lame

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

Julian Assange took some time from his busy television production schedule to leak internal emails the hacktivist collective Anonymous had stolen from a private intelligence firm. The leak is lame, but the new Wikileaks-Anonymous publishing partnership might prove promising. More »

The photo agency Pacific Coast News just breathlessly emailed us to say they had exclusive screenshots of Paul Rudd’s “hacked” Wikipedia page, above. First of all, vandalizing someone’s Wikipedia page is not hacking. Just because it happened on the internet doesn’t make it hacking. Second of all: “Enjoys sucking penis?” It’s “sucking dick,” you miserable non-hacking, uncreative 14-year-old. More »

We haven’t done a random ‘music argument’ list in a while, so here’s a topic for discussion: Really lame bands with really intense band names. As in, bands whose actual music doesn’t live up to the aggressiveness, violence, or intensity implied by their band name, often to hilarious degrees. A CRUCIAL DISTINCTION: “Lame” does not necessarily mean “Bad”. I enjoy many of the bands on this list – I enjoy Billy Joel too, for example, but Billy Joel is overwhelmingly lame, and these things are not mutually exclusive. Here are The 15 Lamest Bands With Intense Names, ordered by increasing discrepancy between “Name Intensity” and “Music Lameness”, using official science: 15. Five For Fighting The band name connotes “Five Minutes” for a fighting penalty in ice hockey, or just five people who are “for” fighting, two concepts that are both slightly incongruous with the ever-so-whinily delivered lyric “Only a man in a funny red sheet / Looking for special things inside of me.” THEM’S FIVETIN’ WORDS! (That means starting five fights) 14. Savage Garden savA*age – adjective 1. fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed: savage beasts. 2. uncivilized; barbarous: savage tribes. 3. desiring to stand with you on a mountain, bathe with you in the sea, live like this forever until the sky falls down on me. 13. .38 Special “Hold On Loosely” is still catchy as hell, but it’s not exactly the musical equivalent of a gun, unless it’s a gun that shoots catchy southern-twinged mainstream rock singles, in which case it is literally exactly that. 12. George Thorogood And The Destroyers Even if you attempt to defend the merits of this band’s watered-down and played-to-death blues-rock, I challenge you to tell me what they’re “DESTROYING,” unless we’re talking about the second dude from the right destroying watermelons with his sledgehammer. UNRELATED FUN FACT: The bassist on the left is the band’s dad. 11. EMF The group’s abbreviation actually stands for “Epsom Mad Funkers,” taken from a New Order lyric, but the name generated controversy when rumors circulated that it actually meant “Ecstasy Motherf***ers,” one of their own lyrics. Either way, it’s hilarious in retrospect to imagine controversy emanating from the band that eventually inspired THEY’RE CRUMBELIEVABLE: 10. Steely Dan An extremely musically skilled band with an undeniably accomplished discography, but the graph of Steely Dan’s “Career Subversiveness” peaked when they named themselves after a dildo from a William S. Burroughs novel then plummeted to negative ten trillion one harmonious second later. 9-7. Bad Company, Badfinger, Color Me Badd None of these bands are actually that “bad.” At worst, color them Neutrall. 6. Wham! Ahh, Wham! Who doesn’t love Wham!? Just not sure why they’re named after the sound of a fist punching a face. At least, that’s what I assume that sound is. What else could possibly be making that sound? It’s clearly punching. Solved! Entry over. 5. Dead Or Alive “WHAT A HORRIFYING CAR CRASH. Is that driver DEAD…OR ALIVE?” “He appears to be…spinning…right round…baby…right round. You know, like a record. Also one of the dudes is wearing an eyepatch or some sh*t.” “They’re fine.” 4. Smash Mouth Related Story: The summer after my first year in college, I was driving down the street with three of my high school friends in my hometown, and we drove up to a light next to a car full of four girls, and my friend Abhishek, having experienced a year of college and therefore now an unstoppable casanova, yelled “Dude, chicks!” and reached over and CRANKED the radio (which was playing silently) to near-max volume to catch the girls’ attention. The song that happened to be playing? “ALL STAR” by Smash Mouth. Needless to say, the ladies never looked over. Or maybe they all blew us instantly, I honestly can’t remember. 3. 10,000 Maniacs Judging by their biggest hit, 1993′s unplugged “Because The Night”, most of the individuals in this titular raging horde of crazies are either INSANELY playing piano or PSYCHOPATHICALLY strumming violins…of DEATH! 2. Cherry Poppin’ Daddies Quite possibly the most offensive band name ever (if we disregard the intentional predictable-grossness of death metal bands and the deliberately attention-grabbing names of bands like Analc**t and Goblin C*ck), made all the more ridiculous by the fact that these outwardly bragging virgin-sexers had a completely innocuous mainstream hit song. Maybe not completely innocuous – we never did learn how many zoot suits lost their lives on that fateful eve. 1. Styx Styx enjoys a modest, modern-day tongue-in-cheek acceptance among the musical masses nowadays, but still, it just never stopped being hilarious that the band that sang “Lady”, “Mr. Roboto” and “Come Sail Away” named themselves after THE UNDERWORLD RIVER OF DEATH from Greek Mythology that gods SWORE OATHS UPON and which gave MAGICAL INVINCIBILITY TO THE GREATEST HERO OF THE TROJAN WAR (or at least, its most accomplished synth player). Do yourself a favor and read this Wikipedia page for two minutes then watch the video for “Too Much Time On My Hands” and just never stop laughing forever. I’m still laughing, actually – I’m not even typing, these are my laugh-convulsions just coincidentally hitting the keys to type this sentence explaining it lefkdl dw dlwkd lwkd qlkw dwldkff……./////// See? HONORABLE MENTIONS: Godsmack (name already too lame), Panic! At The Disco (ditto), The Killers (music not lame enough), Airborne Toxic Event, Porno For Pyros (borderline), Joe Cocker (his actual “birth name,” apparently) Other lame bands with intense names we’re leaving out? Throw ‘em in the comments.

