Unemployed Left Hanging
Senate Dems now look to highway bill to help long-term unemployed get benefits. Roll Call: "None of the long-shot scenarios for additional Senate action on an unemployment extension materialized before the Senate skipped town for another recess Thursday. The Senate will not return until June 2 ... Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., told CQ Roll Call earlier this week that he hasn’t given up, suggesting that a highway bill might be a possible target for an unemployment extension bill."
"No Recovery for Workers in the Middle" says Bloomberg's Ben Steverman: "Highly educated Americans have been enjoying the recovery for quite a while. And low-skilled Americans may finally be recovering some of their lost ground ... Left out are so-called 'middle skill' workers, according to a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ... Recessions destroy a disproportionate number of middle-income jobs, like those held by secretaries and machine operators, that can be easily outsourced or automated."
MI House tries to scale back Detroit pension cuts. NYT: "... the Michigan State House on Thursday agreed to contribute nearly $200 million in state money for a deal to spare Detroit’s retirees from larger pension cuts and to avoid selling artworks from the city’s museum ... The bargain, which is still subject to support from the city’s retirees as well as a federal bankruptcy judge, also awaits approval in the State Senate, where Republicans hold a larger percentage of seats than in the House."
US reportedly wins WTO dispute with China over autos and auto parts. Bloomberg: "The U.S. is set to announce the victory in Washington today ... Obama’s administration in 2012 lodged a complaint with the Geneva-based WTO challenging Chinese duties on auto imports from the U.S. A separate U.S. complaint that year said China, the world’s second-largest economy, unfairly subsidized its auto and auto parts manufacturers ... Since 2009, the U.S. has filed 17 cases at the WTO against China and other nations, including Indonesia and India, according to the U.S Trade Representative’s office. ... In March the WTO backed the U.S. in one of those cases, agreeing that China’s limits on exports of rare-earth elements used in hybrid-car batteries and wind turbines violate trade rules."
GOP Has SIx Weeks To Move On Immigration
Senate Dems give House GOP "hard deadline" of July 31 for immigration reform. National Journal: "the Senate's No. 3 Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said Thursday at a press conference[,] 'If they don't pass immigration reform then, the president will have no choice but to act on his own.' ... 'We're willing to wait another six weeks, but at the end of six weeks, if something hasn't been done, then there's going to have to be a move made,' [Sen. Majority Leader] Reid said."
Republican responds by challenging Schumer to a "duel." Politico: "Schumer has accused [Rep. Steve] King of being xenophobic and proclaimed that House GOP leaders who have not brought immigration bills to the floor, were taking cues from the fiery Iowa Republican ... 'If we’re going to have some kind of rhetoric bouncing back between the House and Senate, let’s do it face to face, let’s do it eye to eye,' King said Thursday. 'Let’s have that duel, not like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, but I would be the one standing on the high ground. Let’s do it like many men today — not duel with 50 paces and pistols, but let’s do it with microphones within arms’ reach,'"
"It's Never Been More Clear that Republicans Are Killing Immigration Reform" says TNR's Brian Beutler: "'Why are you blocking immigration reform?' [Fusion's Jorge Ramos] asked John Boehner, who bobbed and weaved around Ramos' haymakers using familiar excuses about how it's all Barack Obama's fault ... Republican legislative inaction infuriates immigrants; Obama's executive inaction also infuriates immigrants; but Obama is likely to act on his own; thus, if Republicans want to neutralize the issue, they would pass the bill rather than allow all the glory to flow to Obama."
Coal Lobby Already Lying About Climate Rules
W. Post's Fact Checker gives coal group "4 Pinnochios": "...the National Mining Association is claiming that electric bills will jump 80 percent because of pending regulations for new power plants. The source supposedly is an Obama administration official, but the claim falls apart under close scrutiny ... Under a process known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), the new plants would need capture about 20 to 40 percent of their carbon dioxide emissions ... the '80 percent' estimate had nothing to do with [that] EPA rule ... The NMA has seized upon a high-end wholesale estimate for 'full recapture' carbon capture and sequestration technologies which the EPA specifically rejected..."
"Over 600 local elected officials back Obama's coal rules" reports The Hill: "Nationally, Republican lawmakers from coal-heavy states often argue the new rules, which seek to limit carbon emissions, would hurt local economies and kill energy jobs. However, state lawmakers, local council members, and others all signed onto the letter praising Obama's efforts and pressing him to not give up ... Signatories include elected officials from Florida, Iowa, Maine, Colorado, North Carolina and Texas."
Wind power taking off in Texas. National Journal: "In 2003, wind made up less than 1 percent of the power supply, according to state grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. By 2013, that share had risen to roughly 10 percent ... From 2013 to 2014, ERCOT estimates that wind capacity will increase by 33 percent. Wind-power potential is projected to jump another 25 percent from 2014 to 2015 ... What's causing wind production to soar? In a word: infrastructure ... The windiest parts of the sprawling state are hundreds of miles away from its largest population centers ... In 2005, the Texas legislature approved a sprawling network of transmission lines designed to solve exactly this problem"
