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Energy
5 ways the Keystone saga could end
POLITICO
Elana Schor
A veto could doom the congressional push for Keystone, since Republicans lack the votes for an override. But the White House and State Department still must decide the larger question of whether to allow construction of the $8 billion Canada-to-Texas heavy-oil pipeline, and that means both supporters and opponents will be making a final push in a lobbying feud that has already devoured years and tens of millions of dollars.
Report: Most Keystone crude will stay in U.S.
FUEL FIX
Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Most of the heavy Canadian crude slated to flow through the Keystone XL pipeline would be refined inside the U.S., and the resulting gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products would be consumed domestically too, according to a new analysis. The report from consulting firm IHS debunks a major argument of Keystone XL’s detractors, who have cast the project as an “export pipeline” that would only ferry crude through the U.S. en route to other countries.
E.P.A. Issues Stiffer Rules on Vehicle Fuel Ratings
NEW YORK TIMES
Aaron Kessler
After two years of imposing increasingly stiff penalties on automakers that overstate their fuel economy ratings, federal regulators on Monday said they would tighten guidelines used in determining the mileage advertised to consumers. Next year, automakers will face stricter rules for conducting a crucial test or face an audit by the Environmental Protection Agency and potential penalties. The rules for the test had not been updated in over 10 years.
Bill Gates and Other Business Leaders Urge U.S. to Increase Energy Research
NEW YORK TIMES
Justin Gillis
The government is spending far too little money on energy research, putting at risk the long-term goals of reducing carbon emissions and alleviating energy poverty, some of the country’s top business leaders found in a new report.
Technology
FCC Republicans Call on Agency to Delay Net Neutrality Vote
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Siobhan Hughes
Republicans are increasing the pressure on the Federal Communications Commission to delay a Thursday vote on high-profile rules governing the treatment of Internet traffic, saying the public needs time to see and review the plan. Two Republicans on the five-member FCC urged the agency to delay the vote, calling on Chairman Tom Wheeler to make his proposal public and subject to a 30-day review period before the proposal is completed. On Capitol Hill, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah) urged Mr. Wheeler to appear at a hearing on Capitol Hill before the vote, and to make the proposal public before the FCC decides whether to complete it.
Thune’s Plan: Give on Net Neutrality, But Put Stricter Limits on FCC
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Brendan Sasso
Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune has a strategy for stopping federal regulators from seizing broad powers over the Internet: Give them what they want. Thune is working on legislation that would direct the Federal Communications Commission to protect net neutrality—the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. But the proposal comes with strings attached—Thune and other Republicans want to use a net-neutrality bill to curb the FCC’s overall power to regulate the Internet.
In Silicon Valley, can Clinton harness excitement like Obama 8 years ago?
WASHINGTON POST
Philip Rucker and Matea Gold
“I don’t hear a lot of, ‘Oh, boy, Hillary is going to fix all these problems we have as a country,’ ” said Jim Greer, founder of Kongregate, a Web and mobile gaming platform. “I don’t think there’s a Silicon Valley candidate in this race yet.”
Tech Lobby Doesn’t Lack for Cash or Issues
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Kaveh Waddell
Tech and telecom companies have spent more than $3.3 billion on lobbying over the past decade. And they’re just getting started.
Wall St. and Law Firms Plan Cooperative Body to Bolster Online Security
NEW YORK TIMES
Matthew Goldstein
The threat of ever-larger online attacks is bringing together Wall Street banks and the big law firms that do work for them in an alliance that could result in some sharing of basic information about digital security issues. For nearly a year, banks and law firms have discussed setting up a legal group that would be affiliated with the banking industry’s main forum for sharing information about threats from hackers, online criminals and even nation states — the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Several people briefed on those discussions said those talks would most likely lead to the establishment of such a group by the end of the year, a recognition that hackers are increasingly focusing on big law firms to glean information about their corporate clients.
Facebook’s new privacy policy violates European law, report finds
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Duncan Robinson, Hannah Kuchler and Sally Davies
Facebook has been accused of violating EU data protection rules as the social network became the latest US technology company to be criticised by a European regulator. In a report released on Monday, academics commissioned by Belgium’s Privacy Commission said Facebook’s new data use policy and terms of service were “in violation of European law”.
Finance
Obama woos Warren wing with anti-Wall Street push
POLITICO
Patrick Temple-West, Marianne Levine and Zachary Warmbrodt
President Barack Obama stood before AARP Monday, drawing spirited applause for a plan that he says will prevent mom-and-pop investors from getting fleeced by financial advisers as they plan for their retirement. But even as Obama spoke, many eyes were on the woman seated on the stage behind him, looking on approvingly: Elizabeth Warren, the Democrats’ populist crusader.
Fretting About the Yuan
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
It is always possible that Beijing will change course and try to devalue its way out of trouble. But there is no evidence of that to date, and the U.S. Congress should not pretend there is. A trade war with a major trading partner going through a difficult transition is a bad idea, economically and politically.
