Waiting for JebgEtty ImagEs

Transcription

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 PRICE $3.00 VOL. 21, NO. 26
Hagel heads
to hill to
defend cuts
in pentagon
spending, p.16
Crimea Crisis
Kerry blasts
putin, warns
of Russian
Isolation, p.6
Ukraine prime
minister sees
nation ‘On
brink of
disaster,’ p.12
President’s budget
to come on Tuesday;
attacks are certain,
FINANCE, P.14
Juan Williams:
Making midterms
‘sexy,’ P.18
Judd Gregg: Cause
for celebration on
cuts, taxes, P.19
P.20
NEW MEMBER
OF THE WEEK
Rep. Takano brings
teacher’s expertise
to education policy
full contents, P.3
• Congressional Schedule • Opinion
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www.thehill.com
Waiting for Jeb
getty images
Jeb Bush is the great unknown among the
potential 2016 GOP contenders. If he runs,
he will shake up the race and join the top
tier of candidates. But questions linger as to
whether America is ready for another Bush.
By Alexandra Jaffe
The 2016 presidential election is Jeb
Bush’s now-or-never-moment.
As other potential GOP standardbearers have been hit by scandal or
seen their luster fade, many Republicans desperately want the former
Florida governor to get in the race.
His allies say he is considering it
more seriously than ever before.
They believe he could be their Goldilocks candidate: Not too conservative, not too centrist; not too
→P.8
CONGRESS ADOPTS
FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE
MEDICARE SOLUTION*
*Only if they pass legislation to finally fix Medicare’s
broken funding formula. SGR is the problem; H.R. 4015
and S. 2000 are the solution. Let’s act now!
Paid for by the American Medical Association.
25 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20001-7400
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THE HILL MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 3
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Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards has announced a new campaign in advance of the midterms, POLITICS, P.11
news
COVER STORY
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R)
is seen as a potential 2016 savior by
some in the GOP. Friends say he is
taking the idea of a White House run
more seriously then ever before. But
he would have some significant liabilities as well as some big assets. P.1
Elizabeth W. Sheldon
Tom Tempe
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Cynthia Sommerfeld
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Keith Winer
NEWS
President Obama will meet with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
on Monday as he tries to inject new life
into the Middle East peace process. P.9
advertising coordinatorS:
Beth A. Tray
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circulation director: Paula Butler
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SUNDAY SHOWS
Secretary of State John Kerry was vigorous in his criticism of Russia’s actions
in Ukraine as the crisis intensified. P.6
POLLS
A clear majority of voters say they would
not vote for a candidate who disagreed
with their views on the Affordable Care
Act. P.7
NATIONAL
The NBA has announced that it will
donate the proceeds of sales from Jason
Collins replica jerseys to gay rights
groups. Collins, who recently signed with
the Brooklyn Nets, is the first openly gay
player in the league’s history. P.10
POLITICS
Planned Parenthood has announced a
new initiative to support candidates in
this year’s midterm elections who back
its stances on women’s issues. P.11
UKRAINE CRISIS
TRANSPORTATION
The government of Ukraine has ordered
a full military mobilization in response
to Russian actions. P.12
A House panel will this week look into
ways in which public-private partnerships
could help finance the nation’s infrastructure needs. P.17
policy
opinion
HEALTHCARE
JUAN WILLIAMS
Republicans in the House will almost
certainly pass a bill this week aimed at
postponing ObamaCare’s penalty for
individuals who do not acquire health
insurance. P.13
Democrats are struggling to match the
financial firepower that Republicans
have at their disposal in the midterm
elections, thanks in part to outside
groups. P.18
TECHNOLOGY
OTHER OPINIONS
An alleged ‘patent troll’ company that
sought $2.2 billion in damages from
Apple had its case thrown out by a
German court last week. P.13
Columnists from around the nation weigh
in on tax reform, defense cuts and gay
rights, among other issues. P.18
FINANCE
Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) has
announced that she and her party colleagues in the upper chamber will not
release a 2015 budget. P.14
JUDD GREGG
Amid a political atmosphere that is generally dismal, the past few weeks have
given cause for mild optimism. P.19
features
DEFENSE
Proposed cuts to the Pentagon’s budget
have been met with strident criticism
from some members of Congress.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will go
to Capitol Hill this week to defend the
plan. P.16
House Republicans will put forward four
bills that they say would reduce federal
red tape in the energy industry. P.4
ENERGY
MEMBER OF THE WEEK
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan
Jarvis are expected to release a report
emphasizing the economic benefits of
the parks system on Monday. P.16
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) was defeated twice in the 1990s as he tried to
win a House seat but finally prevailed in
2012. P.20
SCHEDULE
4 MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 THE HILL
agenda
this
week
Legislation
House:
Members begin Monday with
several suspension bills, including
one meant to facilitate the delivery
of home heating fuels more quickly
to cold regions of the country. Two
more energy bills are up on Tuesday
that look to ease federal permitting
for energy projects, and relax rules
on coal mining. On Wednesday, the
House will take up a bill to eliminate
this year’s ObamaCare penalty for
not buying health insurance. Republican leaders are also hoping to
squeeze in a bipartisan flood insurance bill.
SENATE:
Just like last week, the Senate will
slog through a series of amendment votes early in the week. While
Democrats’ use of the nuclear option
is allowing them to take up nominations, Republicans are refusing to
allow them to proceed quickly. By
mid-week, the Senate should be able
to start work on a bill to boost federal
grants that states can use to make
childcare services available to lowincome families.
Hearings
Tuesday-Thursday
Budget hearings
House Appropriations
Hearings for various agencies run
Tuesday-Thursday
HT-2, The Capitol
Wednesday
Defense budget
Senate Armed Services
9:30 a.m., 216 Hart
Senate Budget
10:30 a.m., 608 Dirksen
House Budget
2 p.m., 210 Cannon
Thursday
Defense budget
House Armed Services
10 a.m., 2118 Rayburn
House Ways and Means
9 a.m., 1102 Longworth
Ukraine policy
House Foreign Affairs
9:30 a.m., 2172 Rayburn
Transportation funding
Senate Banking
10 a.m., 538 Dirksen
This week, House Republicans will call up a bill to delay ObamaCare’s individual mandate penalties.
getty images
GOP keeps up attack on
Obama’s healthcare law
•House Republicans have kept a
sharp focus on legislative efforts to
change ObamaCare, and they are
showing no signs of slowing down.
This week, they will call up a bill to
stop the government from penalizing people who choose not to buy
health insurance this year.
This is the first year that the socalled individual mandate penalties
kick in. The penalty is 1 percent of
household income or $95, whichever is larger.
But Republicans point out that the
Obama administration has delayed
the employer mandate to provide
health insurance, and say it is unfair
that individuals cannot have a similar delay.
The measure is unlikely to move
in the Senate. Still, the House debate and vote will give both parties
another chance to practice their arguments on healthcare for the 2014
midterm elections.
GOP targets
energy rules
House Republicans will also keep
up their broader theme of deregulation, this time by moving four bills
aimed at cutting federal red tape
from the energy industry.
These bills would speed up the
federal approval process for energy projects, and moderate federal rules on coal production and
electricity utilities.
Another would provide more immediate relief by letting trucks drive for longer hours to deliver propane and other
home heating fuels.
The House will also try again to pass a
bipartisan bill that delays pending flood
insurance rate hikes. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been working with
GOP leaders on the legislation.
Senate may pass
childcare bill
The Senate is coming off another week
in which it failed to advance any legisla-
Republicans point
out the Obama
administration has
delayed the employer
mandate and say it
is unfair individuals
cannot have a
similar delay.
tion. Senate Democrats tried to move
a bill expanding veterans benefits, but
Republicans blocked it to protest their
inability to offer amendments.
This week, the Senate will try again
with a bill that would increase grants
to states to be used for childcare services for low-income families. Republicans seem more open to advancing
this measure.
Budget politics
The biggest event off the floor will be
the release of President Obama’s budget for fiscal 2015. Republicans will
complain that the budget is a month
late and calls for $56 billion in new
spending.
But the arrival of the budget will spark
a flurry of congressional hearings,
marking the official start of the effort
to get spending bills passed for the next
fiscal year.
White House Budget Director Sylvia
Burwell will testify in both the House
and Senate, as will Treasury Secretary
Jack Lew.
Republicans are likely to use the
White House budget to pressure the
Senate to pass a budget resolution this
year, even though Democrats are saying
they will not produce one.
Democrats say a new budget is not
necessary in the wake of the blueprint
that passed late last year. House Republicans are planning to pass a budget
resolution this spring.
ANOTHER
CONSUMER
ATTACK
We need a clean STELA reauthorization, not another vehicle to hike consumers’ payTV bills. Pay-TV is at it again, trying to gouge consumers by moving the channels they
watch most to a more expensive package and increase record profits. Americans count
on local broadcasters to be included as part of their basic cable packages. Pay-TV’s
bad deal will raise prices on tens of millions of TV viewers in the United States, including
Spanish-speaking households, seniors on fixed incomes, and rural Americans.
This is another consumer rip-off that allows pay-TV companies to take broadcast
programming away from people who already have it – then charge them more money
to get it back.
CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
TELL THEM WE NEED A CLEAN STELA BILL.
VISIT
TVfreedom.org • FOLLOW
@TVfreedomOrg
sunday shows
This Week, Face the Nation
WHO WAS
WHERE
Face the Nation (CBS):
Secretary of State John Kerry;
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
Fox News Sunday:
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio);
Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.),
Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and
Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.);
former Sen. Scott Brown
(R-Mass.)
State of the Union (CNN):
Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.);
former National Security Advisor
Tom Donilon; Yuriy Sergeyev,
Ukrainian ambassador to the UN
This Week (ABC):
Kerry; Rep. Adam Kinzinger
(R-Ill.)
Meet the Press (NBC):
Kerry, Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.); Gov. Jerry Brown
(D-Calif.); Baltimore Mayor
Kerry says US, others will ‘go to the hilt’ to
isolate Putin as Ukraine crisis intensifies
•Secretary of State John Kerry warned
Sunday of “serious repercussions” if
Russia did not back down from its incursion into Ukraine, but did not announce
any punishment yet, giving time for the
United States to look for a solution.
“This is a time for diplomacy, and we
will engage as much as we can in order
to steer this away from an escalation,”
Kerry said on ABC’s “This Week.”
President Obama said Friday that
“there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.” That intervention has now occurred, but Kerry did not
get specific about any costs on Sunday,
instead warning that they would come
into effect if Russia does not deescalate.
“If this cannot be resolved in a reasonable, modern, 21st century manner,
there are going to be repercussions,”
Kerry said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
He said he spent Saturday on the phone
with ten foreign ministers in the G8 and
elsewhere. “All of them, every single one
of them, are prepared to go to the hilt to
isolate Russia with respect to this invasion,” Kerry said. “They’re prepared to
put sanctions in place, they’re prepared
to isolate Russia economically.”
He also listed as possibilities cancelling attendance at the G8 meeting in
Russia, visa restrictions on Russian
travel and freezing Russian assets.
American businesses might start
Getty images
Secretary of State John Kerry raised the prospect of sanctions against Russia.
“thinking twice” about doing business
with Russia, he added.
An economic aid package to Ukraine
appeared to be in the works. “We’re prepared to provide economic assistance,”
Kerry said. “We want the Congress to
join us in providing that assistance.”
Kerry did not rule out military action
by the U.S., saying “all options are on the
table,” but emphasized the U.S. much
preferred a diplomatic solution.
Russia’s actions have the potential to
set a dangerous precedent, Kerry said,
for the “modern manner in which nations resolve problems.”
“We’re not trying to make this a battle
between east and west,” he added. “We
don’t want to return to the Cold War.”
Fox News Sunday,
This Week
Meet the Press
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D)
‘
How many
people can get
stoned and still have
a great state or a
great nation?...I
think we need to
stay alert, if not 24
hours a day, more
than some of
the potheads
might be
able to put
together.”
California Gov. Jerry
Brown (D), saying
states besides Colorado
and Washington
should be wary of
rushing headfirst
into full marijuana
legalization (“Meet
the Press”)
Fox News Sunday
Members are skeptical
on idea of US military
response in Crimea
•Elected officials appearing on Sunday
Issa says Lerner will
testify on IRS furor
• Former IRS official Lois Lerner will
testify before Congress on Wednesday,
according to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) on “Fox News Sunday.”
Lerner is at the center of the controversy over alleged IRS targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt
status. She also appeared before the
committee in May 2013, but declined
to testify at the time, invoking her
Fifth Amendment rights.
Issa said Lerner had not been promised immunity in exchange for speaking. He also said a key question for the
hearing would be learning if and how
Lerner was pressured to target conservatives.
“We know what she did, in most cases,
what we don’t know is why she did it…
Only she can tell us what she thought
that pressure was,” Issa said.
Issa did say Lerner could have been
“mostly acting on her own,” but insisted that if others did not know, they
“should have.”
shows urged a strong but non-military response to Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” set the tone
for many in urging quick action to punish Russia economically while avoiding
military escalation.
