The Denver Post notes a photo of Colorado state Reps. Rhonda Fields (D) and Jeanne Labuda (D) “slumped in their chairs on the House floor with their eyes closed” is making the rounds.
Rubio Says His Immigration Bill Can’t Pass the House
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) acknowledged that the bipartisan immigration reform bill he helped develop won’t likely pass the Republican-led House, Politico reports.
Said Rubio: “The bill that’s in place right now probably can’t pass the House. It will have to be adjusted, because people are very suspicious about the willingness of the government to enforce the laws now.”
GOP Proposal Would Eliminate Unemployment Numbers
The Huffington Post reports that a group of Republicans are proposing legislation that could give President Obama “an unintentional assist with disagreeable unemployment numbers — by eliminating the key economic statistic altogether.”
“The bill, introduced last week by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), would bar the U.S. Census Bureau from conducting nearly all surveys except for a decennial population count. Such a step that would end the government’s ability to provide reliable estimates of the employment rate. Indeed, the government would not be able to produce any of the major economic indices that move markets every month, said multiple statistics experts, who were aghast at the proposal.”
Tea Party Activists Urge Palin to Run for Senate
“Sarah Palin’s last elective position in Alaska ended early when in 2009 she abandoned the governorship midway through her first term,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“But tea party activists appear eager for a comeback, urging supporters to contribute money toward recruiting Palin to run for the U.S. Senate in her home state, where, according to an email sent out this week, she has a “clear path” to defeat incumbent Democrat Mark Begich.”
Cruz is Considering a Presidential Bid
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “is considering a presidential run, according to his friends and confidants,” National Review reports.
“Cruz won’t talk about it publicly, and even privately he’s cagey about revealing too much of his thought process or intentions. But his interest is undeniable.”
Said one GOP insider: “If you don’t think this is real, then you’re not paying attention. Cruz already has grassroots on his side, and in this climate, that’s all he may need.”
Quote of the Day
“Let me use an indelicate word. Bullshit. That’s what that is… That’s the excuse they use.”
— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), quoted by the Newark Star Ledger, after telling any kids to “cover your ears” at a packed town hall meeting.
Democrats Lead in Generic Congressional Ballot
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters, by a slim margin, say they are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican for Congress in 2014 — 41% to 37% — “which would violate the historical model of the president’s party losing ground in the sixth year of a presidency.”
Obama Preparing to Arm Syrian Rebels
President Obama “is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad,” the Washington Post reports.
“The officials said they are moving toward the shipment of arms but emphasized that they are still pursuing political negotiation. To that end, the administration has launched an effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government — and the more direct outside intervention that could provoke — should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad.”
Major Garrett: “President Obama did not start the Syrian crisis, and the blood-soaked
civil war has never lent itself to easy choices. In fact, the choices
have always been among the hardest any U.S. president has faced in the
region.”
Markey Will Face Gomez for U.S. Senate
Rep. Ed Markey (D) won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate and will face Gabriel Gomez (R) in the special U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports.
Conservatives Don’t Want to Conserve Energy
Grist: “A study out Monday in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined attitudes about energy efficiency in liberals and conservatives, and found that promoting energy-efficient products and services on the basis of their environmental benefits actually turned conservatives off from picking them.”
Clinton is the Runaway Favorite in 2016
A new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll gives an early snapshot of the 2016 presidential primaries:
Democrats: Hillary Clinton 63%, Joe Biden 12%, Andrew Cuomo 3%
Republicans: Marco Rubio 18%, Jeb Bush 16%, Chris Christie 14%, Rick Santorum 9%
Obama Vows to New Push to Close Guantanamo
President Obama vowed to make “a new push to close the Guantanamo detention center, where about 100 inmates are on hunger strike, saying it was damaging to U.S. interests to keep holding prisoners there in legal limbo,” Reuters reports.
“Obama, who repeatedly vowed to close the camp, which now holds 166 detainees, when he was campaigning for a first term and when he first took office in 2009, said he would re-engage with lawmakers to find a way to shut the facility and make good on an unkept promise. However, he offered no new path to overcoming congressional, political and legal obstacles that blocked his earlier efforts to close Guantanamo, where many of the prisoners have been held for more than a decade without being tried or charged.”
Schweitzer Tops Challengers in Possible Senate Run
A new Harper Polling survey in Montana finds former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) leading former Gov. Marc Racicot (R) in a possible U.S. Senate race, 47% to 43% and topping Rep. Steve Daines (R), 50% to 40%.
Why Congress Really Fixed the Airport Delays
Joshua Green notes that the decision to reverse the automatic cuts that were causing air-traffic controllers to be furloughed — delaying hundreds of flights — wasn’t about rich air travelers.
“The group that Congress is helping the most by lifting the FAA sequester isn’t business flyers. No, lawmakers are helping themselves. There is no more pampered class of air traveler than members of Congress… The point is, Congress’s decision to lift the sequester was even more self-serving than you probably imagined. After casting their votes on Friday, most members raced to the airport and went home.”
Jon Stewart had his own hilarious take on the subject last night.
Cuomo Has a Book Deal
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed a book deal, the AP reports.
HarperCollins says Cuomo will write “a full and frank account” about his private life and the “profound moments” of his first term in office, including signing gay-marriage legislation.
The book is scheduled to come out next year.
Many Don’t Know if Obamacare Still Exists
A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds that just 58% of Americans are aware that Obamacare is still the law of the land.
Key findings: 23% don’t know if it’s the law, 7% think the Supreme Court struck it down and 12% say Congress repealed Obamacare.
Extramarital Affairs Website Picks Sanford as Poster Boy
“A website connecting users looking for casual, and often extramarital,
affairs is making Mark Sanford the face of their new marketing campaign,
and it could not come at a worst time for the former governor,” WCSC-TV reports.
100 Days In
“You might not have been keeping track, but we’ve now reached the 100-day
mark in President Obama’s second term. And possibly to mark the
occasion, the president is holding a news conference at 10:15 am ET,” First Read reports.
Al Hunt: “The 100-day mark is a measure for first-term presidents, not
re-elected ones. Yet the end of April is a propitious moment for an
early evaluation of how President Barack Obama and congressional
Republicans are meeting the aspirations set out in January. The answer:
Both are falling short.”