Slate’s Political Gabfest, featuring John Dickerson, David Plotz, and Emily Bazelon. This week: The New START treaty, the not-so-lame duck session of Congress, and what the 2010 census data means for politics.

Slate’s Political Gabfest, featuring John Dickerson, David Plotz, and Emily Bazelon, with special guest Julia Turner. This week: The Lame Duck Congress, a terrorism trial decision, and Sarah Palin and the children of Royalty

On Tuesday, Speaker John Boehner took the stage at the Peter G. Petersonas 2012 Fiscal Summit and outlined his intentions to again threaten the Obama administration with default in order to extract concessions on spending. I wrote a bit about why Boehner is adopting this strategy in Wednesdayas Wonkbook. But hereas his full speech:

Itas truly an honor to be with you in the historic Mellon Auditorium. It was here in the spring of 1949 that the United States and our closest allies gathered to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, giving birth to NATO.

On that occasion, President Truman declared that people awith courage and vision can still determine their own destiny. They can choose freedom or slavery.a

In our time, all of these great nations face a grave threat to freedom, one from within, and that is debt. It is shackling our economies and smothering the opportunities that have blessed us with so much.

Once again the world looks to the United States for what it always has: an example. It is the example of a free people whose hard work and sacrifice make up the sum total of thriving towns and a vibrant economy. Itas a humble government that lives within its means and unleashes the potential of first-rate ideas and world-class products. Itas a nation never content with the status quo and always on the make.

I got a glimpse of this example growing up working at my dadas tavern just outside Cincinnati, and then lived a piece of it running my own small business.

Instead of this shining example, what does the world now see?

A president on whose watch the United States lost its gold-plated triple-A rating for the first time in our history;

A Senate, controlled by the presidentas party, that has not passed a budget in more than three years;

And, earlier this month, another unemployment report showing that the worldas greatest economy remains unable to generate enough jobs to spur strong and lasting growth.

If you should know one thing about me, itas that Iam an optimist.

Yes, times are tough, but our future doesnat need to be dark. We donat have to accept a new normal where the workplace looks more like a battlefield and families have to endure flat incomes, weak job prospects, and higher prices in their daily lives.

We have every reason to believe we can come out of this freer and more prosperous than ever. And we will, if we confront our challenges now while we still have the ability to do so.

For the solution to what ails our economy is not government a itas the American people.

The failure of astimulusa a a word people in Washington wonat even use anymore a has sparked a rebellion against overspending, overtaxation, and overregulation.

Americans, who take pride in living on a budget, recognize we canat go on spending money we donat have, and that our economy is stuck in large part because itas stuck with debt.

Nationwide, weare seeing a groundswell of support for bold ideas that reject small politics, cast off big government, and return us to common sense and first principles a the kind of ideas that will restore prosperity and substantially improve the trajectory of our economy.

In March, as part of our Plan for Americaas Job Creators, the House passed an honest budget with real spending cuts, pro-growth tax reform, and serious entitlement reform. Itas a far-reaching effort to control governmentas worst habits and capitalize on the American peopleas best. This budget gets our fiscal house in order AND promotes long-term growth. Far from settling for stability, it offers a true path to prosperity.

Various bipartisan commissions and coalitions have devised ambitious plans as well. The math and the mix are different, but the goals are mainly the same.

And of course, there are summits like these that bring together people who just get it. Of course, while Iam happy to be here and Iam sure we all enjoy each otheras company, we can also agree that weave talked this problem to death.

Itas about time we roll up our sleeves and get to work.

For all the focus on Election Day, another date looms large for every household and every business, and thatas January 1, 2013.

On that day, without action by Congress, a sudden and massive tax increase will be imposed on every American a by an average of $3,000 per household. Rates go up, the child tax credit is cut in half, the AMT patches end, the estate tax returns to 2001 levels, and so on.

