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Energy
Obama’s claim that Keystone XL oil ‘bypasses the U.S.’ earns Four Pinocchios
WASHINGTON POST
Glenn Kessler
The president’s latest remarks pushes this assertion into the Four Pinocchios column. If he disagrees with the State Department’s findings, he should begin to make the case why it is wrong, rather than assert the opposite, without any factual basis. Moreover, by telling North Dakota listeners that the pipeline has no benefit for Americans, he is again being misleading, given that producers in the region have signed contracts to transport some of their production through the pipeline.
A snowball’s chance
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
Neither science nor evidence trouble Mr. Inhofe’s benighted complacency. “The hoax is that there are some people who are so arrogant to think that they are so powerful, they can change climate,” he said in January. “Man can’t change climate.” There is polling data suggesting some Americans’ views on climate change vary with the weather. Politicians worthy of Americans’ trust dispel this sort of ascientific thinking — they don’t encourage it. The Republican Party should be mortified by the face of their environmental leadership.
Technology
World Telecom Meeting to Focus on Regulation
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Thomas Gryta and Sam Schechner
At Mobile World Congress, Mr. Wheeler’s comments will be closely followed by global counterparts from other countries who are looking to develop their own set of rules. And the stronger Internet regulation in the U.S. may spare other policy makers—particularly those in Europe—from U.S. criticism. “Europe wants to use increased regulation as an excuse to regulate,” said Rajeev Chand, a managing director at boutique investment bank Rutberg & Co. “The top-line message is that Obama is regulating.”
Buoyed By Net-Neutrality Win, Internet Activists Prepare Next Campaign
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Dustin Volz
Now, the ragtag group of activists may turn their attention to another wonky issue: the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And it would mean breaking their alliance with the White House. … Internet groups have skin in the game because they fear the deal could lead to an expansion of restrictive copyright policing on the Web overseas, as participating countries would likely have to comply with U.S. intellectual-property laws. Fight for the Future, an open-Internet advocacy group, has blasted the proposed trade agreement as a plot that “would force SOPA-like Internet censorship on the world.”
Liberals Mugged by Obamanet
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Gordon Crovitz
When Google’s Eric Schmidt called White House officials a few weeks ago to oppose President Obama ’s demand that the Internet be regulated as a utility, they told him to buzz off. The chairman of the company that led lobbying for “net neutrality” learned the Obama plan made in its name instead micromanages the Internet.
Gauntlet awaits Internet rules
THE HILL
Julian Hattem and Mario Trujillo
“In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, never confuse a single defeat for a final defeat,” FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai — one of the agency’s two Republicans vigorously opposed to the rules — said after Thursday’s vote. “There are multiple battles ahead and I believe that we will win the war.”
Why Silicon Valley is the new revolving door for Obama staffers
WASHINGTON POST
Cecilia Kang and Juliet Eilperin
The affinity between the White House and the tech industry has enriched Obama’s campaigns through donations, and it has presented lucrative opportunities for staffers who leave for the private sector.
FCC Tests Its Authority Over States
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Drew Fitzgerald
Federal regulators are testing how deeply their authority extends into the Internet. They’re also testing how broadly it extends over the states. In a decision overshadowed by the move to enforce net neutrality, the Federal Communication Commission last week used a new argument to override state laws limiting cities’ ability to run their own Internet service.
An Uneasy Relationship Between Telecom and Tech
NEW YORK TIMES
Mark Scott
Yet despite the numerous networking events and business deals, there is a love-hate relationship involving some of the world’s largest mobile carriers and tech giants like Facebook and Google. Both sides rely on each other to provide customers worldwide with high-speed Internet access and online services like music streaming and social networking. Yet as smartphones increasingly become the principal means by which people manage their everyday lives, the telecom and tech giants are jockeying to position themselves as consumers’ main conduit for using the Internet on mobile devices.
The White House’s draft of a consumer privacy bill is out — and even the FTC is worried
WASHINGTON POST
Andrea Peterson
The White House on Friday released what it called a discussion draft of a bill aimed at giving consumers more control over how data about them is collected. But privacy advocates, including Democratic members of Congress, raised concerns that the legislation might actually make things worse. Even the Federal Trade Commission, the agency at the heart of the proposal, appears to have reservations.
Finance
Centrist Dems ready strike against Warren wing
THE HILL
Kevin Cirilli
“I have great respect for Sen. Warren — she’s a tremendous leader,” said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), one of the members working on the policy proposal. “My own preference is to create a message without bashing businesses or workers, [the latter of which] happens on the other side.”
A Financial System Still Dangerously Vulnerable to a Panic
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Glenn Hubbard and Hal Scott
Dodd-Frank restrictions on the Federal Reserve’s powers to act as lender-of-last-resort, coupled with restrictions on federal guarantees for bank deposits and money-market funds, pose a threat to U.S. and global financial stability.
