(swong@politico.com or @scottwongDC)
NEW IMMIGRATION ATTACK: BILL TOO PRICEY – Carrie Budoff Brown and Jake Sherman report for the hometown paper: “Immigration reform opponents are opening a new front in their bid to derail an overhaul bill: the price tag. Conservatives contend that costs would be prohibitive — it’s not just about paying for beefed-up border and employer enforcement, but accounting for the burden it would place on Obamacare, Medicare and other government programs in the decades to come. The exact costs won’t be clear until details of the bill are released and independent budget experts assess the impact of legalizing 11 million undocumented immigrants.
– “[A]rmed with their own body of research, a network of opponents from Capitol Hill, a prominent Washington think tank and border-first groups are preparing to use the specter of the potential cost of an immigration overhaul and its drain on entitlements as their main line of attack. … The Senate’s Gang of Eight acknowledges the stakes: Sensitive to the current political environment, it’s expected to produce a bill that the Congressional Budget Office would score as at least deficit-neutral over the next decade. They recognize that they won’t be able to persuade many Republicans and some Democratic moderates to support a bill without it. …
– “‘These costs are far larger than anyone imagines and would be increased substantially under amnesty,’ said former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who now heads The Heritage Foundation. ‘In a time of trillion-dollar deficits and $ 17 trillion in debt, the cost of every federal program should be of tremendous concern — especially if it’s a program that will add new costs to a budget that’s already severely in the red.’ http://politi.co/17ofhOT
– “The American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, will release an analysis on Tuesday that projects that an overhaul of immigration laws could boost gross domestic product growth by a percentage point each year over the next decade,” Jim Tankersley writes in the Washington Post. “That growth would produce tax revenue that would reduce federal deficits by a combined $ 2.5 trillion, according to the group’s president, the economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin.” http://wapo.st/XAIkgn
– Gang of Eight immigration talks in the Senate are now turning to agriculture, POLITICO’s Manu Raju and Anna Palmer report: “After a bitter fight between interest groups late last week, Republican and Democrats are closely monitoring sensitive talks between labor and industry over a new program to woo foreign farmworkers. Negotiators reported progress Monday over setting wages for farmworkers. But they cautioned that the issue of wages and the overall number of visas that would be allowed under the proposal is far from settled. Regional differences are also causing rifts among senators. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy is pushing to make sure any immigration overhaul includes favorable treatment for dairy farmers who have a major presence in his home state of Vermont. And New York Sen. Chuck Schumer — whose home state houses many apple growers — is urging Western growers … to ensure that an eventual deal doesn’t undercut wages paid by the agriculture industry on the East Coast.” http://politi.co/17ofoK5
Wall Street Journal, A1, “Evangelicals Push Immigration Path,” By Miriam Jordan: http://on.wsj.com/10E3sQL
– In a POLITICO op-ed, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, the 2012 DNC keynote speaker, calls on Congress to pass immigration reform, saying he’s “constantly reminded that immigration is more than a political issue. It’s who we are.” “From Plymouth Rock to Ellis Island and Galveston, Texas, to the sandy shores of Florida and the rocky coasts of California, immigrants have helped make our country the greatest in the world. That spirit, however, is in jeopardy today. We have a badly broken immigration system. But there is hope. We’re on the cusp of real progress.” http://politi.co/17ofQbr
KAINE SAYS HE BACKS BACKROUND CHECKS, BAN ON SOME ASSAULT WEAPONS – Writing an op-ed in the Virginian-Pilot, freshman Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) calls for a vote on gun measures: “Like [John] McCain, I’m not afraid of the debate. Since joining the Senate, I’ve heard from thousands of citizens by phone, email, letter and in person. A Virginian, James Madison, drafted the Bill of Rights, and we in the commonwealth believe strongly in the Second Amendment. But just as we know that the First Amendment’s protection of free speech gives no protection to slander or child pornography, we also understand that the individual right to bear arms is tempered by a responsibility to society.