“I’m a fairly hawkish guy, [but] sending
more naval forces to operate in the Black
Sea is really not a very good idea,” Rogers said. “Unless you’re planning to use
them, I would not send them.”
Rogers said the United States should
cancel its attendance at a planned G8
summit in Sochi next summer and move
to expel Russia from the group entirely.
He also said Congress should move to
impose sanctions on Russia if President
Obama didn’t act himself.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), also
appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” urged
Republicans to stop attacking the president in a moment of international crisis.
“I would hope Americans would focus
on condemning the actions of Putin
rather than in a knee-jerk way again
criticizing the president,” he said.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) suggested
that Van Hollen may get his wish, saying
on ABC’s “This Week” that “I think you’re
going to find the House is very cooperative
with the administration on this.”
Rubio treads carefully
in ‘anti-gay’ debate
• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) offered
cautious semi-support for recently
proposed laws in several states that
would allow business owners to cite religious beliefs in order to deny service
to gay customers. One such law was recently vetoed in Arizona amid heated
public debate.
Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”
that he opposed discrimination but
also did not want business owners to
be “sanctioned by the state” for refusing to provide services related to gay
marriages.
“I don’t believe that gay Americans
should be denied services at a restaurant
or hotel or anything of that nature,” Rubio said. “I also don’t believe, however,
that a caterer or a photographer should
be punished by the state for refusing to
provide services for a gay wedding because of their religious-held beliefs.”
Rubio stopped short of endorsing
Arizona’s vetoed law, however, saying
he had not read it and that it might have
gone further than he liked.
polling
PUBLIC DIVIDED
ON HIGHER RATE
OF DEPORTATIONS
IS THE INCREASED
NUMBER OF DEPORTATIONS
OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
GOOD OR BAD?
IS IT POSSIBLE YOU WOULD VOTE
FOR A CANDIDATE WHO DOES NOT
SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON OBAMACARE?
64%
say no
0
20
40
45%
good
thing
60
80
don't
know
100
VOTERS: POSITION ON OBAMACARE IS MAKE OR BREAK
place.” At the same time, 42 percent want the law to be
repealed entirely. The largest group, 50 percent, chose an
option that read, “There are some good things in the law,
but some changes are needed to make it work better.”
President Obama has already made some changes to
the law’s implementation, such as delaying the mandate
that employers provide health insurance to their employees and allowing people whose plans were canceled
for not meeting the law’s standards to renew them for a
year. The poll indicates much of the public wants more
changes.
House Republicans, on the other hand, have voted 48
times to repeal the law in its entirety.
The law has already featured prominently in midterm
campaigns, with the Koch brothers-backed Americans
for Prosperity already spending around $30 million on
ads attacking it.
Vice President Biden told a Democratic National Committee meeting last week that Democrats should not be
defensive about the law. "We are too shy. We are not talking about it enough in my opinion," he said.
50%
32%
Gallup surveyed 1,023 adults from Feb. 6-9, with a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
Ohio) favorability has ticked back
up from its low during October’s
government shutdown, but still
stands at only 32 percent.
Pew surveyed 1,821 adults from Feb. 14-23, with a margin of error of
+/- 2.6 percentage points.
• The public is split down the middle on
whether the higher rate of deportations in
recent years is good or bad.
A new Pew poll finds that 45 percent of
adults say the increased deportations of
illegal immigrants is a “good thing,” and another 45 percent say it is a “bad thing.”
The Obama administration has deported
people at a higher rate than any other administration. About 30,000 people a month
are deported by the Obama administration,
compared to around 20,000 for the administration of President George W. Bush.
Views are split along ethnic lines. White
people approve of the deportations 49 to
42 percent, while Hispanic people oppose
them 60 to 35 percent.
Seventy-two percent of Hispanic people
say passing immigration legislation is “extremely” or “very” important, compared
to 49 percent overall. The number is 60
percent for Democrats and 46 percent for
Republicans.
Seventy-three percent support a path to
legal status, but only 46 percent a path to
full citizenship.
BRALEY LEAD IN IOWA NARROWS SLIGHTLY
BOEHNER’S FAVORABILITY
INCHES UP TO 32 PERCENT
• Speaker John Boehner’s (R-
bad
thing
31%
say yes
The New York Times and CBS News surveyed 1,644 adults from Feb. 19 to 23, with a margin of error
of +/- 3 percentage points.
• ObamaCare is the issue that will be most decisive in
determining how people vote in the coming midterm elections, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll.
The poll finds 64 percent of respondents say they would
never vote for a candidate who does not share their views
on ObamaCare.
That is the highest number of negative responses of any
of the issues polled. ObamaCare beat out global warming, at 45 percent, the minimum wage, at 45 percent, immigration, at 52 percent, gay marriage, at 53 percent, and
abortion, at 55 percent.
The healthcare law drew a strong response from members of both parties, suggesting that it is not just those
who oppose the law who feel passionately about it. Sixtyseven percent of Republicans said they would never vote
for a candidate not sharing their views on the law, but 62
percent of Democrats said the same, along with 61 percent of self-described independents.
Still, Democrats do seem to be at a disadvantage on the
issue. The poll finds that only 6 percent of adults say the
healthcare law is “working well and should be kept in
45%
GETTY IMAGES
A Gallup poll finds his favorability
has risen 5 points from its low of 27
percent in October. The GOP’s favorability as a whole also stood at 32 percent in a December Gallup poll.
•Rep. Bruce Braley (DIowa) has an average of a
7-point lead over potential
GOP opponents for the
Senate seat representing
the Hawkeye State in a
new PPP poll, down from
an 11-point lead in July.
Former energy executive Mark Jacobs leads a
crowded GOP primary
field, at 20 percent, compared to 13 percent for his
closest opponent.
Braley seems to be benefitting from higher name
recognition. Fifty-six percent know enough to make
a decision about him,
whereas none of the GOP
contenders top 25 percent
at this point.
41/35%
Braley vs. Mark Jacobs
40/34%
Braley vs. Matt Whitaker
42/34%
Braley vs. Sam Clovis
PPP surveyed 869 Iowa voters from Feb.
20-23, with a margin of error of
+/- 3.3 percentage points.
COURTESY OF BRUCE BRALEY
cover story
As rivals stumble, Bush seen as
a savior by GOP establishment
→ continued from P.1
dull, not too unpredictable; not too
inexperienced, and not too marred by
scandal. In fact, just right.
But many of his greatest potential
advantages could also be liabilities.
The Bush name gives him a deep
and broad political network, but sour
memories of his brother’s presidency
still fester, while the notion of a third
Bush in the White House since his
father won in 1988 might strike voters
as too dynastic. It could, ironically,
also make the alternative of a second
Clinton presidency, via Hillary, seem
fresher and more attractive.
Jeb has not held elected office since
2007, which leaves him untainted
by recent political dysfunction. But
having fought no big political fights
for so long might also have made him
ring-rusty.
Witness the fumbled rollout of his
2013 book, Immigration Wars, which
left people guessing whether he supported a path to citizenship for illegal
immigrants.
Still, his name hangs over the Republican field. If he takes the plunge,
he would instantly become a topflight contender.
Late last month, Slater Bayliss, a
Florida Republican lobbyist, took his
son to see a Miami Heat basketball
game and had breakfast with Bush, for
whom he was a close aide during the
latter’s time as governor.
“I’ve never seen him so seriously
considering a run for higher office,”
Bayliss said. “He’s legitimately going
through a very methodical, thoughtful process to come to a decision.”
As Bush speaks to many of his business and political associates, the conversations often tend to shift toward
2016, Bayliss said, adding, “People
who are generally in touch with him
about ideas now pivot those conversations to be more about politics because they see an opening.”
Ana Navarro, who worked in Bush’s
gubernatorial administration and
was an adviser to his older brother’s
presidential campaign, confirmed
that the younger Bush is giving serious scrutiny to a White House run.
“Certainly he is going into more detail
about it than he has ever before,” said
the GOP strategist. “In the past he has
shut the door completely. This time he’s
telling us he is going to think about it.”
Bush himself said in January that he
will make a decision “later this year,”
and it will be based on whether he can
run in the right spirit.
“The decision will be based on, can I
do it joyfully? Because I think we need
candidates to lift our spirits; it’s a
pretty pessimistic country right now,”
Bush told a local CBS affiliate. “And is
it right for my family? So I don’t want
to even think about that until the
right time, and that’s later on.”
getty images
Barbara Bush has said that that nation does not need a third President Bush.
Republicans are looking for a leader
on such issues as immigration and
education reform, which resonate
with voters nationally. Jeb certainly
looks right on those issues. His is a
multicultural family; his wife is from
Mexico, and he speaks fluent Spanish, which could help the GOP appeal
to Latinos.
Many party strategists believe Bush
could transform the electoral map,
turning blue states purple and purple
states red.
Others point out that the “dynasty”
problem might be neutralized if Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, as many people expect.
Still, Bush’s toughest critic on this
point could be his mother. Barbara
Bush has repeatedly joked that the
country does not need any more Bushes or Clintons, given that members of
those two clans have been centrally involved in eight of the nine presidential
campaigns since 1980.
Since leaving the governor’s mansion, Jeb has become president of
his own consulting firm and a senior
adviser to Barclays Capital, giving him
the recent private-sector credibility
he would need to make a pitch as a
business-oriented candidate, if that is
the profile he seeks to emphasize.
Bush also benefits from the troubles
of his potential rivals. Recent turmoil
‘
The art of the
political tease,
showing some leg,
it’s just completely
lost on the man.”
Ana Navarro, GOP strategist and Jeb
Bush friend
has damaged two Republican establishment favorites, Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and, to a lesser extent, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, while
once-rising stars Sen. Marco Rubio of
Florida and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana have lost much momentum.
Donors are among those looking toward Bush as a savior. Navarro said she
has been fielding calls from GOP donors who had never met Bush but want
to sit down and talk with him.
Chris Bravacos, a party strategist and
former Mitt Romney bundler, says
there are “no barriers” to a Bush campaign now.
“A Jeb Bush candidacy would be extremely attractive, if he’s running, to
an awful lot of people,” Bravacos said.
“I think a lot of people feel that the
door is certainly wide open, particularly if Hillary Clinton is the nominee.
Then you’re already reaching backwards anyway.”
Navarro emphasized, however, that
Bush is not yet clearly signaling he
will run, as some others have done.
When they see each other at the Biltmore, the Miami hotel that she and
her husband own and where Bush
has an office, they “speak like normal
people,” not mentioning his future
aspirations.
“I know it strikes people as strange
because that’s not what we’re used
to from politicians, but Jeb actually
means what he says and says what he
means,” Navarro said. “The art of the
political tease, showing some leg, it’s
just completely lost on the man.”
So don’t expect Bush to make the traditional pilgrimages to early-primary
states, or to suck up to donors such as
Sheldon Adelson, or to inflame the
Conservative Political Action Conference; he is skipping the annual conservative convention this year. He will
make moves only when he has made
the decision to run, allies say.
Navarro did say that Bush gets “more
invitations than a wealthy debutante”
to early primary states, many of which
she fields, but he tends to turn most
down.
Some take his silence as a sign he will
not run after all. Bravacos was slightly
surprised at renewed speculation
because he had seen nothing to suggest that Bush was moving toward the
2016 race.
“It’s not like there’ve been many
public indications that he’s definitely
interested in doing it,” he said.
Bravacos noted that, until Bush
makes moves, donors will not be making any commitments.
Logistically they cannot do so. Unlike other hopefuls, Bush does not
even have a super-PAC or active campaign account, so there is no clear way
for donors to support him financially.
But he might be able to short circuit
the normal courtship rituals.
His name and network remains
“large and robust,” according to Florida GOP strategist Rick Wilson.
“A candidate like Jeb Bush has an
opportunity and an ability to throw
an infrastructure together for a campaign that’s a lot faster than other
people might have,” Wilson added.
Still, in a party full of people waiting
for Jeb, his allies wish he would hurry
up and run.
Navarro is among those hoping he
makes his intentions clear. “I’m not the
most patient of people,” she said. “If I
had a dollar for every journalist who
calls wanting to know where Jeb’s head
is, I could buy myself a really fancy pair
of shoes.”
news
getty images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama will meet in an attempt to revive peace negotiations.
Crunch time for Obama
on peace in Middle East
By Justin Sink and Julian Pecquet
•President Obama is poised to jump
head first into peace talks between
Israel and the Palestinians that can no
longer move ahead without him.
On Monday, the president will lobby
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to adopt a framework
agreement that would facilitate negotiations for a final-status agreement.
Two weeks later, Obama will make the
same pitch to Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas.
Obama’s stepped up involvement
comes at a perilous time for the fragile
peace negotiations, which Secretary of
State John Kerry restarted last summer
after little movement for the better part
of five years. With the easy decisions behind them, Netanyahu and Abbas must
now make the tough choices that demand U.S. support at the highest levels.
“There comes a point when the
president needs to personally roll up
his sleeves and get involved,” said Alan
Elsner, spokesman for the liberal proIsrael lobby group J Street. “It’s much
harder to say ‘no’ to the president.”
Some observers think the talks have
hit a roadblock.