Congress’s Critical Role on Trade
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
Congress needs to use the leverage it has to have its voice heard. Otherwise, legislators cannot be fully involved in shaping agreements that cover many complex issues and could result in big changes to domestic laws.
Indian tribes gambling on high-interest loans to raise revenue
WASHINGTON POST
Chico Harlan
With some two-dozen tribes now offering installment and payday loans, Native Americans have found themselves wrestling with the merits of this lifeline. Following the formula used in casino gambling, tribes capitalize on their right to govern themselves in an otherwise tightly regulated industry. Only in this case, revenue is earned from borrowers who are charged interest rates that sometimes are double what they’d find in a brick-and-mortar payday store. Some Castle Payday borrowers can find themselves facing $8,000 in financing fees on a $1,000 loan, even if they make payments on time. The lending is conducted exclusively online.
Politics
We have a plan for fixing health care
WASHINGTON POST
Sens. Orrin Hatch, Lamar Alexander and John Barrasso
Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about whether the Obama administration used the IRS to deliver health insurance subsidies to Americans in violation of the law. Millions of Americans may lose these subsidies if the court finds that the administration acted illegally. If that occurs, Republicans have a plan to protect Americans harmed by the administration’s actions.
Jeb Bush hopes his Florida record erases doubts of conservatives
WASHINGTON POST
Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Rosalind S. Helderman
As Jeb Bush tells it, he governed this state as “a practicing reform-minded conservative.” He cut taxes here by $19 billion. He slashed the state government payroll. He battled teachers unions to overhaul education. He ended affirmative action. And he vetoed so many spending bills that he earned the nickname “Veto Corleone.”
Young CPACers: Forget purity, let’s try to win
POLITICO
Katie Glueck
Interviews with nearly two dozen younger attendees at the confab here revealed a laser-like focus on electability amid awareness that Hillary Clinton could prove a powerful Democratic opponent in 2016. The desire for an electable candidate — even one who is ideologically imperfect — was top-of-mind for a wide range of attendees, from the bearded libertarians to the buttoned-up College Republicans.
Club for Growth plots role as 2016 kingmaker
POLITICO
James Hohmann
For the first time since forming in 1999, the right’s leading tax- and budget-cutting activist group could marshal their significant supply-sider cred and donor network behind a White House hopeful — if only it can pick a candidate.
Hillary Clinton Seen Launching Presidential Bid in April
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Peter Nicholas and Carol E. Lee
Hillary Clinton and her close advisers are telling Democratic donors that she will enter the presidential race sooner than expected, likely in April, a move that would allay uncertainties within her party and allow her to rev up fundraising.
Political attacks on Common Core are driven by pandering
WASHINGTON POST
Campbell Brown
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) declared, “We need to remove Common Core from every classroom in America.” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) blamed his predecessor for forcing his state to adopt the standards and said that he is now deeply concerned about “the heavy foot of the federal government coming in.” Both now preach this opposition message with the zealous conviction of converts — because they are converts, having carried until recently a very different message. And their explanations for their flip-flops border on the absurd.
GOP discord undercuts efforts to fund DHS
WASHINGTON POST
Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane
House Republican leaders will face a familiar dilemma this week when they try again to approve funding to keep the Department of Homeland Security functioning through the end of September: They know their party is too divided to resolve the crisis on its own but fear the political fallout if they rely on Democrats to get them out of the jam.
Squandering a GOP Majority
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Republicans need to do some soul searching about the purpose of a Congressional majority, including whether they even want it. If they really think Mr. Boehner is the problem, then find someone else to do his thankless job. If not, then start to impose some order and discipline and advance the conservative cause rather than self-defeating rebellion.
The new CBO director was a good choice for the job
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
Their selection Friday of Keith Hall is a welcome indication that Republican leaders understand the value of intellectual honesty at the CBO. Mr. Hall brings the right credentials: A research economist with a long-standing interest in federal policy, he has served in a variety of wonkish government posts that called on him to perform economic analysis and staff management. The most significant was his four-year stint between 2008 and 2012 as commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency in charge of measuring inflation, unemployment and other vital economic indicators. This experience — overlapping the George W. Bush and Obama administrations — instilled a strong interest in the problem of declining labor force participation, one of the most pressing issues facing the U.S. economy.
Netanyahu speech exposes partisan and diplomatic rifts
USA TODAY
Gregory Korte
But this time, even before he delivers a word of his speech, his appearance is revealing partisan and diplomatic rifts in that unique relationship. More than two dozen Democrats are boycotting his speech, as Republicans have accused President Obama of not being supportive enough of Israel.
