Overnight Finance: Biden watch; Crunch time on highway funding

We’ve got a complete list of the economic advisers behind all the presidential hopefuls in a special section at the end of tonight’s newsletter…

TOMORROW STARTS TONIGHT: NEW ENERGY? BIDEN TOUTS ENERGY RECORD AS DECISION LOOMS, via Timothy Cama: “Vice President Biden used a Monday speech to outline his accomplishments on fighting climate change, going back nearly three decades. Biden repeatedly thanked business leaders assembled at the White House for their commitments to cut greenhouse gases. The vice president, who could announce any day whether he will run for president, detailed extensively his work both in the Senate and in the Obama administration on climate.

{mosads}”His boasting could prove essential if he goes up against Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the leaders of the Democratic presidential field, who have pledged to go beyond what President Obama has done to reduce the use of fossil fuels, increase renewable energy and help communities adapt to climate change, among other policies.” http://bit.ly/1LkT73N

THIS IS OVERNIGHT FINANCE, and go Birds. Tweet: @kevcirilli; email: kcirilli@digital-staging.thehill.com; and subscribe: http://digital-staging.thehill.com/signup/48. Back to work…

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: TRUMP KEEPS DOMINANT LEAD.  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has successfully moved from the “summer of Trump” into the “autumn of Trump.” And while Washington’s elite establishment once thought of Trump as little more than a political gnat, the billionaire businessman has now transformed himself into a formidable candidate. Early favorite, former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush (R), now seems to be a political underdog behind the likes of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ohio Gov. Kasich. Bush’s political future may hinge on his ability to recast himself as a political outsider.

— Jesse Byrnes on new WSJ / NBC poll: “Donald Trump is in first place in the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll of the Republican presidential race, though his edge over Ben Carson narrows to 25 percent to 22 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) comes in third, with 13 percent.” http://bit.ly/1PvcsD3

FRIENDLY REMINDER, WONKS – – > No one has any idea when they’re going to elect a new Speaker of the House. The nation is set to hit the debt limit Nov. 5. The government runs out of funding Dec. 11. 

Let’s drink… Massachusetts-based “Bully Boy Whiskey” has just the right kick…

SHOT, via Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) in a Hill op-ed: “[Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)] forced the resignation of Robert Litan from the Brookings Institution after he put out a study that just happened to have a contrasting outlook on a divisive rulemaking from the Department of Labor regarding the standard of care for financial advisers. As a former academic, it seems that Warren has forgotten her previous career, where thoughtful individuals engage in open debate instead of silencing any viewpoints different from her own… Warren’s brand of intimidation truly is what is wrong with Washington. She has declared that it is her way or the highway and that there will be consequences for opposing her.” http://bit.ly/1Gf7FTB

CHASER, via David Nassar, vice president for communications, The Brookings Institution, in a statement to The Hill: “Our decision was not connected in any way to the substance of his testimony, nor to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) disagreement with his views.” http://bit.ly/1ZRZrHw

Do you agree with Wagner or Nassar? Shoot me an email. And I’ll include the best responses tomorrow.

FINAL COUNTDOWN: HIGHWAY TRUST FUND EDITION, via Keith Laing: “Congress has just 10 days to pass an extension of federal highway funding to prevent an interruption in the nation’s transportation spending. The current transportation funding measure is set to expire on Oct. 29, and lawmakers are scrambling again to craft a temporary extension before the deadline hits.

“There’s little doubt that some sort of highway funding extension will materialize before the Oct. 29 deadline. The Senate has passed a multiyear highway bill in the summer and the House has scheduled a long awaited marked up a six-year highway bill of its own for Oct. 22.  There will likely not be enough time for the measure to work its way through the House before the deadline, however, meaning transportation advocates will have to settle for another extension.” http://bit.ly/1Lk3TXL

FIDUCIARY FALL-OUT, via me on Friday: Faced with an uprising from Democrats, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez on Friday pledged to make changes to the administration’s controversial proposal for regulating financial advisers. Perez declined to say what would be altered in the proposal or when it would be released, saying only that he is “confident” the revisions will improve it.

