Obama Turns Up Heat On Highway Trust Fund
President's week will focus on saving highway trust fund. McClatchy: "Congress this week will consider a way to avoid a lapse in funding of the Highway Trust Fund ... the White House said Obama 'will continue to urge Republican lawmakers to not block it.' The Council of Economic Advisors and National Economic Council will issue a report Monday on the long-term economic benefits of transportation investment ... Obama will deliver remarks on investing in infrastructure innovation at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Va. on Tuesday ... He will visit an infrastructure site in Delaware on Thursday, where he will announce a new initiative, 'using his pen and his phone,' to increase private sector investment."
More from The Hill: "As part of the push, the White House also plans to debut a new website featuring an interactive map allowing Americans to see transportation construction projects where they live. Users will also be encouraged to submit photos of road, bridge and traffic conditions."
Lawmakers Pushback Against Border bill
Rep. Mike Rogers and Sen. Dianne Feinstein says Obama doesn't need new law to address child migrant influx. AP: "Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the author of the provision in the human trafficking law, said a change in regulations, not the law, could speed the children's return. The law already allows the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to write regulations to deal with 'exceptional circumstances' that would allow officials to return the children more quickly to their home countries, Feinstein said."
WH asks for support from governors. W. Post: "Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell met privately with dozens of governors Sunday as the Obama administration tried to get support from the leaders of states that will host thousands of the Central American children who have crossed the Mexican border on their own since Oct. 1. Governors of both parties expressed concerns about the cost to states, including providing public education for the children ..."
TX Gov. Rick Perry complains President's bill spends too much on kids. The Hill: "'It is a very large amount of money and as you analyze it, very little of it is for border security,' Perry said ... The spending request includes $1.6 billion to boost law enforcement efforts and surge additional immigration judges and lawyers too the border. But the majority of the funding would go to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide care for the children."
2014 Senate Races Grapple With Ex-Im Bank
Ex-Im Bank fight could impact midterms. Politico: "Both parties are seizing on the bank in big races, including in North Carolina, where Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan — one of the most vulnerable senators in the country — is touting her success in adding a representative of the region’s textile industry to the bank’s advisory board. Hagan’s rival, Thom Tillis, says he wants to eliminate it — a view in line with the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity ... The debate is also being waged in campaigns in Virginia and Minnesota."
Boeing hopeful. NYT: "The head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division said on Sunday that he was optimistic that the United States Congress would ultimately agree to reauthorize funding to the Export-Import Bank, which guarantees billions of dollars in loans to foreign buyers of its airplanes. The Boeing executive, Raymond L. Conner, argued that failure to keep the bank running would risk American jobs and place Boeing at an unbeatable disadvantage to Airbus, which receives similar support from European governments."
New Resignation Call For Education Secretary
Second teachers' union calls for resignation of Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Politico: "The American Federation of Teachers approved a resolution ... calling for Education Secretary Arne Duncan to resign if he does not improve under a plan to be implemented by President Barack Obama. The 'improvement plan' would include the requirement that Duncan enact the funding and equity recommendations of the Equity Commission’s 'Each and Every Child' report; change the No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top 'test-and-punish' accountability system to a 'support-and-improve' model; and 'promote rather than question' teachers and school staff ... AFT President Randi Weingarten said ... the amendment 'is basically saying, "Enough is enough." Teachers are evaluated and their future livelihoods are linked to that. And when they fall short, they should have a chance to improve.'"
The New Yorker investigates a middle-school cheating scandal tied to No Child Left Behind: "In lengthy plea statements ... defendants provided a miniature history of the past twelve years in education policy, describing how No Child Left Behind, in conjunction with the district’s targets, created an atmosphere in which cheating came to seem like a reasonable option. One principal described a 'toxic culture throughout APS where all that mattered was test scores, even if ill-gotten.' Another said that the district’s 'primary focus . . . became meeting targets instead of focusing on the needs of the students.'"