Now, it gets a little more complicated than that. What will expire on January 1 is cause for concern a as is what will take effect. That includes:

Indiscriminate spending cuts of $1.2 trillion a half of which would devastate our men and women in uniform and send a signal of weakness;

Several tax increases from the health care law that is making it harder to hire new workers;

As well as a slate of energy and banking rules and regulations that will also increase the strain on the private sector.

But a| it gets even more complicated than that.

Sometime after the election, the federal government will near the statutory debt limit.

This end-of-the-year pileup, commonly called the afiscal cliff,a is a chance for us to bid farewell a permanently a to the era of so-called atimely, temporary, and targeteda short-term government intervention.

For years, Washington has force-fed our economy with a constant diet of meddling, micromanagement, and manipulation. None of it has been a substitute for long-term economic investment, private initiative, and freedom

Previous Congresses have encountered lesser precipices with lower stakes, and made a beeline for the closest lame-duck escape hatch.

Let me put your mind at ease. This Congress will not follow that path, not if I have anything to do with it.

Having run a business, I know that failing to plan is planning to fail. The real pain comes from doing nothing a| aausteritya is what will become necessary if we do nothing now. Weall wake up one day without a choice in the matter.

Thereas also no salvation to be found in doing anything just to get by, just to get through this year.

aNothinga is not an option, and aanythinga is not a plan. To get on the path to prosperity, we have to avoid the fiscal cliff, but we need to start today.

To show my intentions are sincere, Iall start with the stickiest issue, and that of course is the debt limit.

On several occasions in the past, the debt limit has been the catalyst for budget agreements. Last year, however, the president requested a quote-unquote acleana debt limit increase a business as usual.

Well Iave run a business, and thatas no way to do it. Itas certainly no way to run a government either, especially one that has run up a debt bigger than the entire economy. Business as usual will no longer do.

So last year around this time, I accepted an invitation to address the Economic Club of New York. I went up there and said that in my view, the debt limit exists in statute precisely so that government is forced to address its fiscal issues.

Yes, allowing America to default would be irresponsible. But it would be more irresponsible to raise the debt ceiling without taking dramatic steps to reduce spending and reform the budget process.

We shouldnat dread the debt limit. We should welcome it. Itas an action-forcing event in a town that has become infamous for inaction.

That night in New York City, I put forth the principle that we should not raise the debt ceiling without real spending cuts and reforms that exceed the amount of the debt limit increase.

From all the way up in Midtown Manhattan, I could hear a great wailing and gnashing of teeth. Over the next couple of months, I was asked again and again if I would yield on my aposition,a what it would take, if I would budgea|

Each and every time, I said anoa a| because it isnat a apositiona a itas a principle. Not just that a itas the right thing to do.

When the time comes, I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase. This is the only avenue I see right now to force the elected leadership of this country to solve our structural fiscal imbalance.

If that means we have to do a series of stop-gap measures, so be it a but thatas not the ideal. Letas start solving the problem. We can make the bold cuts and reforms necessary to meet this principle, and we must.

Just so weare clear, Iam talking about REAL cuts and reforms a not these tricks and gimmicks that have given Washington a pass on grappling with its spending problem.

Last year, in our negotiations with the White House, the president and his team put a number of gimmicks on the table. Plenty of thought and creativity went into them a things like counting money that was never going to be spent as savings.

Maybe in another time, with another Speaker, gimmicks like these would be acceptable.

But, as a matter of simple arithmetic, they wonat work.

They wonat work, and as I told the president, weare not doing things that way anymore.

What also doesnat count as acuts and reformsa are tax increases. Tax hikes destroy jobs a especially an increase on the magnitude set for January 1st. Small businesses need to plan. We shouldnat wait until New Yearas Eve to give American job creators the confidence that they arenat going to get hit with a tax hike on New Yearas Day.

Any sudden tax hike would hurt our economy, so this fall a before the election a the House of Representatives will vote to stop the largest tax increase in American history.

This will give Congress time to work on broad-based tax reform that lowers rates for individuals and businesses while closing deductions, credits, and special carveouts.

Eyebrows go up all over town whenever I talk about this, but when I say abroad-baseda tax reform, I mean it. We need to do it all a| deal with the whole code, personal and corporate itas fairer and more productive for everyone.

Thatas why our bill to stop the New Yearas Day tax increase will also establish an expedited process by which Congress would enact real tax reform in 2013. This process would look something like how we handle Trade Promotion Authority, where you put in place a timeline for both houses to act.

The Ways Means Committee will work out the details, but the bottom line is: if we do this right, we will never again have to deal with the uncertainty of expiring tax rates.

Weall have replaced the broken status quo with a tax code that maintains progressivity, taxes income once, and creates a fairer, simpler code.

And if we do THAT right, we will see increased revenue from more economic growth.

Again, change doesnat need to be sudden or painful.

Last fall, when I addressed the Economic Club of Washington, I said that making relatively small changes now can lead to huge dividends down the road in terms of debt reduction. As we approach the issue of the debt limit again, we need to continue to bear this in mind.

