By Ginger Gibson (ggibson@politico.com or @GingerGibson)
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS ONGOING SAGA – A group of Senate Republicans are trying to get the politically dangerous issue of unemployment benefits off the congressional agenda before the fall election. POLITICO’s Burgess Everett has the story: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has vowed to press the GOP on unemployment benefits — forcing them to keep taking votes on a bill to extend aid to the long-term unemployed. But Republicans have rejected it twice since the program expired on Dec. 28.
“Sens. Dan Coats of Indiana, Rob Portman of Ohio, Dean Heller of Nevada and Susan Collins of Maine want a deal that could bring the Democratic drumbeat to an end. They gathered last week to plan how to revisit the cause when the Senate returns next week, hoping they can get Democrats to agree to their policy changes and finally move the red-hot issue off the Senate’s plate. “We’re still working on the same thing, which is solving the problem,” Portman said in an interview Tuesday. “I continue to believe that we can solve this if Democrats want to.”
“The political maneuvering is a reminder that voting down money for a government program might be good politics for hard-liners running on slashing deficits and spending, but for centrists, especially those from states where jobless rates remain high, looking unsympathetic to the long-term unemployed is a big risk. That explains the nuanced positions of senators like Coats, who has surprised Democrats by engaging in the unemployment debate last week.” http://politi.co/1bL5b02
CBO: MINIMUM WAGE HIKE WOULD COST THOUSANDS OF JOBS – POLITICO’s Brian Faler has the newest bombshell from the CBO: “Raising the minimum wage would cost thousands of jobs while simultaneously lifting wages for millions more, according to a new report sure to inflame an election-year battle over income inequality.
“In an analysis providing fodder to both Democrats and Republicans, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that a proposal similar to one offered by President Barack Obama would reduce total employment by 500,000 workers or about .3 percent by 2016. At the same time, it would boost earnings for some 16.5 million people, lifting 900,000 above the poverty line, the report said.” http://politi.co/1jDiK0U
– House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Workforce Committee Chairman George Miller both released statements after the report saying they will continue to press for a hike in the wage.
EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY— President Obama announced a renewed effort to reduce emissions from large trucks and is acting with his executive authority. The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin reports: “President Obama announced Tuesday that the federal government will further tighten fuel efficiency for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, part of his ongoing effort to use executive authority to address climate change and spur domestic manufacturing.
“Speaking at the Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Md., Obama did not specify what new standard the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation should set for these larger trucks, which weigh more than 8,500 pounds, but he said he was confident manufacturers could meet this “ambitious” goal.” http://wapo.st/1fghuAx
NUMBERS: DSCC raised $ 6.5 million in January, topped NRSC by $ 2 million – http://politi.co/N9oQLy
HOUSE DEM RETIREMENTS CONTINUE – Two more House Democrats announced they are not seeking reelection.
– Rocket scientist New Jersey Democrat Rep. Rush Holt will not run for reelection. Holt becomes the third member of the New Jersey delegation to skip out on Congress this year. POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt reports: ““There is no hidden motive for my decision,” Holt, 65, said in a statement Tuesday. “As friends who have worked with me know, I have never thought that the primary purpose of my work was re-election and I have never intended to make service in the House my entire career. For a variety of reasons, personal and professional, all of them positive and optimistic, the end of this year seems to me to be the right time to step aside and ask the voters to select the next representative.”
“Holt, a member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, is a former Swarthmore College professor. He’s also a five-time Jeopardy! champion.” http://politi.co/1kSNIW1
– Freshman California Democrat Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod announced she will instead seek a seat as a San Bernardino County supervisor. The LA Times Richard Simon reports: “”My heart is here in the district,” she said in a written statement. After agonizing over whether to run for reelection to Congress or a seat on the Board of Supervisors, “my desire to represent this community locally, where I have lived for more than 40 years, and where I have long served as an elected official, won out,” she said.
“Negrete McLeod, 72, a former state lawmaker, defeated a fellow Democrat, then-Rep. Joe Baca of Rialto, to win election to the House in 2012. Baca said by telephone Tuesday that he was still planning to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Gary Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga) but added that he was keeping his options open.” http://lat.ms/1dIIqbK
– And then Baca – who is running for George Miller’s seat — called McLeod a bimbo: And then he apologized. The Hill’s Cameron Joseph has the story, asking Baca about party leaders trying to tip the scales against him: “Look at what we wound up with: Some bimbo who decided not to run again. … Here we go again now with another New Yorker trying to tell us who’s going to be the representative of the 31st. It’s up to the people to decide.”
“Baca called back Tuesday evening to apologize for his “poor choice of words.” “I was just upset the district lost a representative in a short period of time. To me, that’s a disservice to the area. I do apologize for my poor choice of words,” Baca told The Hill.” http://bit.ly/1bkZ3ez
MISSISSIPPI SENATE – POLITICO’s Alex Burns looks at the Mississippi Senate race: “As Sen. Thad Cochran faces a potentially career-ending primary challenge, his strategy for victory is straightforward: Stress his decades of bringing home federal largesse and his long relationships with home-state Republicans; tap Washington rainmakers to fill his campaign account; and bring in Mississippi political legends like Haley Barbour and Trent Lott to help seal the deal.
“Cochran’s opponent in the June 3 showdown, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, is practically salivating over the contrast that it represents. As the 2014 election cycle begins to accelerate, perhaps no race presents a sharper difference of views on what it means to be a Republican or offer a sharper microcosm of the ongoing GOP civil war than the race in Mississippi.” http://politi.co/1kWjCRH
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GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEB. 19, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your-play-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Scott is out for the week, so send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to ggibson@politico.com. You can also heckle me on Twitter @GingerGibson. Seung Min Kim will be taking over tomorrow. Email her skim@politico.com.
