Reforming the tax code was a focal point for Tax Day on Capitol Hill. “We have an environment to make some progress” on tax reform, said Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA) at the InsideSources “Road to 2016: Informing the Tax Debate” forum.
Energy
‘Sustainability’ gone mad on college campuses
WASHINGTON POST
George Will
The divestment impulse recognizes no limiting principle. As it works its way through progressivism’s thicket of moral imperatives — shedding investments tainted by involvement with Israel, firearms, tobacco, red meat, irrigation-dependent agriculture, etc. — progressivism’s dream of ever-more-minute regulation of life is realized but only in campus cocoons.
Lift US ban on oil exports, say GOP trio
THE HILL
Devin Henry
A trio of Republican committee chairmen pitched lifting the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports on Wednesday, arguing it would help U.S. allies break their reliance on Russia and the Middle East. In an op-ed in Foreign Policy Magazine, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), John McCain (Ariz.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.) wrote that lifting the export ban could provide a lifeline for American allies that otherwise rely on imports from more hostile countries.
Obama bat protection decried as ploy to thwart oil and gas extraction, logging
WASHINGTON TIMES
Valerie Richardson
Two weeks ago, the Fish and Wildlife Service listed the northern long-eared bat as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. … [C]ritics of the listing say the bat can be viewed as an Eastern version of the Greater sage grouse, a species whose declining numbers and vast range make it a useful vehicle for environmentalists interested in stopping natural resources development, from logging and grazing to oil and gas development.
Technology
Here’s Big Cable’s plan to stop the FCC’s net neutrality rules
VOX
Timothy B. Lee
The groups won’t be required to spell out their legal arguments until later in the legal process. But this week I talked to two industry insiders — including Michael Powell, who represents the cable industry as the head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association — to get a preview of the industry’s arguments. The lawsuits will include a direct attack on the legal foundations of the FCC order: the decision to regulate internet access like a public utility. That was an essential precondition for enacting tough network neutrality rules. And industry groups say it goes beyond the authority Congress provided to the FCC.
Strong net neutrality is good for traditional TV, the FCC argues
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
Over-the-air TV may not sound like it has anything to do with the Web. But as more TV programmers move their content online, using streaming video apps such as CBS All Access, the Internet will become a growing medium for broadcasters, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at an industry conference in Las Vegas Wednesday.
Another Take on Net Neutrality
NEW YORK TIMES
Manu Joseph
But the fact is that a violation of net neutrality would gladden most of the more than one billion Indians who cannot afford to pay for data and so are not connected to the Internet. Such a violation raises the prospect of a cost-free Internet. A limited, impoverished Internet created by corporate strategy, perhaps, but a free slice of Internet that might introduce hundreds of millions to a utility that everyone now agrees is a human right.
Spotify turns up volume in D.C.
POLITICO
Anna Palmer and Tony Romm
Spotify is beefing up its Washington presence as it readies for a fight with Apple and others over online music streaming. Four lobbying firms registered Tuesday to lobby on behalf of Spotify on several issues, including competition, licensing and “platform neutrality,” according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Finance
Time for the estate tax to die
USA TODAY
Sen. John Thune and Rep. Bill Flores
This Congress is committed to sending a death tax repeal bill to the president’s desk. We urge President Obama to listen to the American people, who overwhelmingly want to see this destructive tax abolished, and to work with Congress. By repealing this unpopular tax, we can help American families, protect our farms and family-owned businesses and grow our nation’s economy.
Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street backers: We get it
POLITICO
Gabriel Debenedetti, Kenneth P. Vogel and Ben White
It’s “just politics,” said one major Democratic donor on Wall Street, explaining that some of her Wall Street supporters doubt she would push hard for closing the carried interest loophole as president, a policy she promoted when she last ran in 2008. “The question is not going to be whether or not hedge fund managers or CEOs make too much money,” said a separate Clinton supporter who manages a hedge fund. “The question is how do you solve the problem of inequality. Nobody takes it like she is going after them personally.”
Sen. Warren Criticizes Financial Regulators for Weak Penalties
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Victoria McGrane
Sen. Elizabeth Warren isn’t very happy with financial regulators. In a Wednesday speech assessing the state of financial oversight, the Massachusetts Democrat dished out harsh criticism for the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Reserve for not being tougher on big financial institutions in the years since the 2008 crisis.
Japan Overtakes China as Largest U.S. Bondholder
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Min Zeng, Lingling Wei and Eleanor Warnock
Japan dethroned China as the top foreign holder of U.S. Treasurys for the first time since the financial crisis, following a wave of purchases by buyers shifting money to the U.S. as Japan’s economic policies push down interest rates there.
Obama’s proposal for more trade with Asia may not go over so well in his own party
WASHINGTON POST
David Nakamura
If Obama pushes hard but fails, “Republicans will still be fine with that if they can ignite a civil war on the left,” said Austan Goolsbee, who chaired Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2010 to 2011 and supports the trade push.
Fannie, Freddie to Lower Fees for Some Borrowers
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Joe Light
The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will direct the housing-finance firms to slightly cut mortgage fees for riskier borrowers, a decision that falls short of what housing advocates wanted and yet is likely to anger conservative politicians who wanted higher charges.
Politics
Attacking Hillary Won’t Be Enough for the GOP
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Karl Rove
GOP candidates who excel at explaining their vision are more likely to gain voters’ support than candidates whose main purpose is attacking Mrs. Clinton, something Republicans should keep in mind as they select their nominee.
Clinton Foundation limits foreign donations
POLITICO
Josh Gerstein and Kenneth P. Vogel
The Clinton Foundation — facing mounting criticism for accepting foreign funding and struggling to raise money for a planned June conference in Greece — has agreed to limit, but not eliminate, donations from foreign governments. It also announced plans Wednesday to suspend its overseas conferences — including the one in Athens — beginning in June as part of a set of reforms aimed at quieting complaints that the charitable organization’s fundraising activities could compromise Hillary Clinton’s independence as she runs for president.
In Test for Unions and Politicians, a Nationwide Protest on Pay
NEW YORK TIMES
Noam Scheiber
The protest by tens of thousands of low-wage workers, students and activists in more than 200 American cities on Wednesday is the most striking effort to date in a two-and-a-half-year-old labor-backed movement that is testing the ability of unions to succeed in an economy populated by easily replaceable service sector workers.