– “That’s why – after extensive discussion with our citizens (many are gun-owners like me) – I’m prepared to vote. We need a better background record check system. The horrible shooting at Virginia Tech happened after a dangerous young man illegally bought weapons due to a loophole in the records check system. When we fixed it, we made Virginia safer. But too many gaps still exist, and more than 40 percent of gun sales occur with no check to ensure that purchasers are legally able to possess weapons. I’m also convinced that reasonable limits on gun trafficking across state lines, super-size magazines and certain combat-style weapons make sense, and I’ll be pleased to vote in support of such measures. There is no piece of legislation that will eliminate violence. But if we take concrete steps, we can make our communities safer.
– “I don’t want to have this opportunity and shrink from the responsibility. And I especially don’t want a tiny minority of senators and powerful lobbyists to block the legislative branch from even considering and voting on these proposals.” http://bit.ly/YI7ND3
New York Times, A1, “Invoking Newtown dead, Obama Presses Gun Laws,” By Peter Applebome and Jonathan Weisman in Hartford: “President Obama came here on Monday before a roaring, enthusiastic crowd to remember the tragedy of 20 children and 6 educators slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School and put new pressure on a recalcitrant Congress to honor them with gun-control legislation. In an impassioned speech that at times took on the tone of a campaign rally, Mr. Obama told an audience of 3,100 at the University of Hartford that he came to Connecticut to ensure that the deaths in the school in Newtown would not recede and to remind Americans how important their voice is as the gun debates unfold.
– “But as Mr. Obama spoke, Republicans on Capitol Hill were threatening to prevent a gun-control measure from even coming up for debate. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, announced Monday that he would join at least 13 other Republicans who have vowed to block consideration of gun legislation passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and assembled by the Democratic leadership. That effectively made the threatened filibuster a test of Republican unity. … Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, took steps to force a vote to start a broad review of gun-control proposals and accused those threatening a filibuster of ‘blatant obstruction,’ even as they showed no signs of backing down. ‘Shame on them,’ said Mr. Reid, a Democrat.” http://nyti.ms/10E9gKf
GUN RIGHTS GROUPS FLEX MUSCLES – Kate Nocera writes for the hometown paper: “Several Senate GOP staffers have complained to POLITICO about the National Association for Gun Rights in particular, saying its hardball tactics have made life difficult for their offices with its email and phone campaign. Along with the Gun Owners of America, the NAGR, its state affiliates and smaller grass-roots groups are using the playbook of the Club for Growth and tea party outlets — conservative organizations that have forced GOP lawmakers to the right on fiscal issues and punished moderates with primary campaigns. NAGR is airing attack ads in Virginia against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and GOP Rep. Scott Rigell, accusing them of helping President Barack Obama create a national gun registry. The group has launched a targeted campaign on social media and email against an array of Republican senators, including Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, saying the lawmakers are working ‘with the gun grabbers to push gun control through Congress.’ And Georgia Rep. Phil Gingrey, Republican Senate candidate, has been accused of being a ‘gun-grabber’ by Georgia Gun Owners — an NAGR state affiliate supporting one of Gingrey’s rivals, Rep. Paul Broun.” http://politi.co/YcYvzG
8 A.M.: PORTMAN JOINS INAUGURAL MORNING MONEY BREAKFAST – POLITICO’ Ben White and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) kick off the first Morning Money Breakfast Briefing at the Newseum. They’ll discuss the state of the economy and fiscal negotiations on Capitol Hill; President Obama’s budget, expected on Wednesday; the prospects for comprehensive tax reform; the possibility of a big debt ceiling fight; the future of the CFPB and Dodd-Frank. … POLITICO Playbook’s Mike Allen will make a special appearance to join the questioning. You can join as well by Tweeting your questions with hashtag #MorningMoney. http://bit.ly/16gAdWo
MORNING MONEY BREAKFAST LIVE-STREAM for those who can’t join us in person: http://www.politico.com/livestream/
POLITICO PRO UNVEILS NEW ‘PRO REPORT’ — Yesterday POLITICO Pro launched “Pro Report,” an end of the day newsletter with the most essential policy news that broke since the morning cycle — all in one place. The roundup will also offer a sneak peek into the next day’s biggest story lines. Pro Report will be sent to all Pro subscribers by 6 p.m. every weekday, and an excerpt will be published in the next morning’s print edition of POLITICO.
