Cantor Loss Rocks Washington, Corporate Lobbies
Don't blame immigration. Politico: "About 72 percent of registered voters in Cantor’s district polled on Tuesday said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” support immigration reform that would secure the borders, block employers from hiring those here illegally, and allow undocumented residents without criminal backgrounds to gain legal status ... 70 percent of GOP registered voters would support such a plan ... [Meanwhile] 63 percent of those surveyed in his district said they did not approve of the job Cantor has been doing..."
Pro-immigrant Sen. Lindsey Graham easily wins SC primary. National Journal: " While Cantor fell to Brat, mosey on further down to South Carolina, where incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham easily coasted in his primary, beating back six—yes, six—Tea Party challengers and avoided a runoff. Graham, as you recall, was one of the architects of the Senate's comprehensive immigration bill."
Anti-banker sentiment played role. TNR's John Judis: "Dave Brat’s victory over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has been widely attributed to Bart’s opposition to immigration reform. But in his campaign, Bart and his Tea Party backers gave equal weight to denouncing Cantor as a tool of Wall Street, the big banks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable ..."
"Why Cantor’s loss is especially bad news for big business." W. Post: "...Brat's win signals that it's not just the lawmakers supported by the [Business Roundtable] and the Chamber that are under threat. The business lobby groups themselves have increasingly become political targets..."
Congress Struggles To Solve Highway Trust Fund Shortfall
Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden pledges solution to highway trust fund this month. Roll Call: "[Said Wyden,] 'Failure is not an option and we’re going to make decisions in a bipartisan way.'The White House has warned that not putting a solution in place would delay about 112,000 roadway projects and 5,600 transit projects, and cost the economy as many as 700,000 construction jobs in the next year ... One possible path could be to for Congress to pass legislation providing a temporary tax holiday for American companies to bring overseas profits back into the U.S. at a lower tax rate ... But the Joint Tax Committee has said that repatriation would cost $95 billion ... Another possible path currently under discussion in the House would use funds saved from an overhaul of the post office ... But the proposal has already been decried by Senate Democrats, conservative outside groups and newspaper editorial boards alike, all noting that it does not provide a long-term revenue source ..."
"Why Not Raise the Gas Tax?" asks Bloomberg's Peter Coy: "The straightforward way to replenish the fund is to raise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, which haven’t gone up since 1993. They’re 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon for diesel. In 1993 the federal tax accounted for 17 percent of the retail price of a gallon of gasoline. Now it’s just 5 percent.
"Construction Shutdown" warns Sen. Patty Murray. Business Insider quotes: "The crisis is no longer a hypothetical. It has already caused states to plan for a construction shutdown if Congress doesn’t act ...I do think there is an opportunity to solve this looming crisis in a way that should have bipartisan support. Our tax code is riddled with wasteful tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations. And many of these are loopholes that both Democrats and Republicans have proposed closing."
"States Move to Plug Shortfall as Federal Highway Fund Dwindles" reports WSJ: "... states are taking steps to address the possibility of a cash crunch: They are preparing to put off projects or trying to boost their own sources of funding ... [Missouri's] Republican-led Legislature recently passed a resolution to ask voters for a sales-tax increase to raise at least $5.4 billion over 10 years ... Several other states, including New Hampshire, have recently passed fuel-tax increases, and others such as Michigan are debating ways to boost funding for road and transit projects ... Vermont has freed up $15 million to cover a potential federal shortfall, but that would buy it only eight or nine weeks before it would have to consider curbing projects ... Georgia will use about $130 million in state bonds to support a recent round of transportation projects but will stop contracting out some new ones in July without a federal aid solution ... Arkansas increased its sales tax by a half-cent last year to support highway work. Still, it said in March it would postpone 10 projects until federal funding was secure."
Breakfast Sides
Obama to tout student loan reform as Republicans plan filibuster. The Hill: "At a high school commencement in Worcester, Mass., Obama will urge Congress to pass the bill, which would allow more than 40 million Americans currently holding student loans to refinance at a lower rate ... Obama's speech will coincide with a procedural vote in the Senate on the bill, which is expected to face still Republican opposition"
Veteran health care reform on fast track. W. Post: "Congress is moving uncharacteristically fast to address the Department of Veterans Affairs’ scheduling crisis, with the House on Tuesday passing a stand-alone bill that would allow the VA to tackle treatment delays with help from the private sector and the Senate preparing to debate legislation that would enact broad changes for the agency ... Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said the measure could be taken up within the next two days ... [Rep. Jeff[ Miller signaled support for the Sanders-McCain bill, noting that it largely mirrors a series of similar stand-alone proposals the House approved in recent months."
VA governor may expand Medicaid on his own. NYT: "Gov. Terry McAuliffe has lost his battle with the legislature over Medicaid expansion ... However, he is thought to be studying how to press the issue by executive action — a legally and politically uncertain course ... Because Virginia’s governor cannot run for a second consecutive term, Mr. McAuliffe is liberated in not having to answer again to voters..."
"Americans by 2-to-1 Would Pay More to Curb Climate Change" reports Bloomberg: "By an almost two-to-one margin, 62 percent to 33 percent, Americans say they would pay more for energy if it would mean a reduction in pollution from carbon emissions, according to the Bloomberg National Poll. While Republicans were split, with 46 percent willing to pay more and 49 percent opposed to it, 82 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents say they’d accept higher bills ... 'It is a rare poll where people responding will stand up and say "tax me,"’ said [pollster] J. Ann Selzer..."
Middle-class jobs disappearing, says NYT's Tom Edsall: "...new evidence produced by Paul Beaudry and David A. Green of the University of British Columbia, and Ben Sand of York University, demonstrates that the collapse, between 1980 and 2000, of mid-level, mid-pay jobs — gutted by automation or foreign competition (and often both) — has now spread to the high-skill labor market ... the drying up of cognitively demanding jobs is having a cascade effect. College graduates are forced to take jobs beneath their level of educational training, moving into clerical and service positions instead of into finance and high tech."
