U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa yesterday sent letters to the Justice and Treasury Departments inquiring about the decision to sweep all profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the Treasury rather than allow the GSEs to build capital that would protect taxpayers from a bailout in the event of another crisis. This follows reporting from InsideSources that detailed how Iowa is playing a role in this case. See Here and Here.
Today’s briefing is sponsored by America’s Power.
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and Congressman David Young of Iowa will participate in a “Road to 2016” policy luncheon this Thursday, April 9, in Des Moines, Iowa. The event is sponsored by America’s Power.
You may RSVP to attend the event HERE.
The event will be live streamed on InsideSources.
Energy
Obama to Present Climate Change as Public-Health Hazard
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Colleen McCain Nelson
President Barack Obama will make the case that climate change is hazardous to public health as the White House launches an initiative aimed at addressing its effects on communities. The president will highlight the link between climate change and public health during a round-table discussion Tuesday afternoon at Howard University. The event and the White House’s rollout of several other actions are intended to convey the urgent need to prepare for and reduce the consequences of climate change, administration officials said.
Low Gasoline Prices Will Continue This Summer, Government Says
NEW YORK TIMES
Clifford Krauss
The Energy Department predicted on Tuesday that motorists would pay the lowest prices at the pump this summer since 2009, even though falling global oil prices have gained back some ground in recent days.
Technology
Obama’s net neutrality failure
CNN
Carly Fiorina
As someone who led a $87 billion company for six years, I know this: Only big companies can deal with vast, sweeping regulation like the 313 pages imposed by the FCC. This administration has had a habit of identifying a particular problem and then convincing the voters that we require enormous new swaths of government control to fix it.
The cable lobby is co-opting Netflix’s argument on net neutrality
WASHINGTON POST
Brian Fung
Months ago, Netflix argued that it was paying an unfair fee to Internet providers just so that its videos could reach you and me unmolested. That claim wound up contributing to a key part of the federal government’s new net neutrality rules, which seek to prevent Internet providers from interfering with your Web traffic. Now, some cable lobbyists are arguing that it’s really the Internet providers that need federal protection from content companies. Why? Online video companies, the lobbyists said in a regulatory filing Tuesday, could decide to charge cable companies a toll for accessing their exclusive content — effectively cutting off your viewing pleasure if the cable companies don’t pay up.
The Secret Republicans of Silicon Valley
NATIONAL JOURNAL
Rebecca Nelson
Deep in Silicon Valley, where the free market reigns and the exchange of ideas is celebrated, a subset of tech workers are hiding their true selves. Working as programmers and software engineers, they don’t want the stigma that comes with revealing who they really are. They’re the tech company employees, startup founders, and CEOs who vote for and donate to Republican candidates, bucking the Bay Area’s liberal supremacy. Fearing the repercussions of associating with a much-maligned minority, they keep their political views fiercely hidden.
Finance
Charles Grassley Questions Diversion of Fannie and Freddie Earnings
NEW YORK TIMES
Gretchen Morgenson
For almost two years, shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been asking the United States government about its 2012 decision to divert all of the mortgage finance giants’ earnings to the Treasury rather than let them repay taxpayers under the original bailout agreement. But the government has declined to disclose documents relating to that decision, contending that some may be subject to presidential privilege. Now, this cloak of secrecy has drawn the scrutiny of Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Wall Street wary of ‘audit the Fed’ campaign
FINANCIAL TIMES (Subscribe)
Barney Jopson and Sam Fleming
Wall Street banks are recoiling at a Republican push to subject the Federal Reserve to greater congressional oversight as bankers fear the consequences of politicians — including their own allies — meddling in monetary policy.
In Republican Attacks on the Fed, Experts See a Shift
NEW YORK TIMES
Binyamin Appelbaum
During previous periods of high unemployment, members of Congress pressed the Fed to print more money even as the Fed remained wary of the inflationary consequences of such efforts. After the Great Recession, by contrast, the loudest criticism has come from politicians demanding that the Fed shut down its printing press and raise interest rates.
A standard dejection in the IRS help line
WASHINGTON POST
Lisa Rein
With Tax Day approaching, it was the best the IRS could offer. Five years of budget cuts by Congress have left the agency so cash-strapped that Commissioner John Koskinen doesn’t bother sugarcoating the state of customer service. “It’s abysmal,” he said. Nationwide, only 4 in 10 callers to the agency’s toll-free help line are getting through to a real person. The number of “courtesy disconnects” — a euphemism for an overloaded system hanging up on the customer — has reached 5 million so far this year, the agency reported.
Repo Market Sees a Lending Shift as Rules Bite
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Katy Burne
Lately, many big banks have retreated from the repo market following the adoption of costly new regulations. That has prompted many borrowers such as mortgage REITs, which borrow at low rates to amplify returns on their investments, to use new brokers that aren’t affected by the new rules or to borrow without a broker.
Politics
Rand Paul Taking an Untested Route to the Republican Nomination
NEW YORK TIMES
Jeremy Peters
Offering a conservative message threaded with a contrarian strain of libertarianism that he hopes will appeal to minority and younger voters, Mr. Paul is taking perhaps the most unconventional and untested route to assembling the broader coalition that many Republicans say they will need to remain a viable national party.
The Rand Paul Difference
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Editorial
Senator Paul has real political skills and an interesting mind that have helped him gain a hearing from voters. We expect he’ll enliven the debate and force his competition to sharpen their own views, and we’ll see how much difference GOP voters want in their 2016 nominee.
Analysis: Emanuel victory humbling today — with headaches tomorrow
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Fran Spielman
After being forced to fight so hard and raise so much to defeat Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, an under-funded and relatively unknown third choice of the Progressive movement, Emanuel’s once-legendary political muscle has atrophied.
Senate Plan to Revise No Child Left Behind Law Would Not Measure Teachers by Test Scores
NEW YORK TIMES
Tamar Lewin and Motoko Rich
The bill retains the requirement for yearly tests in math and reading for every student in third through eighth grade, and once in high school, and requires that the scores, broken down by race and income, be made public. But it ends the framework under which almost all public schools were found to be failing, and could defuse what has become an all-out campaign by teachers, joined by many parents, to prevent having their job performances measured by students’ test scores.
Don’t undo the nation’s education progress
WASHINGTON POST
Thomas J. Donohue and Wade Henderson
As leaders of organizations that do not always agree, we come together at a critical moment for our children and our country. We are devoted to a common goal for all Americans — providing a high-quality education for every young person. Unfortunately, our public education system fails to educate all children to high standards. We refuse to sit by and do nothing.
Obama deportation amnesty to remain halted; judge says lawyers lied to him
WASHINGTON TIMES
Stephen Dinan
President Obama’s new deportation amnesty will remain halted, a federal judge in Texas ruled Tuesday night in an order that also delivered a judicial spanking to the president’s lawyers for misleading the court.
Republicans give Robert Menendez a pass
POLITICO
Manu Raju and Burgess Everett
Faced with a sprawling criminal indictment for corruption, and fighting for his political life, Sen. Robert Menendez should be a tempting target for Republicans. But rather than demanding Menendez resign, the GOP has stayed eerily quiet. Republicans like Gov. Chris Christie say Menendez deserves his day in court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been mum. And the Republican National Committee is focused on other targets — namely Hillary Clinton.
