Wonkbook: DISCLOSE fails; Dems deny secret plans; no renewable standard in energy bill

Jul 28, 2010 — Washington Post

Ezra Klein

After a final push from the White House, the DISCLOSE Act mustered 57 votes, failing to break a filibuster. Meanwhile, BP has detailed its plans for financing the Gulf's recovery from the oil spill; Harry Reid's energy bill lacks not only a price on carbon, but a renewable energy standard as well; and Dems deny they have a secret plan to pack the lame-duck session with big legislation. But then, they would deny that, wouldn't they?

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Garnering 57 votes, the DISCLOSE Act failed to break a filibuster, reports Dan Eggen: "Schumer vowed to try again after the August recess, and he said he is open to changes to attract GOP support. But Tuesday's vote effectively quashes any chance of enacting disclosure requirements for the 2010 midterms, which appear likely to include record expenditures by outside groups and corporations."

Pelosi upbraided Reid and Obama for not moving faster on climate change: http://politi.co/arxUSs

BP will spend $32.2 billion to clean up the Gulf, report Jad Mouawad and Clifford Krauss: "Although the new BP will be a leaner company that produces about 12 percent less oil than it does today, the moves do not amount to a radical transformation of the company, which has suffered a series of accidents in the last five years. Instead, they show how BP hopes to ensure it will survive this latest crisis and continue to compete on an equal footing with the world’s top producers."

Democrats deny a secret plan to pass their agenda in the lame duck session, reports Michael O'Brien: http://bit.ly/cYcWfG

The final version of the Senate energy bill lacks a renewable energy standard, reports Andrew Restruccia: "Renewable energy advocates and environmentalists have been pushing for the inclusion of a renewables mandate in recent weeks, but Reid has said the votes are not there to pass such a measure. Asked why an RES was not included in the bill, a spokesman for Reid said the lawmaker 'believes that in light of the Republican stalling tactic, this bill has the best chance possible of getting out of the Senate' because it is 'a small, targeted package.' The spokesman also pointed to time constraints, noting the impending August recess."

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Indie video interlude: PS I Love You, "Facelove".

Still to come: Financial lobbyists proliferate; the oil spill is clearing faster than expected; Education Secretary Arne Duncan has announced the winners of the "Race to the Top" competition; and a dog drives a tractor.

Economy/FinReg

A slew of former regulators are set to lobby following FinReg's passage, reports Eric Lichtblau: "According to the analysis done by the Center for Responsive Politics, nearly 500 officials have gone through the 'revolving doo'” between government financial agencies and the private sector. Of that group, 148 former regulatory officials were registered to lobby the government last year or this year, representing virtually every regulatory agency. Executives at some leading law firms and lobbying shops said in interviews that they began increasing their hiring of former regulators in 2008, soon after the economic crisis hit, in anticipation of the current push for tougher regulations."

A study indicates that credit cards spread money from the poor to the rich: http://bit.ly/ciGBZv

A new paper from Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi concludes economic policies from 2008 and 2009 prevented a depression, reports Sewell Chan: "The economists argue that without the Wall Street bailout, the bank stress tests, the emergency lending and asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, and the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus program, the nation’s gross domestic product would be about 6.5 percent lower this year..They estimate the total direct cost of the recession at $1.6 trillion, and the total budgetary cost, after adding in nearly $750 billion in lost revenue from the weaker economy, at $2.35 trillion, or about 16 percent of G.D.P."

The SEC is reaching out to business executives as it implements FinReg: http://bit.ly/biukQK

The unemployed are being politically radicalized by the fight over unemployment benefits, reports Annie Lowrey: "Among the biggest sites in the unemployment netroots is LayoffList, managed by Michael Thornton, a native of Rochester, N.Y. Thornton stared LayoffList in 2008; five months ago, he began writing articles and posting legislators’ information. He now receives hundreds of emails and has logged more than a million hits. Thornton is finding that, rather than losing interest in politics since the end of the fight for extended benefits, the unemployed are “energized and motivated” and have started looking forward to the fall."

Christina Romer is rumored to be thinking of leaving the CEA tolead the San Francisco Fed, reports Neil Irwin: "There are even more reasons that the San Francisco Fed might be interested in her: She is a first-rate academic, one of the leading scholars of macroeconomic history. She has deep ties to the bay area, having taught at Berkeley since 1988. And since coming to Washington at the beginning of 2009, she has gained considerable experience in the policy-making world, which she previously lacked. Add to that, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has a lot of respect for her, as do her Obama administration colleagues."

