Senate GOP Follows House Into Austerity Abyss
Senate budget cuts nearly as deep as House. The Hill: "Senate Republicans released a budget Wednesday that would balance in 10 years and cut spending by $5.1 trillion ... [The House budget] balances in nine years and cuts $5.5 trillion ... Like the House budget, the Senate blueprint repeals ObamaCare [and] would also reform welfare programs, which would lead to $600 billion in cuts. Other mandatory spending cuts include reductions to funding for conservation, agriculture and education programs, and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law."
Obama slams budget. NYT: "'The budget that they’re putting forward and the theories they’re putting forward are a path to prosperity for those who have already prospered,' Mr. Obama said in a harsh assessment of Republicans’ economic vision. 'It’s a story of retreat.'"
House budget stalled over military spending dispute. The Hill: "Budget Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) saw the chances of pushing through an amendment to boost defense spending without offsets fade quickly in the waning hours of a markup of the GOP’s budget proposal, in the latest misstep for House Republicans. Without a resolution, the Budget panel packed up for the night with Price saying the committee may reconvene Thursday, after even House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wasn't able to break the impasse."
Party split ensnares presidential candidates. Politico: "The four Republican senators considering a run for president will have to take sides in the feud between fiscal hard-liners and defense hawks ... Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, have voted against GOP budget plans in past years and are viewed as potential 'no' votes, given their calls for deeper cuts in previous battles. Two others, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida, have pushed for more defense spending..."
Budget proposals reveal GOP's real priorities. HuffPost: "These bills, it turns out, are essentially efforts to undermine Wall Street reform and Obamacare while greenlighting pollution ... While the Republican budget bill decries 'unnecessary red tape,' the only examples it can find of such inefficiency just happen to be the signature domestic policy achievements of the Obama administration."
Boehner winning some entitlement reform in "doc fix" plan. Roll Call: "It looks increasingly likely lawmakers will agree to ditch the yearly fixes to the payment formula for Medicare doctors and pay for it — at least some of it — by making changes to private Medigap plans and by forcing wealthier seniors to pay more ... Sources close to the negotiations say most of the real savings would come from lowering income thresholds for aspects of Medicare that are already means-tested, such as prescriptions and doctor visits, or by increasing the percentage that these wealthier seniors have to pay for their premiums."
WH Shifts On Trade Transparency
WH tries to address transparency concerns over TPP. The Hill: "The full text of the TPP was previously available to all lawmakers to review upon request. Now, they will be able to review the text at their convenience, without the presence of administration officials, in the congressional security office. In addition, the USTR’s office will provide classified easy-to-read summaries to accompany the legal text aimed at helping lawmakers navigate the current version of the agreement ... Critics [said] the administration’s latest overture was insufficient. 'It’s too little, too late,' Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) said..."
AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka takes on WH claims about TPP containing China. The Hill: "He countered White House arguments that without the TPP, which involves 12 nations from the Asia-Pacific to Latin America, China will write global trade rules and leave the United States behind ... 'If anything, TPP gives China improved access to our market (via weak rules of origin), undermines existing understandings with China in the area of carbon emissions and paves the way for China to enjoy the full benefits of TPP without addressing its use of currency policies to subsidize its exports.'"
Fed Inches Toward Rate Hike
Fed moves towards raising interests as early as June. NYT: "In a statement released after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee, the Fed said that it would consider raising its benchmark rate as early as June, and it removed from the statement a promise that it would be 'patient.' ... Her remarks suggested that borrowers have a few more months to take advantage of exceptionally low interest rates on mortgages and car loans, while savers face a few more months of exceptionally meager returns on their low-risk investments."
But strong dollar may still lead Fed to hold off. Bloomberg: "...Fed Chair Janet Yellen suggested they were in no hurry and said the pace of tightening, once begun, would be slower than previously anticipated ...The dollar’s strength is repressing already too-low U.S. inflation while restraining economic growth."
Warren influencing the Fed? The Hill: "the Fed chief has had more than twice as many meetings and phone calls with the big bank critic as any other lawmaker ... [though] speaking most often with the Massachusetts Democrat does not a friendship make."
Greece vs. EU
Greek standoff heads to EU summit. Bloomberg: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed to keep the euro intact ... [Greek PM] Tsipras, who Wednesday vowed to 'reclaim the dignity of the nation,' is pinning his hopes of reaching a political deal with Merkel and other European leaders on the sidelines of the summit meeting beginning Thursday..."
Talk of euro exit intensifies. NYT: "On Wednesday, Greece’s Parliament approved a number of anti-poverty measures despite warnings from creditors that the legislation ran contrary to the overall package of changes Greece had agreed last month to adopt."
Breakfast Sides
Ralph Nader touts an expanded post office: "There are 220,000 fewer postal workers now than there were just over a decade ago. In addition, postal rates have been raised, and services have been cut or scaled back ... There are tens of millions of unbanked Americans, whom the banks do not want, who could use postal banking ... Establishing an honest notary service, cashing most checks, selling fishing and hunting licenses, wrapping holiday gifts, and accepting wine or beer for delivery are just a few congressionally prohibited proposals that have been put forward by postal activists and watchdogs."
Sunlight Foundation reports "Biggest corporate political interests spend billions, get trillions": "Between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America’s most politically active corporations spent a combined $5.8 billion on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. A year-long analysis by the Sunlight Foundation suggests, however, that what they gave pales compared to what those same corporations got: $4.4 trillion in federal business and support."
Facing tough Senate primary, Rep. Chris Van Hollen embraces expanded Social Security. W. Post: "Van Hollen ... supported past budget negotiations based on the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles plan ... But during those talks [he] opposed cutting Social Security as a way of cutting the deficit ... Still, his support for the Simpson-Bowles framework was recalled with concern on the left ... Van Hollen tried to make his position clear at a news conference Wednesday. He is co-sponsoring the expansion bill, which would raise taxes on higher-earning individuals in order to offer more generous Social Security benefits and a larger trust fund."
Obama orders government agencies to cut CO2. The Hill: "Since the federal government is the largest single consumer of energy in the country, its actions can make a major dent in the greenhouse gas emissions of the country as a whole. That means cuts in the government can send the country a long way toward Obama’s goal of reducing the United States’ greenhouse gases 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030."
Target latest to boost pay. NYT: "Target said on Wednesday that it would increase the pay of its workers to at least $9 an hour, joining retailers like Walmart and TJX in raising its hourly wage in a more competitive job market and facing pressure from labor groups."
