• Outlining a fiscal plan that walks and chews gum:  eat first, then we talk — or, more technically, current law, but alongside a 2013 stimulus package.
• Considering poverty rates and market failure:  we’re stuck with high poverty rates due to a market failure policymakers won’t address, and the official rates miss some important information on how the safety net has helped partially offset hardship for poor families.
• Thinking about the tragedy in Aurora:  you don’t have to get wound up in constitutional debates or social justice or even common sense to make the case for some action here — you just have to believe that there is a role for public policy to insure the safety of its citizens.
• Analyzing a smart renters’ credit plan from CBPP colleagues:  the American Dream supports homeownership, and our housing policies subsidize the dream — a new tax credit for renters could add some balance.
• Confirming that Medicaid coverage has a positive impact:  But really, how big a surprise is this?  If you’re poor in America, even with a job, your access to health care is, absent Medicaid, severely constrained.
• Offering a bit of background on the New York Times’ new series on middle class decline:  focusing on the importance of full employment.
• Examining the GDP report:  a first look at the second quarter numbers, and analyzing the relationship between GDP growth and unemployment.
• Assigning some timely weekend reading:  a historical review by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on the role that government has played in key areas of our economy and society.
• Emphasizing what’s so great about SNAP:  it’s strongly countercyclical, highly effective against poverty, and has strong multiplier effects.

 Music:  Chick Corea and Taylor Swift on this week’s Friday Musical Interlude.

 Bonus:  Highlighting a profile of John Arensmeyer, the founder of the Small Business Majority, an important alternative to the NFIB:  I’m glad to see a group on the scene who really represents the interests of small business.