Republicans Surrender On Debt Limit
House leadership surrenders on debt limit. AP: "Just 28 Republicans voted for the measure, including Boehner and his top lieutenants. But 193 Democrats more than compensated for the low support among Republicans. Senate Democrats hoped to vote on the legislation as early as Wednesday and send it to Obama for his signature ... The bill would permit the Treasury Department to borrow normally for another 13 months, putting off the chance of a debt crisis well past the November elections and providing time for a newly elected Congress to decide how to handle the issue ... Obama's refusal to negotiate, GOP disunity, and Boehner's determination to avoid the possibility of a market-cratering default on U.S. obligations gave the Ohio Republican little choice..."
Boehner slams GOP colleagues in private meeting before vote. W. Post: "I’m getting this monkey off your back and you’re not going to even clap?"
"Let's Fix The Debt Ceiling For Good" writes TNR's Eric Posner: "Republicans might respond that the bills would amount to surrender. Why should they give up their source of leverage in return for nothing at all? But Republican members of Congress would retain their ability to negotiate over entitlement programs and all other laws. They could deny support of Democratic proposals unless the Democrats give them something in return. They can even shut down the government. All that they would be unable to do is destroy the financial system ... Republicans seem to have suffered politically from the last two debt-ceiling crises ... Republicans have increasingly little to lose by giving up this source of leverage..."
Dispute arises over how to scrap military pension cuts. The Hill: "The House overwhelmingly approved legislation Tuesday to repeal a $6 billion cut to military pensions, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he was opposed to a provision that offsets the cost by extending sequestration for mandatory Medicare spending ... Instead, Reid touted a bill from Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and three other Democrats at risk of losing their seats in 2014 that would reverse the pension cuts without paying for them ... 'That pay-for, remember, that was my unemployment compensation extension. They didn’t like that. But now they like it,' Reid said Tuesday. 'This shows the absurdity of the lack of common sense and reasoning that Republicans in Congress have.'"
Obama Moves On Minimum Wage
Obama to sign exec order raising minimum wage for federal contractors today. The Hill: "The move ... will raise the minimum wage for federal workers hired under new contracts to $10.10 per hour. It will also raise the tipped minimum wage to $4.90 from $2.13 per year, with an escalator clause that will increase that amount in subsequent years ... Obama will also press Congress to match the executive order with an equivalent hike to the federal minimum wage ... the president will appear alongside workers who are paid at or just above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour."
"Christie Ridicules Democrats for Emphasizing Income Inequality" reports NYT: "Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey delivered an unexpectedly blistering broadside on Tuesday against the Democratic Party’s growing emphasis on income inequality, warning that the movement would 'drive America toward mediocrity' and portraying its leaders, like Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, as local liberals unlikely to ignite a national cause ... [He also] complained that George W. Bush was 'grossly underappreciated' in the White House..."
Obama Raises Hopes On 2015 Climate Summit
WH may push for bigger greenhouse gas cuts in 2015 UN talks. ClimateWire: "In at least three interagency meetings at the White House since September, administration sources said, officials have debated whether the new goals should extend to 2025 or 2030. They also have laid out the scientific and economic modeling that must be done in the coming months ... The targets will succeed the pledge President Obama delivered at the 2009 Copenhagen, Denmark, climate change summit to cut America's carbon emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade ... The 2015 agreement is expected to for the first time deliver emissions cuts from all countries, not just a handful of industrialized nations ... A 2025 target, some argue, has the advantage of establishing concrete near-term policies while also keeping pressure on countries by getting them back to the negotiating table in just another five years. But those nearer-term numbers might not be terribly ambitious. A 2030 number, on the other hand, could be quite ambitious, but with a lot more wiggle room that casts doubt on whether governments will stay on track to meet the goals."
Obama talks up climate summit. National Journal: "'Next year's carbon climate conference in France will be an opportunity to forge a strong global agreement that reduces greenhouse gas emissions through concrete actions,' Obama said Tuesday during a joint press conference with visiting French President Francois Hollande ... his decision to mention the summit in multiple forums this week shows that White House officials at least don't see the rocky U.N. process as a lost cause ... A White House spokesman did not say whether Obama would attend the 2015 climate talks or a separate, September 2014 U.N. summit in New York aimed at building momentum."
House Dems Pressure Boehner On Immigration
House Dems prepare immigration push to pressure Boehner. The Hill: "Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), Congress's loudest proponent of comprehensive reform, warned Tuesday that Republicans should prepare to face an aggressive new lobbying push ... 'Mr. Speaker, you are not going to be spared. Kids will keep showing up to interrupt your breakfast as long as their parents are facing deportation and their communities are being ripped apart,' Gutierrez said on the House floor. 'You thought the Super Bowl was a blowout? Wait until November 2016 if immigration reform is still hanging out there.'"
