Fast Track Full Court Press
Fast track backers intensify whip drive, reports Politico: "...Obama has begun to barrage House Democrats with phone calls ... Republican leaders are sparing no effort ... In a sign of the GOP’s confidence, House Republican leadership sources say they could bring the package of trade bills to the floor for a vote as soon as next week. Top aides and lawmakers say, however, that a vote could easily slip to the week of June 15."
Pelosi may be helping Obama. Politico: "...Obama aides say they don’t know how Pelosi will vote in the end, but they gush about how hands-on she’s been ... Pelosi’s purposefully keeping members quiet to see where Republicans end up. There is no use, she’s told people, for Democrats to say yes or no when they don’t yet know if Republicans will be able to pass it ..."
Obama thinks he has 20 Dems in support so far. WSJ: "Potentially decisive are moderate, pro-growth members of the New Democrat Coalition. Its [undecided] vice-chair, Rep. Jim Himes (D., Conn.), spoke as recently as Monday to the president ... Mr. Obama told the congressman ... that he thought he had 20 Democratic votes lined up..."
Dems caught between CEOs and labor. W. Post: "The emerging support for Obama’s trade initiative in Silicon Valley, a liberal-leaning enclave of cutting-edge businesses, stands in sharp contrast to the fierce opposition from the labor unions that represent the working-class heart of the Democratic Party."
The Hill lists "Key Dems [who] could decide fate of Obama’s trade agenda"
Warren Takes On SEC
Warren delivers 13-page "broadside" criticizing SEC chief Mary Jo White. The Hill: "Calling her two-year stint leading the agency 'extremely disappointing,' the freshman senator accused White of breaking promises she made during the confirmation process, of taking a soft approach toward regulating the financial sector and even of lying to Warren directly."
White House, Wall St. aghast. Politico: "Wall Street and the White House had a swift and furious reaction to Elizabeth Warren’s blazing attack on Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White: Senator, you’ve gone too far."
Chafee Is In
Lincoln Chafee to announce presidential bid today. W. Post: "Chafee’s decision to run, which he plans to announce in an evening speech at George Mason University, makes him the fourth Democratic hopeful to officially enter the race. But he's already been the first to directly and consistently attack frontrunner Hillary Clinton -- particularly over the Iraq War vote that helped sink her first presidential bid."
Sanders hopes to inherent Draft Warren supporters. Time: "The Vermont senator sees the now-defunct Run Warren Run campaign as an attractive talent pool as it ramps up its outreach efforts in Iowa."
The Nation explores Sanders' consequential time of mayor of Burlington: "Thanks to the enduring influence of the progressive climate that Sanders and his allies helped to create in Burlington, the city’s largest housing development is now resident-owned, its largest supermarket is a consumer-owned cooperative, one of its largest private employers is worker-owned, and most of its people-oriented waterfront is publicly owned. Its publicly owned utility, the Burlington Electric Department, recently announced that Burlington is the first American city of any decent size to run entirely on renewable electricity."
EPA To Slash Airplane Emissions
EPA tackles carbon emissions from planes. NYT: "The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to report as early as Friday its conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes endanger human health ... [That] will prompt a requirement under the Clean Air Act for the agency to issue new regulations to reduce airplane emissions."
NYT's Eduardo Porter wants a climate tariff: "What if every other advanced nation ... agreed to put a price of $25 per ton on carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere? As a tax, that would add some 22 cents to the price of a gallon of gas, something few American politicians — fearing public anger — are yet ready to consider ... But if the other advanced nations had a stick — a tariff of 4 percent on the imports from countries not in the 'climate club' — the cost-benefit calculation for the United States would flip. Not participating in the club would cost Americans $44 billion a year."
"GOP, Obama see common ground on energy infrastructure" reports The Hill: "GOP leaders in the House Energy and Commerce Committee told Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that they are largely in agreement on the need to improve pipelines, electric transmission lines, energy storage and other pieces of infrastructure ... Infrastructure is one piece of the House GOP’s ongoing effort to write a comprehensive energy reform package."