State Department officials have
openly acknowledged that they will
likely need more time than the April
29 deadline for a peace deal. And both
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have
openly criticized elements of the
scaled-back framework Kerry has
proposed, which would precede another round of negotiations.
“The talks have not been going all that
well, and this is an attempt to salvage
the process,” said Khaled Elgindy, a fellow with the Saban Center for Middle
East Policy at the Brookings Institution. “At this point they see a presidential role is actually needed.”
Others think Obama’s engagement is
cause for cautious optimism.
“It’s a sign that he thinks he can move
things forward,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (Calif.), a top Democrat on the
House Foreign Affairs panel. He said
the U.S. special envoy for the negotiations, Martin Indyk, convinced him
that “things are looking a little better
than you would have thought” during
a briefing for Jewish lawmakers on
Capitol Hill this past week.
Obama’s meeting with Netanyahu
comes ahead of the planned release
of a group of Palestinian prisoners at
the end of March, a deeply unpopular
move among part of the Israeli leader’s
governing coalition. Netanyahu also has
not indicated what he plans to do with
the Israeli population in the West Bank,
another crucial issue in the talks.
Moreover, Obama will need to argue
that the Israeli-Palestinian peace pro-
cess can continue in parallel with efforts to disarm Iran’s nuclear weapons
program. Netanyahu has openly condemned the U.S.-backed agreement to
ease sanctions in exchange for a freeze of
part of the Iranian nuclear program, and
signaled that talks with Palestine should
come after the Iranian issue is settled.
“The problem with Netanyahu is
you can see parts of his coalition [are]
getting very agitated,” Elgindy said.
“They’re getting agitated not because
they don’t agree on the terms for a twostate solution — it’s because they oppose a two state solution.”
But Obama also faces a tough challenge in his conversations with Abbas,
who was reportedly alienated during a
mid-February meeting with Kerry.
The Times of Israel, citing a report in
the Arabic-language Palestinian newspaper Al Quds, reported the Palestinian
leader was angered by Kerry’s proposal
for how to establish a Palestinian capital
in East Jerusalem, as well as his proposed borders for a Palestinian state. He
accused Kerry of repackaging previous
Israeli offers and attempting to squeeze
the Palestinians.
Obama will also need to convince Abbas to agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state — a major point for the Israelis.
Abbas told The New York Times earlier
this month that such a concession was
“out of the question.”
“Both sides have very difficult domestic political equations to deal with,”
said Peter Joseph, the chair of the Israel
Policy Forum. “They’re being asked
to make some very painful decisions,
some very painful compromises, and
perhaps it requires the president to
help them through this process.”
J Street’s Elsner said the concessions
both sides will be asked to make clear in
Kerry’s framework are already known,
at least in outline. Netanyahu will
have to accept an Israel drawn along
pre-1967 lines with some land swaps
and a role for the Palestinians in East
Jerusalem; Abbas will have to accept
that Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and that the Palestinian right
of return will be mainly exercised in the
new Palestinian state.
Obama’s message to Netanyahu and
Abbas is expected to be succinct: both
sides have no choice but to continue
negotiations because the alternative
is far uglier.
“Both sides need to hear that they
really have no alternative other than a
negotiated settlement,” Joseph said.
According to Israeli paper Al
Haaretz, administration officials
say Obama plans to ask both leaders,
“What’s your plan if the attempt to
formulate a framework for further
negotiations fails and the peace process breaks down?”
The prospects for both Netanyahu and
Abbas are grim — especially if they are
seen as the party responsible for peace
talks breaking down.
For Netanyahu, there is particular
concern over the prospect of toughening European Union sanctions against
Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories. Israeli media has reported that
Kerry has raised the specter of the sanctions in talks, and indicated that the
Europeans could consider restrictions
that would limit trade and educational
exchanges into the disputed territory.
Abbas, for his part, risks severely
damaging the Palestinian national
movement if he pulls out of the talks.
An exit by Abbas would embolden the
Israeli right, which has argued the
Palestinians are not serious about
peace, and could undermine efforts at
gaining recognition and aid from the
international community.
Both leaders are also concerned
about the security implications of the
talks falling apart.
“There’s a risk of violence on the
street,” Elgindy said. “Something
could happen — there could be an increase in terrorist attacks, there could
be a risk of protest in the street, so
they want to preserve the process.”
Elgindy added it was a “calculated
risk” for Obama to wade into the process at such a pivotal moment.
“The next five, six weeks are going to
be crunch time,” Joseph said. “We’re
in a very intense time right now.”
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs panel, Rep. Eliot Engel
(N.Y.), suggested Obama can’t not get
involved.
“There are political risks,” Engel
said. “But there are political risks if
we don’t get involved. There are political risks if things fall apart.”
He cautioned that many details
would remain to be ironed out even if
both parties agree on a framework.
“This will continue for many, many
months,” Engel predicted. “They’re
leaving certain things to be negotiated later.”
national
from The Boston Globe
Alleged Boston bomber said
to have compromised himself
from the New York Daily News
from Los
Angeles Times
Use of force
by US Border
agents comes
under scrutiny
• An FBI agent heard accused Boston Marathon bomb-
er Dzhokhar Tsarnaev make a compromising statement
when his sister and an investigator from his defense
team visited him in prison, prosecutors said last week.
In a court filing in federal court in Boston, prosecutors
said that “Tsarnaev, despite the presence of an FBI agent
and an employee of the federal public defender, was unable to temper his remarks and made a statement to his
detriment which was overheard by the agent.”
The filing did not specify when the visit occurred or
what Tsarnaev said.
• Lawmakers and
from Reuters Judge rules against bin Laden
son-in-law’s bid to delay trial
• A federal judge last week rejected a last-ditch
request from one of Osama bin Laden’s sons-in-law to
getty images
delay his trial after his lawyers said the government
Jason Collins, center for the Brooklyn Nets, is the first openly gay player in NBA history.
may have mixed him up with a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with a similar name.
THE HILL
XXXXXDAY, XXXXXX XX, XXXX
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said the trial of
Suleiman Abu Ghaith will go forward on Monday.
Prosecutors have accused Abu Ghaith of acting as a
spokesman for al Qaeda and recording videos soon after
the Sept. 11 attacks threatening further violence against
Americans.
• The NBA announced last week that Wyoming in 1998. Collins wears No. 98
to honor the memory of Shepard.
it will donate all proceeds — more than
The league also plans to auction off Col$100,000 so far — from the sale of
lins’ autographed, game-worn jerseys to
Jason Collins’ Brooklyn Nets jerseys to
help raise money for those same causes.
the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education
Collins is the first openly gay player in
Network (GLSEN) and the Matthew
NBA history. Since he signed with the
Shepard Foundation.
When people go to Wall
Nets on Feb. 23 and was added to the
The foundation was set up in memory
roster, his jersey has been the top-seller
of a 21-year-old college student who
Street in New York, what do
at NBAStore.com, the league said.
was killed in an anti-gay hate crime in
Basketball association will give cash from
Jason Collins jerseys to gay rights groups
‘
they do? They get their picture
with the big bull. We need
from The Associated Press
something in town that people
Obama honors students who
want to come and
made films on tech’s importance
see and take their
•Two days before the Oscars, President Obama
recognized the best of nearly 2,500 films made by
picture in front of.”
K-12 students after the White House asked them
Christopher Girard, the city
commissioner of Bay City, Mich.,
who wants to erect a sign noting
that it is the birthplace of pop
singer Madonna (Detroit Free
Press)
Attend the
for short videos on the role technology plays in
their education.
“Today the Oscar goes to all of you because, among
all the incredible videos we received, yours stood
out,” Obama said.
Obama wants every classroom to have high-speed
Internet by the end of 2018. He also announced $400
million in new pledges to that initiative.
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB  MARCH 7, 2014  8AM-5PM
NATIONAL SUMMIT TO REASSESS
THE U.S. - ISRAEL
"SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP"
U.S. financial, military and diplomatic support for Israel has grown steadily
and now dwarfs annual assistance to any other nation. This historic summit will provide an in-depth, multifaceted, critical inquiry into costs, backers
and results of the U.S. "special relationship" with Israel. Speakers include:
 STEPHEN WALT
 PAUL PILLAR
 ALLAN BROWFELD
 PAUL FINDLEY
 GARETH PORTER
 DELINDA HANLEY
 PHILIP WEISS
 GEOFFREY WAWRO
 KAREN KWIATKOWSKI
 ME "SPIKE" BOWMAN
 MICHAEL SCHEUER
 PHILIP GIRALDI
 STEPHEN SNIEGOSKI
 SCOTT MCCONNEL
 JUSTIN RAIMONDO
 RAY MCGOVERN
 JANET MCMAHON
 ALISON WEIR
 GRANT F. SMITH
 MARK PERRY
 JOHN QUIGLEY
ALL ATTENDEES MUST PREREGISTER ONLINE AT:
NATSUMMIT.ORG/THEHILL
watchdog groups called
last week for tougher
restrictions on the use
of deadly force by U.S.
border agents and more
transparency in the investigation of killings.
The comments followed a report by Tribune Newspapers that
revealed a 21-page audit
— which the border
agency commissioned
but has refused to
release publicly — cited
examples of agents unnecessarily stepping in
front of fleeing cars to
justify firing at passengers.
Conducted by the
nonprofit policy group
Police Executive
Research Forum, the
review — obtained by
the Tribune Washington Bureau — found 19
deaths had occurred in
the 67 cases it examined.
Creationists move ahead with
plan to build ark in Kentucky
• A Christian ministry’s long-stalled plans to
build Noah’s Ark in the hills of Kentucky have
been revived.
Creation Museum founder Ken Ham announced
Thursday that a municipal bond offering has raised
enough money to begin construction on the Ark Encounter project, estimated to cost about $73 million.
Groundbreaking is planned for May and the ark is
expected to be finished by the summer of 2016.
Ham said a recent high-profile debate he had with
“Science Guy” Bill Nye helped boost support.
THE HILL &
THE HILLJOBS.COM
Connecting Your Employment Opportunities
with the Most Qualified Candidates
JOBS
politics
‘
from The Wall
Street Journal
I’m as likely to
run as to not run.”
Sens. Paul, Lee Gov. Christie,
look for Tea
Romney raise
Party positivity $1 million at
fundraiser
•As the Tea Party
celebrated its fifth
• New Jersey Gov. Chris
Vice President Biden,
discussing the possibility that he
will run for president in 2016
(“The View,” ABC)
from The Washington Post
Democrats in intra-party fight
over the role of super-PACs
• Tensions are simmer- support for Obama’s
ing among Democrats
over whether their
super-PACs are too
focused on the 2016
presidential race and a
potential Hillary Clinton candidacy, even as
Democrats face congressional battles this year.
Some party leaders are
grumbling that Organizing for Action, which
raised more than $26
million last year, has
been working to rally
from The Boston from The Hill’s Ballot Box blog
Globe
healthcare overhaul
— but is not running
television ads aimed
at boosting vulnerable
Democrats.
Priorities USA sent a
letter assuring donors
that the group would
not “big-foot” other
party super-PACs working to help candidates in
this year’s congressional
elections and asking
them to direct money to
2014 efforts.
anniversary last week,
Republican Sens. Rand
Paul(Ky.) and Mike Lee
(Utah) called for the
movement to become
more proactive and
forward-thinking.
Speaking at an all-day
event in Washington,
Paul said the movement
needs to present a more
optimistic, inclusive
message. “If we want
a bigger crowd and we
want to win politically,
our message has to be a
happy message,” he said.
Lee, speaking earlier
in the day, said Republicans need to develop
a “conservative reform
agenda” that embraces
good policies, rather
than just opposing bad
ones.
Christie (R), was in
Boston last week to raise
money for the Republican
Governors Association
alongside former Gov.
Mitt Romney (Mass.),
the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, and Charlie
Baker, the party’s leading
candidate for governor in
Massachusetts this year.
A last-minute shift in
location, from a private
home to a hotel, came
after the event drew
unwanted attention from
reporters.
Baker’s campaign
worked during the afternoon and evening to keep
the location shift a secret,
declining repeated requests for the information
about the event, which
raised around $1 million
from about 20 people.
from The Denver Post
getty images
from CBS News
Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards:
“Our message to candidates that demean and dismiss
women is clear: Do so at your own peril.”
Docs show Hillary Clinton’s
worries on individual mandate Planned Parenthood announces
• One document among the thousands released Fri- new midterm election initiative
day by President Clinton’s Library includes remarks
greg nash
Sen. Mark Udall’s (D-Colo.) campaign accused challenger
Cory Gardner (R) of making a deal to keep competitors out.
Sen. Udall blasts tactics of
new Republican challenger
• Sen. Mark Udall’s (D-Colo.) campaign accused new
GOP challenger Rep. Cory Gardner (Colo.) of making
a deal to keep potential primary competitors out of the
race last week.
“It’s no surprise that a Washington ideologue like
Congressman Cory Gardner worked with party bosses
to cook up the ‘Centennial State Swap,’ the shady
scheme hatched behind closed doors that enabled
him to swoop into the Senate race,” Udall campaign
spokesman Chris Harris said in a news release.
