TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT – – HOCHBERG TO HENSARLING: COME TO MY EX-IM PEP RALLY. My latest for the hometown newspaper: Export-Import Bank president Fred Hochberg invited House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) — one of the most outspoken bank critics — to a two-day conference in Washington. Hensarling and other prominent House Republicans, including Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), have argued that Congress should not extend Ex-Im’s charter when it expires June 30, arguing it’s a form of “corporate welfare.” Story: http://bit.ly/1Ji3nKY
Thirsty? It’s Thursday. Let’s drink…
{mosads}– SHOT, Hochberg to me: “I’d love for him to come to this annual conference. I would love for him to be here — meet the exporters, meet the people who are the job creators and talk to them and hear from them firsthand,” Hochberg said. “Understand what it’s like running a business and trying to compete. It’s very hard. It’s very difficult.”
— CHASER, via Jeff Emerson, spokesman for House Financial Services Committee: “We’ve double checked and can’t find any invitation from Mr. Hochberg for chairman Hensarling to attend his annual conference, so we’ll be charitable and assume it got lost in the mail. Otherwise chairman Hensarling would have loved to have been there to be the voice of hardworking small business people who shoulder Ex-Im’s credit risk but are competitively disadvantaged by it.”
— DAYS UNTIL EX-IM SHUTS DOWN: 69. Hochberg is hosting more than 1,200 people at the conference — including exporters from more than 30 countries, as well as top administration officials including national security adviser Susan Rice and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. On Friday morning, Ex-Im supporters Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) as well as Reps. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) — the top Democrat on Hensarling’s panel — are scheduled to speak at the conference.
THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE. And we’re wishing everybody a safe White House Correspondents’ weekend. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-staging.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-staging.thehill.com/signup/48. Back to work…
REAL TALK: FAMILIES HAVEN’T RECOVERED FROM RECESSION. Jeffrey Sparshott for WSJ: “In some ways, U.S. families still haven’t fully recovered from the recession. Data released Thursday by the Labor Department shows that the number of families with at least one unemployed member fell to 6.5 million last year from 7.7 million in 2013. But at 8%, the percentage of such families remains above pre-recession levels–6.4% in 2006 and 6.3% in 2007… The recession reshaped the way families support themselves and care for their children. The number of stay-at-home dads peaked in 2009 but has been falling steadily since. At 1.3 million in 2014, the figure was just a touch below the level in 2008.” http://on.wsj.com/1PqpbEw
DEMS RIVAL TRADE BILL KILLED. Vicki Needham reports: “The top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday lost his bid to make wholesale changes to a Republican-backed measure that would fast-track trade deals through Congress. Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) upheld a point of order on an alternative plan offered by Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) saying that it crossed into the Rules Committee’s jurisdiction and wouldn’t get a vote by the panel. Levin urged Republicans to reconsider their decision, arguing that the committee was the only place Democrats could make major changes to the trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation.” http://bit.ly/1EwhtY1
NO DEAL: COMCAST PLANS TO DROP TWC DEAL. Bloomberg reports: “Comcast Corp. is planning to walk away from its proposed $45.2 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said, after meeting with opposition from U.S. regulators.” http://bloom.bg/1yXQLFj
2016 WATCH: RUBIO VERSUS CLINTON, via me: Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) warned that big industries would expect political favors from Hillary Clinton if she become president in 2016. “[She’s] is going to raise a tremendous amount of money, more perhaps than any other candidate in American history from established large industries who know … that they benefit from access and influence over government,” Rubio said on a conference call with reporters sponsored by conservative group Americans for Prosperity. http://bit.ly/1QpkhsS Plus, my take for D.C.’s News Channel 8’s ‘Capital Insider’ on 2016: http://bit.ly/1HxC0dD
TREASURY TAKES ON HEDGE FUNDS. Bernie Becker has the story: The Treasury Department moved Thursday to limit hedge funds’ ability to slash their tax bills by funneling investments through insurance companies in offshore tax havens. U.S. tax law generally seeks to make sure that hedge funds can’t use offshore corporations to delay paying taxes.
— What’s in the rules? Becker: “In its new rules, Treasury said it was essentially seeking to make rules that clarify when an insurance company is legitimate. The department wants the public to weigh in over the next 90 days.” http://bit.ly/1bmBPpc
FIRST LOOK – – FIDUCIARY FALLOUT: KENT MASON SLAMS OBAMA-WARREN PROPOSAL. Mason, an attorney working with the business community on the issue, released a blistering critique (read: key talking points for the regulations’ opponents) on the White House’s effort to expand regulation for financial advisers. Mason writes that there would be “widespread unintended adverse results.” “The framework set up by the DOL could work conceptually, but in its current form, it would have the same effects as the original 2010 proposal – cutting off the option for low and middle-income individuals and small businesses to receive personalized investment assistance,” Mason writes. Read his memo: http://bit.ly/1HxFSvl
— MEANWHILE, the administration insists that the new regulations are needed to better protect consumers against receiving faulty financial advice.
WARREN WATCH, via Pete Schroeder: “Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are demanding to know more about the growing number of seniors who are seeing their Social Security benefits slashed to cover student loan debt. They sent a letter to the head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Thursday, calling for a study on this growing segment of senior Americans. The percentage of households headed by people aged 65 to 74 with student loan debt quadrupled from 2004 to 2010.” http://bit.ly/1byZ0NM
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