She Runs S.E.C. He’s a Lawyer. Recusals and Headaches Ensue.
NEW YORK TIMES
Peter Eavis and Ben Protess
Their legal careers, and by extension their marriage, are the stuff of lore. Mary Jo White leads the Securities and Exchange Commission; her husband, John, practices law at an old-guard firm as elite as the corporations it represents. Together, they are a legal power couple that straddles Wall Street and Washington like few others. Their careers, however, can at times collide, generating headaches for the S.E.C. as it pursues wrongdoing in the nation’s financial markets, according to interviews with lawyers and a review of federal records. In the nearly two years since Ms. White took over the agency, she has had to recuse herself from more than four dozen enforcement investigations, the interviews and records show, sometimes delaying settlements and opening the door, in at least one case, to a lighter punishment.
Citi Turns Green
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Again, we don’t doubt Citi has run the numbers on its $100 billion sustainability fund, and we wish them luck with it. But one of the unspoken political goals of Dodd-Frank was to give the government more influence over credit allocation, and this looks to us like an example. Politicized lending in time always leads to trouble. We thought that lesson had been learned in the housing-mortgage crisis.
Insider Trading Case Could Push Congress to Define a Murky World
NEW YORK TIMES
Peter J. Henning
Whenever Congress gets involved, the question is whether the cure will be worse than the disease. For those clamoring for legislation to fix insider trading laws, the push is more likely to be toward a broader prohibition than a nuanced approach. It is a tough sell with the American public to consider revising insider trading by adopting a new statute if it could be seen as favoring the interests of Wall Street and hedge funds over mom-and-pop investors.
The Search for a Monetary-Policy Wizard and Political Moral Hazard
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Robert Rubin
In all three major advanced economies there should be a clear-eyed view of the moral hazard created by disproportionate focus on central banks. Monetary policy should be treated with a pragmatic analysis of all its attendant risks and rewards. Instead of looking for a wizard at the end of a yellow-brick road, we should demand that elected officials take the difficult fiscal, public-investment and structural actions that could do so much good now and that are imperative for the longer term.
Big Banks Face Scrutiny Over Pricing of Metals
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Jean Eaglesham and Christopher M. Matthews
U.S. officials are investigating at least 10 major banks for possible rigging of precious-metals markets, even though European regulators dropped a similar probe after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, according to people close to the inquiries.
Politics
McConnell moves to prevent DHS shutdown
THE HILL
Jordain Carney and Mike Lillis
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took steps Monday to prevent a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security by splitting off legislation attacking President Obama’s immigration actions from the funding fight. The Kentucky Republican is seeking to fast-track legislation to eliminate two new immigration programs launched by Obama late last year, while allowing a 2012 initiative targeting younger immigrants to continue as designed.
The more people say they know about the Common Core, the less they actually do
VOX
Libby Nelson
The poll found 77 percent of people who said they have heard “a lot” about Common Core didn’t know basic facts about the standards, saying they included at least one of four concepts: the American Revolution, evolution, global warming, and sex education. In fact, the Common Core standards are limited to math and language arts. People who had heard “nothing at all” about the Common Core — and were presumably just guessing in response to the pollster’s questions — were actually more likely to say, correctly, that the Common Core doesn’t include any of those topics.
More Conflict Over Cutting Federal Role in Education
NEW YORK TIMES
Tamar Lewin
As the House of Representatives prepared to take up a Republican proposal for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, Congress and the White House on Monday inched toward a confrontation over the federal role in education.
Neglected Roads and Bridges Take Toll on U.S. Companies
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Vipal Monga
Transport is one of the weakest links in the corporate supply chain. Mile after mile, America’s crumbling infrastructure adds to the cost of moving parts, equipment and inventory across the country. The resulting loss of sales could total $1 trillion between 2012 and 2020, while reduced productivity and higher expenses could drain $3.1 trillion from the nation’s gross domestic product, according to a 2013 study by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Jeb Bush Looms Large for Marco Rubio in 2016
NEW YORK TIMES
Ashley Parker
“I’m not running against Jeb Bush if I run for president,” said Mr. Rubio, 43. “We have our own message and our own network of supporters.” And while Mr. Rubio seems determined to simply, if politely, ignore Mr. Bush, some of his would-be backers are already signing on with the former Florida governor, who just so happens to be the son of the 41st president and the brother of the 43rd.
Palestinian Groups Are Found Liable at Manhattan Terror Trial
NEW YORK TIMES
Benjamin Weiser
The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization were found liable on Monday by a jury in Manhattan for their role in knowingly supporting six terrorist attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004 in which Americans were killed and injured. The damages are to be $655.5 million, under a special terrorism law that provides for tripling the $218.5 million awarded by the jury in Federal District Court.