Local district attorney Ken Buck, who dropped out
when Gardner entered the race, said there was no deal.
“I stepped out of the race because I thought Cory
represents the best opportunity to beat Mark Udall,”
Buck said.
from a Sept. 9, 1993 meeting, in which Hillary Clinton
explains her opposition to the individual mandate,
which two decades later has become a centerpiece of the
Affordable Care Act.
“That is politically and substantively a
much harder sell,” Clinton told congressmen. “Because not only will you
be saying that the individual bears
the full responsibility; you will be
sending shock waves through the
currently insured population that
if there is no requirement that
employers continue to insure,
then they, too, may bear the
individual responsibility.”
In a Jan. 22, 1994 memo,
White House staffers worried about whether they
could “get away with”
promising that people could
keep their health plans.
Childers gives Democrats a
stronger candidate in Miss.
• Travis Childers, a conservative Democrat who
served just over two years in Congress before being
defeated as Republicans grabbed the House majority
in 2010, said Friday that he’s running for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi this year.
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) is also being challenged
by two-term state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the Republican primary.
Childers’ decision to run gives Democrats an experienced candidate with name recognition. The last
Democrat to serve in the Senate from Mississippi was
John C. Stennis, who retired in early 1989 after nearly
52 years in office.
• Planned Parenthood announced a new Women
are Watching campaign on Friday that, it said,
could play a major role in the midterm election
fight for the Senate.
The abortion rights group said the campaign
would inform voters about where candidates stand
on women’s issues.
It plans to invest in Senate races in North Carolina, Montana and Alaska, and governors races in
Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania.
Planned Parenthood has already released Web
ads in North Carolina and Texas, where Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis shot
to fame after filibustering an anti-abortion bill in
the state legislature.
Davis is facing an uphill climb to win her race,
however. She trails her challenger, Greg Abbott
(R), by about 11 percentage points in the polls.
“Our message to candidates that demean and
dismiss women is clear: Do so at your own peril,”
Cecile Richards, the president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.
Pryor hits Cotton on spending
• Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) filed paperwork Friday to
run for re-election, accusing his Republican challenger
of helping outside groups more than Arkansas.
The fight for Pryor’s seat has been underway since last
August, when Republican Rep. Tom Cotton announced
he would try to unseat the Democratic lawmaker.
Speaking to reporters after filing, Pryor said, “We’ve
already seen the outside groups, these national outside
groups, we’ve seen them spend millions of dollars on my
opponent’s behalf to try to get him elected to the Senate.”
Cotton’s campaign pushed back, saying Pryor was
representing President Obama’s interests more than
the state.
Ukraine crisis
from BBC
Ukrainian PM: Nation ‘on brink of disaster’
getty images
A man waves a Russian flag outside a Ukrainian military base that was surrounded by
several hundred Russian-speaking soldiers Sunday.
• Ukraine has ordered a full military
mobilisation in response to Russia’s
incursion into Crimea.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
said Sunday Ukraine was “on the brink
of disaster.”
In Crimea, Ukrainian soldiers faced
off with Russian soldiers surrounding
their bases while the Russian army is
said to be digging trenches on the border with mainland Ukraine.
NATO is conducting emergency talks,
saying Russia’s actions threaten “peace
and security in Europe.”
President Obama called Russian troop
deployments a “violation of Ukrainian
sovereignty.”
Russian soldiers continue to occupy
key sites on the Crimean peninsula,
including airports and communications
hubs, although there has been no actual
violence yet.
from the Associated Press
Pro-invasion crowds
march in Moscow,
opponents detained
• At least 10,000 people bearing
Russian flags marched freely in a
pro-invasion rally through Moscow
on Sunday, while dozens of people
demonstrating on Red Square against
an invasion of Ukraine were quickly
detained by Russian riot police.
Reporters witnessed over 50 detentions and spotted at least five police
vans, which carry between 15 and 20
protesters, driving away from the
square.
Many Russians believe the country
should maintain strong ties with
Ukraine’s predominantly Russianspeaking eastern and southern
regions. But Russia’s state-controlled
TV stations have ratcheted up that
rhetoric after months of pro-democracy protests in Ukraine.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Washington Hilton
TICKETS ON SALE AT
NOON
ON FRIDAY,
FEBRUARY
28
AT
TH
WWW.TASTEOFTHESOUTH.ORG
‘
Of course
she got it wrong.
She believed
that somehow
there would be a
reset with a guy
who was a KGB
colonel who always
had ambitions
to restore the
Russian empire.
That’s what this is
all about.”
Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) on former
Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton’s
approach
to Vladimir
Putin’s Russia
(The Daily
Beast)
policyhealthcare
‘
It is deeply disturbing
to read reports of
otherwise healthy children
experiencing sudden
paralysis.”
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in a letter to the director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Boxer wants
a formal investigation into what has caused polio-like paralysis
in about 20 children in her state. (The Associated Press)
from The Hill’s Healthwatch blog
Enrollment in Medicaid
increases to close to 9 million
• The number of people eligible for Medicaid
jumped again in January, according to federal
health officials.
The Department of Health and Human
Services reported last week that more
than 8.9 million people were approved to
receive either Medicaid or the Children’s
Health Insurance Program between October
and January.
Roughly 2.6 million of these verdicts occurred
in January, up from 2.3 million in December and fewer
than 2 million in November.
The 8.9 million figure includes those who received renewals and were therefore eligible before ObamaCare.
The administration has been criticized for not breaking
down how many people have been determined eligible
for Medicaid solely because of the Affordable Care Act.
from USA Today
NIH director
sounds alarm
against rush
to legalize pot
•One of the nation’s top
scientists raised concerns
about the nationwide
move to legalize marijuana, saying regular use
of the drug by adolescents
had been tied to a drop in
IQ and that a possible link
to lung cancer hasn’t been
seriously studied.
“There are aspects
of this that probably
should be looked at
more closely than some
of the legalization
experts are willing to
admit,” said
National
Institutes
of Health
director
Francis
Collins.
He said
the National
Institute on
Drug Abuse
was interested
in pursuing such studies
now that legalization
has made them more
feasible to do. But the
process will take time, he
cautioned.
House to vote on ending
mandate penalty for ’14
Republicans seek to end Affordable Care Act
charge for individuals who do not get insured
•Healthcare will dominate the news
this week among three major industry conferences, the release of President Obama’s budget and a House
vote to eliminate the individual
mandate penalty for 2014.
The House vote is likely to win the
most attention. The bill would get rid of
the ObamaCare penalty for not having
health insurance for the rest of the year.
GOP leaders argue that no one who
lacks health insurance should be asked
to pay a fine given the various problems with ObamaCare’s rollout. House
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.)
described the GOP’s effort as reducing
the penalty from $95 to $0.
The vote will take place on Wednesday along with, perhaps, a Senate
vote to confirm Dr. Vivek Murthy as
surgeon general. Sen. Rand Paul (RKy.) has worked to hold up Murthy’s
nomination.
The Federation of American Hospitals will start the week with its annual
policy conference Monday and Tuesday in Washington.
The event will feature speeches by
former CIA and NSA Director Gen. Mi-
policy technology
Workshops will aim to
advance NSA review
Privacy advocates, government officials and
academics reach for consensus on surveillance
• Stakeholders in the fight over govern-
ment and commercial surveillance will
hold a high-profile workshop on Monday
to hash out their differences over digital
spying.
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will attend the event, which was
launched when President Obama
ordered a review of National Security
Agency programs in January.
The workshop of privacy advocates,
government officials, companies and
scholars is the first of three meetings to
be held on the issue. Upcoming sessions
at New York University and the University of California at Berkeley will look at
ethical and legal issues.
The daylong workshop is co-hosted by
the White House’s Office of Science and
Technology Policy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and will be
held in Cambridge, Mass.
The House Judiciary Committee is
getting together on Tuesday to explore
“alternative solutions” on an online sales
tax. A committee aide has clarified the
hearing won’t be focused on any particu-
lar legislation, but Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) has released a list of seven
principles a bill would have to meet in
order to be considered by the panel.
The House is now the battleground
for an Internet sales tax bill, after the
Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act last year.
Also on Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission’s Jessica Rosenworcel will speak at an event exploring
opportunities to make more room on
the nation’s airwaves for Wi-Fi.
On Wednesday, the House Energy
and Commerce communications
subcommittee will explore an attempt
to reauthorize the federal satellite
television law.
The Satellite Television Extension and
Localism Act, which governs the video
marketplace, is set to expire this year.
The International Association of
Privacy Professionals will hold its annual
privacy summit in Washington starting
on Wednesday.
Julian Hattem and Kate Tummarello
from The Hill’s
Hillicon Valley
blog
Appeals court
backs FCC on
handset rules
• A federal appeals court
on Friday sided with the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
against three small wireless companies fighting
the agency’s rules.
The phone companies
wanted the court to waive
a mandate requiring
them to provide phones
that were compatible
with hearing aids, claiming it was impossible to
comply within the FCC’s
narrow timeframe. The
handsets were not widely
available by the September 2006 deadline, they
say, and the FCC erred
in not granting waivers
to them as it did to other
wireless carriers.
A panel of three judges
on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
disagreed with their
protests and upheld the
commission’s order.
chael V. Hayden, Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and
House Budget Committee Chairman
Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Wyden’s talk is expected to draw particular attention given his recent transition to the Finance chairmanship.
Afraid of fresh budget cuts, hospitals
will want to hear about his approach to
reforming Medicare’s flawed physician
payment system.
America’s Health Insurance Plans will
hold two headline conferences, each
focusing on the Affordable Care Act.
Among the speakers will be Medicare
deputy administrator Gary Cohen, who
is intimately involved with launching
the new insurance marketplaces.
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers will spend
most of the week debating Obama’s
2015 budget, which comes out Tuesday.
Health policy experts will watch for the
budget’s handling of Medicare and the
Affordable Care Act, its assumed rate of
growth in healthcare spending, and any
new priorities it outlines.
Elise Viebeck
‘
Unfortunately …
it would appear that a
surprising number of people
use webcam conversations
to show intimate parts of
their body to the
other person.”
Internal document from GCHQ, a British
surveillance agency, discussing findings
from its monitoring of millions of online
conversations (The National Post)
from CNET
German court turns down $2.2B
suit from ‘patent troll’ IPCom
• IPCom, a company that owns patents and asserts
those in infringement trials, has lost in its bid to
generate $2.2 billion in damages off Apple.
The company, which has been referred to by some
as a “patent troll” because it doesn’t actually make
products but uses its patent portfolio as a revenue
generator, was rebuffed Friday by the Mannheim Regional Court, which found that Apple did not in fact
infringe on two standard-essential patents brought
before it by IPCom.
policy finance
from The Hill’s On the Money blog
from The
from CNBC
Associated Press Home sales
No budget from Senate Democrats
• Senate Democrats will not
write a budget for the next fiscal year.
One year after writing and
passing the first Senate Democratic budget resolution in four
years, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray
(D-Wash.) said her conference
will not make an effort in 2014,
a midterm election year.
In a statement, Murray said
there was no reason to do a fiscal 2015 budget after the twoyear deal struck in December
with House Budget Committee
Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
That deal set budget ceilings
for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal
years. The 2015 fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
“Fiscal Year 2015 is settled,
the Appropriations Committees are already working
with their bipartisan spending levels, and now we should
work together to build on our
two-year bipartisan budget,
not create more uncertainty
for families and businesses by
immediately relitigating it,”
Murray said.
House Republicans are planning to do a budget, however.
That will set up a contrast with
the Senate, where Republicans
for years criticized Democrats
for not doing a budget.
Democrats are trying to hold on
to their Senate majority in a challenging year, and the decision
to abandon the budget means
Democrats in difficult races will
avoid some tough votes.
Tokyo bitcoin disappoint
exchange files in January
for bankruptcy • Amid harsh weather
greg nash
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) argued that
the budget deal agreed on in December
obviated the need for Democrats in the
Senate to produce a 2015 plan.
from Los Angeles from Reuters
Times
British citizen charged with
Q4 growth
revised down
• Fourth-quarter econom-
ic growth was revised down
sharply Friday to 2.4 percent as new data showed
consumers opened their
wallets less and businesses
sold fewer goods abroad
than initially estimated.
The new figures indicate the recovery had
less momentum heading
into 2014.
Last month, the Commerce Department estimated total economic
output expanded at a 3.2
percent annual rate in
the last three months of
last year.
Financial economist
Chris Rupkey said the
growth slipped below the
3 percent level many believe will provide “escape
velocity” for the recovery.
hacking US Federal Reserve
• A British man has been charged with hacking into com-
puter servers belonging to the Federal Reserve, and then
disclosing personal information of people who use them.
Last week’s charges against Lauri Love were announced
four months after he was arrested in England, and accused
by authorities of hacking into various U.S. government computer systems, including those run by the military.
The man allegedly used a hacking method called a
“sequel injection” to access names, email addresses and
phone numbers.
Consumer confidence ticks up
• A rising stock market and a more optimistic outlook
among younger Americans pushed up a measure of U.S.
consumer sentiment in February.
