MORNING MESSAGE
Calvin, Hobbes & Budgetary Bait-and-Switch
A
great old Calvin & Hobbes comic strip tells us a lot about the current
budget debate. Calvin asks his mom to let him do a succession of ridiculously
dangerous things: First he asks if he can set his mattress on fire; his mom says
no. Then he asks if he can ride his tricycle on the roof. Again, his mom says
no. Finally, he asks if he can have a cookie. When she says no to that as well,
he grumbles, “I think she’s on to me.” Replace Calvin with Republicans and
Calvin’s mom with all of us, and you have an idea what the current budget debate
is really all about.
2 Dems for Gorsuch
Two
Dems back Gorsuch. The Hill: “[Sen. Heidi] Heitkamp’s announcement came
moments after [Sen. Joe] Manchin became the first Senate Democrat publicly
backing Gorsuch … Gorsuch will need backing from six more [Democrats]. Other
red-state Democrats like Sens. Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.)
are facing pressure … Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) haven’t
closed the door voting to end a filibuster. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) — who
is under pressure because he represents Gorsuch’s home state — also hasn’t
announced his decision.”
60
still appears unlikely. NYT: “…other Democrats remain confident that he will
not earn the support necessary to break a filibuster … More than 30 senators
have come out against Judge Gorsuch and pledged support for the filibuster,
including some from states that Mr. Trump won. “
Trump Backs Off NAFTA Threats
Trump
goes soft on NAFTA. NYT: “[Trump] appears to have backed off his threat to
abandon the deal and is instead proposing keeping major planks in place when he
begins renegotiating it later this year … The president is poised to give
Congress the legally required 90 days’ notice of his intention to renegotiate
Nafta … The tone of the eight-page draft letter [to Congress] … did not echo Mr.
Trump’s campaign speeches. Nowhere was there a mention of his threats to pull
out of the agreement … Rather than scrap Nafta’s arbitration tribunals, regarded
by some free-trade critics as secretive bodies … the letter proposed to
‘maintain and seek to improve procedures’ for settling disputes. It made no
mention of currency policy…”
Trump
criticizes China ahead of meeting Chinese president next week. Politico:
“‘The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one in that we can
no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses,’ the president said in a
series of tweets. ‘American companies must be prepared to look at other
alternatives.’ … Xi will reportedly spend two days next week, April 6 and 7,
with President Donald Trump and officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in their
first in person talks since the president took office…”
“Trump
to Order Study of ‘Trade Abuse'” reports Bloomberg: “President Donald Trump
will order on Friday a comprehensive study to identify every form of “trade
abuse” that contributes to U.S. deficits with foreign countries, Commerce
Secretary Wilbur Ross said. Trump also will take steps to toughen enforcement of
trade penalties … Ross said the two executive actions weren’t intended as a
warning to China … Trump also will announce Friday an order to strengthen
enforcement of existing countervailing duties and anti-dumping penalties against
foreign products to address under-collection…”
Conservatives Turn On Pruitt
Conservative
accuse EPA chief Scott Pruitt of going soft. The Hill: “Undoing the 2009
endangerment finding … would remove the legal obligation under the Clean Air Act
to regulate carbon dioxide [but] would be a significant lift … with the vast
majority of scientific data working against Pruitt … sources claimed that Pruitt
… was concerned about his political future and didn’t want to be labeled
anti-science … Breitbart News columnist James Delingpole wrote this week that
Pruitt should consider resigning…”
Enviros
pin hope on CEOs to try to convince Trump on climate. NYT: “Jeffrey R.
Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, says climate change is real, a
position at odds with the Trump administration. As a member of a White House
manufacturing advisory council, he also has President Trump’s ear … Elon Musk of
Tesla, another member of Mr. Trump’s council, is building an energy business
intended to avoid the need for fossil fuels … Doug McMillon of Walmart, the
retail giant, has committed his company to a sharp reduction in the
planet-warming gases it emits, as has Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo … BlackRock, the
world’s largest publicly traded money manager — whose chief executive, Laurence
D. Fink, sits on Mr. Trump’s council — has pledged to press companies to address
the effects of climate change on their businesses.”
Republicans Fight Medicaid, But Embrace Subsidies
Conservative
states still fight Medicaid expansions under ACA. Politico: “…most of the
holdout states are walking away from the money and what they regard as a broken
entitlement program. Some even want to shrink the program they have. ‘The cost
of expanding Medicaid under Obamacare is irresponsible and unsustainable,’ said
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday after he vetoed an expansion bill … North
Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, tried to expand the program unilaterally
upon taking office earlier this year, but Republican lawmakers are challenging
him in court. In Maine, voters will consider a ballot initiative in November
after conservative Gov. Paul LePage has vetoed several expansion bills.”
Republicans
expect to maintain ACA subsidies for now. NYT: “Senior House Republicans
said Thursday that they expected the federal government to continue paying
billions of dollars in subsidies to health insurance companies to keep
low-income people covered under the Affordable Care Act for the rest of this
year — and perhaps for 2018 as well … The Republican-led House [previously] won
a lawsuit accusing the Obama administration of unconstitutionally paying the
insurance-company subsidies … that decision is on appeal … [Rep. Greg] Walden
said his preference was for Congress to appropriate the money, about $7 billion
a year. That is ‘the best legal way to do it,’ he said. At the same time, Mr.
Ryan said the House would pursue the litigation to vindicate its ‘power of the
purse.'”
Senate
scraps Obama rule that encourage retirement saving. NYT: “…The vote reverses
a Labor Department rule that allows local governments to automatically enroll
private-sector workers in retirement plans unless they opt out. The 50-49 vote
was a startling reversal for many Republicans, who have argued for much of their
careers that overzealous federal regulators were trampling the rights of state
and local governments.”
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