Your daily briefing for the latest news in energy, tech, finance, and politics.
Energy
Winners and losers of oil price plunge
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Chris Giles
Suddenly the world is awash with oil. A surprise surge in production and weaker than expected global demand for crude have sent oil reserves soaring and prices tumbling. The 40 per cent drop in the oil price to around $60 a barrel since June is by far the biggest shock for the global economy this year. Similar episodes in the past tell us the consequences are likely to be both profound and long lasting. Normally, economists would add “positive” to this list, but doubts are surfacing as never before.
No Relief for Air Travelers
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
There are many reasons airlines have not lowered fares to reflect the decline in oil prices. Some of these companies are still paying high prices for fuel themselves because they have to abide by long-term contracts. But the biggest reason airlines are not passing on lower prices to consumers is that they don’t have to.
The great Lima climate change shakedown
FOX NEWS
Stephen Moore
The lesson of Lima is that the rest of the world is not going to cut its carbon emissions. Period. China and India, with two billion people, have nearly doubled their carbon emissions over the last decade with no end in sight and this has negated any progress in the U.S. And Europe. Mr. Obama has agreed to an historic climate change deal with… himself. America will give up jobs and money (eventually trillions) and pay higher energy prices and in exchange the rest of the world will do nothing.
Planetary climate pledge drive
USA TODAY
Editorial
In the meantime, a certain amount of climate change is already baked in. The world has dallied so long that the goal of holding temperatures to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels might already be a lost cause. As they look ahead to the next round of talks in Paris, the politicians have their timetable. The climate has its own.
The Texas Energy Revolt
POLITICO
Jim Malewitz
The local fight forcing state Republicans to choose between two things Texans hold dear: local sovereignty and oil.
Technology
New GOP faces on Senate tech committees
THE HILL
Julian Hattem
Veteran and freshmen Republicans will take seats on the Commerce, Judiciary and Intelligence committees next year, and they could help shape a handful of significant issues facing the panels. Republicans will gain three seats on the Judiciary Committee, two on the Commerce panel and one on Intelligence Committee, after the GOP wave in the midterm elections.
Senators vow new push to outlaw an Internet tax
THE HILL
Mario Trujillo
Two leading senators on the Commerce and Finance committees expressed confidence Monday that a ban on taxing Internet access will be approved in the new Congress. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said he and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) have been working on the issue for years, and “now we’ve gotten a bit of seniority.”
The future of U.S. innovation might rest on this obscure patent lawsuit
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
Now an obscure court case could inject new momentum into a bill that tackles patent trolls. … This month, a federal appeals court heard oral arguments in the case. If the court rules next year for a narrow interpretation of the law, that would put pressure on patent reform advocates who see the law as a key weapon against predatory lawsuits. In response, they would likely ramp up lobbying for a fix from Congress — and set up a big showdown with industry.
Tech Giants Join Microsoft’s Privacy Fight Against Justice Department
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Brendan Sasso
Microsoft is getting some reinforcements in its battle with the Justice Department over access to emails stored on servers overseas. Verizon, Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Cisco, eBay, HP, Infor, Salesforce, and Rackspace on Monday all signed on to legal briefs urging a federal appeals court to throw out the Justice Department’s warrant. The companies argued that U.S. prosecutors have no authority to seize the emails, which are stored in Ireland.
Uber answers Al Franken, takes aim at privacy questions
POLITICO
Tony Romm
Uber on Monday strongly defended its privacy practices, telling Sen. Al Franken in a letter that the company “prohibits employees from accessing rider personal information except for business purposes” — but the Democratic senator said he still isn’t convinced.
The GOP tried again to stop Obama from giving up a key Internet oversight role. It won’t work.
WASHINGTON POST
Nancy Scola
After several attempts, Republicans in Congress managed to slip a provision into the massive $1.1 trillion spending bill passed by the Senate this weekend that would prevent the Obama administration from giving up part of its oversight of how the Internet runs. Observers say, though, that there’s little chance that the GOP’s legislative language will actually slow the process at all.