As you know, we could eliminate all of the unfunded liabilities in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid tomorrow, and the effect within the Congressional Budget Office 10-year window could be minimal.

Thatas because changes to these programs take time and are phased-in slowly.

For example, when Congress last increased the retirement age for Social Security, the increase a a mere two years a was scheduled to fully take effect 40 years after the law was enacted.

Another example: take the House Budget Resolution and its assumptions for Medicare reform. Those would not even begin until after 2022.

Smart and modest changes today mean huge dividends down the line.

Now, I can already hear the grumbles a| partisans getting all worked up or people saying, eh, letas wait until after the election.

We canat wait. Employers large and small are already bracing for the coming tax hikes and regulations, which freeze their plans. The markets arenat going to wait forever; eventually theyare going to start reacting.

We now know that we ignore these warnings at our own peril.

Thatas why the House will do its part to ease the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff. And I hope the president will step up, bring his partyas Senate leaders along, and work with us.

Because if thereas one action-forcing event that trumps all the rest a even the debt limit a itas presidential leadership.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe President Obama cares about this country and knows what the right thing to do is. But knowing whatas right and doing whatas right are different things.

The difference between knowing whatas right and doing whatas right is courage, and the president, Iam sorry to say, lost his.

He was willing to talk about the tough choices needed to preserve and strengthen our entitlement programs, but he wasnat ready to take action.

As it turned out, he wouldnat agree to even the most basic entitlement reform unless it was accompanied by tax increases on small business job creators.

We were on the verge of an agreement that would have reduced the deficit by trillions, by strengthening entitlement programs and reforming the tax code with permanently lower rates for all, laying the foundation for lasting growth.

But when the president saw his former colleagues in the Senate getting ready to press for tax hikes, he lost his nerve. The political temptation was too great. He moved the goalposts, changed his stance, and demanded tax hikes.

We ended up enacting a package with cuts and reforms larger than the hike. But it could have been so much more.

The letdown was considerable. And, in turn, our nationas credit rating was downgraded for the first time.

Well it should also be the last time that happens, which is why I came here today.

If the president continues to put politics before principle a or party before country, as he often accuses others of doing a our economy will suffer and we may well miss our last chance to solve this crisis on our own terms.

But if we have leaders who will lead a| if we have leaders with the courage to make tough choices and the vision to pursue a future paved with growth, then we can heal our economy and again be the example for all to follow.

Iam ready, and Iave been ready. Iam not angling for higher office. This is the last position in government I will hold. I havenat come this far to walk away.

All my life, Iave operated by a simple code: if you do the right thing for the reasons, good things will happen.

Well, NOW is the time to do the right thing.

Letas do it for the right reasons a we donat need to be dragged kicking and screaming. Thatas not the American way. Letas summon the courage and vision to choose freedom, to choose prosperity, and to determine our destiny.

Then weall not only have succeeded in solving this crisis a weall be worthy of that success.

Thank you all.

Don’t think of gay marriage as a cultural issue. Don’t think of it even as an equality issue. Don’t even think of it as a political issue. Think of it, just for a moment, as an economic issue.

In the traditional view of marriage, write economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, “the joining of husband and wife yields a more productive firm, because it allows one spouse to specialize in earning income from working in the market, while the other specializes in the domestic sphere. The division of labor allows for greater productivity, just as it does in the workplace. The different skills required for these separate roles provide an economic rationale for the advice your grandmother may have offered, that ‘opposites attract.’” Romantic, right?

But in recent decades, the marriage-as-firm view has crumbled — and not just because social mores have changed. “Washing machines, dishwashers and microwave ovens have reduced the value to the family ‘firm’ of employing a domestic specialist,” say Stevenson and Wolfers, who are, themselves, married. “Cheap clothes can be imported from China, rather than sewn at home. Healthy meals can be purchased from the freezer at Trader Joeas. Whatas more, legal and social changes have broken down many of the barriers keeping women out of the labor market…All these developments have increased the opportunity cost of having a spouse stay home, because that spouse now has greater value in the marketplace.”

One possibility was that, as the traditional economic case for marriage fell apart, marriage itself would decline as an institution. But that didn’t happen. Rather, we developed a new kind of marriage. “Modern partnerships are based upon ‘consumption complementarities’ — the joy of sharing things and experiences — rather than the production-based gains that motivated traditional marriage,” continue Stevenson and Wolfers. “Consistent with this, co- parenting has replaced the separate roles of nurturer and disciplinarian. We have called this new model of sharing lives ‘hedonic marriage.’ These are marriages of equality in which the rule aopposites attracta no longer applies in the same way, because couples with more similar interests and values can derive greater benefits. So likes are now more likely to marry each other.”

And it’s into this institution that gay couples are being admitted, because the nature of this institution doesn’t provide a good argument for their exclusion.

