Energy
The Progressive Case for Fracking
WALL STREET JOURNAL
James Bloodworth
Some of the most vociferous opponents of fracking are liberals, yet the shale revolution has the potential to undermine some of the world’s most illiberal regimes, in the process freeing the U.S. from its bondage to Saudi Arabia, as demanded by progressives for decades. Thuggish governments in Caracas, Moscow and Tehran don’t much like shale either, which ought to endear it still further to democrats.
Sen. Inhofe: Environmental regs won’t be top priority
THE HILL
Timothy Cama
The incoming Republican chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said fighting environmental regulations will not be his top priority in the next Senate. Instead, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) plans to focus on funding transportation infrastructure, the other main role of the environment panel.
Smart grid powers up privacy concerns
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
David Perera
Next month, the Department of Energy will publish the final draft of a voluntary code of conduct governing data privacy for smart meters, 38 million of which have already been installed nationwide. The meters gather information about household electricity consumption and transmit it wirelessly at regular intervals to the supplier — part of a power industry push for the so-called smart grid, a more efficient way to distribute the nation’s electricity.
Ohio, Pennsylvania push tax hikes for oil and gas producers
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Elana Schor
Republicans may be planning for a fossil fuel-friendly Congress in 2015, but a bipartisan pair of governors is pressing for higher taxes on the oil and gas industry in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Oil and Gas Regulatory Push Coming from Obama Administration
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Amy Harder
The Obama administration is planning to release in the coming months a series of regulations on the oil and natural gas industry, a response to the nation’s energy boom that also is aimed at burnishing President Barack Obama ’s environmental legacy in his final two years. The coming rules—at least nine in total—would include the first-ever federal standards addressing methane emissions, stricter controls on hydraulic fracturing, drilling requirements in the Arctic, new rules governing oil shipped by trains and tougher standards on offshore drilling technology.
For Energy Policy Makers, Tough Lessons in Downside of Cheap Gas
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Josh Mitchell and Amy Harder
The sharp drop in fuel prices is undermining government policies that bet expensive gasoline would prod Americans to find alternatives to gas-guzzling automobiles. … Those policies now face a changed landscape: a nearly 44% slide in oil prices since June that has sent the average price of gasoline to around $2.40 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Technology
Rich Valuations Don’t Mean There’s a Tech ‘Bubble’
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Christopher Mims
Every hot tech company I can think of, from “sharing economy” giants such as Uber and Airbnb, to enterprise and financial-tech companies like Hortonworks (big data) and Lending Club (peer-to-peer financing) face threats that could cause them to fall short of current valuations. Those threats include regulation and competition, but the biggest one is the same as it ever was: Whether there are enough people and companies out there willing to buy their stuff.
Few minorities in non-tech jobs in Silicon Valley, USA TODAY finds
USA TODAY
Jessica Guynn, Paul Overberg, Marco della Cava and Jon Swartz
But a USA TODAY analysis of employment documents submitted by Facebook, Google and Yahoo to the federal government reveals that minorities are also sharply underrepresented in non-technical jobs such as sales and administration, with African Americans faring noticeably worse than Hispanics. For example, Hispanics make up 5% of college-educated officials and managers nationwide, 4% at Yahoo and even less at Facebook and Google. African Americans make up 6% of officials and managers nationally, but 2% or less at these three tech giants.
Finance
Investing in the ObamaFund
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Any financial professional who advised a young investor to avoid stocks and corporate bonds—and everything else except Treasury bonds—would be sued for malpractice. But asset allocation is merely one of the problems with the new “myRA” fund rolling out from the Treasury this month.
Top 10 Reasons to Abolish the Corporate Income Tax
WALL STREET JOURNAL
John Steele Gordon
America’s corporate income tax rate, at 35%, is the highest in the world. A rising chorus would like to bring it more in line with foreign rates, which average around 23%. I have a better idea—abolish the tax. The long-term benefits would greatly outweigh the short-term costs. And revenue from other sources, especially the personal income tax, would quickly make up for it and then some.
Nearly 200 groups back Defense plan to crack down on predatory lending
THE HILL
Vicki Needham
Nearly 200 interest groups on Monday backed a Defense Department plan to crack down on abusive lending to those serving in the military. In a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, 187 consumer, military and civil rights organizations said they supports efforts to close loopholes that are threatening the financial security of service members and their families. Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report that pinpointed problems within the current rules that are allowing lenders to offer costly loans to military families.
