Sequester In The Air
Air travelers suffer major delays as sequester furloughs kick in. The Hill: "Airlines and organizations representing pilots put the blame for the delays squarely on the furloughs, while Republicans said the Federal Aviation Administration was intentionally passing the pain onto passengers to make a political statement about the sequester ... The White House and Democrats defended the FAA, arguing furloughs were unavoidable at the agency given the forced spending cuts."
Republicans own the airport delays, argues W. Post's Greg Sargent: "The truth is that sequestration cuts — which are significant enough already — already represent significantly lower levels of cutting spending than what House Republicans wanted ... the budgets that Republicans have been voting for, year after year, promise to entirely wipe out non-defense discretionary spending over the long term. All of it ... if you want massive spending cuts, that means massive cuts to government programs that people like. And one political party has been advocating those cuts, and even risking default of the government in order to get them."
New Goldman Sachs projection shows "Incredible Shrinking Budget Deficit." NYT: "The number crunchers at Goldman Sachs have lowered their estimates of the deficit both this year and next, on the back of higher-than-expected revenues and lower-than-projected spending. Analysts started the year projecting that the deficit in the current fiscal year would be about $900 billion. Earlier this year, they lowered the estimate to $850 billion. Now they have lowered it again, to $775 billion, or about 4.8 percent of economic output."
European Commission President suggests austerity might be over. FT: "José Manuel Barroso said that while he still believed in the need for sweeping economic reforms and drastic cuts in budget deficits, such policies needed to have 'acceptance, politically and socially', which was now at risk. 'While this policy is fundamentally right, I think it has reached its limits in many aspects,' Mr Barroso said. 'A policy to be successful not only has to be properly designed. It has to have the minimum of political and social support.'"
Ryan Embraces Immigration Reform
Conservatives use Boston to seek delay of immigration bill. The Hill: "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a rising star in the GOP, on Monday called for the Senate Homeland Security Committee to hold hearings on the immigration system. 'We should not proceed until we understand the specific failures of our immigration system,' he wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ... Proponents of the immigration reform legislation say critics are raising national security concerns in an effort to slow the bill down and give the opposition more time to build momentum against it."
But Paul Ryan makes case for action. NYT: "'If anything, this is a case in point on the need to modernize our immigration laws,' said Mr. Ryan ... Ryan’s stance on the issue could help bridge the divide between party leaders and more reluctant rank-and-file conservatives in the House."
Breakfast Sides
Bipartisan backing for letting states levy internet sales tax. The Hill: "Senators advanced the bill in 74-20 procedural vote on Monday evening ... Major retailers are putting all their lobbying muscle behind the legislation, arguing it would close an unfair loophole that benefits online merchants over brick-and-mortar stores ... But signs of trouble for the bill also emerged as Wall Street groups urged the Senate to slow down and eBay began marshalling its users in a massive campaign to kill it. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Financial Services Roundtable said the measure could pave the way for financial transaction taxes on the state level..."
House won't let CFPB chief testify. WSJ: "A top House Republican won't allow Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to testify before his congressional committee, saying Mr. Cordray doesn't legitimately head the agency ... A CFPB spokeswoman did not comment on Mr. Hensarling's move but said the court decision 'has no direct effect' on the agency ... Mr. Cordray is scheduled to testify at the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday."
GOP tries to stall Labor Dept nominee. WSJ: "A group of Senate Republicans wants to delay a committee vote Thursday on the nomination of Tom Perez as labor secretary, saying Mr. Perez and the Justice Department haven’t yet answered all of their requests for information. But Sen. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, suggested it would proceed as planned.
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West, TX out of water. Yahoo! News: "City officials warned that hundreds of residents here could be without water for at least a week or more because pipes and other utility infrastructure were 'severely damaged' in last Wednesday’s deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant."