Gay couples couldn’t credibly promise to provide each other with the separate and specialized skills — separate for reasons of legal discrimination, and social beliefs about what men and women could do — that were the basis of the older conception of marriage. But gay couples can certainly share the joy of things and experiences, they can certainly improve each other’s lives, they can certainly co-parent, they can certainly bring increased economic stability to a household by combining two incomes — they can do all the things that form the basis of what Stevenson and Wolfers call “hedonic marriages.”

In other words, one story here is that our attitudes have changed towards homosexuality, and that’s certainly true. But another is that our attitudes have changed towards marriage — even heterosexual marriage — in ways that opened the institution for gays. And that’s true, too.

Wonkbook dashboard

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RCP Obama approval: 48.3%; 7-day change: +1.2%.

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Top stories

1) Greece’s coalition talks remain deadlocked. “Greeceas president is set to resume coalition talks on Tuesday with the countryas political leaders in another attempt to avoid a fresh general election after a meeting on Monday evening ended without agreement. Antonis Samaras and Evangelos Venizelos, the conservative and socialist leaders, and Fotis Kouvelis, head of a leftwing splinter group, held a fruitless one-hour discussion on how to escape the crisis but agreed to meet again, along with other party heads. President Karolos Papoulias has another 48 hours to persuade politicians to join a national unity government according to the constitution or face having to call another election…Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza, the radical leftwing coalition that rejects the terms of Greeceas international bailout, refused to participate in Mondayas talks. ‘Weare not going to join in selective meetings of political leaders … The circle of contacts provided for by the constitution has been completed,’ he said.” Kerin Hope and Peter Spiegel in The Financial Times.

The standoff is raising worries of a European economic crisis. “Political deadlock in Greece rattled world markets Monday, reviving fears that the fractious Mediterranean country could spurn an international bailout, abandon the common European currency and risk a fresh round of world economic turmoil. European stock indexes fell, with Greeceas market now at a 20-year low, while the euro currency continued a recent decline against the dollar. U.S. stocks also fell. Coming only days before the leaders of the worldas Group of Eight industrialized nations meet at Camp David, the standoff in Greece over its political direction has thrust Europeas troubles to the top of the agenda. A downturn in Europe could stagger a fragile recovery in the United States and undermine growth around the world. Fighting a new downturn would be a challenge for the major economies, many of which have not fully stabilized since the last big economic crisis.” Howard Schneider and Anthony Faiola in The Washington Post.

FAQ: Why is Greece in such trouble? And can it be fixed?

@ezraklein: “Syriza” is a rather evil-sounding name for a political party. Pretty sure it means Hydra in Greek.

2) Senate leaders reached a deal to move the Export-Import Bank bill forward. “Legislation to extend the Export-Import Bankas charter advanced in the Senate Monday evening after agreement was reached on addressing tea party demands to reopen a bipartisan deal approved only days ago by the House. Five GOP amendments will be permitted Tuesday — some re-litigating specific agreements reached by House leaders. But in each case, a supermajority of 60 votes would be required, leaving Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) hopeful that the House package will survive intact and go quickly to President Barack Obama for his signature this week…Mondayas agreement, as announced by Reid, came only minutes before a scheduled procedural vote in which he would have needed 60 votes himself to move on to the bill. By coming to terms on the amendments, Reid avoided that challenge, but as part of the same deal, he will need 60 votes for passage of the bill.” David Rogers in Politico.

3) JPMorgan Chase’s loss has the banking industry scared. “A Congressional committee announced plans on Monday to hold a hearing on the financial regulatory overhaul that will look at the JPMorgan loss. Wall Streetas representatives, fearing that the entire banking industry might pay for JPMorganas sins, are trying to contain the fallout in Washington, people close to the matter said…JPMorgan, however, is stepping away from another public panel on the Volcker Rule. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, one of the regulators writing the Volcker Rule, will host a public roundtable this month about the new regulation and has invited JPMorgan to speak. Last week, JPMorgan suggested that one of its top Volcker Rule experts would attend. But then the bank said that this person had a scheduling conflict. Rather than dispatch another executive to Washington, the banks recommended an employee at another bank..” Ben Protess and Ed Wyatt in The New York Times.

The fiasco claimed its first casualty. “JPMorgan Chase on Monday announced the abrupt retirement of the executive who oversaw the unit that lost $2 billion trading exotic securities, the latest twist in a story that has exposed the gulf between how Wall Street views itself and how the public sees the financial sector. To the bank, its actions — which included appointing an executive to investigate what went wrong — were an example of how it could take the initiative in cleaning up its own shop. But to many lawmakers and analysts, the question remains how a bank with a sterling reputation could get into such trouble two years after Congress passed laws to prevent dangerous financial gambling…On Monday, the bank announced that Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew, who oversaw the London unit, would leave the firm, which she has served for 30 years…The bank also announced that Mike Cavanagh, a top executive, would lead a team of officials to investigate the losses.” Zachary Goldfarb and Steven Mufson in The Washington Post.

FAQ: What happened at JP Morgan? And should you care?

@lizzieohreally: Carl Levin just waved highlighted parts of Dodd-Frank at me. Which was awesome.

