BIG STORY — U.S. HELPS FRANCE IN SEARCH FOR TERROR GUNMEN. Justin Sink for The Hill: “President Obama on Wednesday vowed to ‘hunt down’ those responsible for the ‘cowardly, evil attacks’ on a Parisian satirical newspaper, saying the U.S. would provide French authorities with ‘every bit of assistance that we can going forward.’ … A dozen people were killed and three others were critically wounded when gunmen opened fire at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a newspaper known for provocative comics that often poked fun at religion.
{mosads}– WHAT OBAMA SAID: “For us, to see the kind of cowardly, evil attacks that took place today reinforces once again why it is so important for us to stand in solidarity with them… The fact that this was an attack on journalists, an attack on our free press, also underscores the extent to which these terrorists fear freedom of speech and freedom of the press.” http://bit.ly/1KlOmGX
TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: HOUSE PASSES TERROR INSURANCE (TRIA). Cristina Marcos and I report: The House voted to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) on Wednesday, sending the legislation to the Senate. The measure passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 416-5, with one lawmaker voting present…
— SENATE VOTE TOMORROW? “Multiple insurance industry sources said that the Senate leadership is working to have a vote on TRIA on Thursday, but the timing has yet to be locked down. Still, the measure should have enough votes to pass through the now GOP-controlled upper chamber.” Our story: http://bit.ly/1KmKO7j.
— Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.): “We saw the attack in Paris today. We realize what can happen with a terrorist attack, how it could happen at any moment and why it’s essential this be reauthorized.”
— Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), top Democrat on the House Financial Services panel: “Unfortunately, because this legislation still contains provisions unrelated to the important terrorism insurance backstop, its future remains uncertain in the United States Senate.”
Some Democrats object to a provision that would change the 2010 Dodd-Frank law so that nonfinancial institutions do not have to follow some regulations place on banks.
THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE. Happy Hump Day. You’ve made it past the first half of the first week back. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-staging.thehill.com; and subscribe:http://digital-staging.thehill.com/signup/48.
OBAMA BUDGET COMING ON TIME: From our Bernie Becker: “President Obama will roll out his fiscal 2016 budget on Feb. 2, the earliest release for the White House’s fiscal framework in five years. A spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget said the Obama administration hoped the on-time release of the president’s proposal would restore some discipline to a budget process that has broken down on both Capitol Hill and the White House in recent years.
“‘We look forward to working with Congress on returning to regular order in the annual budget process,’ the spokeswoman said.
“The president is supposed to send a budget to Congress on the first Monday of February. But Obama has only met that deadline once, in 2010, and has been as much as two months late in releasing the budget.” http://bit.ly/1Kn8ZSY
WARREN CHIDES DEMOCRATS AT AFL-CIO. It was classic Elizabeth Warren this morning, as she keynoted an AFL-CIO forum in Washington D.C. The liberal Massachusetts senator did nothing to squash rumors that she’s quietly planning to challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. She’s insisted she is not running for president, despite a growing number of progressive grassroots groups urging her to get in the race. My story: http://bit.ly/1yBDsct
— WHAT WARREN SAID: “Pretty much the whole Republican Party — and, if we’re going to be honest, too many Democrats — talked about the evils of ‘big government’ and called for deregulation… George Bush Sr. called it voodoo economics. He was right, and let’s call it out for what it is: Trickle-down was nothing more than the politics of helping the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful, and it cut the legs out from under America’s middle class… The trickle-down experiment that began in the Reagan years failed America’s middle class.”
— WARREN GETS PERSONAL, which she rarely did in stump speeches last year. “When I was 12, my big brothers were all off in the military. My mother was 50 years old, a stay-at-home mom. My daddy had a heart attack… The bills piled up. We lost the family station wagon, and we nearly lost our home… I remember the day my mother… crying the whole time, pulled her best dress out of the closet, put on her high heels and walked to the Sears to get a minimum wage job. Unlike today, a minimum wage job back then paid enough to support a family of three. That minimum wage job saved our home — and saved our family.”
