Happy Wednesday folks,
It’s quite the Marshmallow World out there.
Yesterday, the Dow Jones hit an all-time high, with a closing of 14,253.77.
That’s good news for Wall Street, but how is the economy faring as a whole? Jia Lynn Yang of The Washington Post reported that “as companies rely more on earnings overseas, their fortunes have become more disconnected from the state of the U.S. economy,” and that “stock prices have been boosted by the Federal Reserve’s massive stimulus program, which has pushed down long- and short-term interest rates. The low rates have encouraged investors to seek out higher returns in the stock market.” These points indicate that the market’s buttressed success does not necessarily translate to a booming American economy.
GDP growth has consistently been around a sluggish two percent, and the unemployment rate is about 7.9 percent. So the question remains: is a jobless recovery and stagnant growth abnormal, or is it the new normal?
Seize the day,
Mark Bednar
@MarkBednar
Important Things On Tap For Today
10:00 AM: Senate Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs Committee holds an oversight hearing on the Department of Homeland Security.
3:00 PM: President Obama, with the vice president, meets with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
Tweet Tweet
@brianjameswalsh “You know what would reduce Secret Service costs? Fewer campaign events by POTUS, not cancelling White House tours. http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/03/secret-service-wh-tour-cuts-may-reduce-need-for-furloughs-158554.html”
@TheAtlantic “Why Spelling Matters http://theatln.tc/ZlEYcV”
@pattonoswalt “Hugo Chavez, RIP. Guess it’s up to me now.”
@ByronTau “Thing that exists: ‘PRESIDENTIAL PETS GRAPHIC NOVEL TELLS THE STORY OF THE ANIMALS IN THE WHITE HOUSE’”
@WTOP “RT @fairfaxcounty: National Weather Service reports heaviest snow in county will begin around 9 a.m. #ffxstorm #snowquester”
On The Radar
Economic Growth
Public-University Costs Soar from The Wall Street Journal by Ruth Simon. “Tuition at public colleges jumped last year by a record amount as state governments slashed school funding, the latest sign of strain in the U.S. higher-education sector. The average amount that students at public colleges paid in tuition, after state and institutional grants and scholarships, climbed 8.3% last year, the biggest jump on record, according to a report based on data from all public institutions in all 50 states to be released Wednesday by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. Median tuition rose 4.5%.”
Group Wants To Limit Tax Bite On Overseas Profits from Politico by Steven Sloan. “A new lobbying coalition is in the works to take on one of the thorniest issues associated with tax reform: the levies paid by massive U.S. corporations on profits generated offshore. The group — dubbed the LIFT America coalition — is in the process of seeking corporate members and hasn’t yet officially launched.”
Support For Keystone XL Pipeline Project Hits 70 Percent from The Washington Post by Aaron Blake. “The White House has yet to embrace the proposed expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline, but the American public is on board. A new Fox News poll shows support for the project has reached a new high, with 70 percent supporting its construction and 23 percent opposing it. That 70 percent support figure is up from 67 percent a year ago. Other polls at the time showed slightly lower levels of support, though still huge majorities in favor. The increase appears to be due to a rise in support among Democrats, who now support it with a clear majority — 57 percent.”
Now Dems Worry: Did Obama Cry Wolf [On Sequester]? from Politico by Glenn Thrush and Carrie Budoff Brown. “President Barack Obama hopes to spark a pitchfork revolt against Republicans over sequester-induced budget cuts — but many Democrats fret that he’s undermined that effort with an early strategy marred by hype, poor planning and muddled messaging. The stakes in the sequester debate aren’t quite as high as they were during the debt ceiling battle of 2011, but Democratic veterans of the Obama-Republican wars of 2009 and 2010 are getting a creepy sense of déjà vu from a White House messaging shop they believe fumbled the rollouts of the stimulus and health care initiatives.”
Why Has Congress Left Housing To Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac? from The Washington Post by Neil Irwin. “Here’s how strange things have gotten in the world of housing finance. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with their regulator, are doing more to dismantle themselves than Congress can be bothered to do. Monday their regulator, Ed DeMarco of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said that a new company will be formed that will do much of the back-office work of both firms, setting the stage for whatever Congress decides to do next to overhaul the mortgage sector.”
