Shutdown Fears Reignite As House Dysfunction Reigns
House GOP, facing mutiny, pulls bill to keep government open and maintain sequester. NYT: "Democrats are uniting in opposition to the bill, not only because of the resolution to starve the Affordable Care Act, but also because the level of financing for the government would reflect the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. For their part, dozens of House conservatives have pledged never to vote for financing legislation that does not kill off the health care law — and they say the structure of the House legislation is a sleight of hand that would not impair the law at all ... House leadership aides expressed confidence that the revolt could be cooled down by next week."
"The federal government moved closer to the brink of a shutdown" observes The Hill: "The House is scheduled to recess during the last week of September, leaving only six legislative days before the end of the fiscal year. But that break could be canceled if a funding bill is not put in place."
"There are times when it looks like Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor have no idea how to run the House Republican Conference," reports Politico: "A clearly frustrated Boehner seemed to realize that he leads a conference where no plan is quite good enough. There are frequently about 30 Republicans who oppose leadership’s carefully crafted plans — just enough to mess things up. A reporter asked him whether he has a new idea to resolve the government funding fight. He laughed and said, 'No. Do you have an idea?' he asked the reporters. 'They’ll just shoot it down anyway.'"
Democratic veto of Missouri tax cut sustained. W. Post: "[Gov. Jay] Nixon, a Democrat, vetoed the measure because he said it was 'an ill-conceived, fiscally irresponsible experiment.' In a series of campaign-style events around the state, he argued the bill would punch a hole in the state’s budget and put funding for public services like education and public safety at risk. He was joined by a coalition led by groups representing teachers and school boards."
EPA Readies Tough Power Plant Regs
Revised draft rule for new power plants remain tough on coal emissions, reports WSJ: "...a person who has seen a recent version of the revised rule said it would propose an emissions limit of 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour for coal plants and 1,000 pounds per megawatt hour for large gas-fired plants. Last year's version was only slightly different, setting a 1,000-pound limit for both types of plants ... such stringent limits would ban new coal plants ... The only way coal plants could comply is to capture carbon-dioxide emissions and stick them underground—a costly process that hasn't been demonstrated at commercial scale before."
Senate takes up energy-efficiency. National Journal: "The energy bill the Senate is debating now is 30 pages long, and has fully offset costs and just one mandatory measure: to make the federal government’s use of energy more efficient. The bill also includes a host of voluntary measures, such as strengthening national building codes and directing the Energy Department to encourage development of energy-efficiency technology."
Breakfast Sides
Mother Jones pinpoints "Larry Summers' Citigroup Problem": "After Obama took office in 2008, he enacted sweeping ethics rules that say that no presidential appointee can work on matters directly related to a former employer for two years after taking a government job. That means that unless Obama grants Summers an exemption from the rules—a move that could be politically controversial—the former Treasury Secretary will have to recuse himself from a slew of Fed decisions involving Citi, which is the third-largest bank in America. Experts say those recusals could hamper Summers' ability to run the Fed effectively."
Push to include currency manipulation rules in Trans-Pacific trade deal. Politico: "The United States has so far not been seeking rules against currency manipulation in the 12-nation pact. But U.S. automakers ... argue that Japan’s recent entry into TPP talks is ample reason to include rules against currency manipulation in the pact. They accuse the Japanese government of driving down the value of the yen to give its exporters a trade advantage. However, other groups argue adding currency provisions could greatly complicate the talks ... Many lawmakers also accuse China of manipulating its currency for an unfair trade advantage. However, Beijing is not a member of TPP talks and would only be directly affected by any currency rules in the agreement if it decided one day to join."
California appears ready to back $10 hourly minimum wage. NYT: "In a rare show of backing for pending legislation, Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, announced his 'strong support' for a bill in the State Legislature that would raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour from $8 by the start of 2016. Currently, Washington has the highest minimum wage of any state, at $9.19 per hour. Leaders of the Legislature, where Democrats hold majorities in both houses, also announced their support for the bill on Wednesday, all but guaranteeing its passage before the legislative deadline on Friday."
