Obama Budget Splits Dems
"Obama Budget Strategy Irks Democrats" reports Roll Call: "Several Democratic sources outside the White House ... said Obama’s budget release this week is not just a bad bargaining stance but also another instance in which the president appears to be taking a position in the middle, only to later be pushed by Republicans to the right."
"Liberals warn Democrats on Obama budget" reports Politico: "A trio of liberal groups is warning Democratic lawmakers who back cuts to entitlements programs that they could face a challenge from the left in the next election ... threatening to unseat a Democratic incumbent and actually unseating them are two very different things ... Still, those involved with the groups say crossing them on entitlements will energize a liberal base that holds Medicare and Social Security programs near and dear. And after last year’s redistricting process, many Democratic House members find themselves in districts that become more liberal."
Liberals look to Republicans to sink grand bargain, reports The Hill: "With Obama pushing for cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the best chance liberals have of stopping those spending reductions could be the GOP’s blanket opposition to higher taxes."
Sen. Max Baucus not on same page as WH on tax reform. W. Post: "He meets regularly with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), who said Baucus shares his vision for legislation that eliminates loopholes and lowers rates without producing more revenue ... senior Democrats dismiss Baucus’s activities, saying tax reform will not happen unless Obama strikes a broad deal with Republicans that includes $600 billion more in taxes over the next decade..."
Energy tax reform in early stages. Politico: "Among the items under consideration: allowing renewable energy companies to have greater access to tax-advantaged structures, balancing a reduction in tax rates with elimination of incentives widely used by oil and gas producers and promoting new measures to spur energy efficiency."
Bank Reform Has Momentum
"Draft Senate Bill Would Target ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks With Higher Capital Requirements" reports ThinkProgress: "Draft legislation authored by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) and likely to be cosponsored by Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) would attempt to limit the size of 'too big to fail' banks by imposing strict capital requirements and preventing them from structuring themselves to elude the rules. [The bill] would mainly target the six largest banks, since it would impose an even larger capital requirement on banks that exceed $400 billion in total assets..."
Brown-Vitter bill has "momentum" says HuffPost: "'A Wall Street lobbyist stole and distributed a copy of our draft bill to try and drum up support for protecting the big banks’ taxpayer funded handouts -- and ultimately remain too-big-to-fail,' Vitter spokesman Luke Bolar said Friday. Lobbyists and lawmakers are typically very cordial, and such tactics and rhetoric underscore unusual tensions between Wall Street and Washington."
Immigration Reform Inches Ahead
Immigrant farmworker deal close. NYT: "...the questions as to the number of workers who can enter the country and what wages those workers should be paid have been sticking points. Aides with knowledge of the talks said the number of workers would most likely be determined by a formula that would be overseen by the secretaries of agriculture and labor."
Anti-immigrant conservatives whine, border security will cost too much! Politico: "Conservatives contend that costs would be prohibitive — it’s not just about paying for beefed-up border and employer enforcement, but accounting for the burden it would place on Obamacare, Medicare and other government programs in the decades to come."
Breakfast Sides
LA Gov. Bobby Jindal flinches on scrapping income tax. NYT: "The plan, to get rid of the state income and corporate taxes and replace the lost revenue with higher and broader sales taxes, was not dropped altogether. Mr. Jindal emphasized that he was still committed to losing the income tax, but that he would defer to the Legislature to suggest how exactly to make that work."
Student loan rate may rise without action by Congress. NYT: "The interest rate on many student loans is scheduled to double on July 1, to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent — just as it was last year, when in the midst of an election campaign, Congress voted to extend the lower rate ... This time around, though, longer-term solutions may be on the horizon ... Many Republicans favor a variable interest rate. But the Senate recently passed a budget resolution extending the 3.4 percent rate indefinitely..."
Republican Mayor of Lancaster, CA requires new homes to have solar panels. NYT: "'We want to be the first city that produces more electricity from solar energy than we consume on a daily basis,' he said ... [Lancaster] requires[s] that almost all new homes either come equipped with solar panels or be in subdivisions that produce one kilowatt of solar energy per house."