Washington Post, A1, “Baucus seeks bipartisan road on tax reform: Maverick Democrat rallies conservatives and riles liberals,” By Lori Montgomery: “Last month, Sen. Max Baucus summoned members of the Senate Finance Committee to a closed-door meeting to discuss the first full-scale rewrite of the 5,600-page U.S. tax code in more than 25 years. The task would be gargantuan, and much of Washington has called it impossible in these contentious times. But after two years of watching President Obama and congressional leaders take on tax policy and other areas of the committee’s vast jurisdiction, the Montana Democrat who is the panel’s chairman was ready to reclaim his turf.
– “Senators arrived in a Finance Committee conference room to find crystal bowls filled with green and white M&Ms imprinted with pictures of President Ronald Reagan, as well as Democratic Rep. Dan Rostenkowski and Republican Sen. Bob Packwood, the committee chairmen who engineered the last tax overhaul, in 1986. They found a detailed schedule of 10 more meetings, where committee staff members will present option papers for achieving such popular goals as simpler filing rules. And they found Baucus in emphatic agreement with Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), the ranking Republican on the panel, according to notes taken by a Democratic aide in attendance, that the committee should aim to produce a tax-reform plan by August, when Congress will once again need a face-saving deal to justify raising the legal limit on the $ 16.8 trillion in federal debt.
– “The move throws Baucus, a conservative maverick who often infuriates Democratic leaders, into uneasy contention with his more liberal colleagues to shape the next phase of the federal budget battle. With Republicans and Democrats advocating vastly different plans for getting the nation’s debt under control — and the White House due this week to offer a proposal — Baucus argues that his committee is best positioned to forge a bipartisan compromise and avoid another economy-shattering showdown.” http://wapo.st/10OelOI
LOUISVILLE DEFEATS MICHIGAN 82-76 TO WIN NATIONAL TITLE – The AP: “What a week for Rick Pitino! He’s elected to the Hall of Fame. His horse is headed to the Kentucky Derby. His son gets a prominent head coaching job. Then he caps it off with what he wanted most. Another national championship. For that, he can thank 13 of the grittiest guys he’s ever coached. Luke Hancock produced another huge game off the bench, scoring 22 points, and Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools when Louisville rallied from another 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night. ‘This team is one of the most together, toughest and hard-nosed teams,’ the coach said. ‘Being down never bothers us. They just come back.’ More like relentless to the very end. They’re not stopping now, either. The players intend to hold Pitino to a promise he made: If they won a national title, he’d get a tattoo.” http://es.pn/16KaIgr
– Some Senate observers speculated that Monday votes had been postponed until Tuesday so senators could attend — or at least watch — the NCAA title game. Mitch McConnell, who traveled to Atlanta for the game, said in a statement after Louisville’s win: “Congratulations to Coach Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball team for their triumphant march to the 2013 NCAA National Championship. Cards fans will always remember this historic season. This team won the Big East Tournament, made a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, and inspired the nation the way they came together to win their last two games for their injured teammate, Kevin Ware. They truly deserve this victory, and Kentucky is proud of them. Go Cards!”
