Enjoy the beginning of the week, because we might get hit with some snow later on, and not everyone is happy about it.
Recently, Allysia Finley of The Wall Street Journal wrote how sunny California is suffering from the economic effects of stringent liberal policies. She noted that strict zoning laws aimed at preventing suburban sprawl have “constrained California’s housing supply and ratcheted up prices.” As a result, people are moving out of California for more economically-warm states, like Texas. Finley also shows that energy and labor laws are squeezing small business and manufacturing out of California.
Now that there is a little less than a month before the next fiscal showdown, Washington has a lot of spending squeezing to do. In an interview with David Gregory on Meet The Press yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner said that for twenty two years he has seen Washington kick the can down the road on spending, and now, “We’re out of road to kick the can down.” This call to action is important, because everyday Americans know they can’t kick the can on their own finances, so the government shouldn’t either.
10:15 AM: President Obama will make a personnel announcement at the White House.
10:15 AM: Vice President Biden delivers remarks at AIPAC policy conference.
12:00 PM: Press Secretary Jay Carney briefs press.
Tweet Tweet
@USNavy “The Navy has been protecting against pirates since this day in 1825. Read more here http://ow.ly/ib0Cc”
@jonallendc “Daily Caller story: ‘Ashley Judd, potential U.S. Senate candidate, sure has done a lot of on-screen nudity.’ Contrast point with McConnell.”
@GottliebShow“No-a year away @jdotpenrod: @GottliebShow in your expert opinion, do you think UNC has a reasonable chance to reach Final Four?’”
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@WSJ“For every Instagram, there are thousands of mobile apps that fail to catch on. What makes a successful app? (Video) http://on.wsj.com/VYSowv”
On The Radar
Economic Growth
Economist Critiques ‘Obamacare For The Corn’from Roll Call by Phillip Brasher. “Not many agricultural economists get asked to be on a TV comedy show, and not many would probably dare go on, if asked. But Iowa State University’s Bruce Babcock, one of the crop insurance system’s most prominent critics, showed up on “The Colbert Report” last year in the middle of the drought that devastated the Midwest corn crop.”
Railroads Emerge As Alternative To Keystone XL Pipeline For Moving Oil Sands From Canadafrom The Washington Post by Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin. “Even if foes of the Keystone XL pipeline block it, companies seeking to get Canada’s oil sands to U.S. and world markets could travel the old-fashioned way: by rail. While TransCanada has been trying to obtain a U.S. permit to build the 875-mile northern leg of its Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian and U.S. railroad companies have been busy installing new track and loading facilities to carry the oil sands crude from northern Alberta to refineries in the United States and Canada. Rail shipments of Canadian crude oil sands are on track to quadruple this year.”
Democrats Struggle To Find Next Tax Triumphfrom Politico by Steven Sloan. “Democrats toasted the New Year’s fiscal cliff deal with the belief that they had set a crucial new precedent: Tax hikes would be part of any future deficit reduction package. Two months later, the champagne buzz is wearing off. With about $85 billion in spending cuts — and no new revenue — kicking into gear on Friday, it appears that the exuberance expressed by many Democrats at the beginning of the year was misplaced. Efforts to avert the sequester never achieved liftoff, and Democrats are realizing that new tax revenues are off the table for the immediate future.”
Capitol Official: Obama Wrong About Janitors from Politico by Kate Nocera. “The Superintendent of Capitol tried to assure staff on Friday that employees will not receive a cut in pay as a result of sequestration, despite President Barack Obama’s claims to the contrary.”
Cut Wasteful And Ineffective Programs First, Issa Tells Agenciesfrom The Washington Post by Eric Yoder. “Federal agencies needing to pare their spending under sequestration should first cut wasteful and unnecessary programs, the chairman of the House government oversight committee said Friday. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) sent letters to 17 Cabinet departments citing hundreds of programs that have been questioned in inspector general reports and advising that many of the recommendations could be carried out “in the short term.” His Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold the first of a series of hearings Tuesday, beginning with the Education and Transportation departments.”
Immigration
Many Avoid Tough Path To Citizenshipfrom The Wall Street Journal by Miriam Jordan. “The move to overhaul the nation’s immigration system has stirred controversy in part over the issue of offering citizenship to the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. But judging by the last time the U.S. opened such a path for illegal immigrants then in the country, many fewer than 11 million likely would become citizens. After the 1986 immigration overhaul, fewer than half of those eligible became naturalized.”
Health Care
Republicans Revisit Medicare Reform To Cut Spendingfrom the Los Angeles Times by Lisa Mascaro and Michael A. Memoli. “Fired up as once-unimaginable spending cuts start to slice the federal budget, Republicans are launching a new phase in their austerity campaign — resurrecting the party’s cost-cutting plan to turn Medicare into a voucher-like system for future seniors. Despite public uncertainty Saturday about the $85 billion in so-called sequester cuts, Republicans now believe they have momentum to ask Americans to make tough choices on Medicare, as rising healthcare costs combine with an aging population to form a growing part of future deficits.”
To Contain Health Care Costs, Pay Doctors Differently from Politico by Bill Frist and Steven Schroeder. “Lawmakers have spent decades dancing around how to stop health care costs from eating up greater and greater portions of our overall budget. Even now, the proposals on the table look at cuts in services, asking seniors covered under Medicare to pick up a higher proportion of out-of-pocket costs or assessing whether to eliminate the sustainable growth rate formula aimed at controlling Medicare spending on physicians. These proposals, at best, address the problem of health spending at the margins. The real culprit here is fee-for-service payment to doctors.”
Lobbyists Weigh In On Pharmacy Oversight from The Washington Post by Kimberly Kindy and Lena H. Sun. “Drug companies are ramping up efforts on Capitol Hill to block specialty pharmacies from mass producing drugs in lightly regulated conditions, urging lawmakers to require that these enterprises return to their traditional roles or face stricter standards. Commercial drug makers are also pressing a lobbying campaign aimed at stopping these specialty pharmacies, known as compounders, from making “knockoff” drugs for people and their pets that the companies say are costing them millions of dollars in annual profits, records and interviews show.”
X-Factor
Hill Poll: President’s Support For Israel Found Wanting By Many Votersfrom The Hill by Lara Seligman. “Three times as many voters believe the Obama administration is not supportive enough of Israel as believe it is too supportive, according to a new poll for the Hill. The proportion of voters who now say the president does not give strong enough backing to Israel is higher than it was in each of three similar surveys conducted for The Hill since May 2011. Correspondingly, fewer voters now find the White House’s policy excessively supportive of Israel.”
As Castro Era Drifts To Close, A New Face Steps In At No. 2 from The New York Times by Damien Cave and Victoria Burnett. “Though a stranger to many Cubans, Mr. Díaz-Canel suddenly became the chosen one when he was promoted to first vice president on Sunday as Raúl Castro, 81, announced he would retire after his current five-year term ended in 2018.
This & That
Dennis Rodman: Kim Jong Eun Is ‘My Friend’ from The Washington Post.
