House Republicans next week intend to vote on a plan that would both extend all of the Bush tax cuts — including those on income in excess of $250,000 — and fast-track “tax reform.” If the House GOP bill were adopted, tax reform legislation would “have special protections in the U.S. Senate, limiting the opportunities for lawmakers to use blocking tactics.”

But the GOP bill only calls for a certain kind of tax reform — specifically that which would benefit the rich and corporations. Under the GOP’s fast-track approach, a tax reform bill would have to consist of:

(1) a consolidation of the current 6 individual income tax brackets into not more than two brackets of 10 and not more than 25 percent;

(2) a reduction in the corporate tax rate to not greater than 25 percent;

(3) a repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax;

(4) a broadening of the tax base to maintain revenue between 18 and 19 percent of the economy; and

(5) a change from a ‘‘worldwide’’ to a ‘‘territorial’’ system of taxation.

As Citizens for Tax Justice noted, these changes would massively benefit the wealthy and corporations, shifting the tax burden down the income scale. In fact, consolidation of the tax code in the way the GOP envisions would give millionaires a $187,000 annual tax cut, while likely increasing taxes on the middle-class and working families, due to the elimination of deductions upon which they depend.

Changing to a “territorial” system of corporate taxation, meanwhile, would boost the incentive to invest overseas and push jobs offshore. These are the sort of changes which Republicans want to protect from procedural shenanigans, even as they drive the use of the filibuster to unprecedented heights, including on legislation that could boost the sluggish economic recovery.

Bank of America has decided to renegotiate the terms of a Minnesota homeowner’s mortgage just days before it was scheduled to be auctioned off following a week of action by activists with Occupy Our Homes MN and other groups. Ruby Brown began fighting the foreclosure more than five years ago. She found out last week that the bank had canceled a scheduled sheriff’s auction, according to OccupyOurHomes.org:

After a five-year battle over now-illegal lending practices, a bank error that dropped her from a loan modification program, and a campaign with Occupy Homes MN, north Minneapolis homeowner Ruby Brown has received a mortgage renegotiation from Bank of America, just days before her home was to be auctioned off.

“This is an incredible victory for Ruby, who has been in the struggle for so long. It’s also something that can and should happen for everyone facing the loss of a home right now,” said Susan Kikuchi, an organizer with Occupy Homes MN.

Brown isn’t the only homeowner to face foreclosure over banking errors. Wall Street banks have used fraudulent documents to process foreclosures, illegally foreclosed on members of the military, and foreclosed on homes over small clerical errors. The biggest lenders were subject to a $25 billion mortgage fraud settlement with the federal government and state attorneys general earlier this year.

The victory is the latest in a string of successes for the Occupy Our Homes movement and Occupy Our Homes MN in particular, which has targeted Minneapolis’ hardest-hit neighborhoods and helped numerous homeowners — including the mother of one of its own organizers — stave off foreclosure.

New data released today shows that the U.S. economy grew by 1.5 percent last quarter, following a revised increase of 2 percent in the first quarter. Republicans, of course, leaped on the middling number, with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) calling it “a troubling sign for the future of our economy.”

But GOP’ers neglect to mention that they repeatedly filibustered President Obama’s American Jobs Act in the Senate, after several independent economic analysts estimated that the bill would boost GDP by one to three percent.

– Goldman Sachs economists estimated that the AJA would increase GDP by 1.5 percent, before any multiplier effects.

– Thomas Lam, of the economic advisory firm OSK-DMG, estimated that the bill would boost GDP by 1.8 percent.

– Macroeconomic Advisers estimated that the boost would be 1.3 percent.

– Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy, put the boost at 2 percent of GDP.

– The Economic Policy Institute estimated that the new initiatives in the AJA would increase GDP by 1.9 percent, while policy extensions it included would increase GDP by another 1.4 percent.

The Congressional Budget Office also scored the bill as a net deficit reducer over a ten year budget window. As ThinkProgress has detailed, blocking the AJA is hardly the only thing that the GOP has done to sabotage economic growth and job creation.

Our guest blogger is David Madland, Director of the American Worker Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) outlined the principles for a new type of retirement plan in a report released today. This sort of plan is sorely needed given the current state of retirement savings.

The latest figures from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances show that the typical American near retirement age has accumulated enough money in her 401(k) account to receive monthly payments of just $575. This is a particularly damning figure given that this group of near-retirees is dependent on 401(k)s, while previous cohorts commonly also had a pension.

Currently, retirement prospects are bleak for far too many Americans: estimates indicate that more than 50 percent of middle-class retirees are likely to outlive their retirement savings. Half of all workers don’t even have a retirement plan at work. And the few pensions remaining are under threat, as even profitable companies like Caterpillar are trying to eliminate them.

Harkin’s new USA Retirement Funds — based in part on a forthcoming Center for American Progress proposal, as well as the work of the Pension Rights Center — combines some of the best elements of defined-contribution plans and defined-benefit plans to deliver a portable, cost-effective, and stable level of benefits for retirees at a constant cost to employers.

Though the proposal is unlikely to become law anytime soon, it is still a big step towards solving the pending retirement crisis, because it offers the kind of solution that can appeal both to workers and employers.

Just a week after it was ordered to pay $165 million in refunds and penalties for wrongful credit card practices, Capital One reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over charges that it financially abused active military members. Under the terms of the settlement, the bank will pay $12 million to American military members who were denied their legal right to reprieve from foreclosures, high interest rates, and auto reposession while on active duty.

The Justice Department estimated that 4,000 troops were affected by Capital One’s violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, which grants certain financial protections to military members. Capital One will pay $55,000 in fines to DOJ while also providing settlement money to troops and restoring lost and damaged credit, the Washington Post reports:

Justice officials have asked Capital One to pay $7 million in damages to military personnel — including $125,000 for foreclosure, $10,000 for repossession, $500 for failed interest rate reduction and a refund of all the interest charged above 6 percent.

The bank will provide another $5 million to service members who did not receive the full benefits allotted under the act. The settlement also requires Capital One to repair the credit of those affected by its actions, which occurred from July 2006 to November 2011.

But Capital One was hardly the only bank to take advantage of members of the military before and after the housing crisis. Ten lenders were accused last year of illegally foreclosing on thousands of military members, and multiple banks, including JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, have settled claims with the government over their abuses of servicemembers.