Energy
Raise the gas tax. A lot.
WASHINGTON POST
Charles Krauthammer
For 32 years I’ve been advocating a major tax on petroleum. I’ve got as much chance this time around as did Don Quixote with windmills. But I shall tilt my lance once more. … The hike should not be 10 cents but $1. And the proceeds should not be spent by, or even entrusted to, the government. They should be immediately and entirely returned to the consumer by means of a cut in the Social Security tax.
Momentum builds in Congress for raising the federal gas tax
THE HILL
Laura Barron-Lopez and Keith Laing
The GOP has long resisted calls from business leaders and others to boost the 18.4 cent-per-gallon tax as a way pay for upgrades to the nation’s crumbling roads and bridges. Yet in recent days, senior Senate Republicans have said they want to keep options open and that “nothing is off the table” when weighing the best mechanisms to pay to finance infrastructure projects.
Steyer ally says California Senate run a possibility
THE HILL
Laura Barron-Lopez
With Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announcing her retirement on Thursday, eyes turned to Steyer, who burst onto the political scene this last election cycle for vowing to make climate change a wedge issue in the midterms. A source close to Steyer told The Hill in an email that the former hedge-fund manager has always kept open the possibility of running for public office especially if it had the potential to “advance the issues he cares about.”
Jim Inhofe is a small-plane-flying, global-warming-denying senator. And now he’s got a gavel.
WASHINGTON POST
Ben Terris
This is how Democratic activists like to think of Inhofe: as a doddering caricature of conservative values who, given a platform such as the chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee, will regularly supply punch lines to the opposition. They see him as an untethered radical off in a world apart even from his conservative colleagues; a Don Quixote with Jesus as Sancho Panza, on a quest to rein in overzealous lefties. Their hope is to use him as a foil. Their worry is that his maneuvering could cause a lot more damage when he is wielding a gavel than when riding a horse.
Experts Say That Battle on Keystone Pipeline Is Over Politics, Not Facts
NEW YORK TIMES
Coral Davenport
But most energy and policy experts say the battle over Keystone overshadows the importance of the project as an environmental threat or an engine of the economy. The pipeline will have little effect, they say, on climate change, production of the Canadian oil sands, gasoline prices and the overall job market in the United States. At the same time, Mr. Obama’s promised veto will not necessarily kill the pipeline because the president will retain the authority to make a final decision about its fate.
Keystone foes bet on congressional firewall
POLITICO
Elana Schor
After the House passes its measure on Friday, as expected, the pipeline bill will be halfway down the path toward President Barack Obama’s desk — and the veto that White House has promised awaits it there — but it’s certain to face a tough fight on the floor of the Senate next week, thanks to the open amendment process. Pipeline supporters are hoping to add measures to attract new supporters to the Senate bill in a bid to build a veto-proof majority, while opponents will try to force the GOP into its first 2015 showdown with the White House.
Face-saving concessions could get Obama to approve Keystone pipeline
WASHINGTON TIMES
Ben Wolfgang
Analysts say Mr. Obama would be open to the pipeline as part of a larger package and is threatening a veto only to satisfy Democrats in Congress and allies in the environmental community. If the White House wins major concessions on other matters, the president could approve Keystone and save face, said Brigham McCown, a former administrator of the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. “If the ultimate goal is to get Keystone approved, Keystone has to be part of a greater discussion, a greater legislative package, not a stand-alone vote,” he said. “The Republicans ultimately are going to have to negotiate Keystone with something else in order to get the president to sign off.”
Technology
Computer Conquers Texas Hold ‘Em, Researchers Say
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Robert Lee Hotz
Artificial intelligence experts said they have developed a computer card shark that plays poker almost perfectly, having mastered a version of a popular game called Texas Hold ’em. While playful at heart, their advance in the computational mathematics of game theory may lead to broader innovations in military strategy, national security, medical decision-making, complex contract negotiations and auctions, experts said.
