the middle class. Fewer people are saying they are a part of the middle class, and there’s also evidence of widening income inequality with more people saying they make less than $30,000 a year, while many more say they’re making more than $75,000.

Americans overwhelmingly do not think Congress should raise the nation’s debt limit as President Barack Obama and Congress prepare once again to wage battle over the issue, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. By a 44-22 percent margin, Americans oppose raising the debt ceiling, which again puts the president in the difficult position of needing to make the case for an unpopular policy with a deadline quickly approaching.

Speaking of the economy, “Obama is expected to announce that former White House official Jeffrey Zients will be the next director of the National Economic Council; Zients will replace Gene Sperling, who will depart at the start of next year,” USA Today reports.

“Taliban militants staged a suicide car bombing outside the United States consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat early Friday, killing two Afghan police and a security guard,” USA Today reports.

Japanese newspaper Nikkei: “President Barack Obama is set to name former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as the next chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, sources told The Nikkei on Thursday.”

Politico: “Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday slammed the Republicans who slowed the passage of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act as ‘this sort of Neanderthal crowd’ in the House as he touted what he considers to be his unique understanding of how Congress works.”

“A Pennsylvania grand jury has charged a Clarks Summit man with threatening to kill President Barack Obama,” AP writes, adding, “Clarks Summit is about 10 miles outside Scranton. Obama visited Scranton and the region Aug. 23, a week after the alleged threatening email. That same day, local police seized ammunition and weapons at a Clarks Summit home on behalf of the Secret Service.”

Time’s Rick Stengel may be leaving the magazine for a job at the State Department as “Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.”

“Forty-three House Republicans have introduced their own continuing resolution that they think would achieve the goal of both cutting spending and defunding Obamacare better than the plan GOP leaders put forth Tuesday,” Roll Call reports. “Rather than fund the government for a month and a half at the post-sequester top line of $988 billion, it would run through all of fiscal 2014 at the lower, $967 billion levels many Republicans favor.”

The Hill: The sponsorship total reveals that there is a significant bloc of opposition to a plan from GOP leaders that would avoid a government shutdown by requiring that the Senate take a vote on the healthcare law.

Roll Call: “The recess planned for the last week of September may be canceled to deal with fiscal issues, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said on the floor Thursday.”

“The Senate on Thursday confirmed Victoria Nuland, President Barack Obama’s choice as chief U.S. envoy for Europe who was widely criticized for her role in the talking points created after last year’s deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya,” AP writes. “By voice vote and with no debate, the Senate approved the nomination of Nuland, who had served as State Department spokeswoman during Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure.”

Charlie Cook notes that Syria had the potential to be a big 2014 issue, and, “It was a lot easier for members to see how they might regret voting yes than no. … If Obama’s job ratings bounce around at or under 40 percent for long, Democrats should worry that the historic trend of the president’s party losing ground in the House may catch up with them.”

Rand Paul was stuck yesterday trying to explain his views versus his father’s on the reasons the U.S. was attacked on 9/11. Ron Paul said that 9/11 was “blowback for decades of U.S. intervention in the Middle East.” Rand half agreed. “I think some are also motivated whether we’re there or not,” he said. “So I think there’s a combination of reasons why we’re attacked.”

KENTUCKY: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will help raise funds for the 2014 opponent of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to a report,” Politico writes, adding, “Reid’s move comes after he had …[said] last year that he would not publicly campaign against Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell because he didn’t think it would be appropriate to do so.”

NEW JERSEY: “A fire that started at a frozen custard shop Thursday ripped along the boardwalks of Seaside Park and Seaside Heights, N.J., and damaging nearly two dozen businesses along the way,” USA Today writes. “Much of the iconic boardwalk just rebuilt after Superstorm Sandy was destroyed…. Not since the Long Branch Amusement Pier fire of 1987, has there been a more disastrous beachfront fire on the Jersey Shore.” Gov. Chris Christie “recalled his initial words to his staff as they briefed him of the barrier island’s latest disaster: ‘I feel like I want to throw up.’”

One resident, who had just been at the bank depositing a FEMA check because of damage to property after Sandy, told the Asbury Park Press: “It’s horrible. Why is God doing this to us again? How much more can we take?”

VIRGINIA: The Washington Post’s editorial page hits Ken Cuccinelli over the $18,000 in gifts that he received from a Virginia businessman; this week, Cuccinelli wrote a check donating $18,000 to charity. “Did Mr. Cuccinelli not understand the conflicts? Did he not understand that, as the attorney general, it was wrong to accept gifts from a businessman whose firm was fighting his office? Did he not understand that it was wrong to accept gifts from the businessman as his office prosecuted a whistleblower whose revelations threatened both the businessman and the governor, a political ally of Mr. Cuccinelli’s?”