The University of Michigan says its index of consumer
sentiment rose to 81.6 from 81.2 in January.
The harsh winter weather had only a modest impact.
Those under age 35 were the most optimistic in six years
about their future incomes.
Survey director Richard Curtin said consumers’ resilience
in the face of cold weather bodes well for future spending.
from Reuters
Watchdog
wants free
credit scores
•The top U.S. consumer
watchdog said last week
he has called and written
the heads of big credit
card companies to press
them to offer free credit
scores to customers.
Richard Cordray, director of the U.S. Consumer
Financial Protection
Bureau, said consumers who monitor their
credit will be less likely
to default. But borrowers have told the bureau
they do not always know
how to obtain their score
or report errors.
The consumer bureau,
which was created by
the 2010 Dodd-Frank
law, has long had concerns about consumers’
access to accurate credit
information.
• The Mt. Gox bitcoin
exchange in Tokyo filed
for bankruptcy protection Friday and its chief
executive said 850,000
bitcoins, worth several
hundred million dollars,
are unaccounted for.
The exchange’s CEO
Mark Karpeles said a
weakness in the exchange’s systems was
behind a massive loss of
the virtual currency involving 850,000 bitcoins.
That would amount to
about $425 million at recent prices.
The online exchange’s
unplugging last week and
accusations it had suffered
a catastrophic theft have
drawn renewed regulatory
attention to a currency
created in 2009 as a way to
make transactions across
borders without third parties such as banks.
‘
A bull market is like
sex. It feels
best just
before it
ends.”
Billionaire Warren Buffett,
quoting financial manager
Barton Biggs, warning
against irrational optimism
in his annual shareholder letter
(Fortune)
President’s 2015 budget
to overshadow all else
Blueprint to be released on Tuesday; will renew fight
in Congress over nation’s long-term fiscal outlook
• President Obama will release his fis-
cal 2015 budget on Tuesday, and the rest
of the week in Congress will be dominated by the debate that is sure to ensue.
Even though the budget will essentially be dead on arrival with the Republican-led House, its release will renew
the fight in Congress over the nation’s
long-term fiscal outlook.
The White House has pledged to show
more deficit reduction than in past budgets, but Obama, primed for the mid-
term elections, is abandoning the most
significant entitlement reform in last
year’s budget: a switch to the chained
consumer price index that would have
reduced Social Security payments.
The White House has said the budget
will include a $56 billion stimulus package and a 1 percent pay increase for federal workers. It also assumes passage of
an immigration reform bill.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will
hit Capitol Hill to sell the president’s
that battered much of
the nation, signed contracts to buy existing
homes only held steady
last month, according
to the National Association of Realtors.
The nearly-flat reading
caught economists by
surprise.
Pending home sales
edged up 0.1 percent to
95.0 in January, disappointing analysts who
had expected sales to
gain 2.0 percent, according to a consensus
estimate from Reuters.
The index’s reading
remained 9.0 percent
below January 2013.
December’s level was
upwardly revised in December to 94.9.
These signed contracts
are an indicator of sales
in February and March.
getty images
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will hit Capitol
Hill to sell the Obama budget.
budget, appearing before the Senate
Finance Committee on Wednesday.
He will follow that with a repeat performance Thursday before the House
Ways and Means Committee.
Meanwhile, Sylvia Mathews Burwell,
head of the Office of Management and
Budget, will testify on Obama’s blueprint Wednesday before the House and
Senate Budget Committees.
On Friday, the jobs report for February
will be the focus.
The last few months have disappointed on the jobs front, and Friday’s report
could offer clues as to whether that was
a weather-related blip or a sign the recovery is slowing down.
In the Senate, Democrats will be
searching for a way to reestablish extended unemployment benefits after
they expired at the beginning of the year.
The embattled former IRS official at
the center of the Tea Party targeting
controversy will be back on Capitol Hill
on Wednesday for what promises to be a
contentious chat.
Three nominees for the Federal Reserve Board are slated to testify Tuesday, including Stanley Fischer, the man
tapped to fill the No. 2 spot on the board.
Peter Schroeder, Erik Wasson and Vicki
Needham
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1/29/14 8:13 AM
policydefense
Budget battle begins in
earnest on Capitol Hill
Hagel will defend cuts against heavy criticism
•The Pentagon will unveil its 2015
budget proposal this week, beginning a
contentious fight with Capitol Hill over
the military’s spending priorities.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
previewed the budget last week,
detailing the Pentagon’s plans to
reduce the size of the Army, cut
benefits for troops and retire the
A-10 “Warthog” fleet.
All of those proposals face major
resistance in Congress.
The Pentagon said that the 2015
budget would meet the spending caps
of $496 billion that were passed in last
year’s budget act.
The budget request will also include a new round of base closures
— a non-starter for both parties in
recent years.
The day after the budget is released, Hagel and Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey
will begin defending the blueprint
on Capitol Hill. The Pentagon leaders will be testifying before the
House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate
Armed Services panel on Thursday.
Hagel and Dempsey’s hearings mark
the official start to a flurry of budget
hearings on Capitol Hill.
The commanders of U.S. Pacific
Command and U.S. Strategic Command will be testifying ahead of Hagel
and Dempsey on Tuesday in the
House Armed Services Committee,
just hours after the budget is released.
The House panel will also have the
chiefs of U.S. Central Command and
Africa Command appearing before the committee on Wednesday.
Those same two commanders will
be on the Senate side of the Capitol to speak to the Armed Services
Committee on Thursday.
The Senate panel will also hold a
hearing on the U.S. nuclear force posture on Wednesday afternoon.
There are also a few hearings unrelated to the budget this week.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday plans to examine
the terror threat in the Middle East
spilling over from Syria.
The House Foreign Affairs panel will
hold a hearing on U.S. foreign policy
toward Ukraine on Thursday, and it
will probe Iran’s global terrorism connections in a Tuesday hearing.
Jeremy Herb
‘
Smoking breaks are
one of the few reasons
to take a break in the
military.”
Researcher Keith Haddock, explaining
why tobacco use remains popular in the
military despite concerted efforts by
commanders to discourage it (Stars
and Stripes)
from The Hill’s DEFCON blog
Mabus: Navy needs to keep
better track of contract cash
• Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said the Navy and
Marine Corps need to better track the $40 billion a
year spent on service contracts for everything from
information technology to mowing grass.
“We know we can save significant amounts of
money just by setting up things like contract
courts, which require ... contracting officers to
come in every year and justify the contracts,” Mabus said last week.
“Why do we have the contract? Has it been re-bid
lately? Is it — is it the best price we can get? Is it
needed?” he said at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies.
He said cutting service contracts was harder than
cutting platforms, because they were less visible
and harder to pinpoint.
from McClatchy
Typical appeals
process at the
VA takes close
to three years
• The average time for
a denied claim to get
through the cumbersome Department of
Veterans Affairs appeals
process shot up to more
than 900 days last year,
double the department’s
long-term target.
After hovering between 500 and 750 days
for a decade, what the
VA refers to as its “appeals resolution time”
hit 923 days in fiscal
2013.
The department’s
long-term goal is to get
that figure to 400 days,
although the trend over
the past decade has
been in the other direction.
VA official Laura Eskenazi cautioned that
the many layers built
into the system prompt
many of the delays.
policyenergy
from McClatchy
‘
Interior Dept.
Think how shockingly
backs seismic stupid it is to build a
tests, to dismay
21st-century electric
of protesters
system based on 120 million
• The Interior Dewooden poles.”
partment is endorsing
seismic exploration for
oil and gas in Atlantic
waters, a critical move
toward starting oil drilling off the Carolinas,
Virginia and potentially
down to Florida.
The department released its final review
last week, favoring a
plan to allow the intense underwater seismic airgun blasts that
environmentalists and
some members of Congress say are a threat to
whales, dolphins, sea
turtles and fish.
Interior Secretary
Sally Jewell is expected
to give a formal OK to
the plan in April.
At that point the government would start
reviewing permit applications from companies
that want to conduct
the seismic testing.
NRG Energy CEO David Crane, criticizing the basic
structure of the U.S. electrical grid (Greentech Media)
from The Hill’s E-2 Wire blog
Energy Department sets new
efficiency standards for fridges
•The Energy Department announced new energy efficiency standards Friday for commercial refrigerators, saying
the move would conserve enough power to light millions of
homes and save American businesses billions of dollars.
The regulations for large refrigerators used in supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants reflect
the latest in a series of efficiency standards issued
by the agency in recent months as part of President
Obama’s climate change initiative.
Commercial refrigerators generally must be kept
cold constantly, consuming huge amounts of power.
The standards set out in a final agency rule are set
to take effect in three years. Once in place, they will
make the average commercial refrigeration unit
about 30 percent more efficient, compared to the current standards.
Parks’ defenders set to
outline economic case
Report on employment benefits from National
Park system expected to be released on Monday
• After becoming the star of the 16-day
government shutdown in October, national parks are set to get some renewed
attention this week.
On Monday, Interior Secretary Sally
Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis will release a new
report on the park system. The report will detail the economic
benefits of national parks, including the
jobs supported in nearby communities.
Data on all 401 national parks will be
included in the study.
National parks became a flashpoint
during the shutdown as Republicans
accused the administration of needlessly closing outdoor spaces to generate
political pressure in favor of reopening
the government. The administration has
defended the closures in congressional
testimony.
Also on Monday, the House Rules
Committee will consider a bill from Rep.
Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) that aims to
stop the Obama administration’s coal
regulations. The bill would halt the administration’s
rewrite of a federal stream protection
rule that dates back to the George W.
Bush administration. On Tuesday, a House Natural Resources subpanel will hold a hearing to explore
the most effective ways to transport the
country’s “new energy resources” across
federal lands. On Thursday, another House Natural
Resources subcommittee will consider
a slew of bills on leases of federal lands,
conservation and watershed protection. Off Capitol Hill, the Bipartisan Policy
Center will host an event Tuesday on the
state, regional and industry approaches
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in
the power sector. Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy will
join utility commissioners at the event. The Newseum and the Edison Foundation Institute for Electric Innovation on
Thursday will hold an event to explore a
move toward a 21st century electric grid. Laura Barron-Lopez policy transportation
‘
We
cannot
cause traffic
problems in
front of his
house, can
we?”
Bridget Anne Kelly,
then-aide to New Jersey
Gov. Chris Christie (R),
joking last August with
Port Authority executive
David Wildstein after
the latter complained
that a local rabbi “pissed
him off.” The two are at
the center of a scandal
regarding lane closures on
the George Washington
Bridge. (CNN)
from The Hill’s Transportation blog
Dems push Keystone review
•Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is joining Rep. Raúl Grijalva
(D-Ariz.) in his call for the Government Accountability Office to investigate the State Department’s environmental
review process for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Boxer made the request in a letter sent to the GAO on Friday, just days after Grijalva asked for a similar investigation.
Their request comes weeks after the State Department
released its study finding the pipeline would not have a
significant negative impact on the environment.
The two Democrats are concerned there was a conflict
of interest in the State Department’s analysis in which
one contractor on the study had previous contracts with
TransCanada. President Obama told governors at the
White House last week he expects to make a decision on
Keystone within the next couple of months.
Regulator says that oil rail cars
are an ‘unacceptable public risk’
•Rail tank cars being used to ship crude oil from North
Dakota’s Bakken region are an “unacceptable public
risk,” and even cars voluntarily upgraded by the industry may not be sufficient, a member of the National
Transportation Safety Board said last week.
The cars, known as DOT-111s, were involved in derailments of oil trains in Casselton, N.D., and Lac-Megantic, Quebec.
The agency will likely propose new tank car standards
before the end of this year, but regulators refused to be
pinned down under questioning by lawmakers on when
those rules might become final.
Panel looks to private
cash for infrastructure
Gas tax not bringing in enough to cover spending
•A week after President Obama and
House Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) released plans to increase federal transportation funding, lawmakers in the House
will take a look at finding money for infrastructure elsewhere in the private sector.
The House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee’s panel on
public-private partnerships will meet
Wednesday to discuss boosting opportunities for non-governmental funding for
transportation projects.
The public-private partnerships,
known within the transportation industry as P3s, have become increasingly
popular as federal funding for road and
transit has become more constrained in
recent years.
The current transportation appropriations bill is scheduled to expire
in September, and the Congressional
Budget Office has projected that the trust
fund used to pay for most infrastructure
projects will run out of money as early as
August.
Obama and Camp have released
proposals to transfer $150 billion and
$126.5 billion respectively to restore
the solvency of the Highway Trust
Fund, using revenue from their competing tax reform proposals.
The trust fund’s coffers are normally
filled by the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax, but collections from the
fuel levy have dwindled as cars have
become more fuel-efficient.
The gas tax currently brings in approximately $34 billion per year, but
the current expiring transportation
bill includes more than $50 billion in
annual road and transit spending.
Additionally in the House, the committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday
on maritime transportation regulations, focusing on “impacts on safety,
security, jobs and the environment.”
Lawmakers in the Senate will turn their
attention to rail safety this week. The
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing
on Thursday examining “enhancing our
rail safety, focusing on current challenges
for passenger and freight rail.”
