Hillary Goes Bipartisan

Hillary Clinton co-authors NYT oped with former GOP Senate leader Bill Frist, supporting Children's Health Insurance Program: "...we are concerned that gridlock in Washington and unrelated disputes over the Affordable Care Act could prevent an extension of the program. As parents, grandparents and former legislators, we believe that partisan politics should never stand between our kids and quality health care."

Medicaid expansion will grow Kentucky's economy. NYT: "Gov. Steven L. Beshear of Kentucky released a study Thursday predicting that his expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would generate a positive fiscal impact of nearly $1 billion for the state over the next seven years ... counter[ing] a drumbeat of Republican warnings that extending the program to nearly 400,000 additional Kentuckians to date ... would eventually impose a heavy burden on state taxpayers."

Republicans Stuck On Immigration

House conservatives want to end Senate filibuster to pass bill that will get vetoed. The Hill: "...Rep. Raul Labrador ... and other conservatives called for Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to gut the Senate’s filibuster if necessary to move the House bill [overturning executive deportation relief] to President Obama ... Senate Republicans quickly fired back at Labrador, arguing the suggestion was unrealistic ... McConnell extended an olive branch late Thursday by making a procedural move to bring the House bill to the floor again for another try when the Congress comes back to Washington the week of Feb. 23."

Senate has ground to a halt. Politico: "...Senate Republicans are already expressing frustration that they’ve wasted too much time trying to appease their House counterparts ... Asked for his solution to the stalemate, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) responded: 'Take the same time we’re doing this and pass an immigration bill.'"

Breakfast Sides

Greece, Germany inch toward compromise. Bloomberg: "Germany won’t insist that all elements of Greece’s current aid program continue [and] would be open to talking about the size of Greece’s budget-surplus requirement and conditions to sell off government assets ... Greece for its part is prepared to commit to a primary budget surplus, as long as it’s lower than the current 4 percent of gross domestic product ... Tsipras’s coalition also might compromise on privatizations ..."

John Podesta marks last day as WH aide by writing Politico Magazine oped, "Climate Change Progress is Possible": "The measures we’ve taken in the U.S.—from historic fuel economy standards to the Clean Power Plan to groundbreaking partnerships with industry to deploy more clean energy, boost energy efficiency, and dramatically cut emissions of potent greenhouse gases known as HFCs—have helped spur other countries to action, including the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases."

"Republicans Think They've Finally Figured Out How to Kill Unions" says TNR's Peter Moskowitz: "Attacking unions and the way they take in money isn’t just a great way to weaken them, but it also encourages corporate interests to donate money, which in turn might undermine the financial and political support of the Democratic party."