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OVERNIGHT MONEY: Budgets in focus
THURSDAY'S BIG STORY:
Sequester, snowquester, everywhere a quester: Less than a week after Congress let $85 billion in automatic spending cuts go into effect, lawmakers seemed to be moving on to equally challenging budget issues.
The House passed a six-month continuing resolution (CR) on Wednesday to avert a government shutdown even though Democrats complained that the measure locks in the sequester.
Still, 53 Democrats backed the bill, probably because it will help tamp down any talk of a shutdown, which will happen if Congress can't pass a spending bill by March 27, when the current stopgap expires.
Senate Democrats are planning to discuss their approach to the continuing resolution at a Thursday caucus meeting.
Negotiations were ongoing Wednesday between Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and panel ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) on what could be added to the bill.Mikulski is looking at adding several entire appropriations bills, already worked out behind the scenes with House Republicans. These include those covering the departments of Commerce, Justice, Transportation, Housing, Homeland Security and the science agencies, an aide said.
"While we're waiting for the Senate to send us a bill relieving us of sequestration, while we're waiting for the president to send us something to relieve us of sequestration, we have no choice but to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating," Rogers said.
Decisions on the CR come alongside the expected release of budgets for fiscal year 2014 and markups next week in the House and the Senate.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Wednesday that his new budget proposal, due out next Tuesday, will be slightly different from last year’s blueprint.
“You won’t see big surprises in our budget,” he told reporters.
Last year’s budget cut $5 trillion in spending, but balanced by 2040. This year, Ryan is aiming for balance by 2023.
“For a number of reasons, and with some honest policy changes, we can get to balance,” he said.
WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR
It's a wash: On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee will bring in top officials from the Treasury Department, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve to talk about how regulators can do a better job of stopping and punishing banks for money laundering.
During the past few years, several major international banks have paid more than $5 billion in fines for violating bank secrecy and anti-money-laundering law.
MARKET SURGE
Dropping like flies: The Dow Jones industrial average broke its all-time high that was hit, well, on Tuesday.
The Dow zipped up 42.47 points, to close at 14,296.24. The market fed off positive private-sector jobs data showing that employers added 198,000 jobs last month. The government will release its data on Friday that combines public- and private-sector jobs data.
The market punched through the hovering doom of the sequester that went into effect last week and hasn't looked back, an indication that that investors are unconcerned about those unpopular $85 billion in spending cuts.
LOOSE CHANGE
Inclement weather: House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) on Wednesday was forced to delay the release of his latest discussion draft on tax reform — this one focusing on small businesses.
Camp did brief GOP members of Ways and Means on his proposal, which lawmakers said to expect next week.
Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) told reporters that the details of the discussion draft were still being worked out, and that the briefing touched on the broader issues of how businesses and the tax code interact.
Many small businesses currently pay taxes through the individual code, one reason that many officials want a broad overhaul.
Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said the draft would bring “simplicity to small businesses in their current tax form” and “some new ideas for pass-through companies that make the code a lot simpler.”
Trade talks: The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade will hold a hearing Wednesday on U.S.-India trade relations with the focus on the growing trade and investment relationship between the two countries.
The U.S. is India’s third largest trading partner, while India ranks 13th largest for the U.S.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Initial Claims: The Labor Department releases its weekly filings for jobless benefits a day ahead of February job numbers.
Mortgage Rates: Freddie Mac is releasing weekly data on fixed-rate mortgages, which have been hovering around historic lows.
Trade Balance: The Commerce Department releases its January data on exports and imports of U.S. goods and services.
Productivity-Unit Labor Costs: The Labor Department releases a report for the fourth quarter of 2012 that measures the productivity of workers and the costs associated with producing a unit of output.
Consumer Credit: The Federal Reserve releases its January measure of consumer debt.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
— Fed: Economy growing at 'modest to moderate pace'
— Retailers group backs repeal of employer mandate
— Holder: Big banks' size complicates prosecution efforts
— Private-sector hiring hits 198,000 in February
— Corker: CR shouldn't mandate USPS delivery schedule
— House Dems walk out of committee vote on Republican job-training bill
— GOP small-business tax draft delayed
— Rep. Hoyer: Federal workers should not expect pay increases in 2013
— Jon Kyl heads to K Street
Catch us on Twitter: @VickoftheHill, @peteschroeder, @elwasson and @berniebecker3
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