MORNING MESSAGE: "Death Panel" of GOP Governors Refuse Medicaid Expansion
OurFuture.org's Terrance Heath: "All 10 members of the GOP Governors’ Death Panel offer the same excuse for refusing to expand Medicaid in their states, or wanting to get full federal funding for a partial expansion. They say 'We can’t afford it,' but they lie. In most cases, these the Medicaid expansion would mean a significant reduction in the number of uninsured, at a modest cost to the states. They might even save money ... The principle they stand on is from Tyler Cowen, 'We need to accept the principle that sometimes poor people will die just because they are poor.' Or, to put it simply, 'Let them die.'”
Obama Toughens Posture
WH signals tough posture with congressional Republicans. The Hill: "Senior administration officials acknowledge that now that Obama will never have to seek reelection again, it is easier to take a tougher line with Congress on policymaking. 'Does that give the president a little more latitude? Sure,' one senior administration official said."
Politico adds: "There’s also a long-term strategy: Two months after a decisive presidential win, Obama and his party already are eyeing the 2014 midterms. Highlighting the contrasts between the White House and congressional Republicans could flip the House back to Democrats, giving Obama a final two-year governing majority that bookends the one he enjoyed during his first two years in office. But it would be a mistake to attribute all of Obama’s actions to dispassionate tactics. After four-plus years of embittered partisan combat, he views his GOP bargaining partners with more than a little contempt..."
WH Considers Full 2014 Afghan Withdrawal
Obama considering complete pullout. NYT: "On the eve of a visit by President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, the Obama administration said Tuesday that it was open to a so-called zero option that would involve leaving no American troops in Afghanistan after 2014, when the NATO combat mission there comes to an end ... the plans for a postwar American presence in Afghanistan have generally envisioned a residual force of thousands of troops to carry out counterterrorism operations and to help train and equip Afghan soldiers ... After the White House pressed for lower troop options, the Pentagon offered three plans that would leave 3,000, 6,000 and 9,000."
New security team signals shift toward "light footprint." NYT: "Gone for the second term are the powerful personalities, and more hawkish voices, that pressed Mr. Obama to pursue the surge in Afghanistan in 2009, a gamble championed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Robert M. Gates, the former secretary of defense. Gone from the C.I.A. is the man who urged Mr. Obama to keep troops there longer, David H. Petraeus. The new team will include two Vietnam veterans, Senator John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, who bear the scars of a war that ended when the president was a teenager, and a counterterrorism chief, John O. Brennan, who helped devise the 'light footprint' strategy of limiting American interventions, whenever possible, to drones, cyberattacks and Special Operations forces."
Breakfast Sides
Feds may settle with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Ally over foreclosure abuse. Bloomberg: "The new settlement could bring the industry payout to $10 billion and expands beyond the 14 firms required to review foreclosures under the April 2011 agreement."
Sponsors of bipartisan infrastructure bank legislation leaving Senate. Politico: "With Kay Bailey Hutchison gone from the Senate and John Kerry probably soon to follow, supporters of creating a national infrastructure bank are searching for a new champion ... The most likely person to lead the charge now is Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a co-sponsor of the Kerry-Hutchison bill ... What Republican might come to dance on the infrastructure bank idea remains to be seen, but it probably won’t be Sen. John Thune, the South Dakota Republican set to replace Hutchison as the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. During a Commerce hearing last summer, Thune said he’s concerned about the impact of an infrastructure bank on rural areas..."