@SuzyKhimm: Part of Obama’s problem in selling Dodd-Frank: many new regs aren’t written yet, much less implemented. Similar to Obamacare conundrum.

4) Businesses are bracing for taxmageddon. “Defense contractors have slowed hiring. Tax advisers are warning firms not to count on favorite breaks. And hospitals are scouring their books for ways to cut costs. Across the U.S. economy, anxiety is rising about the potential for widespread disruptions after the November election, when a lame-duck Congress will have barely two months to resolve a grinding standoff over taxes and spending. The halls of the U.S. Capitol are already teeming with people warning of disaster if lawmakers fail to defuse a New Yearas budget bomb scheduled to raise taxes for every American taxpayer and slash spending at the Pentagon and most other federal agencies…The uncertainty is already prompting some firms to take action. Many more say they will be forced to contemplate layoffs and other cost-cutting measures long before the end of the year unless the Republican House and the Democratic Senate come up with an alternative path to tame deficits.” Lori Montgomery and Rosalind Helderman in The Washington Post.

5) The House GOP may link tax cut extensions with a tax reform vote this summer. “House GOP leadership is considering linking a short-term extension of the expiring Bush-era tax cuts to an overhaul of the tax system this summer, aiming to give its party a campaign talking point and to pressure Senate Democrats to act. While the details of the plan are very much up in the air, one option being considered is passing a bill extending the 2001 and 2003 tax rates for one year along with a resolution affirming GOP principles for tax reform. The measures could also include some form of fast-track authority, much like the power granted to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, to expedite floor consideration of a tax reform plan in 2013, when the Bush-era tax cuts would again expire…Boehner is expected to address this and other financial issues at a speech before the Peter G. Peterson Foundation Fiscal Summit today.” Daniel Newhauser and John Stanton in Roll Call.

Top op-eds

1) KLEIN: The filibuster may be unconstitutional. “According to Best Lawyers — ‘the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession’ — Emmet Bondurant ‘is the go-to lawyer when a business person just canat afford to lose a lawsuit.’ He was its 2010 Lawyer of the Year for Antitrust and Bet-the-Company Litigation. But now, heas bitten off something even bigger: bet-the-country litigation. Bondurant thinks the filibuster is unconstitutional. And, alongside Common Cause, where he serves on the board of directors, heas suing to have the Supreme Court abolish it…At the core of Bondurantas argument is a very simple claim: This isnat what the Founders intended. The historical record is clear on that fact. The framers debated requiring a supermajority in Congress to pass anything. But they rejected that idea.” Ezra Klein in The Washington Post.

2) SALAM: The U.S. economy shouldn’t follow China’s model. “Americans have always looked abroad for inspiration. Alexander Hamilton drew on the experience of Britain and France to shape the economic institutions of the early republic. In the early 19th century, Henry Clay championed tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements in an effort to match Britainas economic might. As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, Germany emerged as an industrial colossus, and American intellectuals had a new model. During the 1950s, at least some Americans, mainly but not exclusively on the political left, saw the breakneck modernization of the Soviet Union as a clear indication that the old-fashioned market economy was on its last legs…But the belief that we had much to learn from the Soviets was both dangerous and stupid. And much the same can be said for the current enthusiasm over Chinaas economic model.” Reihan Salam in National Review.

3) BERWICK: Cheaper healthcare can mean better healthcare. “Reducing costs wonat just rescue health care; it will also help rescue our schools, our roads, our museums, our wages, and the competitiveness of our corporations…The route is simple: improve care. In a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, my colleague Andy Hackbarth and I estimated the amount of pure waste in American health care — overtreatment that helps no patient at all (like treating viral infections with antibiotics), errors and injuries from unsafe care, failures in coordination (such as sending people home from hospitals without supports), needless administrative complexity, failures of price competition, and fraud. The lowest estimate of total waste in these six categories was 21 percent of health care costs; the highest was 47 percent; and the midpoint was 34 percent. When we are wasting $1 in of every $3, it makes no sense to say we cannot afford to make health care a human right without rationing. Donat cut care. Cut waste.” Donald Berwick in The Boston Globe.

4) SCHMITT: Link worker pay to corporate taxes to fight inequality. “The tax code can be part of the solution. The first step is to end the preferential treatment of income from capital gains, which economists like Princetonas Alan Blinder have shown to have no lasting effect on total investment or the economy. But we can and should go further, actively using the corporate tax code to create a real incentive to pay CEOs less, and workers more, by linking the head honchoas compensation to both employee salaries and tax rates. Hereas how the idea could work. The current corporate tax rate is a flat 35 percent. In an equity-based corporate tax system, companies with a pay ratio at the historic norm of 40:1, or even up to 60:1, would pay the existing rate and be able to deduct executive pay. But companies that pay their top executives more than 60 times the average worker (including employees in overseas subsidiaries) would pay a higher rate, 40 percent, and those with extreme pay differentials, 80:1 or higher, would pay 45 percent.” Mark Schmitt in GOOD.