Chilly ‘Net Neutrality’ Words for Broadband Providers
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Miriam Gottfried
The fear among investors is such a change could lead to future regulation of broadband prices. Or there could be a forced unbundling of video and Internet services, cutting into providers’ profit margins and hampering growth. Notably, Mr. Wheeler’s speech suggested he would want to require that broadband rates be “just and reasonable” and that his reclassification recommendation would extend to wireless, says Paul Gallant, an analyst with Guggenheim Securities.
Moving Toward Internet Fairness
NEW YORK TIMES
Editorial
Earlier in 2014, Mr. Wheeler did not appear inclined to reclassify broadband, fearing court challenges — which cable and phone companies have brought against even weaker rules in the past. He also seemed to fear pushback from Republicans, who even now are discussing retaliation, perhaps a cutting of the F.C.C.’s budget. Mr. Wheeler said the commission would vote on the issue on Feb. 26. Given the president’s endorsement of reclassification, Mr. Wheeler should stick to his guns.
GOP chairman fears ‘heavy-handed’ Internet regulation
THE HILL
Julian Hattem
“The endgame should not be heavy-handed regulation that will lead to a bonanza of litigation and uncertainty,” [Rep. Greg] Walden said in a statement on Thursday. “Instead, we would encourage the chairman to join Congress in working to enact a shared set of principles that will withstand legal challenge.” “We can achieve a bipartisan solution to provide consumers the protections they deserve, the choices they want, and give job creators legal certainty ensuring continued investment in the Internet,” he added.
Telecom Industry Readies for a Net-Neutrality Fight
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ryan Knutson and Thomas Gryta
“Of all the options on the table at the FCC, it is the most extreme and most dangerous legal path forward,” said Helgi Walker, the lawyer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP who beat the FCC twice in legal challenges brought by Comcast Corp. and Verizon. “There is no need to go there.”
How state Internet speeds compare with countries around the world
WASHINGTON POST
Niraj Chokshi
On average, Internet speeds in Delaware are faster than in all but two countries. In fact, if they were countries, five states and D.C. would rank among the 10 with the fastest speeds. That’s according to a report released Thursday that provides data on average peak connection speeds during the third quarter of last year, measured by Akamai Technologies, which hosts content online and claims to deliver between 15 percent and 30 percent of all Web traffic. The data represents average peak speeds, which Akamai argues better reflect Internet connection capacity than average speeds.
House Dem revives major cyber bill
THE HILL
Cory Bennett
A senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Friday will reintroduce a controversial bill that would help the public and private sectors share information about cybersecurity threats. … The measure — known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) — has been a top legislative priority for industry groups and intelligence officials, who argue the country cannot properly defend critical infrastructure without it.
NSA’s Rogers Calls for More Forceful Response to Cyberattacks
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Damian Paletta
The director of the National Security Agency said Thursday that the government should more forcefully respond to foreign countries that engage in cyberattacks, arguing that some hackers have come to believe that there is “little price to pay” for stealing U.S. government or corporate data. Navy Adm. Mike Rogers, who heads the NSA and the U.S. military’s Cyber Command, said at a cybersecurity conference at Fordham University in New York that the growing number of cyberattacks represents “one of the biggest transfers of intellectual knowledge that we have ever seen.”
Finance
Dem moderates, liberals lash out over Dodd-Frank
POLITICO
Anna Palmer and Lauren French
Liberal Massachusetts Rep. Mike Capuano incensed the moderates when he said if Democrats support rolling back Dodd-Frank regulations, “you might as well be a Republican.” Capuano’s comments were so pointed he immediately offended the handful of Democrats who had voted with Republicans previously on the issue and still support it, the sources said. … The vocal infighting highlights the growing divide between the large bloc of “Warren liberals” and the dwindling number of moderate Democrats — a fight that will likely continue next week when Republicans make their second attempt to change the controversial Dodd-Frank law.
Obama must grasp the chance for deals on trade
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Editorial
This week, Republicans took formal control of both chambers of Congress. Working with them to enact Trade Promotion Authority is Mr Obama’s only real hope of securing his ambitious trade agenda. Doing so would help America’s economic resurgence and cement Mr Obama’s legacy. He should push for TPA’s passage at the earliest opportunity.