Finance
Bipartisan team aims to curb South Dakota’s payday lending industry
WASHINGTON POST
Reid Wilson
Hickey and Hildebrand will spearhead a ballot initiative to cap interest rates for those short-term loans at 36 percent, just a fraction of the industry average. They acknowledge — and payday lenders warn — that such a cap would, in effect, end the payday lending industry in South Dakota.
‘In Push Out’ Provision, Example of How Congress Does Its Job
NEW YORK TIMES
Jonathan Weisman
How Representative Kevin Yoder’s “push out” provision survived is not, as many have suggested, a tale of dark favors done in back rooms at the last minute. Instead, it is how powerful lobbies work their will, slowly, persistently, bit by bit — in other words, how Washington works.
McKinsey Study: Bank Profitability Nears Precrisis Levels
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Daniel Huang
Banks are slowly approaching precrisis levels of profitability, a new report found, though results vary significantly across regions and markets. Since bottoming out in 2008 amid a world-wide economic downturn, the global banking industry has steadily improved its depressed return on equity, tallying 9.9% in the first half of 2014, up from 9.5% last year and 5% in 2008, according to research released Monday by consultancy McKinsey & Co.
Politics
Republican Governors Push to Reshape Welfare Programs
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Damian Paletta and Mark Peters
A large number of Republican governors are pushing to reshape social-welfare programs with drug testing or other requirements, arguing that the new rules better prepare recipients for employment and assure taxpayers that the benefit money is well spent.
Economic Recovery Spreads to the Middle Class
NEW YORK TIMES
Nelson Schwartz
“It’s the beginning of an uptick, and we should see it continue over the next year or two as the unemployment rate falls and the labor market tightens,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS, a private economics and forecasting firm. “You have to be careful, but my gut instinct is that this is the beginning of better wage performance.”
Good Economic News, but Democrats Differ on Whether to Take Credit
NEW YORK TIMES
Jackie Calmes
Democrats would like some credit for the run of good economic news. Yet the better those reports are, the more divided the party has become over how — even whether — to take any. In one camp are Democrats who argue that if they do not take some credit, they will continue to receive little. Others counter that boasting would backfire, infuriating millions of Americans who do not see the economy improving for them or their children.
Spending bill is a modest achievement, but at least Congress got the job done
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
In the end, large bipartisan House and Senate majorities voted yes. Congress’s political showhorses on both the right and the left dominated the headlines, but they were free to preen only because they knew the bill would pass. That, in turn, was thanks to the political workhorses of both parties — including, from our area, people including Ms. Mikulski and House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.). They merit one or two headlines, too.
Warren Can Win
NEW YORK TIMES
David Brooks
The history of populist candidates is that they never actually get the nomination. The establishment wins. That’s still likely. But there is something in the air. The fundamental truth is that every structural and historical advantage favors Clinton, but every day more Democrats embrace the emotion and view defined by Warren.
The Elizabeth Warren Right
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Surely the tea party right understands that liberals support donation limits precisely because they tend to empower liberal media organs like big-city newspapers and TV networks. Conservatives claim to believe in free speech and political competition. Both require ample sums of money for election campaigns.
Ted Cruz reignites GOP civil war
POLITICO
Manu Raju and Burgess Everett
Republican senators pounded Ted Cruz over the weekend, lashing him for his procedural tactics and ultimately voting in large numbers against his immigration gambit. Now, Cruz’s allies off Capitol Hill are looking for revenge. Conservative outside groups view Saturday’s vote as the first salvo in the GOP v. GOP purity wars that they hope to reignite in the beginning of the new Congress and in the run-up to the 2016 Senate races, when 24 Republican senators will be on the primary ballots.
Senate Confirms Gun-Control Advocate as Surgeon General
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Sarah Mimms
The Senate narrowly confirmed a new surgeon general whose nomination was delayed for months in a fight over his comments alleging that guns are a public health issue. The confirmation represents a victory for gun-control advocates, even as recent polling has shown Americans moving in the other direction toward gun-rights protections.
