Labor Steps Up Effort To Block Fast-Track
Labor "ramping up a spring offensive" to stop fast-track. The Hill: "Hundreds of members from the various groups canvassed Capitol Hill, bringing their anti-fast-track message to more than 100 congressional offices ... The labor unions have been bracing for fast-track legislation to be introduced in the Senate, but the timeline has been delayed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who is trying to win the support of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the panel’s ranking member."
Larry Summers calls TPP "a deal worth getting right" in W. Post oped: "... I believe that the right TPP deal is very much in the U.S. national interest ... properly negotiated trade agreements ... reduce pressure for outsourcing because when barriers fall the incentive to invest abroad in order to avoid paying tariffs is attenuated ... [But] it is appropriate in the TPP talks ... for us to use the substantial leverage we possess in areas that do bear directly on middle-class living standards. These include the prevention of inappropriate producer subsidies — including through manipulated exchange rates or distorted state enterprise accounting ... If global integration means local disintegration, it will be a failure."
Former Obama Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy co-authors WSJ oped making national security case for fast-track: "Much of the history of the 21st century will be written in Asia, and no region will affect U.S. prosperity and security more in the coming decades ... Bipartisan congressional action on fast-track authority would provide a welcome counter to skeptics who question the U.S. commitment to the Asia-Pacific."
Obama Launches High-Tech Hiring Push
Obama today to announce plan to train and hire high-tech workers. AP: "...President Barack Obama has obtained commitments from more than 300 employers as well as local governments in 20 regions of the country to train and hire high technology workers in an effort to drive up higher-income employment."
Boom in Hispanic employment. NYT: "Of all the country’s major racial and ethnic groups, only Hispanics, as of late last year, had returned to their unemployment levels before the recession ... Economists generally say that the job prospects of lower-skill workers are more sensitive to the economy’s tidal movements than those with better skills, and Hispanics, as a group, tend to be less educated than blacks and whites ... The second reason behind lower Hispanic unemployment is a sharp decline in illegal immigration in recent years, which has reduced the number of workers who might otherwise have turned up in government unemployment statistics."
WH plans autumn "worker summit." Politico: "The event ... is still in its earliest planning stages, and may turn out to be a series of White House events rather than just one. It will include discussion of how to encourage collective bargaining ..."
More Division Awaits GOP
GOP Congress faces litany of challenges: "In April, physicians who treat Medicare patients face a drastic cut in pay. In May, the Highway Trust Fund runs dry. In June, the charter for the federal Export-Import Bank ceases to exist. Then in October, across-the-board spending cuts return, the government runs out of money — and the Treasury bumps up against its borrowing limit ... 'We really don’t have 218 votes to determine a bathroom break over here on our side,' said Representative Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvania Republican. 'So how are we going to get 218 votes on transportation, or trade, or whatever the issue?'"
"Why would Republicans go after children's health insurance?" asks Richard Kirsch in The Hill oped: "The ACA kept CHIP in place, with a provision that Congress would review CHIP in 2015. With its history of bipartisan support, supporters hoped that renewing CHIP would not become controversial. [But in] late February, Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Fred Upton (R-Mich.) published a discussion draft that would endanger the health of at least 1 million children enrolled in CHIP while raising costs to states."
Breakfast Sides
Krugman tells Fed to back off raising interest rates: "What does it mean to achieve full employment? For the Fed, it means reaching the Nairu — the nonaccelerating inflation rate of unemployment ... The Fed currently estimates the Nairu at between 5.2 percent and 5.5 percent, and the latest report puts the actual unemployment rate at 5.5 percent ... But there is no sign of inflationary pressure."
Failed stress test could mean more regulation for Goldman Sachs. NYT: "Goldman has used dividends and share buybacks to appeal to investors at a time when other elements of the bank’s business have faced challenges. When companies buy shares of their own stock on the open market, it generally increases the amount of profits attributed to every share, an important metric for investors. Several analysts have released research questioning whether the Federal Reserve would allow Goldman to continue its buyback programs given the results of the stress tests."
