Climate Bill Clears First Hurdle
"Legislation imposing the first nationwide limits on the pollution blamed for global warming advanced in the House late Thursday ... The Energy and Commerce Committee approved the sweeping climate bill 33-25 after repeatedly turning back GOP attempts to kill or weaken the measure during four days of debate.": AP
NYT sums up reactions: "Many large manufacturers and the majority of the big utilities support it, for now, as the least-bad option for what is considered the inevitable imposition of controls on heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. The National Association of Manufacturers and the United States Chamber of Commerce opposed it, although some members of both groups broke with leadership to endorse the measure. These two big lobbies argued that it was a burdensome tax on business that would drive companies and jobs overseas while doing little to address climate change. The major environmental advocacy groups are, for the most part, enthusiastic backers ... But some groups, like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen, expressed concern that the bill as drafted gave away too much to polluting industries..."
"Waxman has spoken to leadership about bringing the legislation to the floor in July, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is aiming for a full House vote by the end of June or early July. On Wednesday, the Energy and Commerce chairman said, 'I don’t think a decision has been made.' In the interim, other chairmen are reaching out to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other leaders to get their hands on the measure.": Politico
House Ag Chair further threatens to stop the bill. The Hill: "...in addition to the 25 or so 'no' votes from his own committee, [Rep. Colin] Peterson on Wednesday said he has another 15 to 20 'no' votes, largely from members who also represent rural areas."
Beyond Green disturbed by Peterson's posse: "To let that bunch loose on Waxman-Markey would be a disaster -- I can't imagine that Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Henry Waxman, or Speaker Pelosi for that matter, would allow it. One of two things will happen, in my view. Either Pelosi will threaten Peterson and/or his committee-members or she'll count votes and realize she won't need the votes of the 26 Dems who sit on Ag -- though that one's hard to believe, or she'll let Peterson have his way and water down the bill even further, which could give wavering green groups more ammunition to oppose it. This could turn out to be a significant test of Pelosi's strength."
Fossil fuel/rural area Dem supporters set out to persuade skeptics. ClimateWire: "...the 34 Democrats and one Republican now embark on the difficult task of convincing their fellow House colleagues to support sweeping new environmental legislation in tight economic times ... Rep. Mike Doyle, a Democrat who represents Pittsburgh, has already gotten started, albeit in a very subtle way. He brought up the climate bill over breakfast yesterday with a wavering lawmaker from the South."
Energy Secretary Chu tells BBC compromise is necessary: "As someone very concerned about climate I want to be as aggressive as possible but I also want to get started. And if we say we want something much more aggressive on the early timescales that would draw considerable opposition and that would delay the process for several years."
"Duke Energy, Alcoa, GE Win in Climate Legislation by Signing On": Bloomberg
Coal Tattoo is shocked "Big coal still opposes climate bill"
Climate Progress' Joe Romm approves: "The short answer is that Waxman-Markey is the only game in town. If it fails, I see no chance whatsoever of stabilizing anywhere near 350 to 450 ppm since serious U.S. action would certainly be off the table for years, the effort to jumpstart the clean energy economy in this country would stall, the international negotiating process would fall apart, and any chance of a deal with China would be dead."
Get Energy Smart Now does not: "'deliver bold energy and climate policy that gets the job done.' Sadly, with all due respect to Chairman Waxman and Chairman Markey, ACES doesn’t merit that description."
Progress in Senate too. CQ: "... the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ... voted 9-13 against an amendment by Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to kill the renewable electricity title of a broad energy bill the committee is developing. The test vote was arranged by Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., to show he has the support needed to approve the measure. The renewable electricity standard (RES) would require that 15 percent of the nation’s electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2021, a fivefold increase from the 3 percent renewable power produced today." Wonk Room: "A Strong Federal Renewable Electricity Standard Would Save Over $200 Billion While Raising Rates Less Than One Percent"
Funding Health Care Reform
OMB Director says limiting charitable deductions still on table. FT: "Many Democrats rejected the administration’s proposal of putting a ceiling on what wealthier Americans could itemise as deductions against their taxes. They said it would hit charitable giving. But Mr Orszag says the option is still there."