5) STEVENSON AND WOLFERS: An economic mode of marriage equality. For our grandparentsa generation, marriage was about separate roles, separate spheres and specialization. Gary Becker, an economist at the University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize partly for describing the family as an economic institution — a bit like a small firm that employs people with different skills to produce both income and a well-run household. In Beckeras view, the joining of husband and wife yields a more productive firm, because it allows one spouse to specialize in earning income from working in the market, while the other specializes in the domestic sphere. The division of labor allows for greater productivity, just as it does in the workplace…Modern marriage offers different benefits. Today, we search for a soul mate rather than a good homemaker or provider. We are more likely to regard marriage as a forum for shared experiences and passions. Viewed through an economic frame, modern partnerships are based upon ‘consumption complementarities’ — the joy of sharing things and experiences — rather than the production-based gains that motivated traditional marriage. Consistent with this, co- parenting has replaced the separate roles of nurturer and disciplinarian.” Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers at Bloomberg View.

Anti-folk interlude: Kimya Dawson plays “I like Giants” live.

Got tips, additions, or comments? E-mail me.

Still to come: A fall in commodities prices sparks worries of deflation; a turf war over primary care; colleges begin to confront costs; regulators worry about solar flares; and a harbor seal pup explores the water for the first time.

Economy

New data suggests the eurozone has returned to recession. “Industrial production in the 17 countries that use the euro fell unexpectedly in March, leaving little doubt the region contracted for a second straight quarter in the first three months of the year and returned to recession, data by Eurostat showed Monday. The European Union’s statistical agency will publish the first estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product Tuesday. Economists are forecasting a 0.2% quarterly decline, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll. Industrial production fell 0.3% on the month in March and by 2.2% on the year. The latter was the steepest drop since a 3.7% decline in December 2009, while the monthly decline was because of a sharp 8.5% decrease in energy production as the weather in March was warmer than usual for the time of year, a Eurostat statistician said…The data were weaker than expected. Economists had forecast a 0.5% monthly increase and a 1.2% year-on-year fall.” Ilona Billington in The Wall Street Journal.

Commodities prices fell to a new yearly low. “The prices of key commodities fell to their lowest level of the year on Monday, dragged down by worries about Europeas debt crisis and the possibility of a slowdown in China, the worldas second-largest economy. An emerging concern among some economists and investors is that the declining prices of materials such as gold and crude oil could be an early signal of deflation — a decline of prices that is economically corrosive because it makes it more difficult for businesses to make a profit. The downturn in prices is reflected in broad measures of commodity prices. The Standard & Pooras GSCI, an index tracking prices for crude oil, gold, copper and several other commodities, has dropped more than 6 percent this month so far. Even the price of gold, which usually rises when investors have concerns about the economy, has fallen.” Jia Lynn Yang in The Washington Post.

Smile for the camera interlude: Videos of people who think they are posing for a picture.

Health Care

Romney and Obama differ sharply on Medicare. “President Obama and Mitt Romney agree on one thing about Medicare: the differences between them are huge…Mr. Romney, who would limit the governmentas current open-ended financial commitment to Medicare, contends that Mr. Obama has no workable plan to prevent Medicare from going bankrupt. Under the Romney proposal, the government would contribute a fixed amount of money on behalf of each beneficiary, and future beneficiaries could use the money to buy private insurance or to help pay for traditional Medicare…Mr. Obama assails the Romney proposal for the same reason he denounced a similar plan devised by Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Budget Committee: the government contribution, he says, would not keep up with the rising cost of health care, so Medicare beneficiaries — older Americans and people with disabilities — would have to pay more of the cost.” Robert Pear in The New York Times.

A primary care turf war is heating up. “Nurse practitioners are rolling out a campaign this week to explain what, exactly, nurse practitioners do — and why patients should trust them with their medical needs…The AANP will follow up on the public relations blitz with state-level lobbying efforts, looking to pass bills that will expand the range of medical procedures that their membership can perform…All states have ‘scope of practice’ laws, which regulate what medical procedures each profession can, and cannot, perform, given their level of education…In 16 states, nurse practitioners can practice without the supervision of another professional such as a doctor. Other states, however, require a physician to sign off on a nurse practitioneras prescriptions, for example, or diagnostic tests. As the health insurance expansion looms, expanding those rules to other states has become a crucial priority for nurse practitioners.” Sarah Kliff in The Washington Post.

A senator is floating a plan to make HIV drugs cheaper. “Why do American patients pay tens of thousands of dollars each year for HIV drugs that cost just hundreds in Africa? Drugmakers wave their patent rights in developing countries as part of the Presidentas Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief. But the higher cost of brand-name drugs in the United States makes it difficult for many HIV patients to stay on drug regimens that can cost as much as $30,000 a year. Thatas the challenge a Senate subcommittee will explore on Tuesday at a hearing on how to narrow the gap. Itas mainly a vehicle one proposed solution — a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would award prize money rather than grant patent rights to manufacturers that develop new HIV drugs, allowing the medication to go straight to the generic market. But the hearing will also look at the root causes of a dilemma that has had some HIV patients and drugmakers at odds for years.” J. Lester Feder in Politico.