Keith Laing
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opinion
Juan
Williams
Dems face
struggle in
cash wars
• “I guess we don’t think it’s sexy
enough.”
That intriguing quote came from
President Obama last week. It was his
amusing expression of regret over a lack
of passion among Democrats for the
2014 midterm elections.
The president has a strong personal
incentive to pull every fire alarm over
the current absence of campaign donations among Democrats.
If Republicans gain control of the
Senate in this year’s midterm elections, the last two years of his presidency will be very cold.
The White House will be reduced to a
besieged bunker for a president under
attack from the GOP majority on both
sides of Capitol Hill.
The Democrats’ rising fear of a
Republican takeover also came into
view last week in the red-faced anger
expressed by Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
He went to the Senate floor to
condemn the dollars pouring out of
billionaires Charles and David Koch,
who are the primary backers of the
advocacy group named Americans for
Prosperity. The Koch brothers’ group
has already spent $27 million on TV
ads attacking Democrats seeking to
hold Senate seats.
“I can’t say that every one of the
Koch brothers’ ads are a lie,” Reid
said. “But I will say this: The vast majority of them are.
“Just because you have huge
amounts of money you should not be
able to run these false, misleading ads
by the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Reid added.
Reid’s finger-pointing at the Koch
brothers and the president’s lament
are both in line with a pleading Twitter
message from Obama’s former top political advisor David Axelrod.
“With the Senate seriously at risk
and the Koch Brothers spending prodigiously,” he asked, “shouldn’t Dem
funders be focused on ’14 and not ’16
races?”
This outbreak of concern over the
midterms stems in part from a report
that Priorities USA, a leading liberal
super-PAC, is staying out of the Democrats’ uphill efforts in the 2014 races,
What other columnists are saying
instead saving its money for a Hillary
Clinton 2016 presidential campaign.
The response was a scream so intense
Priorities USA, which raised more than
$60 million for the president’s 2012
campaign, had to issue an urgent denial.
“That’s not true … The next Democratic President will have a much easier
time if she — or he — has a Democratic
House and Senate,” Buffy Wicks, the executive director of Priorities USA said.
But the fact is the fundraising picture
for Democrats looks bad.
The Democrats’ central problem
when it comes to the midterms is that
the party is seeking more of the same.
The odds strongly favor the GOP holding its House majority, which means
the best the Democrats can hope for is
holding on to their Senate majority.
If that scenario comes to pass, it will
mean more of the political stalemate
and polarization that has poisoned
Capitol Hill since a 2010 landslide gave
Republicans a House majority.
Democrats are in a frenzied search
for a message to energize their donors
and their indifferent base. Is it a call for
income equality that paints the GOP
as the party of the rich? Is it a charge
that the GOP is engaged in a “War on
Women?” Is it about the super rich —
the Koch brothers — and the influence
of money on our political system?
In this winter of their discontent, the
immediate problem for Democrats
is that they do not have the money to
counter the Koch brothers’ assault on
the Democrats’ Senate candidates.
Small-dollar donations are flowing
to Democrats to support House candidates. The Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee set a record for
election year fundraising in January. It
holds $32 million in cash on hand, giving it an edge over the National Republican Congressional Committee’s $24
million on hand.
But when it comes to money for Senate races, the Republicans and Democrats are about even. The National
Republican Senatorial Campaign committee has $8 million on hand while
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee has $12 million on hand
but also $3.7 million in debts. And the
Republicans are being bolstered by outside spending, specifically money coming from the Koch brothers’ Americans
for Prosperity.
Also, The New York Times reported in
early February that Tea Party groups
“now have formidable amounts of cash
to augment their grassroots muscle.” In
addition, other outside groups supporting hard-right Republicans, including
the Senate Conservatives Fund, are
raising record amounts of money.
The disparity in money for the upcoming Senate campaigns is fueling
a hunger for a “sexy” Democrat to
take on the Kochs. One possible hero
emerged last week.
Tom Steyer, a billionaire, pledged
$100 million in campaign spending to
elect candidates to fight climate change.
Steyer embraces his new role. “The
Koch brothers are pushing ideas that
directly benefit them,” he told NPR last
week. “They are pushing [issues] where
it is going to result in their pocketbooks
being a lot fatter.”
At the moment, Steyer is the Democrats’ best hope to bring “sexy” back.
Juan Williams is an author and political
analyst for Fox News Channel.
Erick
Erickson
Red State
Government
picking sides
on religion
• Because com-
mitted Christians
believe marriage is a
relationship created
and ordained by God
Himself to be between
a man and woman,
they believe they cannot provide goods and
services to a marital
union that would run
counter to that which
God ordains.
A number of states
have sought to ensure
Christians cannot be
compelled by the state
to violate their consciences. The laws are
being badly mischaracterized as anti-gay.
Christians are being
compared to Bull Connor for trying to honor
their God. The state is
picking sides in matters of conscience.
Linda Valdez
The Arizona
Republic
Arizona can
do more on
gay rights
•Arizona Gov. Jan
Brewer (R) got it right
when she vetoed a bill
allowing discrimination against gay people
on grounds of religious
freedom. Her veto
message regarding SB
1062 was remarkably
eloquent.
Arizona has strong
protections for freedom of religion. But the
civil rights of all people
are not protected.
Instead of earning
national condemnation for a bill that made
a preemptive strike
against gay and lesbian
rights, Arizona could
have raised its stature
by extending protections against discrimination to include
sexual orientation.
Some say it’s too
much to expect from
state lawmakers. It’s
time to raise our standards.
Editorial
Board
Charlotte
Observer
Jonathan
Chait
New York
Magazine
Sen. Hagan
too cagey for
her own good
•Sen. Kay Hagan (D-
N.C.) demonstrated last
week why so many N.C.
voters are lukewarm
about her. She’s cautious, parses every word,
and frequently avoids
taking a definitive stand
on an issue until the political ramifications are
clear — if even then.
Asked several times
last week when she
learned that not everyone would be allowed to
keep their health plan,
Hagan avoided answering. Finally, she said, “It
wasn’t clear that insurance companies were
selling substandard
policies.”
North Carolinians
will try to look beyond
the mudslinging in the
campaign. They will
want to see a candidate
who knows what she
believes and isn’t afraid
to articulate it.
Fareed
Zakaria
Washington
Post
Quiet tactics
on Ukraine
the right move
•Conventional wisdom
tends to view Ukraine
as another example of
the weak and feckless
Obama administration.
In fact, by working
behind the scenes, the
Obama administration
ensured the story was
about the Ukrainian
people’s desire to move
West. Now the United
States can help deter
Russia from derailing
Ukraine’s aspirations.
That will require some
firmness but also careful negotiations, not
bluster.
The world is not in
great disorder. There
is one zone of instability, the greater Middle
East, an area that has
been unstable for four
decades at least.
After years,
still no GOP
health plan
•House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said
in January the House
would vote on an ObamaCare alternative this
year, but has walked
that back. The reality is
there’s no plan out there
that is both ideologically
acceptable to conservatives and politically defensible. Carping from
the sidelines is a great
strategy for Republicans
because status quo bias
is extremely powerful. It
lets them highlight the
downside of every tradeoff without owning any
downside of their own.
The amazing thing is
that House Republicans
have managed to sustain
this any-day-now stance
since the outset of a
healthcare debate that
began five years ago.
Gary Schmitt
and Thomas
Donnelly
The Weekly
Standard
Army cuts
have too
high a price
•Alas, congressional Republicans have been the
enablers of the Obama
administration’s plan to
cut the Army. The party’s
accountant wing cooked
up the Budget Control
Act and accepted its
sequestration provision
that allowed Obama
to do what no previous
Democratic president
would dare.
Does anyone doubt the
decision in Washington
to slash its defenses has
been fully noted in Moscow, Beijing, Pyongyang,
Tehran, and North Waziristan? Like Jeremiah,
we say judgment is inevitable. Unless the present
course is reversed, the
wages of weakness will
be paid in increased instability and ultimately
conflicts that might well
have been avoided.
opinion
What other columnists are saying
Editorial
Board
Omaha WorldHerald
Hagel cuts a
step in right
direction
•Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel proposed
cutting the Army to its
smallest size since 1940
last week. After a decade of war in Iraq and
Afghanistan, military
restructuring and downsizing are the very definition of tough choices.
The point isn’t that
all of Hagel’s proposals should be accepted.
Indeed, some cuts to
National Guard and
Reserve forces may be
penny-wise and poundfoolish, since those units
are more economical.
Reasonable people can
disagree about specific
cuts. But there should
be no disagreement that
leaders in Washington
must face the heat and
begin to make these difficult decisions. Hagel’s
willingness to make unpopular recommendations set the right tone.
Philp Klein
Washington
Examiner
Tod
Robberson
The Dallas
Morning
News
Gay equality
opponents to
be left behind
•Last week, a federal
judge ruled Texas’s ban
on gay marriage unconstitutional.
This decision marks
a defeat for Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott (R), who is
campaigning for governor on a platform of
continued opposition
to gay marriage. He will
no doubt appeal. And
given the trajectory of
these rulings, Abbott is
going to lose. It might
be time for him to rethink his position.
The writing’s on the
wall. Gay marriage is
here to stay. Those who
continue to fight it are
destined to be treated
as relics, just like those
who opposed the civil
rights movement in the
1950s and ’60s.
The Editors
National
Review
GOP’s modest
strategy holds
its own risk
•Republicans’ election
year “avoid mistakes”
strategy seems to us to
be itself a mistake to be
avoided. This type of
thinking is one of the
reasons Republicans
have not gotten on board
something like Sen. Tom
Coburn’s (R-Okla.) plan
to replace ObamaCare, or Sen. Mike Lee’s
(R-Utah) tax-reform
proposal, or Sen. John
Thune’s (R-S.D.) jobcreation agenda.
There is no point to
Republicans’ setting
any goal lower than the
creation of a new majority that will govern
more constructively,
and more conservatively, than the last
Republican majority
did. Republicans ought
to start building the case
for conservative governance of our country.
David A.
Graham
The Atlantic
Danny Vinik
The New
Republic
Tax policy
should not
promote
social goals
• Government
shouldn’t use the tax
code to manipulate human behavior. On the
spending side, advocates
of limited government
want to reduce expenditures to give individuals
more control over their
money. This should
be the same on the tax
side. When politicians
say “tax credit,” I hear,
“We’ll allow you to keep
more of your money if
you spend it the way we
think you should.”
Though Rep. Dave
Camp’s (R-Mich.) plan
would represent progress, too much of it still
accepts the premise
that the federal tax code
should be used by the
government to promote
national priorities.
GOP runs
from itself
on tax reform
• Rep. Dave Camp’s
(R-Mich.) plan is exactly the type of conservative tax reform
that Republicans have
been touting for years.
So why are so few Republicans coming out
in support of it? Camp
kept his plan revenue
neutral, but in order
to do that and lower
rates, he had to find
other revenue sources.
The plan could stand
to be more progressive, and also raise net
revenue. But Camp
has managed to show
that it is mathematically possible to lower
rates, close loopholes,
and keep it revenue
neutral without
screwing over the
lower- and middleclass. That’s quite a
feat, even if Republicans won’t openly
say so.
JUDD
GREGG
The last of
the old-style
Democrats
• Retiring Rep. John
Dingell’s (D-Mich.)
superannuation means
he represents a kind of
politics that doesn’t really exist anymore, anywhere. It’s a mix of New
Deal-style social politics,
support for muscular
government regulation, affection for labor,
respect for business, and
attachment to conservative social values.
Universal healthcare
has been a family cause
since 1933. He helped
write the Endangered
Species Act. But Dingell
is a former NRA board
member; the prochoice group NARAL
says he votes against
it on abortion issues
81 percent of the time.
He was an outspoken
opponent of NAFTA.
Who represents this
heritage now?
Some light
at end of
the tunnel
• After much ado and little done
in Washington, is that a glimmer of
light we see coming down the tracks?
It could be, maybe.
There have been three items of
good news during this last week or
so. Three. Count them.
Let’s take a moment to say a small —
but not excessive — hallelujah.
First and not necessarily foremost, but still truly significant: Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the incoming chairman of the all-powerful
Finance Committee of the Senate,
implied that the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Tax Staff may be
turning rational.
For years, the CBO and Joint Tax
Staff have subscribed to a counterintuitive method of scoring tax law
changes.
Each has essentially taken the position that when you change the tax law
to incentivize people to invest for real
returns rather than for tax benefits
there is no resulting economic benefit
or increase in federal revenues.
It is a position that is indefensible
as matter of logic but is defensible if
you are the CBO and the Joint Tax
Staff, and need to have historical
consistency so that too much common sense does not interfere with
spending and tax policy.
Now we learn from the new chairman of the Finance committee that
there is a chance this incredibly
destructive approach to scoring tax
policy changes may be adjusted, at
least slightly.
The implications of this are immense. For the first time, people on
both sides of the aisle who want to
restructure the tax laws by reducing rates, special interest deductions and exemptions may have the
chance to get a score that reflects the
massive economic expansion that
such an approach could generate.