Court Filing Illuminates Morgan Stanley Role in Lending
NEW YORK TIMES
Nathaniel Popper
Since the financial crisis, Wall Street firms have argued that they were victims, just like everybody else, of the bad mortgages that were churned out by subprime lenders like Countrywide and New Century. Now, though, a trove of emails and confidential documents, filed in court, reveal the extent to which one of Wall Street’s leading banks, Morgan Stanley, actively influenced New Century’s push into riskier and more onerous mortgages, and brushed aside questions about the ability of homeowners to make the payments.
No, China does not hold more than 50 percent of U.S. debt
WASHINGTON POST
Glenn Kessler
Yes, China is a biggest single holder of Treasury debt, owning $1.252 trillion as of October of 2014, but that amounts to less than 10 percent of all U.S. debt held by the public, which was about $12.8 trillion at the end of October. Moreover, Japan is close behind China, holding $1.222 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, and yet for some reason its holdings generate much less attention. Next on the list is tiny Belgium — and one rarely considers Belgium as among the United States’s “foreign masters.” (Update: Some astute readers pointed out that there are signs that Belgium is actually acting as an agent for China, disguising the true size of China’s holdings, which suggests China is highly conscious of the political consequences of the perception that it holds a huge chunk of U.S. debt.)
Politics
Steve Scalise’s office: Likely he spoke to white supremacist group
POLITICO
Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise spoke to a white supremacist group in 2002, an explosive allegation that first surfaced Sunday on a Louisiana blog. … However, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and other Bayou State Republicans backed Scalise – at least for now – and other House GOP leaders remained silent on the issue, providing Scalise with an opportunity to try to defuse the crisis, the most serious for him during his six months in leadership.
Steve Scalise’s lame excuse
WASHINGTON POST
Jennifer Rubin
No one is suggesting Scalise is a racist. But his actions then reflect appalling judgment, and his reaction to the controversy is not helping matters. Scalise may want to wait this out, see if other incidents surface and whether this becomes a major to-do. Alternatively, he may spare his party from an outpouring of feigned indignation and mock outrage by stepping down from a leadership post. His appearance before that group was inexcusable, but his rather uncompelling reaction is more concerning. He holds a position of leadership and should be a model of good judgment and conduct. (Are there other appearances before other hate groups?) This is no way to start off the new Congress.
In 2016, clear choice, or clear trauma?
WASHINGTON POST
Michael Gerson
Those who judge a Bush-Clinton race to be a tired retread or disturbingly dynastic should consider the more novel and dynamic alternatives. A Warren-Cruz race would be less of an electoral choice than a national trauma. It’s been said that too much clarity darkens.
Obama nominees in doubt
POLITICO
Burgess Everett
Now with GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) set to take over the Senate, the GOP’s leverage is back and Obama will never again experience the heady level of nominee productivity of the past two years. But Democrats believe their confirmation work was so productive that they have left the president’s cabinet and courts stocked as fully as could have been expected.
Michael Grimm, in a Reversal, Will Resign From Congress
NEW YORK TIMES
Jason Horowitz
Michael G. Grimm, the Republican Party’s lone congressional representative in New York City, announced late Monday night that he would resign effective Jan. 5, two weeks after he pleaded guilty to felony tax evasion. The decision to call it quits by Mr. Grimm, of Staten Island — perhaps best known for threatening to break a reporter in half and throw him off a Capitol Hill balcony — came after a conversation on Monday with the House speaker, John A. Boehner, which a person close to the speaker confirmed. … Mr. Boehner appears to have done what a midterm election, constant ridicule in the news media and a guilty plea in federal court in Brooklyn could not: persuade Mr. Grimm to go away.
Sweetheart deal? Unions allowed to cut retiree benefits rather than fix underfunded pensions
WASHINGTON TIMES
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union is a heavyweight on the labor scene. It pays its president $350,000 a year. It’s holding its next executive board meeting in February at a swanky beachfront resort in Hollywood, Florida. And it just doled out nearly $8 million to influence the last election and lobby Washington. But when it comes to standing by the obligation unions made to provide pensions to retirees, UFCW pleaded poverty in persuading Congress to let chronically underfunded union pension plans cut the benefits of workers, including those already retired.
Minimum wage to rise in 21 states this week
USA TODAY
Paul Davidson
The minimum wage will rise in 21 states in 2015, putting it above the federal pay floor in more than half the USA and highlighting the impact of a national movement to boost the earnings of low-paid workers.
Obama’s foreign policy report card for 2014
VOX
Max Fisher
Based on these subjective grades, the U.S. foreign policy grade point average comes out to 1.94 — a high C-, which sounds about right.