Democrats Step Up Efforts to Block Obama’s Trade Agenda
NEW YORK TIMES
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
President Obama is facing opposition from fellow Democrats to one of his top priorities: winning the power to negotiate international trade agreements and speed them through Congress. As Mr. Obama’s team works privately to line up support for the so-called trade promotion authority, a coalition of Democratic lawmakers and activists from organized labor, environmental, religious and civil rights groups is stepping up efforts to stop him.
An Unnecessary Chapter 11 Overhaul
WALL STREET JOURNAL
David C. Smith
Should the U.S. overhaul a corporate bankruptcy code that for decades has allowed troubled companies to cast off debt and re-emerge as healthier firms? Yes, suggests a recent report by the Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11, an arm of the Washington, D.C., trade organization the American Bankruptcy Institute. Yet many of the commission’s proposals would worsen the bankruptcy process, reduce recoveries and raise the cost of financing for borrowers.
Politics
I Am Not Charlie Hebdo
NEW YORK TIMES
David Brooks
The journalists at Charlie Hebdo are now rightly being celebrated as martyrs on behalf of freedom of expression, but let’s face it: If they had tried to publish their satirical newspaper on any American university campus over the last two decades it wouldn’t have lasted 30 seconds. Student and faculty groups would have accused them of hate speech. The administration would have cut financing and shut them down. Public reaction to the attack in Paris has revealed that there are a lot of people who are quick to lionize those who offend the views of Islamist terrorists in France but who are a lot less tolerant toward those who offend their own views at home.
Skip Your Annual Physical
NEW YORK TIMES
Ezekiel Emanuel
Around 45 million Americans are likely to have a routine physical this year — just as they have for many years running. A poke here, a listen there, a few tubes of blood, maybe an X-ray, a few reassuring words about diet, exercise and not smoking from the doctor, all just to be sure everything is in good working order. Most think of it as the human equivalent of a 15,000-mile checkup and fluid change, which can uncover hidden problems and ensure longer engine life. There is only one problem: From a health perspective, the annual physical exam is basically worthless.
Can Obamacare win over people and Congress?
WASHINGTON POST
Editorial
Given the results so far, experts aren’t expecting anything like a policy disaster “death spiral.” But if Congress were capable of a rational debate on the ACA, lawmakers would look at extending the law’s stability mechanisms for another couple of years to make sure the market thrives. Instead, the country seems bound for a debate on how much of the law to try to repeal.
Some ObamaCare Progress
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Maybe the new Republican majority really is getting politically smarter about how to advance its economic agenda, at least if a Thursday vote on ObamaCare is the measure. Inexplicably, however, some conservatives have joined the White House and liberals to impede this policy and political progress. By 252 to 172, the House passed a modest bill that would restore the normal U.S. 40-hour workweek under the Affordable Care Act. A dozen Democrats joined every Republican in favor, despite a veto threat from President Obama. The question now is whether enough Senate Democrats like Indiana’s Joe Donnelly will also defy the White House and try to help the working-class Americans who are most harmed by the law’s employer mandate.
Obama Wants Free Community College. Where’s the Money?
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Fawn Johnson
President Obama wants to provide free tuition at community colleges, a plan that could benefit as many as 9 million students, according to a White House outline of the plan released Thursday. There is one big caveat in the White House proposal — there is no plan to fund it, other than to ask Congress for the money.
Arne Duncan to call for No Child Left Behind revamp
POLITICO
Caitlin Emma
Education Secretary Arne Duncan will call for repealing and replacing the nation’s landmark federal education law, No Child Left Behind, joining Republicans in Congress in pushing what could be the most significant rewrite of federal education law in 14 years. In a speech Monday, Duncan will lay out his principles for rewriting the education law, sources familiar with the event confirmed. But he is not expected to back down from his insistence that a rewritten law retain the federal mandate that all students be tested in math and reading every year from third through eighth grade.
Labor’s Wage Smackdown
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez addressed the AFL-CIO’s National Summit on Raising Wages Wednesday, extolling higher minimum wages as a path to prosperity. He must not count the unskilled workers who may never be hired. He also omitted that his agency’s attempt to dictate minimum-wage increases recently received an embarrassing legal smackdown.
