Last Day Of Campaigning In Chicago
Chicago votes tomorrow for mayor. Chicago Tribune: "... turnout is expected to go up from the near-record low of 34 percent in the first round, and which campaign drives that increase could determine the election's outcome. Emanuel campaign aides have privately acknowledged their ground game was not as strong as they would have liked in February, while Garcia is hoping the one-on-one contest gives him all of the vote of Chicagoans who want a change on the fifth floor of City Hall."
Unions divided. NYT: "At the heart of the campaign that has threatened to topple Mayor Rahm Emanuel are labor unions: Amalgamated Transit Union locals, the Service Employees International Union’s Illinois State Council and, perhaps above all, the Chicago Teachers Union ... Emanuel has his own cast of union backers, more than 70 locals among 15 unions, which he proudly listed in an interview. Among them: firefighters, hospitality workers, carpenters, painters, laborers, pipe fitters and plumbers."
Ready for Rand?
Rand Paul adjusts rhetoric in advance of expected presidential launch tomorrow. W. Post: "There are at least two areas where Paul has moved more in line with the conservative Republican base, somewhat to the consternation of the purists in the libertarian movement: adopting a more muscular posture on defense and foreign policy, and courting the religious right."
Republican presidential candidates attack Ex-Im Bank. The Hill: "The federally backed bank, which provides financing for U.S. exporting projects, shuts down on June 30, unless Congress votes to extend its charter. Likely Republican presidential candidates including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have all attacked Ex-Im ... The likely 2016 GOP candidates' criticism against the banks comes as Republicans have ramped up attacks aimed at portraying former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — the likely Democratic frontrunner, who supports the bank."
Center-right group spends money on House members who break with Tea Party. Politico: "The deep-pocketed American Action Network, which has raised over $104 million since 2011, will put $1.8 million toward ads in 76 districts touting members who stood up to right-wing pressure and supported the House leadership on the budget and bipartisan Medicare legislation."
Tension In Greece
Another debt payment looms over Greece. NYT: "On April 9, Greece must pay 458 million euros, about $503 million, to the International Monetary Fund ... Greece’s finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, [flew] to Washington [to meet] with the I.M.F.’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, on Sunday. Following the meeting Ms. Lagarde said she welcomed 'confirmation by the minister that payment owing to the fund would be forthcoming on April 9th.' ... although neither party provided details in terms of how Greece would secure the funds to make this happen."
Greek PM heads to Moscow Wednesday. FT's Wolfgang Münchau: "Greece’s prime minister might be tempted to default on all its foreign creditors and bondholders, exit the eurozone and get Moscow to provide some short-term funding to prevent a collapse of the banking system. In exchange, Mr Tsipras could offer to veto the extension of EU sanctions against Russia ... For all the speculation about the logic of such a deal, I remain profoundly sceptical for a number of reasons..."
China's infrastructure bank is a step backward for its government, argues Ho-fung Hung in NYT oped: "Creating the A.I.I.B. is not Beijing’s attempt at world domination; it is a self-imposed constraint, and a retreat from more than a decade of aggressive bilateral initiatives. And the more China channels its international investments through multilateral institutions, even ones of its own making, the lesser the risk that it will become all-dominant."