GOP FAMILY FEUD: BOEHNER DEFENDS RETRIBUTION. Scott Wong reports: “A day after winning his third term as Speaker, John Boehner (R-Ohio) said his conference had begun a ‘family conversation’ about how to respond to the 25 conservatives who revolted and voted against him on the floor. Boehner confirmed that the Rules Committee agreed hours after the Tuesday vote to boot two of the defectors off the committee: Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), who challenged Boehner for Speaker, and Rep. Richard Nugent (R-Fla.), who voted for his fellow Florida Republican. But the Speaker said no final decisions had been made, suggesting Webster and Nugent could rejoin the committee.”
Let’s drink… bourbon for Boehner?
SHOT, via Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), who voted against Boehner, speaking on Fox News’s “Hannity” last night: “They voted the way their districts wanted to and to be held in jeopardy for that or retribution is wrong, because that would be something you would expect in China, Cuba, Russia or in a communist country … to, when you have a voice of dissension, to be punished.”
CHASER, via Boehner: “We had a situation yesterday where we had to constitute the Rules Committee because of some of the activities on the floor… We’re going to have a family conversation … about bringing our team together. And I expect those conversations for the next couple of days will continue and we’ll come to a decision about how we go forward.” Wong’s story: http://bit.ly/1xSQZg0
— RT @BobCusack, The Hill editor-in-chief: “Recap: No retribution for not voting for me, smiling Speaker Boehner says. Then he finds his inner @RepUnderwoodSC.”
MORE TRIA REACTION. The top groups are turning their focus to the Senate, pressing the new GOP-controlled upper chamber to turn around a vote quickly.
— Eric Hoplin, Financial Services Roundtable executive director: “Senators understand this is too important to our economy to not reauthorize it quickly. We are very optimistic the Senate will protect our economy by extending TRIA in the coming days.”
— Nat Wienecke, senior vice president of government affairs at Property Casualty Insurers Association of America: “We’re very encouraged by the House’s prompt action and we’re confident that the Senate is going to move forward quickly. Everyone wants to get this done.”
OBAMA TO CUT FHA MORTGAGE PREMIUMS, via Clea Benson and Jonathan Allen for Bloomberg: “In an effort to expand homeownership among lower-income buyers, President Barack Obama plans to cut mortgage-insurance premiums charged by a government agency. The annual fees the Federal Housing Administration charges to guarantee mortgages will be cut by 0.5 percentage point, to 0.85 percent of the loan balance, Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said today during a conference call with reporters.
Under the new premium structure, FHA estimates that 2 million borrowers will be able to save an average of $900 annually over the next three years if they purchase or refinance homes. Shares of private insurers that compete with the FHA fell on the news, which Obama plans to discuss during a visit to Phoenix tomorrow.” http://bloom.bg/17iS9Wr
— The Hill’s Vicki Needham reports on the state of housing: “The housing market is expected to continue on its road to recovery this year amid stronger jobs and economic growth as well as increasing home prices. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Wednesday those factors should contribute to boosting existing-home sales 7.4 percent this year.” http://bit.ly/14pB3Ej.
FED MINUTES – – > FED WARY OF OVERSEAS ECONOMIES, via me: “The Federal Reserve warned that turbulent market conditions overseas could prove to be an economic risk for the U.S. recovery this year, according to minutes from its December policy-making meeting released on Wednesday.
— FED ON RAISING RATES: BE PATIENT. “Fed officials also urged patience over when it will raise interest rates. Most economists anticipate that Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen and her team of central banking officials will raise interest rates sometime later this year as the economy continues to improve.” http://bit.ly/1At8BwQ.
QUOTABLE, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): “After so many years of sluggish growth, we’re finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope; the uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama Administration’s long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress.” David McCabe reports for The Hill: http://bit.ly/1yBFXvi.
DAY TWO – – > ALLAN LANDON REACTION. Overnight caught-up with Ted Peters, CEO of the Bluestone Financial Institutions Fund, a soon-to-be launched hedge fund. Peters just left his post as a board member of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank:
Peters: “It’s really great to see the administration is recognizing that community bankers in our country need a voice in the Fed. Community banks have been unfairly targeted with excess regulation since the financial crisis. We need someone on the Fed to look out for our interests… He has been out in the weeds, so to speak, among closely held business owners.
— THE BOTTOM LINE: “Unlike some of the bankers from large institutions who don’t interact with clients, he has interacted with clients for years. He has had a handle on Main Street for years. The Fed bankers are wonderful people but most are more plugged in to Wall Street. The fact that Allan has a Main Street background is a really important factor here.”
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