Debt Limit Resolution In Sight
House may vote on debt limit increase tomorrow. W. Post: "House Republican leaders spent Monday trying to finalize a plan to increase the Treasury’s borrowing authority [with] a proposal that ties a debt-ceiling increase to a plan to restore full pension benefits for some military veterans ... Still in place is a backstop option that would essentially allow Democrats to approve a debt-limit hike with no strings attached ... The military pension issue has been a political needle in each party’s side since the bipartisan budget agreement in December ..."
Pension restoration would be offset with additional year of sequestration. National Journal: "[Rep. Mo] Brooks and others called the additional sequestration cuts, which won't come until 2024, a gimmick, noting that little Congress might do that far down the line is set in stone."
More from Politico: "No one believes the federal government runs the risk of defaulting on its debt — and that makes this fight even more telling. Even when Republicans have removed default from the equation, they still cannot help fighting."
Rising Pressure For Immigration Reform
Immigration activists ratchet up pressure on Republicans. Politico: "A new, more aggressive campaign kicks off Tuesday, when these groups say they will begin confronting Republican lawmakers at public appearances, congressional hearings and events back in home districts. The goal: Shame Republicans in swing districts into taking up the issue — or make them pay at the ballot box in November."
Farm lobby warns anti-immigration conservatives of rising food costs. NYT: "The study — which was commissioned by the American Farm Bureau, the nation’s largest farm lobby organization — said food prices would increase an additional 5 percent to 6 percent over the next five years if enforcement-only policies were put into place, because of a lack of workers to harvest crops. It would cost the agriculture sector as much as $60 billion over the same period."
Breakfast Sides
Trade fight may spark "civil war" in Democratic Party, says National Journal: "Democrats won’t want to vote on fast-track authority until TPP is done ... but once the treaty is done and the text becomes public, opponents will find plenty to attack, making fast-track authority harder to obtain ... When that point comes, the spotlight may turn to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. In a bit of a role reversal, Reid has become something of Obama’s progressive conscience on this issue, while Pelosi is more cautious ... [Celeste] Drake, of the AFL-CIO, said she wouldn’t be surprised if TPP comes up in Democratic primaries..."
Climate on the agenda for Obama meeting with France PM. The Hill: "Obama plans to bring up his new standards for funding of coal-fired power plants overseas, which may be the start of pushing larger climate rules leading into the Paris climate talks in 2015."
Impact of latest Obamacare employer mandate delay will be slight, notes TNR's Jonathan Cohn: "The vast majority of large employers offer insurance already; companies with 50 to 99 employees constitute just 2 percent of employers and 7 percent of the private workforce; and companies with fewer than 50 employees were never subject to this requirement in the first place. The primary purpose of the requirement is to raise revenue; delaying its effective date by a year or two or three simply doesn't constitute a big change of dollars. And while the requirement means some companies will be slower to extend insurance to some employees, anybody without an offer of decent insurance can get coverage through the exchanges—where, for lower-income workers, it will be cheaper anyway."
