McConnell May Unveil Transportation Bill Today
Senate Majority expresses confidence in bipartisan deal. The Hill: "...the Kentucky Republican is keeping the details close to his chest ... An initial list of offsets circulated among lawmakers and lobbyists included a proposal to index customs fees to inflation, which one transportation expert said could be described as a tax increase. Another option proposed would lower the dividend that the Federal Reserve pays to big banks to park their funds at the bank ... One Senate GOP aide said the plan would likely span three years."
Presidential candidates in the Senate eye transportation bill for grandstanding opportunities. National Journal: "Cruz promised last week to use 'any and all procedural tools' to block any move reauthorizing the Export-Import bank ... Paul, meanwhile, is planning to use 'all legislative vehicles at his disposal in order to ensure there is immediate action to eliminate taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood,' ... [Cruz] intends to file amendments to fully repeal [Obamacare.]"
Hillary Readies Wall Street Reform Package
Hillary Clinton previews Wall Street reform agenda in Facebook Q&A. Bloomberg: "...the Democratic presidential front-runner has plans to unveil proposals later this week ... Clinton again vowed to protect and expand upon [Dodd-Frank] by boosting the financial rewards for whistleblowers and by creating a mechanism to cut into executives’ compensation when their companies are fined ..."
"Hillary Clinton bashes Wall Street, but only a little" says W. Post: "She is trying to place herself as a watchdog against corporate wrongdoing [while] distancing herself from the Wall Street bashing [by] Sen. Bernie Sanders ... None of the proposals she has put forward so far appear close to the major crackdown on banking practices, financial loopholes and astronomical salaries favored by many liberals."
Conservatives Level New Smear On Bernie
RIght-wing National Review smears Bernie Sanders as promoting "national socialism": "He is, in fact, leading a national-socialist movement, which is a queasy and uncomfortable thing to write about a man who is the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland and whose family was murdered in the Holocaust. But there is no other way to characterize his views and his politics."
Sanders may get sidelined in budget talks to avoid September shutdown, despite top position on Senate Budget Committee. Politico: "...lawmakers and aides said it would be hard for the self-identified socialist to hash out a spending deal with Republicans ... [And House] Budget Chairman Tom Price ... has a less-than-stellar rapport with Democrats ... Absent an anointed pair, lawmakers and staff are left to speculate: Will leadership take a bigger role in talks this time? Could the appropriators — perhaps the group most desperate for a deal — take charge? Or will the White House take charge for the Democrats?"
Gov. John Kasich joins GOP field. W. Post: "He has spent the past two years separating himself from some of the harder edges of the conservative movement ... In Ohio, he engineered an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act ... He has said he is open to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In his first term, he signed a bill that restricted collective bargain rights for public employee unions ... When Ohio voters rejected the plan in a later ballot initiative, Kasich accepted defeat..."