In plain terms, this means that tax
reform along the lines of the 1986
Reagan-Rostenkowski template —
an overhaul that reduces rates while
maintaining progressivity — may be
possible.
Such an outcome would be a tremendous improvement in the way
we tax our nation’s job creators. It
would also give us an edge in the
world markets where we must now
compete.
Second and as a corollary to the first
item of good news, House Ways and
Means Committee Chairman Dave
Camp (R-Mich.) is putting forth a
comprehensive tax reform bill that
will reduce rates, eliminate or cut deductions and exemptions, and begin
the debate in earnest as to how we
grow our economy.
Tax policy is at the center of what
a government can do to incentivize
American entrepreneurs to take the
risks necessary to create jobs and
generate prosperity.
Our present tax laws are a disaster
in this arena. The Camp proposal is a
ray of light that should energize the
debate on how we restructure our
tax code. Up to now, that debate has
been convoluted and dysfunctional.
It is dragging down the nation’s potential for prosperity.
Third, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has proposed a defense budget that
addresses the core issue of how we defend ourselves in this post 9/11 world.
It is the most out of the box proposal since the end of the Cold War.
It may not be perfect, but it challenges in a thoughtful and creative
way a defense structure that has become both incoherent and calcified.
It begins with defining the purpose
of our national defense. It states
that the essential goal of national
defense today is to find and destroy
terrorists who threaten America and
our allies.
To accomplish this we do not need
a “boots on the ground” strategy, or
the ability to fight two land wars ,
which are ideas that are remnants
from Cold War times.
Rather we need to be able to find an
enemy who is not readily detectible
in the historic context of a nation
state. We need massive intelligence
capability . The Hagel budget acknowledges and funds that need.
We also need the capability to deliver lethal force quickly and effectively
when those who wish to do us harm
are discovered and identified. The
Hagel budget also recognizes this,
although it is not clear that a commitment to the importance of naval
resources to deliver this type of force
is fully funded.
Over 50 years ago, our last truly
great military and domestic leader,
President Eisenhower, advised the
nation in his farewell address that
a military-industrial complex that
did not adjust to the changing needs
of changing threats could hamper
rather than enforce our national defense needs.
Hagel must have read his speech.
His plan is a call to arms to defend
this nation, not to defend the forces
of the status quo. It is refreshingly
creative.
In a time when there is a certain
justifiable cynicism across the land
about the effectiveness of our federal
government, these three candles at
the end of the tunnel present some
genuine hope.
It is a nice change.
Judd Gregg is a former governor and
three-term senator from New Hampshire
who served as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.
member of the week
Rep. Takano sets out to make his mark
By Blake Neff
• When Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)
was running for office in 2012, his
website marketed him as a “Teacher
of Congress,” so it is hardly a surprise
the former educator has made the nation’s schooling a top priority for his
time in Washington. It almost wasn’t
that way, however.
A lifelong resident of Riverside, Calif.,
Takano is a sansei, a grandchild of those
who immigrated to the United States
from Japan. Growing up, his entire family was Republican, and after graduating as valedictorian and enrolling at
Harvard University, Takano planned to
pursue a career as a lawyer advancing
Republican causes.
However, during his years in Massachusetts, Takano found his attitudes evolving. Work as a substitute teacher led him
into education instead of law, while the
Republican Party’s stronger emphasis on
social conservatism and his own rejection of laissez-faire economics led him to
switch parties after graduation.
“My switching parties, I think, reflects
a shift from the idea of strict individualism to the idea that we’re all in it together.
That philosophy resonated with who I
was,” Takano told The Hill.
After graduating, Takano returned to
Riverside to begin his teaching career.
For the next three decades, he taught a
variety of subjects to middle and high
schoolers, including American history,
remedial English, and his favorite subject, British literature. (Jane Austen is a
personal favorite.)
Takano’s interest in politics remained
after his party switch, but he originally
planned to make a very ordinary entry
into the field, starting at the bottom.
“The model that I’d always seen as a
little boy, as a teenager, as I watched
other political careers, I saw people
who’d start off in local government, gain
experience, move to state government,
and then on to federal office. I’d always
believed that kind of experience was
important,” Takano says.
He initially followed this pathway,
with his first elected office being a spot
on the Riverside Community College
Board of Trustees.
Takano’s slow road map was suddenly
junked, however, when a redistricting
in 1990 created a new open seat in the
Riverside area.
Takano rolled the dice and challenged
Republican Ken Calvert. Though the district was created with a Republican tilt,
Takano ran a shockingly close race and
was defeated by just 500 votes in one of
the closest elections in California history.
Emboldened by the close finish — and
by Calvert getting caught in compromising circumstances with a prostitute in 1993 — Takano tried again in
1994. This time, things got ugly. While
attacking Calvert with mailers asking
voters “It’s Midnight … Do You Know
Where Your Congressman Is?” Takano
had to cope with his sexuality becoming a campaign issue.
Takano, who is gay, had remained closeted throughout the 1992 campaign, but
in 1994 research by journalists and the
opposition forced him into the open.
Bright pink pro-Calvert mailers
warned that Takano was “A Congressman for San Francisco” whose “secret
Rep. Mark Takano
(D-Calif.)
Date of Birth Dec. 10, 1960
Birthplace Riverside, Calif.
Occupation Teacher
Political Experience Riverside
Community College Trustee,
1990-2012
Education B.A., Harvard University
Family Single
Fun Fact Takano is a fan of TV cooking shows
greg nash
Two decades after his first attempt, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) has finally made it to
Washington.
agenda” included gays in the military
and same-sex partner benefits. His
candidacy suffered greatly. He lost by
17 points.
The severe defeat would be Takano’s
last scrape with Congressional politics for nearly 20 years. Instead, along
with his work as a teacher and college
trustee, Takano busied himself during
his “wilderness years” by expanding his
horizons through travel during his time
off. Takano says travels in Latin America
were particularly eye-opening.
“The perspective I picked up on was just
how important America is to the rest of
the world, and how important it is that
we have leaders who have a connection to
a global perspective and a global vision,”
he said. He also drew motivation from the
poverty of Brazil’s favelas.
“You can’t not be changed by the experience of seeing extreme poverty. You start
to want to think about ways in which you
can make the world better,” Takano said.
As the 2000s wore on, Takano perceived that the chance to run for office
again could be arising. Demographic
shifts were changing Riverside County,
as the number of Democratic-leaning
Hispanics grew.
Also helping, he said, was a major shift
in public acceptance of homosexuality
that would allow him to run without being severely hindered.
In addition to Riverside’s demographic
shifts, Takano also benefited from the
redrawing of California’s congressional districts after the 2010 Census. His
home city of Riverside was removed
from Calvert’s district and placed into a
newly-drawn 41st District that favored
Democrats and had no incumbent.
Takano entered the jungle primary
for the seat, initially finishing second
to Republican John Tavaglione with
37 percent of the vote. In the general
election, however, higher Democratic
turnout came to Takano’s rescue, and
he triumphed with 58 percent of the
vote. With the victory, he became the
first non-white openly gay Congressman in history.
Now in Washington, Takano’s aspirations remain focused on education and
issues he sees as closely related, such as
job training and anti-poverty measures.
He supports “blurring the line” between
high schools and colleges as a means to
encourage more students to seek technical and other job training.
Takano acknowledges that education is primarily a state and local issue,
and decries No Child Left Behind’s
imposition of high-stakes testing as
a well-intentioned “failure.” He says
the best use of the federal government
in education is not to micromanage
standards, but rather to improve educational equality and opportunities for
the less advantaged.
“The federal role is really to focus on
equity,” he says. “We need to pay attention to equity in terms of the condition
of these students, the number of kids
in poverty, as that affects learning. We
need to create the conditions for everybody to learn.”
In a similar vein, Takano says Congress
could act to make sure the disabled and
those in special education receive sufficient funding from the federal government.
Takano acknowledges that major accomplishments in Congress typically
require a degree of seniority, but is otherwise loath to forecast how long he will
remain in Washington.
“I think it’s presumptuous of me to
speculate how long I’ll be here,” he said.
Whenever he does leave Congress,
Takano says he wants to leave a legacy of
improvement.
“I would be very pleased if I set the tone
for the nation to improve its educational
performance … and that we close the gaps
in performance, especially between certain minority groups.”
classifieds
EMPLOYMENT
Keith Winer
Classiﬁed Advertising Executive
1625 K Street, NW
Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006
(202) 628-8532 Fax (202) 628-8514 • Email: [email protected]
Chief of Government Affairs
American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the world’s largest psychiatric
organization, with its 38,000 U.S. and international member physicians and
over 200 employees. The APA is seeking a Chief of Government Affairs to
serve as the senior legislative professional in developing, analyzing, formulating,
lobbying and representing the APA’s positions and objectives before Congress,
the Administration and state governments. The successful candidate will direct the legislative
and regulatory issues of importance to members, develop and implement a strategy for APA’s
federal and state policies regarding mental illnesses, substance abuse and programs influencing
psychiatry, and oversee activities of several APA components. Possess extensive knowledge
of associations and have key senior contacts within organized medicine and/or mental health
organizations. Recent experience working in the U.S. Congress.
Email cover letter, resume and salary requirements to [email protected]
OFFICE SPACE RENTAL
FURNISHED HOUSING
CAPITOL HILL
Furnished Housing
All the amenities of a
large corporate office at
a fraction of the cost.
Fully furnished apts, prime Hill
location. Walk to Senate, LOC,
etc. Great location, great area.
Walk to metro, shops, everything.
Antiques, quality furnishings.
Short term ok. (202) 544-4419.
Detail at www.capitolhillstay.com
Furnished housing
also available
202-210-4566 • 2 Blocks
from U.S. Capitol
capitolhillofﬁces.com
(202)544-4419
www.capitolhillstay.com
EMPLOYMENT
I N T E R N N E W S P A P E R C O LU M N W R I T E R
Research, write, co-byline major newspaper oped columns —
http://www.weinerpublic.com/opeds.html. Preferably you have
written for college or mainstream papers with deadlines.
Need car to home office. Resume, samples to
[email protected] Details: thehilljobs.com
RWA
Policy Analyst—International
AARP’s International Affairs group facilitates global dialogue by
partnering with governments, the business community, academics, and others to identify international best practices that inform
U.S. policy discussions. Through this work, AARP serves as a
collaborator and catalyst to governments and decision makers in
all sectors to favorably shape the social and economic implications of aging worldwide.
In this exciting role, you will serve as key contributor to AARP’s international work by planning and implementing projects, events and activities at both the national and international level. You will track, analyze
and summarize international research and policy developments; coordinate and manage programming
such as Embassy Briefings and an Expert Series; assist with the development of issue briefs on relevant international policies and practices; prepare briefing materials for AARP’s Board of Directors and Sr. Management, as well as top-level government officials and opinion leaders who are participating in AARP’s internal
programming; and contribute to the department’s website and content development.
Requires: Completion of a Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and 3-5 years of experience in program
development, coordination, and implementation; or an equivalent combination of training and experience
related to the duties of the position. Demonstrated ability to communicate well both written and orally.
Demonstrated ability to forge effective internal and external partnerships across groups and departments.
Solid computer skills required. Foreign language skill preferred.
Qualified candidates are invited to apply online at www.aarpjobs.com.
Federal Government Relations Advisor
Well-established boutique public affairs firm specializing in
water, energy, environment, transportation and infrastructure
issues is seeking a government relations advisor to assist in handling policy and budget matters for
the firm’s clients on Capitol Hill. The successful candidate will be a self-starter with significant
Congressional experience, preferably in the firm’s specialty areas, and who possesses the ability to
assist in the firm’s business development activities. Strong communication, writing, and research skills
required. Salary is commensurate with experience and abilities.
E-mail cover letter, resume and salary requirements / history to: [email protected]
The Furman Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
We are working to transform health care through nursing
by mobilizing coalitions representing nurses, other
health providers, consumers, educators and businesses.
Backed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
AARP, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is driven by evidence-based
recommendations from the Institute of Medicine’s report on the future of nursing.
In this leadership position, you will be responsible for managing and delivering
dynamic and creative communications focusing on The Campaign for Action, a
collaborative effort to implement solutions to the challenges facing the nursing
profession and build nurse-based approaches to improving quality and transforming
the delivery of health care in America. Based in the Center to Champion Nursing
in America (“CCNA”), a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
(“RWJF”), the AARP Foundation and AARP, the Director of Communications will
serve as a member of the CCNA senior leadership team guiding The Campaign for
Action. You will define and execute a successful communications strategy that is
integrated into the overall programmatic plans and activities for the Campaign. This
includes: 1) National awareness-building, outreach, and engagement of diverse
stakeholders; 2) Guidance and support to a network of designated Action Coalitions
in all 50 states; and 3) Federal and state legislative outreach on specific topics related
to health care.
Requires completion of a Master’s degree in Communications, Public Policy, Social
Sciences, Law, or a related field; a minimum of 15 years of experience managing
and overseeing communications, advertising and/or promotions, including work
that would expose candidate to the extensive technical aspects of communications
implementation; extensive executive management and leadership skills required;
experience managing issue-based campaigns, involving coalition building among
multiple partners and diverse stakeholders across many sectors including government,
business, education and philanthropy; demonstrated ability to respond quickly
to multiple and shifting tasks. Substantial evidence of strong collaboration and
partnering skills with critical stakeholders.
