Dems Keep Focus On Jobless
Dems ramp up pressure on GOP over unemployment insurance. Roll Call: "Democrats brought seven unemployed people to the Capitol steps Tuesday to tell their stories in a deeply emotional — and deeply political — news conference designed to paint Republicans as heartless for not allowing a vote on a bill extending unemployment insurance benefits ... 'You have no idea how soul crushing it is to have your daughter tell you she’s a burden,' one unemployed man, Kevin McCarthy of Boonsboro, Md., said from the lectern in tears."
Republicans OK with increasing deficit for corporate tax breaks, not for unemployment insurance. TNR's Danny Vinik: "If Cantor believes, as his quote suggests, that a $378 billion tax cut is okay because our entitlement programs are the driver of our long-term debt, then surely a $9.7 billion extension of unemployment benefits, which includes a partial spending offset, qualifies as well. But Cantor has refused to put the UI extension on the House calendar..."
More states put photo ID on welfare benefit cards, creating stigma while doing nothing to reduce fraud. Bloomberg: " Maine and Georgia joined Massachusetts and New York last month in putting photos on welfare cards to stop misuse of taxpayer money, and similar proposals have been offered in a dozen other U.S. states ... The photo requirements don’t prevent food-stamp abuse because of a federal requirement that all household members have access to the benefits on the card ... [But it] can keep someone from legitimately using benefits by making it more difficult to get a card and shaming some recipients from using it ... A third of Rhode Island food-stamp recipients are elderly or disabled, and requiring a photo may create difficulty for many."
Climate Crisis Already Hurting US
Obama administration climate report details how global warming already impacting US. AP: "...National Climatic Data Center Director Tom Karl said his two biggest concerns were flooding from sea level rise on the U.S. coastlines — especially for the low-lying cities of Miami; Norfolk, Virginia; and Portsmouth, New Hampshire — and drought, heat waves and prolonged fire seasons in the Southwest ..."
WH discusses reports with TV meteorologists. NYT: "Polls show that local television weathercasters are among the most trusted media figures, but there is a deep divide between those who accept the link between human activities and global warming and extreme weather and those who do not. A 2011 study by George Mason University found, for example, that just 18 percent of American television weather broadcasters believe the established science ... The broadcasters at the White House on Tuesday not only accept the link, a number of them also prepare their climate-focused broadcasts with help from Climate Central, a New Jersey-based nonprofit group that creates graphics intended to convey the local impact of climate change for about 100 television stations across the country."
Former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman urges party to accept climate science, in NYT oped: "Our approach as a party should be one of neither denial nor extremism. Science must guide sensible policy discussions that will lead to well-informed choices, which may mean considering unexpected alternatives. We aren’t inspiring much confidence, especially among millennials, who at least want an intelligent conversation on the subject ... As Teddy Roosevelt teaches us, it would be foolhardy to undermine the environmental richness that will serve to empower our future generations."
"Senate vote on Keystone may not happen" reports CNN: "[Democrats] said Republicans would only get a vote on Keystone if they don’t block the energy efficiency measure ... Republicans insisted they be allowed four or five amendments to the bill and warned they would filibuster the energy bill if they didn’t get them ..."
Breakfast Sides
"Obama’s trade agenda hits rough waters" reports The Hill: "Congress is unlikely to move trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation before the midterm elections with Democrats unwilling to take the political risk of crossing unions and liberal groups opposed to expanded trade, several business leaders acknowledged ... U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has argued that the administration’s best strategy is to present Congress with a comprehensive TPP deal to gain leverage for fast-track authority ..."
Health insurers debunk GOP report on Obamacare. NYT: "Most of the people choosing health plans under the Affordable Care Act — about 80 percent — are paying their initial premiums as required for coverage to take effect, several large insurers said Tuesday ... Republicans on the committee said last week that only about two-thirds of people signing up for private health insurance in the federal exchange had paid their premiums as of April 15. Administration officials and congressional Democrats called that statistic grossly misleading. Given the surge in enrollment near the end of March, they said, it is understandable that some policyholders would not have paid by April 15."
Pro-immigration GOP congresswoman wins primary. WSJ: "Rep. Renee Ellmers (R., N.C.) turned back the nation’s only serious GOP primary challenge based on immigration policy. Ms. Ellmers, who favors a comprehensive reform bill, defeated Frank Roche, who built his campaign around his opposition to granting undocumented immigrants any kind of legal status."
