MORNING MESSAGE: Let’s Talk About Fixing The TRADE Deficit
OurFuture.org's Dave Johnson: "Instead of the current focus on budget deficits, Washington should be talking about how to fix this vast trade deficit. Here are some of the things they should be talking about — and doing ... Confronting currency manipulation offers the biggest 'bang for the buck,' requiring no tax dollars and reaping huge returns ... A $540 billion trade deficit doesn’t come from balanced trade; it is the result of one-sided trade agreements we have entered into ... The Bring Jobs Home Act would cut taxes for U.S. companies that move jobs and business operations to the United States, and end tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas ... 'Buy America' provisions should be a mandate on federal, state and local government purchases..."
Sequester Starts To Inflict Pain
Sequester already hitting airports, customs. W. Post: "Up to 40 percent of the customs booths at airports in New York and Miami were unmanned over the weekend because of cutbacks in overtime for customs officials, resulting in waits of up to three hours for international passengers, Customs and Border Protection officials said. In Long Beach, Calif., the nation’s second-busiest cargo port, customs officials are working 90 minutes less per shift, which could lead to longer processing times for containers ... customs officials warned Tuesday that delays would worsen in coming weeks."
WH cancels tours. McClatchy: "The cancellation will annoy plenty of tourists who tour the White House after securing their tickets well in advance through their elected representative's office. It will also certainly annoy those congressional offices that must begin notifying disappointed constituents."
EPA announces furloughs. W. Post: "The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday formally notified its employees of planned furloughs of up to 13 discontinuous days ... EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe said that the agency will carry out the furlough in two phases, with employees required to take 32 unpaid hours, the equivalent of four days, in the first phase through June."
Sequester could soon worsen weather forecasting. W. Post: "...the required cuts could delay the launch of new weather satellites in coming years, which would 'increase the risk of a gap in satellite coverage and diminish the quality of weather forecasts and warnings.'"
Bipartisan agreement emerging to soften sequester blow, but keep spending cap. AP: "...both sides [are] eager to pocket the full savings for deficit reduction as they pivot to a new clash over Medicare ... legislation drafted by House Republicans to prevent a government shutdown on March 27 also gives the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department flexibility to allocate cuts that no agency currently has ... Senate Democrats seem likely to agree to the flexibility if it can be expanded to include other agencies ..."
"Grand Bargain" White House Dinner
President to have dinner with "about a dozen Republican senators" to discuss "grand bargain," climate, guns and immigration, reports NYT: "Speaking of the deficit reduction impasse, [Sen. Lindsey] Graham added, 'He wants to do the big deal.'"
Duncan Black makes the case for expanding Social Security, in USA Today oped: " ... median household wealth for those aged 65+ is about $170,000 ... this figure includes housing wealth ... many people have a house and not much else ... Social Security was envisioned as one leg of a three-legged stool of retirement, along with employer pensions and private savings or insurance ... The problem is that two of those legs have shrunk significantly ..."
Jeb Can't Stop Immigration Reform
Republican senators supporting immigration reform unfazed by Jeb Bush flip-flop. W. Post quotes Sen. Graham: "It’s just not practical to think we’ll be able to pass any bill in the United States Senate without a path to citizenship.”
"Momentum" in House for immigration reform, reports Politico: "Top lawmakers and aides in Boehner’s chamber describe a process that would have the House pass a number of small-bore immigration bills with broad support. Those bills would lead to a formal conference negotiation with the Senate, when it passes its comprehensive bill that is expected to be unveiled sometime in early April. The final product would then be bipartisan and could ease passage through both chambers, according to this thinking."
Disagreements between business and labor holding up Senate bill. Politico: "Forget the pathway to citizenship. The real hang-up in the high-stakes immigration talks is how senators will satisfy Big Business and powerful labor unions over proposals to attract lower-skilled foreign workers into the country.
Republicans Against Job Training
House Republicans push cutting job training programs. The Hill: "Obama has called for restructuring job-training programs, a push that has given the Republican legislation the imprimatur of bipartisanship. Yet House Democrats and advocate groups are pushing separate legislation, and say the Republican bill goes too far in eliminating federal programs ... Rachel Gragg, federal policy director for the National Skills Coalition, praised the Democratic legislation and said the GOP bill went about streamlining training programs in the wrong way by combining them all into a single block grant."
The big reason Congress should support raising the minimum wage, from TNR's Timothy Noah: "The minimum wage can be boosted without costing the Treasury a dime. The GOP may not go for this argument, but it’s an easier sell than asking Congress to spend money."