Qualified candidates are invited to apply online at www.aarpjobs.com.
THE
HILLJOBS.COM
Connecting Your
Employment
Opportunities with
the Most Qualified
Candidates
TO ADVERTISE, SIMPLY EMAIL
YOUR AD OR CONTACT:
Keith Winer, JOBS and Classified
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202.628.8532 • [email protected]
classifieds
EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT
Associate
Executive Director,
EMPLOYMENT
Senior Legislative
and Policy Tax Associate
Office of Federal Advocacy and Public Policy
Senior Legislative and Policy Tax Associate
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) seeks an Associate
Executive
Director
to lead
the association’s
interest
in Congress
and
The National
Council
of State
Housing Agencies
(NCSHA)
seeks
a
federal
agencies
throughtostaff
lobbying,
field
activities,
the media
and
key senior
tax associate
represent
state
Housing
Finance
Agencies
coalitions.
This
role
provides
leadership
and
oversight
to
the
Center
in Washington. The successful candidate must have knowledge for
Public
Education,
delivers
high working
profile and
functional
research reports on education
of housing
and taxwhich
policy;
experience
with
Congress;
and
schooland
governance,
and to and
the National
School
Board Action Center, a separate 501(c)(4)
initiative;
strong analytical
writing skills.
Responsibilities
lobbying organization.
include advocating NCSHA’s tax agenda before Congress and
For
full description coordinating
and application
instructions,
pleaseworking
visit www.nsba.org/AED.
theaAdministration;
with
industry groups;
with members on special
projects; and conference planning. Competitive
EOEsalary, excellent benefits, and growth
opportunity. NCSHA is an equal opportunity employer. See full job description at www.
ncsha.org. Please send cover letter and resume to [email protected], or fax to 202-624-5899.
The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) seeks a
key senior tax associate to represent state Housing Finance Agencies
in Washington.
The successful
candidate must
haveGrassroots
knowledge
Director
of Digital
and
Strategy
of housing and tax policy; experience working with Congress;
Fast-paced advocacy org. seeks Director of Digital and Grassroots
initiative;
and strong analytical and writing skills. Responsibilities
Strategy to develop & implement social media & grassroots strategies
include
advocating
NCSHA’sfundraising,
tax agenda before
Congress and& marketing
to promote
advocacy,
communications
theobjectives.
Administration;
coordinating
with
industrymin.
groups;
working
members on special
Reqmts:
Bachelor’s
degree,
7 yrs.’
exp. inwith
digital/
grassroots
organizingplanning.
for political/policy
advocacy
campaigns.
projects;
and conference
Competitive
salary, excellent
benefits, and growth
Strong strategic
& is
writing
skills,
& team player
attitude.
Send
opportunity.
NCSHA
an equal
opportunity
employer.
See full
jobcover
description at www.
letter, resume, salary history & writing sample to: [email protected].
ncsha.org.
Please send cover letter and resume to [email protected], or fax to 202-624-5899.
Please ref. the position code DDGS:03 in the subject line of your email.
No calls pls. Resumes will be accepted until the position is filled.
REquEsT fOR PORPOsaLs
Vice President, Government Relations
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Water Association
ViceInternational
President,Bottled
Government
Relations
This position oversees federal, state, and local government relations activities of the International Bottled
International Bottled Water Association
Water Association (IBWA). Responsibilities include drafting and implementing industry policies and positions;
This
position industry
overseesbefore
federal,elected
state, and
localand
government
activities
of the International
representing
officials
regulators;relations
preparing
and implementing
industryBottled
grassroots
Water
Association
(IBWA).
include
andcampaigns,
implementing
industryfly-ins,
policies
and positions;
activities
directed at
electedResponsibilities
officials, including
issuedrafting
advocacy
legislative
in-district
meetings,
representing
industry
before
elected
officials
and
regulators;
preparing
and
implementing
industry
grassroots
and plant tours; working with coalitions on matters of mutual interest; monitoring and reporting legislative and
activities
at elected
officials,and
including
issue
advocacy
legislative
fly-ins, in-district
meetings,
regulatorydirected
developments;
retaining
directing
lobbyists;
andcampaigns,
managing the
IBWA Political
Action Committee.
and
working
with coalitions
onofmatters
of mutual
interest;
monitoring
andgovernment
reporting legislative
The plant
ideal tours;
candidate
will have
a minimum
10 years
experience
in federal
and state
relations.and
regulatory developments; retaining and directing lobbyists; and managing the IBWA Political Action Committee.
Previous trade association and water/food issues experience is desirable. Must have strong written, oral, and
The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 10 years experience in federal and state government relations.
analytical skills. Send cover letter, resume, and salary requirement to [email protected] or 1700 Diagonal
Previous trade association and water/food issues experience is desirable. Must have strong written, oral, and
Road, Suite 650, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. No phone calls, please.
analytical skills. Send cover letter, resume, and salary requirement to [email protected] or 1700 Diagonal
Road, Suite 650, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. No phone calls, please.
Public AffAirs MAnAger
Public AffAirs MAnAger
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS NO. 14-02
ALL
RESUME
SERVICE
FEDERAL
GOVERNMENTALWRITING
AFFAIRS CONSULTING
AND ADVOCACY SERVICES
The Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority (ACE) is seeking qualified Consultants to provide
Federal Governmental Affairs and Advocacy Services for the Alameda Corridor-East Project.
Resume Writing - Research - Coaching
Amy L. Leighton, CPRW
ACE and Consultant(s) shall not exclude persons from participation in, deny benefits to, or otherwise
discriminate against any persons in connection with the award and performance of any contract
governed by 49 CFR Part 26 on the basis of race, color, sex or national origin.
T: (703) 781-6154
Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 14-02 package is available for download via ACE’s online bidding
SPECIALIZING
IN CAPITOL HILL, LOBBYING AND CYBER SECURITY RESUMES
system, www.theaceproject.org/contract.htm. Proposal submittal date is February 10, 2014.
www.allresumes.net • [email protected]
The Public Affairs Manager for AAMC will be serving as the association’s contact for public affairs
campaigns
supporting
the association’s
Theyasmust
possess the ability
creatively
plan,
The Public Affairs
Manager
for AAMC willmission.
be serving
the association’s
contacttofor
public affairs
execute,
and
maintain campaigns
working
closelyThey
with must
the office
of government
relations
andplan,
campaigns
supporting
the association’s
mission.
possess
the ability to
creatively
other
association
staff. campaigns
They will continue
explorewith
ways
promote,
strengthen,
and implement
execute,
and maintain
workingtoclosely
thetooffice
of government
relations
and
other association
staff. They
willwhile
continue
to explore
ways
to promote,
strengthen,
existing
AAMC advocacy
tools
also creating
new
efforts,
particularly
in socialand
andimplement
digital
existingMost
AAMC
advocacy
tools while
also creating
new efforts, and
particularly
in social
andaffairs
digital
media.
time
will be devoted
to developing,
implementing
maintaining
public
media. Mostand
time
will be
devoted
to developing,
implementing
and maintaining
public
affairs
campaigns
other
efforts
to support
association
advocacy objectives.
They will
work
with staff
campaigns
and other
effortsguidance
to support
advocacy
work
with staff
and
constituents
to provide
onassociation
advocacy efforts
andobjectives.
direct socialThey
andwill
digital
media
and
constituents
to
provide
guidance
on
advocacy
efforts
and
direct
social
and
digital
media
advocacy activities, particularly involving the AAMC’s app. The Public Affairs Manager will serve
advocacy
activities, particularly
the AAMC’s inter-association
app. The Public Affairs
Manager will
serve
as
AAMC representative
to, andinvolving
lead as appropriate,
communications
coalitions
as AAMC
representative
to, and lead
as appropriate, inter-association communications coalitions
and
task forces
on key advocacy
issues.
and task forces on key advocacy issues.
Qualifications:
Qualifications:
• A minimum 8 years of experience in public affairs with a public affairs firm, an association,
•A
minimum 8agency
years oforexperience
public affairs with a public affairs firm, an association,
government
Capitol Hill in
office.
government agency or Capitol Hill office.
• Bachelor’s degree in English, journalism, communications, political science or related
• Bachelor’s degree in English, journalism, communications, political science or related
discipline
discipline
•• Demonstrated
Demonstrated experience
experience developing
developing and
and managing
managing public
public affairs
affairs and
and advocacy
advocacy
communications
communications campaigns.
campaigns.
•• Hill
Hill experience
experience is
is a
a plus
plus
sERvicES
sERvicEs
•• Must
Must have
have solid
solid experience
experience using
using social
social and
and digital
digital media
media to
to increase
increase advocacy
advocacy engagement
engagement
•• Outstanding
Outstanding writer
writer able
able to
to write
write opinion
opinion pieces,
pieces, fact
fact sheets,
sheets, news
news releases,
releases, and
and other
other
communications,
communications, and
and in
in depth
depth knowledge
knowledge of
of social
social and
and digital
digital media
media tools
tools and
and tactics.
tactics.
Demonstrated
Demonstrated ability
ability to
to develop
develop and
and manage
manage national
national advocacy
advocacy campaigns,
campaigns, including
including
experience with issues management.
To Apply: http://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH10/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=AAMC&cws=1&rid=308
What type of business do you
run/what type of industry are
you in?
NSBA is the nationwide advocacy organization for public
school governance.
THE HILL
HILL EMPLOYER
EMPLOYER
THE
SPOTLIGHT 2014
2014
SPOTLIGHT
Where are
are you
you located?
located?
Where
Located in
in Old
Old Town
Town AlexanAlexanLocated
dria,
at
1680
Duke
Street.
dria, at 1680 Duke Street.
What is
is your
your product
product or
or
What
service?
service?
Founded in
in 1940,
1940, NSBA
NSBA is
is a
a
Founded
not-for-profit federation
federation of
of
not-for-profit
state associations
associations of
of school
school
state
boards across
across the
the United
United
boards
States and
and the
the school
school boards
boards
States
of the
the District
District of
of Columbia,
Columbia, HaHaof
waii,
and
the
U.S.
Virgin
Islands.
waii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What is your mission?
NSBA’s mission is to foster excellence and
and equity
equity in
in public
public
cellence
education through
through school
school
education
board leadership.
leadership.
board
What are
are your
your principles?
principles?
What
Our guiding
guiding principles
principles are
are our
our
Our
four “norms”
“norms” –– trust,
trust, respect,
respect,
four
customer service,
service, and
and teamteamcustomer
work.
work.
What type of employment opportunities do you offer?
The National Schools Boards
Association is an equal employment employer offering a
broad range of employment
opportunities. NSBA
NSBA recogrecogopportunities.
nizes that
that its
its strength
strength lies
lies in
in
nizes
its human
human resources.
resources. We
We are
are
its
successful because
because our
our colcolsuccessful
lective efforts,
efforts, and
and the
the spirit
spirit
lective
in which
which we
we work
work together
together
in
to provide
provide quality
quality service
service to
to
to
each other,
other, to
to school
school boards,
boards,
each
to federation
federation members,
members, and
and
to
other customers.
customers.
other
What is your website?
www.nsba.org
Why is it important to read
The Hill?
The Hill is an important publication
cation for
for anyone
anyone who
who wants
wants
to
to be
be connected
connected to
to legislalegislative
tive developments
developments and
and who’s
who’s
interested
interested in
in staying
staying on
on top
top
of
of the
the politics
politics that
that affect
affect
crucial
crucial national
national issues.
issues. The
The
valuable
valuable information
information in
in The
The
Hill
Hill helps
helps to
to inform
inform advocacy
advocacy
strategies
strategies and
and planning
planning for
for
the
the future.
future.
classifieds
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Rayburn Foyer | 12—3PM
Presented by the American Kidney Fund in conjunction
with the Congressional Kidney Caucus
Celebrate Kidney Month and join us
for Kidney Action Day on the Hill.
Featuring:
vKidney health screenings
vKidney health education
Diabetes and high blood pressure are
the leading causes of kidney disease.
Learn more about this silent killer
affecting 31 million Americans.
vBrief speaking program
Spread the word!
Connect with us
Kidney Action Day on the Hill
is free and open to the public.
v)XQoWQHVVDFWLYLWLHV
vPinkberry© frozen yogurt
/AmericanKidneyFund
#.LGQH\)XQG
For more information, please contact:
Nina DiPadova
_QGLSDGRYD#NLGQH\IXQGRUJ
www.KidneyFund.org
T:11”
America’s food and beverage companies are joining forces
to help consumers make better food choices.
We’re putting key nutrition facts on the front of packaging, and launching
a national campaign to educate consumers on how to use those facts.
Together, we’re helping to build a healthier nation.
Brought to you by
America’s food and beverage companies
©2014 Grocery Manufacturers Association
T:14”
Front facing and
forward thinking.

Waiting for JebgEtty ImagEs

Transcription

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