Sen. Wyden hit back at AFSCME. Politico: "Oregon Senator Ron Wyden [is] touting the fact that the plan is opposed by both 'insurance lobbyists' and 'a couple of D.C. labor unions' as an advertisement for the legislation ... The AFSCME spot attacks the element of the Wyden's bill which would finance universal health care in part by treating employers' contribution to health insurance as taxable income, something that could affect public workers, like AFSCME's members, disproportionately, as many public sector workers take a larger share of their compensation in benefits." Change.org's Tim Foley sides with Wyden: " It’s far from the only way to pay for health care reform, but it’s one worth serious consideration."
Jason Rosenbaum debunks insurance lobby attack against HCAN report: "So, AHIP, what erroneous data? What part of the data we used was wrong? And why was it wrong? Guess what: They never say. They just call the data 'erroneous,' as if just saying that would make it true. No competing data is offered to show that 94% of the communities in America are not, in fact, under the thumb of insurance industry near-monopolies."
NYT's Paul Krugman says insurance lobby showing true colors: "Less than two weeks have passed since much of the medical-industrial complex made a big show of working with President Obama on health care reform — and the double-crossing is already well under way. Indeed, it’s now clear that even as they met with the president, pretending to be cooperative, insurers were gearing up to play the same destructive role they did the last time health reform was on the agenda."
Pecora Commission Now Law
NYT: "President Obama on Wednesday signed legislation ... including a provision that created an independent panel to investigate the root causes of the nation’s economic downturn."
Jane Hamsher flags a potential issue: "...he also issued a signing statement limiting the administration's duty to comply with its requests ... As head of the New York Fed, Timothy Geithner was smack in the middle of many conflicts of interest surrounding Goldman Sachs, AIG, and the bank bailout. This signing statement could be used to protect him from inquiry."
TARP Payback
"Banks negotiating to reclaim stock warrants they granted in return for Troubled Asset Relief Program money may shortchange taxpayers by almost $10 billion if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s first sale sets the pace, data compiled by Bloomberg show."
"What's not so clear is whether repaying TARP will turn out to be beneficial for investors. Analysts say getting out of TARP could be costly. Indeed, some worry that banks are putting their desire to rid themselves of government intervention ahead of their firms' bottom lines. 'TARP funds are a relatively inexpensive way to fund your operations these days,' says Ray Soifer, a former top Wall Street analyst and a longtime bank consultant. 'The problem I see is that banks are rushing to save every penny and nickel in order to pay back TARP instead of lending, which is one of the ways they make money.'": Time
W. Post argues economic strategy is working: " The financial system, frozen solid for the past nine months, is in a spring thaw ... The relative improvement has come despite sluggish progress in some of the more high-profile government efforts to revive the financial system and the economy. ... Still, government officials and private economists say, there's a sense that the government is attacking the crisis from all directions."
Ezra Klein cuts WH slack: "If you understand the administration's financial efforts as partly driven by a desire to keep downside risk manageable rather than cataclysmic -- and I think that's how you should understand them -- then ... Things are working out pretty well. Not perfectly. But a failed bank nationalization is rather scarier, and quite a bit less survivable for the related politicians, than an imperfect, somewhat-too-costly, TARP program"
Pledging Deficit Reduction
"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration is committed to reducing the federal budget deficit after concerns rose that the U.S. debt rating may eventually be threatened with a downgrade.": Bloomberg
"The Obama administration would consider tax increases or spending cuts if needed to ensure that US budget deficits do not remain at unsustainable levels once the economy recovers, Peter Orszag, the White House budget director, has told the Financial Times."
"Baucus Continues To Waffle On Tax Haven Crackdown": Wonk Room
GM Bankruptcy Plans In Motion
"The Obama administration is preparing to send General Motors into bankruptcy as early as the end of next week under a plan that would give the automaker tens of billions of dollars more in public financing as the company seeks to shrink and reemerge as a global competitor, sources familiar with the discussions said.": W. Post
"General Motors and the United Auto Workers union have reached a deal that, among other concessions, paves the way for the embattled carmaker to contribute shares rather than cash to a new union-managed healthcare plan": FT
"Criticism of President Barack Obama's rescue plans for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC blossomed Thursday, as lawmakers and outsiders questioned the treatment of dealers, investors and the speed at which the administration was moving.": Detroit Free Press
Panama Trade Deal Delayed
"Facing Progressive Pressure, Obama Backs Off Panama Free Trade Agreement: OurFuture.org's David Sirota
Terrance Heath contributed to the making of this Breakfast