Cities and counties face further job and service cuts: http://bit.ly/90O5iM

Steven Pearlstein argues Obama can't afford to lose the fight over extending the Bush tax cuts: "It is the refusal to put any tax increase on the table that has impeded much-needed reform of the tax code and rendered impotent a bipartisan commission charged with figuring out how to rein in the budget deficit. And it is the tax bugaboo that stands in the way of an investment agenda to match the global challenges we face. If Obama fails to alter the political dynamic and finally slay the anti-tax dragon, it's game over for his economic agenda."

Ruth Marcus argues for the expiration of the Bush tax cuts: "Think back to the beginning of the Bush administration tax cuts. It seems almost impossible to believe, but the argument then was that the budget surplus was too large. There was, or so President George W. Bush assured us, ample cash to cut taxes for everyone and protect the Social Security surplus and set aside $1 trillion over the next decade for "additional spending needs" and pay down the national debt."

Adorable infants being adorable interlude: Illustrated baby naps.

Energy

The Gulf oil slick is dissolving far more quickly than expected, report Justin Gillis and Campbell Robertson: "The dissolution of the slick should reduce the risk of oil killing more animals or hitting shorelines. But it does not end the many problems and scientific uncertainties associated with the spill, and federal leaders emphasized this week that they had no intention of walking away from those problems any time soon. The effect on sea life of the large amounts of oil that dissolved below the surface is still a mystery."

The spill is cutting BP's tax bill by $10 trillion: http://bit.ly/bJSRHX

A team of federal investigators is preparing a criminal case against BP, reports Jerry Markon: "While it was known that investigators are examining potential violations of environmental laws, it is now clear that they are also looking into whether company officials made false statements to regulators, obstructed justice or falsified test results for devices such as the rig's failed blowout preventer. It is unclear whether any such evidence has surfaced."

Brad Plumer explains how global warming could effect migration patterns: "According to a 2007 World Bank report, the vast bulk of this migration is expected to take place within developing countries, with people moving from rural villages to urban centers. One big concern here is that places like Lagos or Dhaka are already swelling exponentially, and their infrastructure can barely keep up, which is why so many 'megacities' now sport massive slums. But there's also likely to be a fair amount of migration between countries--and the consequences there are much harder to predict. As the rising oceans chomp away at Bangladesh, for instance, as many as 15 million people may have to abandon their towns and villages by mid-century."

Nate Silver argues deficit concerns could make cap and trade a political necessity: http://bit.ly/avbrqv

Adorable animals operating heavy machinery interlude: A dog driving a tractor.

Domestic Policy

The Department of Education has selected eighteen finalists in the Race to the Top competition, reports Stephanie Banchero: "Some expressed disappointment Tuesday with the number of finalists, arguing some states did not adopt dramatic enough changes to earn placement on the list. Kentucky, for example, does not allow charter schools, a centerpiece of Mr. Duncan's education agenda. Mike Petrilli, of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, said only seven or eight states have strong applications and he worried Mr. Duncan would reward money to 'unworthy' states."

The war funding bill is heading to Obama's desk without education funding included: http://bit.ly/cIAsuG

The Arizona immigration law needs federal cooperation to be effective, reports Miriam Jordan: "Arizona is home to about 460,000 illegal immigrants, according to the DHS. If the new law goes into effect--a challenge by the Obama administration is pending before a judge--police could shower ICE with calls. Without its cooperation, police likely would have to release suspects, because the law doesn't give them the authority to detain an individual indefinitely based on suspicion of unlawful presence in the U.S."

Immigration reform proponents are focusing on smaller measures, reports Krissah Thompson: "That plan centers on lobbying hard for the passage of two bills: AgJobs and the Dream Act. AgJobs is a compromise between farmworker unions and agriculture business groups, which was negotiated more than five years ago and is intended to provide legal farm labor and protect the rights of immigrant workers. The Dream Act would give some undocumented students the ability to apply for permanent residency. Both bills have had Republican support in the past."

Congressional Democrats are split on moving forward with the DREAM Act: http://bit.ly/b6CLEW

Frank Micciche urges Obama to move fast to set up state health exchanges: "First, it should expedite the distribution of grants to study and design the exchanges, which would complement the work already accomplished by some states and jump-start it in others. Second, the administration should build sufficient flexibility into its mandates to allow states to determine which benefits their exchanges must offer. After all, each state has different needs."

Howard Gleckman defends the CLASS Act: http://bit.ly/dl9Oox

Melvin Dubofsky considers the role of labor in the Obama administration: "They again have a friend as labor secretary, Hilda Solis, who has implemented reforms that benefit workers and unions, and the president has reconstituted a full National Labor Relations Board that promises to be friendly to unions and truer to the original purposes of the National Labor Relations Act. For good reason, labor leaders have concluded that more is to be gained by working with and within the administration than by acting as a troublesome and threatening presence."

Closing credits: Wonkbook compiled with the help of Dylan Matthews and Mike Shepard. Photo credit: Pete Souza/White House.