The WonkLine: July 21, 2009
The WonkLine: July 21, 2009
Welcome to The WonkLine, a daily 10 a.m. roundup of the latest news about health care, the economy, national security, immigration and climate policy. This is what we’re reading. Tell us what you found in the comments section below, and subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, you can now follow The Wonk Room on Twitter.
Economy
Yesterday, National Economic Council Director Larry Summers “chastised some banks that received government aid for not doing enough to reduce foreclosures, while declaring that next year’s economic growth pace is ‘in doubt.’”
Politico reports that members of Congress “still fighting over last year’s Wall Street bailout have a problem they didn’t expect to deal with so soon: what to do with the billions already being returned to the Treasury by financial institutions.”
At The Baseline Scenario, Professor Elizabeth Warren takes on three myths about the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Immigration
Republican congressmen Lamar Smith (R-TX), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Peter King (R-NY) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) claimed that the PASS ID Act “would neutralize or weaken numerous protections that Real ID provides,” in a Washington Post editorial today.
Yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that immigration reform is at the “top of her list of pressing issues” and that she plans on being “involved in drafting the bill during this summer’s congressional recess.”
On a conference call with Hispanic broadcasters, President Obama reiterated his commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform that will “take shape” between late this year and early 2010.
Climate Change
The Center for Inquiry has found that Sen. James Inhofe’s list of “687 dissenting scientists” on climate change “is not credible,” as “fewer than 10 percent could be identified as climate scientists” and “4 percent appeared to favor the current IPCC-2007 consensus.”
Ken Ward Jr. reveals that West Virginia protesters of cap-and-trade legislation are being organized by the right-wing political allies of Massey Energy coal baron Don Blankenship.
“My hope is the legislation when it leaves our committee will be centrist,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) told reporters about how the Environment and Public Works Committee will mark up clean energy and climate legislation.
Health Care
“Emboldened by divided Democrats and polls that show rising public anxiety about President Obama’s handling of health care and the economy, Republicans on Monday launched an aggressive effort to link the two, comparing the health-care bills moving through Congress to what they labeled as a failed economic stimulus bill.”
The Washington Post is reporting that “Chairman Baucus (D-MT) has emerged as a leading recipient of Senate campaign contributions from the hospitals, insurers and other medical interest groups hoping to shape the legislation to their advantage.”
Merrill Goozner points to Peter Singer’s article in the Sunday New York Times Magazine about rationing and asks, “Rationing of Health Care — Will It Be Just 15 Minutes of Fame?”
National Security
The New York Times reports that on Monday, in a speech at the University of Delhi, Secretary of State Clinton strove to enter a new age of deeper and friendlier relations with India, while the Obama administration signed a technical agreement that will open military sales by the United States to India.
Secretary of State Clinton is taking the increasingly closer military ties between North Korea and Burma “very seriously.” U.S. officials had closely tracked a North Korean ship that was thought to be going to Burma after North Korea tested a nuclear weapon.
At least nine people were killed when Taliban guerrillas “launched a series of daring attacks in east Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said, in a clear upsurge of violence,” reported Reuters. The upsurge comes after the launch of a new offensives in southern Helmand province, a mainstay of the Taliban and “the major producer of the opium poppy that funds the insurgency.”
3 Responses to “The WonkLine: July 21, 2009”
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Why did Larry Summers quote google searches on “recession” as a sign the recession is coming to a close? http://www.newsy.com/videos/economy_and_the_search_terms Maybe he meant it as a joke, but I like the New Ledger take “And what about other Google searches that might concern us? Summers says nothing about how many people are searching terms like “unemployment,” or “foreclosure,” or “double-dip recession.”
July 21st, 2009 at 11:28 amIt’s Larry Summers bad picture day on CAP. Is John Podesta a Ben Bernanke fan?
July 21st, 2009 at 12:04 pmNO MORE FREE RIDES:
America should rigidly adopt a “points system” on immigration reform as many industrialized countries have? Only the cream at the top of the milk, should get priority to immigrate. Simply stated people with outstanding credential, who are Ph.d in scientific research, top grade engineers and highly rated professionals, will be readily sponsored for a good paying jobs, exceptional health care, a great pension on retirement, in major industries. They are not going to become bottom feeders who take advantage of federal state and county welfare benefits. They will not be illegal pregnant Mothers who intentionally steal across the border, so the good taxpayers will support her and her instant citizenship baby. They are not the 20 plus million who are going to suck America dry, because either political party patronizes the corporate parasites that have attracted cheap labor. We can never have a balanced health care program, as long as taxpayers are forced by federal mandate to give free education, health care and a host of other benefits. The border fence must be a two layer system, that goes from Brownsville Texas, to San Diego, California–with a permanent special National Guard unit.
E-Verify must be in-perpetuity, not voluntary, for everybody throughout the United States. Not employees who have just been hired, but everybody who is on the payroll. There should be a large formidable force of interior ICE inspectors who make lightening strikes on large and small business. The penalty for hiring illegal aliens should be extremely severe, as they are stealing jobs from Americans and legal residents. Confiscation of assets, heavy fines and certainly prison sentences. Without these pre-requisites, E-Verify will not be efficient enough. NUMBERSUSA for more details Without any question’s workers in industry should have be able to call ICE, and leave a message about their suspicions of illegal activity in their working location. Those illegal workers confronted by a upgraded application in the workplace, will soon shy away from any contact with employers who stipulate the use of E-Verification. Inferior enforcement for years of neglect and inefficiency whether intentional or not by previous administration, are to blame for the incessant illegal immigration that has clogged the American labors work environment. SAY NO TO ANOTHER AMNESTY! SAY NO TO ANY PATH TO CITIZENSHIP. RESCIND THE INSTANT BIRTHRIGHT LAW. RESCIND ANY KIND OF BENEFITS TO THOSE WHO CANNOT PROVE THEIR CITIZENSHIP! NO TO IRREVERSIBLE OVERPOPULATION! ERUPT YOUR ANGER IN THE EAR OF YOUR Senator and Congressman today at 202-224-3121—BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:59 pm