Immigration
Immigration Talks Gain Momentum from Politico by Jake Sherman and Kate Nocera. “With the Senate moving full-steam ahead on a comprehensive immigration bill, House Republicans are finding their way on their own strategy meant to position Washington for reform in the 113th Congress. The House GOP leadership kicked off its efforts in earnest on Tuesday when House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy— a former prosecutor — began briefing their colleagues on the basics of U.S. immigration policy in Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s office.”
Rubio In ‘Same Place’ As Jeb Bush On Immigration from Politoco by Manu Raju. “Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says he still backs a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants after Jeb Bush appeared to reverse his initial stand on the hot-button issue. Rubio says not allowing the illegal immigrants to apply for citizenship — after the border is deemed secured — would create problems that have occurred in other parts of the world. ”think we’re still in the same place in terms of not wanting there to be a special advantage for people who have broken the law,” Rubio said of him and his one-time mentor, Bush. “What I understand he’s outlined…is kind of something I thought about for a long time and ultimately concluded that it probably isn’t good for the country to have millions of people here who are permanently barred [from] even applying for citizenship. … It’s been a disaster for Europe.’”
Health Care
Sources: No Medicare Age Shift In Paul Ryan Budget from Politico by Jake Sherman and Jonathan Allen. “Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget is now expected to exempt seniors 55 years old and above from his Medicare overhaul — despite his personal preference to raise that age to 56 — according to several GOP sources familiar with his plans. For years, the House Budget Committee chairman has sought to transform Medicare from its current fee-for-service format to one in which the government would give seniors limited subsidies to buy private insurance. The key political caveat: No one within a decade of the Medicare eligibility age of 65 would have been affected by the overhaul the Wisconsin Republican envisioned.”
McDonnell To Feds: No Medicaid Expansion from The Washington Post by Laura Vozzella. “Gov. Robert F. McDonnell sent a letter Tuesday to President Obama’s health secretary to stress that he and the General Assembly have not agreed to expand Medicaid. ‘The recently passed budget of Virginia contains language outlining a series of reforms that must be completed to the satisfaction of a new legislative commission prior to consideration of Medicaid expansion,’ McDonnell (R) wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. ‘Some media outlets and elected officials have labeled this as approving Medicaid expansion in Virginia. This is absolutely incorrect.’”
Feds Plan Pitch To Uninsured by Politico by Jennifer Haberkorn. “The Obama administration will begin reaching out to people who could get insurance through the health reform law this July, less than three months before they can sign up for new coverage. ‘If we get too much of a head start with beneficiaries about what they can expect in 2014, … but say that it’s not available to you for six months or seven months, then folks tend to lose interest,’ Marilyn Tavenner, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, told the Federation of American Hospitals at its Washington conference Tuesday.”
Smokers Can Skirt Higher Premiums from Politico by Brett Norman. “Under the health law, insurers next year will be able to charge smokers up to 50 percent more than nonsmokers. Unless smokers don’t tell the truth.”
X-Factor
Soviet War Veteran Found In Afghanistan After 33 Years from BBC News. “A Soviet soldier who went missing in Afghanistan nearly 33 years ago has been found living with Afghans in the western province of Herat. The soldier is semi-nomadic, has the adopted Afghan name Sheikh Abdullah and practises herbal medicine, Russia’s RIA news agency reports.”
A Clear View From Foggy Bottom: How State Department Analysts — And No One Else — Foresaw The 1973 Arab-Israeli War from Foreign Policy by William Burr. “A fabled but previously secret State Department intelligence memorandum that predicted, five months in advance, the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, has now emerged from classified vaults so obscure that even State Department historians and CIA officers responsible for Freedom of Information Act requests could not penetrate them.”
Coloradans Least Obese, West Virginians Most For Third Year from Gallup by Katie Bass. “Colorado residents were the least likely in the nation to be obese in 2012 — as has been the case since 2010 — making it the only state where less than 20% of adults are obese. West Virginia - also for a third year in a row — is the state with the highest obesity rate, at 33.5%; however, this is down from 35.3% in 2012, which was the highest for any state that Gallup and Healthways have found since 2008.”
This & That
Work In Washington? Many Commutes Take Longer Than 90 Minutes from DCist by Benjamin R. Freed.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Glee’-Ful Delusions from The Huffington Post by Kia Makarechi.
The 24 Most Awkward Parts Of Going On Vacation With Your Family from Buzzfeed by Erin La Rosa.
Demi Strikes Back At Ashton from The NY Post.