I GOT #99PROBLEMS&DICTATORSAREONE – News reports that the U.S. treasury Department had sanctioned pop star Beyonce and rapper husband Jay-Z’s trip to Cuba has caught the attention of lawmakers including Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban American and huge rap music fan. He called on the U.S. government to enforce the law banning American tourism to Cuba: “U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime. Since their inception, the Obama Administration’s ‘people to people’ cultural exchange programs have been abused by tourists who have no interest in the Cuban people’s freedom and either don’t realize or don’t care that they’re essentially funding the regime’s systematic trampling of people’s human rights.
– “According to recent news reports, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Cuba trip, which the regime seized on for propaganda purposes, was fully licensed by the Treasury Department. If true, the Obama Administration should explain exactly how trips like these comply with U.S. law and regulations governing travel to Cuba and it should disclose how many more of these trips they have licensed.”
TWITTER TRAFFIC — @marcorubio: If interested in what life really like in #Cuba @S_C_ should have visited persecuted rapper #AngelYunierRemon #99problems&dictatorsareone
** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure ‘State of Pink’ Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Just form a team in your office and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. Winning teams will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more. http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hq_gr_2012_about_hill_teams
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, APRIL 9, 2013, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day’s congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.
My new followers include @BradleySaull and @ClotureClub.
TODAY IN CONGRESS – The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and at noon will vote on the nomination of Patty Shwartz to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit. The Senate will then recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. for weekly party caucus luncheons.
The House meets at 2 p.m. and will consider three bills under suspension of the rules: the Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act, the Black Hills Cemetery Act and the American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act.
AROUND THE HILL – Reps. Louise Slaughter, Lance Leonard, Suzanne Bonamici, John Lewis, Rosa DeLauro and Rush Holt join the Americans for the Arts’ Congressional Arts Kick Off on Capitol Hill during Arts Advocacy Day, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. in the Cannon Caucus Room. Retiring Sen. Tom Harkin will be awarded the 2013 National Award for Congressional Arts Leadership Award.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Brad Sherman speak on Too Big to Fail at 11 a.m. in the Senate Studio. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer will deliver a policy speech at the Center for American Progress Action Fund unveiling an updated “Make It In America” plan to strengthen domestic manufacturing and job creation at 11:30 a.m. at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, 1333 H Street NW.
Rep. Scott Garrett and Louise Bennetts, associate director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute have a discussion on the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Law, 1 p.m. in Rayburn 2203. Blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who won his freedom in a daring night-time escape from Chinese secret police in 2012, will testify before Chairman Chris Smith’s global human rights subcommittee at 2 p.m. in Rayburn 2172.
A bipartisan group of senators led by Sen. Debbie Stabenow calls for the passage of the Excellence in Mental Health Act as an amendment to gun safety legislation, 2:45 p.m. in the Capitol’s Hugh Scott room S-120.
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE … JOHNSON BACKS GAY MARRIAGE – David Montgomery writes for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader: “U.S. Senator Tim Johnson endorsed same-sex marriage today, the latest in a string of Democratic senators to change their positions on the issue. ‘After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation,’ Johnson said in a statement. ‘This position doesn’t require any religious denomination to alter any of its tenets; it simply forbids government from discrimination regarding who can marry whom.’ … His endorsement followed that of two colleagues on Friday: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind. Fifty-four U.S. senators now endorse same-sex marriage. Only three Democratic senators do not: Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.” http://argusne.ws/YH1v6T
LANDRY LAUNCHES PAC FOR HARD-RIGHT REPUBLICANS – Alex Burns has the story for POLITICO: “A former one-term congressman from Louisiana aims to keep stirring up trouble on Capitol Hill from the outside with a new super PAC to support hard-right conservatives in the House of Representatives. Former Rep. Jeff Landry, who lost his bid for reelection last year, will helm a group dubbed Restore Our Republic. The goal of the super PAC, he told POLITICO, is to give conservatives aligned with the GOP’s activist base the same outside support that establishment-side Republicans get from independent expenditure groups. Assisting Landry in the enterprise is Republican strategist Nachama Soloveichik, a former senior aide to Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and a onetime spokesperson for the conservative Club for Growth.
