Your daily briefing for all the top news in Energy, Technology, Finance, and Politics.
Energy
Putting America’s Energy Leverage to Use
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Sens. John Hoeven and John McCain
A recent headline in this newspaper said it all: “Move over, Russia: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer.” We need to use our leverage wisely: to boost our economy at home, and to strengthen our national security by helping our allies resist Russian aggression. Passing the North Atlantic Energy Security Act would be a good start.
Electric Utilities Get No Jolt From Gadgets, Improving Economy
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Rebecca Smith
Utility executives across the country are reaching the same conclusion. Even though Americans are plugging in more gadgets than ever and the unemployment rate had dropped at one point to a level last reported in 2008, electricity sales are looking anemic for the seventh year in a row.
EPA to get earful from climate rule friends, foes
POLITICO
Andrew Restuccia
An estimated 1,600 people are slated to sound off to the Environmental Protection Agency on its proposed climate change rule for existing power plants this week at a series of marathon public hearings.
Technology
Jesse Jackson: Tech diversity is next civil rights step
USA TODAY
Wendy Koch
U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called on the Obama administration Monday to scrutinize the tech industry’s lack of diversity. “The government has a role to play” in ensuring that women and minorities are fairly represented in the tech workforce, Jackson told a USA TODAY editorial board meeting. He said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission needs to examine Silicon Valley’s employment contracts.
With Microsoft in Sights, China Starts to Squeeze U.S. Tech Companies
NEW YORK TIMES
Andrew Jacobs, Chris Buckley and Nick Wingfield
China, once the hottest growth market for United States technology companies, is turning chillier. In the latest sign of the change in climate, officials from a Chinese government agency that enforces antimonopoly laws and other business regulations visited four Microsoft offices across China on Monday, the company said.
FTC continues push to end ‘cramming’ scam
POLITICOPRO (Subscribe)
Katy Bachman
A mobile phone bill that all but requires an accounting degree to decipher is the perfect place to hide bogus and unwanted charges — and the Federal Trade Commission wants to stop the scam and stop it now.
Finance
Banks Cash In on Mergers Intended to Elude Taxes
NEW YORK TIMES
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Investment banks are estimated to have collected, or will soon collect, nearly $1 billion in fees over the last three years advising and persuading American companies to move the address of their headquarters abroad (without actually moving). With seven- and eight-figure fees up for grabs, Wall Street bankers — and lawyers, consultants and accountants — have been promoting such deals, known as inversions, to some of the biggest companies in the country, including the American drug giant Pfizer.
A third of Americans delinquent on debt
USA TODAY
Hadley Malcolm
More than a third of the country is in trouble when it comes to paying debts on time; 35% of Americans have debt in collections, according to a study out Tuesday from the Urban Institute, which analyzed the credit files of 7 million Americans.
Don’t Kill the Export-Import Bank
NEW YORK TIMES
William E. Brock III
Among the many things that President Ronald Reagan did to promote economic growth was to ensure a level playing field for American businesses abroad — including by supporting an expansion of the Export-Import Bank, which provides financing for the export of American goods and services.
Investors Losing Confidence Argentina Will Reach Deal With Creditors
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Matt Day and Ken Parks
Investor confidence that Argentina would reach a deal with holdout creditors is falling as a default deadline draws closer, sparking a selloff in the country’s stocks and bonds.
In Argentina, Mix of Money and Politics Stirs Intrigue Around Kirchner
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Santiago Pérez and Taos Turner
Between 2003, when Mr. Kirchner was elected president, and 2010, when he died, the couple’s net worth rose from $2.5 million to $17.7 million, according to their annual filings with the federal anticorruption office. A lot of people in Argentina want to know where that money came from.
Meet the SEC’s 6,500 Whistleblowers
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Maxwell Murphy
What do four adult entertainers, 138 engineers, a handful of pilots and a pastor have in common? They all think they have hot tips about an alleged financial fraud. They are also among the more than 6,500 people who have offered confidential information under the whistleblower program of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency set up the program in mid-2011 with hopes of eliciting dirt on corporate wrongdoers. It offers a bounty of up to 30% of penalties for any monetary sanctions the agency extracts that exceed $1 million.
Politics
New Generic Ballot Surveys Don’t Show Signs of Republican Wave
NEW YORK TIMES
Nate Cohn
Last week, however, there were three national polls, by Fox News, CNN and Pew Research, asking the generic ballot question. None showed an anti-Democrat wave, like the one that brought Republicans back to power in 2010. In fact, none of the three polls showed Republicans with a lead among registered voters at all.
Spending Big to Fight Big Donors in Campaigns
NEW YORK TIMES
Nicholas Confessore
An unlikely alliance of liberal intellectuals, big donors and Republican strategists has hit on a solution to the influence of big money in politics: even more money. Starting Monday, the recently formed Mayday “super PAC” began a $12 million advertising campaign to help elect lawmakers of both parties who support proposals to diminish the influence of big donors.
2014 pressure builds on Dems
THE HILL
Alexander Bolton
The Senate is racing to approve three must-pass bills this week and avoid falling even further behind its schedule at a time when voters are angry about gridlock in Washington. With public approval of Washington dismally low, Senate Democrats face the greatest risk of a public backlash, because the House Republican majority is safe and President Obama does not face reelection.
Braley’s Missteps Have Democrats Worried in Iowa
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Emily Schultheis
“This race did a 180 when [Braley] stubbed his toe on that ‘farmer’ comment,” said former Des Moines Register political reporter David Yepsen. “He may have mortally wounded himself with that, because he wasn’t well-known to a lot of people.” And while Braley still has considerably more money in the bank than Ernst—he has $2.7 million on hand, compared with $1.1 million for Ernst—the GOP candidate outraised Braley slightly in the second quarter, proving she can successfully raise big sums.
John Kerry’s big blunder in seeking an Israel-Gaza cease-fire
WASHINGTON POST
David Ignatius
Kerry’s error has been to put so much emphasis on achieving a quick halt to the bloodshed that he has solidified the role of Hamas, the intractable, unpopular Islamist group that leads Gaza, along with the two hard-line Islamist nations that are its key supporters, Qatar and Turkey. In the process, he has undercut not simply the Israelis but also the Egyptians and the Fatah movement that runs the Palestinian Authority, all of which want to see an end to Hamas rule in Gaza.
The Gaza Cease-Fire Fiasco
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
If the President and Mr. Kerry really want to roll back the tide of war, here’s a suggestion: Forget the chatter about a cease-fire and both sides having an equal obligation to end hostilities. Issue statements that support Israel’s right to defend itself and that make clear that the way Hamas can stop Israel’s incursions is by stopping its terrorism against civilians in Israel and Gaza. That might also be the start—but only a start—of restoring U.S. influence in the Middle East.
U.S. Says Russia Tested Cruise Missile, Violating Treaty
NEW YORK TIMES
Michael R. Gordon
The United States has concluded that Russia violated a landmark arms control treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile, according to senior American officials, a finding that was conveyed by President Obama to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in a letter on Monday.
U.S. and Europe Set to Toughen Russia Sanctions
NEW YORK TIMES
Jack Ewing and Peter Baker
The United States and Europe put aside their differences and agreed Monday to sharply escalate economic sanctions against Russia amid worries that Moscow is stepping up its intervention in Ukraine and may be setting the stage for an outright invasion. After months in which European leaders resisted going as far as the Americans, the two sides settled on a package of measures that would target Russia’s financial, energy and military sectors.