TODAY IN CONGRESS –. The House and Senate have both recessed for the week.
AROUND THE HILL – All is quiet on Capitol Hill. But far from the hill members are holding press conferences in their districts. Sen. Ted Cruz will hold a press conference to discuss his energy plan at 2 p.m. CT at Spindletop in Beaumont, Texas. No livesteam is available.
MUST-WATCH: DRIVING THE DAY – POLITICO insiders Alex Burns, Anna Palmer, Manu Raju and Jake Sherman relaunch this classic POLITICO video series, taking you behind-the-scenes of what’s driving the day’s headlines every Tuesday – Thursday morning. Today’s video looks at the future of the Senate control and who has the upper hand, Republicans or Democrats: www.politico.com/drivingtheday .
DISCHARGE PETITIONS – Roll Call’s David Hawkings argues the unlikely success of two discharge petitions Democrats are pushing in the House: “the one they’ve been talking about most enthusiastically in recent days — the discharge petition — has a high probability of failure.
“It’s almost certainly not going to realize the stated legislative objective, which is to break the deadlock created by conservatives on both immigration and increasing the minimum wage. But neither is it likely to produce the unstated political objective, which is to push the GOP into looking like the sort of discordant and mean-spirited mess that’s undeserving of running the House for another two years.
“The reason for those predictions is the same on both counts. There just aren’t enough genuine moderates in the Republican conference, nor a sufficient number of endangered GOP incumbents, to give either discharge petition a chance for success.” http://bit.ly/1eQJXrV
Former Rep. Mel Reynolds arrested in Zimbabwe – No stranger to the legal troubles, former Rep. Mel Reynolds was arrested in Zimbabwe on Monday after authorities found him in possession of pornography, a crime in the African nation. Reuters has the story: “Former congressman Mel Reynolds has been arrested in Zimbabwe, an immigration official said on Tuesday, after state media reported the convicted sex offender had been found with pornography at a local hotel.
“Police and immigration officials were investigating Reynolds for living in the southern African country without a valid visa, Francis Mabika, an assistant regional immigration officer, told Reuters.” http://yhoo.it/1falXpS
HILL ALUMNI FILES: Former Carper aide running for Delaware treasurer – Sean Barney will primary embattled Democratic Treasurer Chip Flowers. The News Journal’s Jonathan Starkey has the story: “He has now launched a campaign website, where he takes only veiled shots at Flowers, who has come under fire in recent months for his troubled relationship with the board that manages a $ 2 billion taxpayer portfolio and questionable credit card spending out of his office. “I will restore the focus of the Treasurer’s office on its core responsibility of protecting the integrity of payments made with taxpayer resources,” Barney said on his website. He added that, “As policy director to the governor, I worked with 16 cabinet secretaries and cabinet agencies of state government to help develop consensus…. I understand that the role of the State Treasurer on the State’s Cash Management Policy Board operates in a similar vein– not to make policy unilaterally, but to work effectively with others to do right by the people of Delaware.”” http://delonline.us/1mrEJNr
Outside spending in Florida 13 –The Washington Post’s Sean Sullivan takes a look at the numbers: “There’s no doubt that Republicans and Democrats see the outcome of Florida’s 13th district special election as a crucial marker ahead of the midterm elections this fall. For proof, look at how much money organizations on both sides have been pouring in.
“The biggest spenders thus far have been Republican-aligned groups, according to a tally from the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending. GOP groups have spent more than $ 2.8 million to boost Republican nominee David Jolly or attack Democratic nominee Alex Sink, CRP’s most up-to-date numbers show. Democratic groups have spent nearly $ 1.5 million doing the opposite.” http://wapo.st/1jQq9gr
Happening in Ukraine – As violent clashes between protesters and riot police continue, government officials are beginning to take more public note of the conflict. From The Hill’s Justin Sink: “Vice President Biden on Tuesday called Ukranian leader Viktor Yanukovych to express “grave concern” about a brutal police crackdown in Kiev.
“According to the White House, Biden urged Yanukovych to “pull back government forces and to exercise maximum restraint.”” http://bit.ly/1oRjvY0
– From the NY Times: “Secretary of State John Kerry urged Mr. Yanukovych to stop the bloodshed. “We call on President Yanukovych and the Ukrainian government to de-escalate the situation immediately, and resume dialogue with the opposition on a peaceful path forward. Ukraine’s deep divisions will not be healed by spilling more innocent blood,” he said in a statement.” http://nyti.ms/1fdcy0B
TUESDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Something interesting happened with yesterday’s trivia that will result in two winners. When Mark Twain wrote “Congress doesn’t know anything about religion… You religious people there are too feeble, in intellect, in morality, in piety—in everything pretty much.” he was writing for Sen. Nye of Nevada in response to a constituent seeking help to incorporate the Episcopal Church in Nevada. Jim Sims of Molycorp chimed in with that answer, pointing to the recently published book by John Mueller “Mark Twain in Washington.” (See excerpt here: http://bit.ly/1bIqG1s)
But the Senate historian had a different answer on their website. In an article on their website (http://1.usa.gov/1bhYNNg), they stated that Twain was working for Sen. William Stewart, also of Nevada. Michael Brumas, in Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office, was the first one to respond with that answer.
Since there were conflicting responses, I went to the Senate Historian to try to get to the bottom of this piece of Twain trivia. Turns out, Mueller was correct and Nye was Twain’s employer when he penned those words. Twain blew through several jobs during his brief stint in Washington. They are changing their website. And now we can say Huddle changed history.
TODAY’S TRIVIA – Michael Brumas has today’s trivia question. On at least two occasions, what former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee prefaced his opposition to Supreme Court nominees with the adage, ‘When in doubt, don’t.’ The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day’s Huddle. Email me at ggibson@politico.com.
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