OVERNIGHT MONEY: Goolsbee resigns; returning to University of Chicago
WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR:
OVERNIGHT MONEY’s Anthony Weiner question of the day: Who’s on the mohair beat now?
The New York Democrat teamed up with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in the past to push back on subsidies for the mohair industry, and a Weiner amendment on the issue was attached to the spending measure the House passed in February.
Weiner, as you may have heard, has more pressing matters to deal with now.
State visit: The White House is slated to host Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany for an official visit on Tuesday. Expected topics of conversation include progress on stabilizing the Greek fiscal meltdown and who will succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the International Monetary Fund. According to the White House pool, Merkel and Obama also dined out in Georgetown on Monday, in advance of a state dinner Tuesday.
{mosads}In what does not seem like a coincidence, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Philipp Rösler, Germany’s new economics and technology minister.
No delays here: Senate Foreign Relations is set to hold a hearing on pending tax treaties, including amendments to an agreement with uber-secretive Switzerland. Look for some members to press the administration on why the treaty does not go further on opening up Swiss accounts.
Or here: Education Secretary Arne Duncan is set to defend a new rule dealing with for-profit colleges at a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Health panel.
Duncan’s department published a final rule last week that limits the use of federal aid when colleges cannot be shown to have requisite real-world job skills. Under the rule, schools will only be able to receive federal-paid tuition if at least 35 percent of its former students are repaying their loans, a sign that they have found “gainful employment.”
The colleges vehemently oppose the rule, and they are backed by GOP leaders.
Republican members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have indicated they will only attend the portion of Tuesday’s hearing featuring Duncan.
Napolitano talks trade: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will address the annual meeting of the American Association of Exporters and Importers in New York on Tuesday. AAEI has been looking to the administration for progress on export control reform, speeding up fast lanes at the U.S.-Mexico border and expanding customs’ trusted partnership program, which allows expedited treatment for pre-approved heavy users of the border.
Wage fight: The National Employment Law Project and the Center for American Progress have scheduled a Tuesday event to talk up an increase in the minimum wage as both good politics (polls well) and good policy (increases income in even sluggish economies, without eating into job creation.).
Groups like the Employment Policies Institute, however, remain unconvinced by the data touted by the groups. “Their results should be discarded in favor of more credible evidence that’s been built up over decades of economic research,” EPI said in a recent policy paper.
Economic indicators:
— The Federal Reserve is set to release figures on consumer credit on Tuesday.
BREAKING MONDAY:
Freshmen demand Obama plan: House freshmen sent a letter Monday to President Obama demanding he come up with a plan that tackles the deficit and reforms entitlements in the context of raising the nation’s debt limit.
The letter was signed by 78 House Republican freshmen and comes days after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with freshmen to impress upon them the need to raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2.
“As members of Congress who are casting their first votes on the creditworthiness of the United States, we are writing to seek your support in addressing the unsustainable and historically high debt that our nation faces,” the letter states. “It is vital that for serious negotiations to take place your administration must put forward a plan that addresses entitlement reform, including Medicare. We cannot have honest and forthright negotiations without such a plan.”
Democrats have been blasting the GOP for endorsing a House-passed budget that transforms Medicare into a type of voucher system. House Democrats have said they will not support cuts to Medicare this year.
Have you seen my briefing?: The Hill’s Sam Youngman reports that the president’s daily economic briefing has gone the way of the dodo bird. (In other words, it’s extinct.)
Obama still gets an economic rundown on paper every day, as well as daily documents from the National Economic Council.
Tax reform? Don’t hold your breath: Manal Corwin, Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs, said Monday that administration is still working on its plan for revamping the corporate tax code, Bloomberg reports.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
— Senate Dems to Biden: Nix Medicare from debt ceiling talks.
— Republican Study Committee to Boehner, Cantor: Definitely do not nix enforceable spending caps from debt-ceiling talks.
— Peter Diamond bows out; Democrats rip Republicans for blocking him.
— Timothy Geithner: U.S., world needs tighter financial regulations.
— GOP springs to action: Treasury says debt bigger than economy this year.
— S&P 500 expected to shell out more in taxes this year.
— House Oversight Republicans want to roll back government workforce.
— And a former Bernie Madoff employee pleads guilty.
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