Senior House Democrats Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) discuss the budget at a news conference on Dec. 5, 2013. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
1. Top story: Democrats lay out economic agenda
The proposal from senior lawmakers isn't likely to go anywhere for now, but it establishes Democrats' position for the upcoming campaign. "The centerpiece of the proposal, set to be unveiled Monday by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), is a 'paycheck bonus credit' that would shave $2,000 a year off the tax bills of couples earning less than $200,000. Other provisions would nearly triple the tax credit for child care and reward people who save at least $500 a year. The windfall — about $1.2 trillion over a decade — would come directly from the pockets of Wall Street 'high rollers' through a new fee on financial transactions, and from the top 1 percent of earners, who would lose billions of dollars in lucrative tax breaks." Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane in The Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street money has dried up for the Democratic Party. "Of course, the flight of financial sector money is not the sole reason for the increasingly populist arguments from Democratic politicians. But it has helped the debate to move, ever so slightly, away from Wall Street support. In the last two elections, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Democratic Party committees and candidates saw their share of contributions from finance, insurance and real estate donors shrink to the lowest percentages since at least 1990."Paul Blumenthal in The Huffington Post.
Number of the day: 1.7 percent. That's the increase in hourly wages for the average American worker last year -- which is almost nothing, but is still better than inflation, thanks to falling oil prices. Matt O'Brien in The Washington Post.
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