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Border Gridlock

"Prospects fade for resolution on border crisis" reports AP: "Prospects for action on the nation's border crisis faded Thursday as lawmakers traded accusations rather than solutions ... Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas announced plans to try to cancel out President Barack Obama's two-year-old policy that granted work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought illegally to the country as youths ... Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, declared himself dead-set opposed to legal changes ... the developments suggested lawmakers were hardening their positions, leading House Speaker John Boehner — who regularly declares himself a glass-half-full optimist — to downgrade hopes for a solution."

But it's not a border crisis, say Dems. W. Post's Greg Sargent: "'All of the trends and data have been quite positive in recent years,” [Sen. Martin] Heinrich said. “...this is not a border-driven crisis; it is a refugee crisis that has shown up at the border.' ... Dems will increasingly argue that funding to address this crisis in one sector must pass, lest border security elsewhere be compromised as Border Patrol agents are required to deal with kids rather than securing the border."

WH spells out to WSJ what it wants: "On Thursday, a senior administration official offered one of the clearest outlines of what the White House is looking for.... Central American children should be offered what’s called 'voluntary return' as soon as they are apprehended by border patrol, as Mexican kids now are. That allows a migrant to return to his or her country without a formal deportation order on the record ... some sort of 'expedited removal' for Central American children who do not have a 'credible claim' that would allow them to stay [as] is how Mexican children are treated today ... 'We want to make sure that whatever process is in place, these kids have an opportunity to make a claim, and that claim should be looked at, and if it’s legitimate, that should be validated ... We need to be able to move more efficiently and more effectively but not at the cost of making sure they have due process.'"

"New House GOP leaders face tough immigration test" reports The Hill: "...moving a bill is likely to be a tall order given Democratic signals they’ll oppose any changes to existing laws meant to protect children from Central America seeking asylum in the United States. That’s likely to force Republicans to win most of the 218 votes from their own fractious conference on the controversial issue of immigration."

"McCain to GOP: If You Want to Beat Hillary, Pass Immigration Reform" reports Time: "McCain noted that Clinton’s poll numbers have dropped over the recent controversy over her wealth and her speaking fees, but said that could all be for naught if the Republican Party doesn’t enact immigration reform. 'I expect it to be very competitive,' McCain said, 'except if we don’t enact some kind of comprehensive immigration reform, I do not see a way for us to really win a general election.'"

GOP Movement On Inversions

GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch may support legislation to curtail "inversion" tax dodge. The Hill: "Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Thursday said he was open to a short-term fix for offshore corporate tax deals, becoming the first top Republican to express support for the idea [though he] declined to lay out what sort of short-term measures he might propose ... The Utah Republican was responding to a letter [Treasury Secretary Jack] Lew sent this week, in which he called for immediate and retroactive action ... Hatch said Thursday that he was 'certain we can find alternatives that could easily be enacted and are less punitive and restrictive to businesses.'"

Biggest inversion scheme yet. Forbes: "Abbvie, the pharmaceutical company based in North Chicago, Illinois, said on Friday that it had agreed to buy U.K. drug maker Shire for $54 billion in a transaction that is designed to lower the American company’s tax rate, the largest inversion deal ever ... Lowering its tax rate appears to be the primary reason that AbbVie has entered into a transaction with Shire, whose board supports the deal. Earlier this week, a big pharmaceutical company based outside Pittsburgh, Mylan Laboratories, announced it would buy Abbott Laboratories an international generic drug business in a $5.3 billion deal that will allow Mylan to reincorporate in the Netherlands. Mylan is run by Heather Bresch, the daughter of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia."

Minnesota Beats Australia

Minnesota shows how states can cut carbon emissions. NYT: "Minnesota has mandated sharp reductions in energy use in every new state-financed building for more than a decade, and in renovated buildings for more than five years. While other states and critics of the Obama administration have howled about complying with its proposed rule slashing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, Minnesota has been reining in its utilities’ carbon pollution for decades — not painlessly, but without breaking much of a sweat, either. Today, Minnesota gets more of its power from wind than all but four other states..."

While Australia opts to spew more carbon. NYT: "Opposition politicians and environmentalists in Australia reacted with dismay, saying the move made Australia the first country to reverse progress on fighting climate change. It was also viewed with disappointment by proponents of establishing a global carbon-pricing system as the most effective way of reining in emissions. Australia is one of the world’s largest sources of carbon emissions, and its policies have been watched closely by other nations..."

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