Healthcare Hardship Exemption Expanded
HHS expands Obamacare hardship exemption. AP: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a letter to a group of senators that she will use authorities in the law to issue a 'hardship exemption' from tax penalties to those who received cancellations and were not able to line up new coverage. The administration is also opening up a special coverage plan created under the law for young adults. Regardless of their age, Sebelius said people whose plans were canceled will be able to buy a bare bones catastrophic plan intended for those under 30 ... Insurers are concerned that healthy customers who potentially would have bought full coverage may now stay out of the market, leaving the companies with a group of patients in worse health overall."
GOP pushes to gut individual mandate. NYT: "The White House action is sure to embolden Republicans clamoring for a broader exemption that would be available to all Americans. The White House opposes such an exemption, saying it would blow up the keystone of the 2010 law. [Sen. Mark] Warner and the five other senators said the hardship exemptions would provide 'transition relief' to constituents who they said were upset about the cancellation of insurance policies."
"States Cite Surge in Obamacare Sign-Ups Ahead of First Deadline" reports ABC: "States running their own Obamacare insurance exchanges are reporting a significant surge in sign-ups just four days before the first major enrollment deadline. The increase has ranged from 30 percent to 40 percent in the past few weeks, according to state officials who briefed reporters Wednesday. Monday is the last day to sign up for a plan that will guarantee health coverage effective Jan. 1."
"Conservatives Mock Obamacare's Pajama Boy Because They're Scared of Him" argues TNR's Noreen Malone: "...while this is a ritual mockery that's ostensibly about Obamacare, what it really reveals is a long-boiling, deep-seated fear on the right of the moment when a more beta-appearing man becomes the mainstream notion of masculinity."
GOPer Raises Immigration Hopes
"GOP congressman: Immigration reform can happen in 2014" reports The Hill: "A key House Republican said that if Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) secures several legislative wins early next year, an immigration bill could clear the lower chamber by next summer. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) was careful to say that the battles ahead for Congress and the White House — such as raising the debt ceiling — could shape whether the House acts on immigration reform in early 2014. Cole serves as a deputy whip on Boehner's leadership team."
Obama adds to his deportation record, tightens focus on criminals. NYT: "The Obama administration deported 368,644 foreigners during the 2013 fiscal year, immigration enforcement officials reported on Thursday, 10 percent fewer than in 2012 but nonetheless bringing the total number deported under President Obama to more than 1.9 million, by far the most for an American president. The officials said 98 percent of those deported fit into one or more of the priority categories set by Immigration and Customs Enforcement: convicted criminals, national security risks, serious immigration offenders and recent border crossers ... about two-thirds of deportees were arrested as they tried to cross the border illegally, and about one-third were arrested inside the country."
Gov. Christie rejoins pro-immigration camp. Politico: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has long avoided wading too deep into the supercharged subject of immigration. But on Thursday, he took a clear position on a piece of the hot-button issue: he’s expected to approve a New Jersey DREAM Act ... a measure that would allow college-seeking undocumented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition if they meet certain requirements, such as graduating from high school in New Jersey."
Treasury Sets Target Date For Debt Limit Increase
Treasury warns debt ceiling limit will be hit around end of February. NYT: "Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said that the government might run out of cash to pay the country’s bills by late February or early March ... The White House has generally refused to exchange any budgetary or policy changes for raising the debt ceiling with Republicans. A senior Treasury official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that remained the case. But this month, Representative Paul Ryan ... said that Republicans would insist on a negotiation. 'We don’t want nothing out of this debt limit,' he said on 'Fox News Sunday.' ... The senior Treasury official expressed some optimism that the recent détente between congressional Democrats and Republicans — including the passage of a bipartisan budget deal to set spending levels for the next two years — might continue next year."
"2013 Was the Year the Grand Bargain Died. Good Riddance." says TNR's Mark Schmitt: "...the quest for a grand bargain on taxes and health and retirement spending, has come to an inconsequential end, or at least a very long pause. Budget expert Stan Collenderpredicts that, like a rare comet, the grand bargain will not reappear until 2019. Much can change between now and the third year of the next presidency—including the strong possibility that health-care cost inflation will continue to slow, which would virtually eliminate the predicted problem."
Sen. Max Baucus' departure sets back corporate tax reform push, reports The Hill: "...with Baucus likely moving out of the picture to become the U.S. ambassador to China, the divide between the parties on the revenue question appears more daunting than even ... Still, downtown lobbyists and lawmakers with an interest in tax reform are taking heart in the fact that Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) – who has long had his own ideas for overhauling the tax code – looks ready to step in and take over the Finance gavel ... House Republicans, for instance, want to get the top corporate rate down to 25 percent – very close to the 24 percent laid out by Wyden and [GOP Sen. Dan] Coats."
Senate Slightly Less Dysfunctional
Senate prepares to clear more nominees. McClatchy: "Until late Thursday, the Senate planned an all-night session to consider and vote on nominations. The sessions were supposed to stretch until Saturday evening, as Republicans forced Democrats to use all the allotted debate time. Not anymore. Instead, starting at 10 a.m. Friday, the Senate will vote on the nominations of Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security deputy secretary, and then John Koskinen as Internal Revenue Service commissioner. Next will come a vote on Brian Davis to be a U.S. District Court judge in Florida."
Congress this year passes "fewer laws than infamous Do Nothing Congress" reports McClatchy: "...this Congress will have passed slightly more than 57 bills into law ... Critics say the current Congress makes the 80th Congress – dismissively dubbed by President Harry S Truman as the “Do Nothing Congress” – look like workaholics. That Congress enacted 395 public bills into law by the end of its first session, in December 1947, according to congressional records. 'By all objective measures, this is the worst Congress ever,' Tom Mann, a senior governance fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution..."
Did SEC Go Easy On Wall Street?
Internal SEC deliberations in which agency chose not to go after big banks for mortgage crisis revealed in NYT: "The internal tension — recounted in interviews with more than a dozen current and former officials — raises questions about whether the agency, even while winning some big cases, could have done more after the crisis to hold Wall Street accountable. Interviews with officials who spoke on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, as well as a review of securities filings, also help explain why the S.E.C. dropped cases that other federal agencies pursued ... Five years after Wall Street set off a worldwide economic panic, the S.E.C.’s legal deadline for filing crisis-era cases is expiring. Although the agency is still building a mortgage-related case against Morgan Stanley, officials say, and has not ruled out a separate action against S.&P., the S.E.C.’s response to the crisis is all but complete after filing about 170 actions against some of Wall Street’s biggest banks."
