Immigration Setback
Conservative appeals court blocks Obama's deportation relief. NYT: "A federal appeals court said Monday that President Obama could not move forward with his plans to overhaul immigration rules ... saying a lawsuit brought by 26 states to block Mr. Obama’s actions was likely to succeed at trial ... Lawyers for the administration had been expecting the Fifth Circuit ruling to go against the president, partly because of the high number of judges in that circuit appointed by Republican presidents."
But ruling timed to give Supreme Court speedier review. Politico: "The release of the 5th Circuit decision Monday appears to allow the Supreme Court enough time to take up the dispute this term, if the justices choose to wade into the issue. A favorable Supreme Court ruling would permit the administration to implement the executive actions next summer."
Obama To Go To Paris
Obama will travel to Paris for climate talks. The Hill: "Obama’s brief visit will only last two days, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, out of the two-week event ... Obama’s priorities at the talks are to agree to a deal that incorporates individual countries’ commitments, incentivizes further future reductions and includes financial and technical help for developing countries."
Clean energy transition moving slowly. NYT: "Even as the world shifts toward lower-carbon forms of energy, the changes are happening too slowly to keep global temperatures from rising to dangerous levels in the coming decades, an international research group warns in a report released on Tuesday.
TransCanada could use NAFTA to save Keystone. The Hill: "...TransCanada declined to offer specifics about its next steps. But observers say the main options are filing an international challenge under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), seeking an act of Congress to override Obama or waiting until a new president takes office in January 2017 to file for a new permit ... the United States has won every challenge it has faced under NAFTA, making victory there a long shot."
Bipartisan Push To Reduce Money In Politics
Bipartisan group forms to press for campaign finance reform. Hedrick Smith: "...more than 100 former high office holders from 39 states have banded together in a new ReFormers’ Caucus ... 29 Republicans and 82 Democrats including a star-studded list of former Republican governors ... The five-pronged strategy includes ... Strengthening disclosure laws to insure full transparency ... state and city moves for public financing ... Legal action, or a constitutional amendment if necessary, to reverse the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision..."
Sen. Lamar Alexander seeks Senate rule changes to take effect in 2017. NYT: "Under various proposals, the ability to filibuster the preliminary motion, particularly on appropriations bills, would be eliminated, allowing a measure to at least come up for debate ... However, it would still be subject to a filibuster on final passage ... Another potential area of change is the requirement that extensive amounts of time must lapse before the Senate can act ... The idea of guaranteeing a minimum number of amendments for each side on bills is also being considered."
Breakfast Sides
Democratic leaders working to repeal Obamacare tax on higher benefit plans. The Hill: "...Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) are working to kill the tax [which] pits nearly all congressional Democrats against Obama ... The White House has rejected any outright repeal of the tax, but when asked Monday, spokesman Josh Earnest did not rule out a potential compromise."
Obama pitches TPP in Bloomberg View oped: " If you build cars in places such as Detroit, you can see for yourself how your products will have a better shot of hitting the road in places such as Japan. If you’re a farmer or rancher, you’ll see how your products will face fewer barriers abroad. If you’re a small-business owner, you’ll see how this agreement will mean less paperwork and less red tape."
Millennials move away from big banks. Bloomberg: "Community banks won with younger customers last year, netting a 5 percent increase in account holders ages 18 to 34, while credit unions recorded a 3 percent gain ... large national and regional banks [lost] 16 percent of them over the same period."
GOP candidates have untested tax proposals. WSJ: "Nearly all ... are promoting at least one tax idea the party hasn’t tried to sell to a general-election audience ... Democrats are primed to make the case that the bold Republican plans would provide the biggest benefits to the wealthiest households and balloon the federal deficit."