– “Landry, who has been viewed as a possible Louisiana Senate candidate in 2014, said launching Restore Our Republic doesn’t necessarily close other doors for his political future. But he emphasized that the super PAC is a long-term project, which most likely lowers the odds of a challenge next year to Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.” http://politi.co/YcTJlG
THE IRON LADY’S LASTING U.S. LEGACY – Jonathan Martin writes for POLITICO: “Margaret Thatcher shaped a generation of liberals and conservatives, tugging the left to the middle and enjoying a civic canonization of sorts on the right. And that’s just in the United States. Thatcher, who succumbed to a stroke Monday at 87, arguably affected the course of American politics more than any other elected foreign leader in modern times. Along with her comrade-in-arms, Ronald Reagan, the former British prime minister ushered in a free-market consensus in the 1980s and 1990s that liberals eventually concluded had to be accommodated, not thwarted.
– “‘She staked out an anti-government position and anti-union position in British politics which was quite a dramatic departure from what the U.K. had been used to since World War II,’ said former Vice President Walter Mondale in an interview. ‘And her example excited a lot of support for similar efforts here in the United States. I think now it’s finally changing some, but for the better part of two or three decades that was the dominant, abiding political philosophy that seemed to resonate in our country.’ …
– “Former Virginia Sen. John Warner, an Anglophile who became friends with Thatcher and her husband, recalled holding a campaign event with Thatcher in Williamsburg, Va., when he was locked in a tight reelection in 1996. Thatcher, who after leaving government was affiliated with the College of William & Mary, was in town and agreed to help her old friend. ‘She said, ‘I don’t do American fundraisers, but maybe if I was just walking by, I could say hello and that wouldn’t be fundraising,’’ said Warner with a laugh. ‘I support the senator and I hope he will have the biggest majority in November,’ Thatcher told the ‘adoring crowd,’ as one news account put it at the time. As Warner remembered Monday, ‘Holy mackerel, all the contributions doubled!’” http://politi.co/16Jz345
SENATE CONFIRMS WHITE AS SEC CHAIR – Seung Min Kim reports for POLITICO: “The Senate on Monday confirmed Mary Jo White as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, allowing the former federal prosecutor to take control of the agency as it tries to finish key rulemakings required by the 2010 financial reform law and last year’s JOBS Act. The swift confirmation — which was done by unanimous consent on the first day of the Senate following a two-week recess — came as no surprise; White sailed through the Senate Banking Committee on a 21-1 last month. White’s confirmation is the first of several potential openings at the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that may surface this year.” http://politi.co/16JlstD
MONDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Jim Brewer was first to correctly answer that Tom McMillen was the only person elected to Congress the same year they also played in the NBA. The Maryland Democrat was elected to the House in 1986, the same year he retired from the Washington Bullets.
A number of folks guessed Bill Bradley, but he was elected to the Senate in 1978, a year after he retired from the New York Knicks.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – Jim Brewer has today’s question: Which current House members represent the districts that include the three universities that are tied for the most number of Division I NCAA basketball championships in the last 10 years? Which universities do they represent?
First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at swong@politico.com.
GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/
** On the Hill? Then join the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure ‘State of Pink’ Challenge, a little friendly competition to support the fight against breast cancer. Since 1990, Komen’s investments have helped drive down breast cancer mortality rates in the U.S. by 33% thanks to participants like you. Represent your state and keep the momentum going. Form a team in your office today and then come celebrate with us on Saturday, May 11. The largest congressional team and top fundraising team will be recognized on Race Day. Learn more. http://globalrace.info-komen.org/site/PageServer?pagename=hq_gr_2012_about_hill_teams
POLITICO – Top 10 – The Huddle
New immigration attack: Bill too pricey, Kaine backs gun-control measures, Portman joins MM breakfast, Landry launches PAC, McConnell celebrates Louisville win, trivia