— THE BOTTOM LINE: Perez has been adamant even before the Democratic backlash that he would make changes to the proposal after the public comment period. The biggest question for Perez is where or not he can convince Democrats that the changes go far enough and aren’t merely talking points. Democrats have already proven that they’re willing to buck the Warren-wing and the White House on this issue. Perez yet to say what he’ll change and when he’ll change it. http://bit.ly/1GPQvqh

ON-TAP FOR THE WEEK: My exclusive preview for the week ahead for financial services wonks: http://bit.ly/1M1xpiu

DEMS BACK HILLARY ON BENGHAZI, via Julian Hattem: “Republicans have ‘no evidence’ to support claims that Hillary Clinton was in any way responsible for the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, three years ago, according to Democrats who are going on the offense ahead of her testimony this week.
“Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Monday released a new 124-page report summarizing more than four-dozen interviews that the panel has conducted so far and taking aim at GOP criticism of Clinton’s role during the 2012 violence. Nothing in those interviews substantiates GOP criticism of Clinton, the Democrats claimed.” http://bit.ly/1LkR7Z7

EX-IM WATCH: WSJ EDITORIAL CALLS FOR REFORMS: “House Republicans are performing a séance on the Export-Import Bank, as 42 GOP Members have joined Democrats to sign a discharge petition that will force a vote on the House floor to revive the New Deal-era outfit. It’s too bad Republicans are helping Nancy Pelosi reinstate business subsidies, but maybe there’s a chance to salvage some reform.” http://on.wsj.com/1PCGHaj

OVERNIGHT SPECIAL – – > BRAINS BEHIND CANDIDATES, via Mark Bloomfield, a contributor for The Hill: Mark’s got a fascinating look at the men and women shaping the economic policy behind some of the leading contenders who want to be leader of the free world — and the free market: (READ the entire piece here: http://bit.ly/1LH2PPb.)

— HILLARY CLINTON: “[Clinton] is getting advice from more than 200 economists and academics who were part of her husband’s presidency, her public life spanning several decades and the Obama establishment.”

— CARLY FIORINA: “Carly Fiorina (R), uniquely, has been in that role, as chief economic adviser to Republican nominee John McCain in 2008. She knows what she needs and perhaps now that her campaign is taking off, a chief outside economic adviser will emerge.”

— BEN CARSON: “Thomas Rustici, a virtually unknown professor at George Mason University, is the senior economic adviser to Ben Carson (R). His top priority is using tax reform to spark economic growth. He is devotee of laissez-faire icons Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and James Buchanan. He opposes U.S. support of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank because it ends up funding “thugs,” as he calls them, and corrupt governments.”

— MARCO RUBIO: “The Washington Post credited Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) with attracting the GOP’s most sought-after policy expert. Lanhee Chen was policy director for Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 and now teaches law and public policy at Stanford University.”

— BERNIE SANDERS: “Whom does Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) listen to? Two Nobel Prize laureates: Paul Krugman, whom he would consider for Treasury secretary, and Joseph Stieglitz, whose book The Price of Inequality provides more than enough policy recommendations.”

— RAND PAUL: “Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) campaign tapped Mark Spitznagel, the founder of Universa Investments L.P., a $6 billion hedge fund, as his senior economic adviser. He is a libertarian, a critic of the Federal Reserve and a devotee of Austrian economics, which is very weary of interference in the economy.”

— JEB BUSH: Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, is a veteran adviser to presidential campaigns. He served as Council of Economic Advisers chairman under President George W. Bush. Hubbard subsequently advised Romney in 2012 and was considered a leading contender for Treasury secretary if Romney had won. Today, Hubbard is an adviser to former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.).”

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