@petersuderman: This new issue of Health Affairs looks so, so awesome. All coverage expansion all the time!

Domestic Policy

Broadcasters are pushing back on recent FCC moves. “TV broadcasters look at the Federal Communications Commissionas recent drive to move them off frequencies and put their political advertising rates on the Internet and draw one conclusion: The FCC has it in for television. And broadcasters are fighting back by publicly airing that charge in the midst of the ongoing policy debate on freeing up airwaves for wireless broadband…For decades, televisionas use of the airwaves was virtually unchallenged. Under Chairman Julius Genachowski, the FCC has focused on fostering mobile broadband as the essential communications platform of the future. As broadcasters see it, television has become a much less important medium to the agency…In the wrangling over spectrum, broadcasters see the wireless industry — which is clamoring for access to more airwaves to satisfy the exploding amount of broadband data traffic — as their main foe. As the wireless industry sees it, the best use of finite spectrum resources is mobile broadband.” Brooks Boliek in Politico.

A federal judge struck down a NLRB rule on union elections. “A federal judge ruled Monday that a contentious union election rule proposed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is ‘invalid.’ In an 18-page memorandum opinion, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg struck the regulation down, saying the labor board only had two members when it voted on the final rule in December 2011. Boasberg said the agency needed at least three members to have a quorum for action on the rule…Two NLRB members — Chairman Mark Pearce and then-Member Craig Becker, both Democrats — participated in adopting the rule. The labor boardas third member at the time, Republican Brian Hayes, did not participate…The judge said the decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ‘may seem unduly technical,’ but cited a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that the NLRB needs a quorum of three members to issue regulations and make rulings. Boasberg said his ruling was not made on the merits of the union election rule and noted the NLRB could vote again to pass it.” Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

@AlecMacGillis: Dems’ failure to pass labor law reform in ’09-’10 haunts once again–a judge just threw out NLRB’s incremental new rule to ease organizing.

Colleges are beginning to confront costs. “College presidents across the country are confronting the same realization, trying to manage their institutions with fewer state dollars without sacrificing quality or all-important academic rankings. Tuition increases had been a relatively easy fix but now — with the balance of student debt topping $1 trillion and an increasing number of borrowers struggling to pay — some administrators acknowledge that they cannot keep putting the financial onus on students and their families. Increasingly, they are looking for other ways to pay for education, stepping up private fund-raising, privatizing services, cutting staff, eliminating departments — even saving millions of dollars by standardizing things like expense forms…The problems arenat confined to public colleges. Administrators at some nonprofit private institutions said they too had come to realize they could not keep raising tuition and fees.” Andrew Martin in The New York Times.

Adorable animals exploring the world interlude: The firsts of a harbor seal pup.

Energy

A transmission line for offshore wind is moving forward. “A pioneering proposal to build a wind power transmission line on the ocean floor from southern Virginia to northern New Jersey cleared a hurdle on Monday when the Interior Department opened the way for the projectas sponsors to start work on an environmental impact statement. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the Interior Department, said that no competitor had emerged for the right-of-way for the proposed transmission line, known as the Atlantic Wind Connection, allowing the bureau to issue a ‘determination of no competitive interest.’ By linking wind farms 15 to 20 miles off the coast, the backbone would greatly reduce the number of individual radial lines needed to bring the energy to shore…Construction of the full project would take about 10 years, according to the company. The right-of-way corridor, including branches to reach the shore at intermediate points, would run about 790 miles, the Interior Department said.” Matthew Wald in The New York Times.

Regulators are considering options to protect the grid from solar flares. “With a peak in the cycle of solar flares approaching, U.S. electricity regulators are weighing their options for protecting the nation’s grid from the sun’s eruptions–including new equipment standards and retrofits–while keeping a lid on the cost. They are studying the impact of historic sunstorms as far back as 1859 to see if the system needs an upgrade, and encountering a clash of views on how serious the threat is and what should be done about it…The sun is expected to hit a peak eruption period in 2013, and while superstorms don’t always occur in peak periods, some warn of a disaster. John Kappenman, a consultant and former power engineer who has spent decades researching the storms, says the modern power grid isn’t hardened for the worst nature has to offer. He says an extreme storm could cause blackouts lasting weeks or months, leaving major cities temporarily uninhabitable and taking a massive economic toll.” Ryan Tracy in The Wall Street Journal.

Highway crashes are the leading cause of fatalities for oil and gas workers. “Over the past decade, more than 300 oil and gas workers like Mr. Roth were killed in highway crashes, the largest cause of fatalities in the industry. Many of these deaths were due in part to oil field exemptions from highway safety rules that allow truckers to work longer hours than drivers in most other industries, according to safety and health experts. Many oil field truckers say that while these exemptions help them earn more money, they are routinely used to pressure workers into driving after shifts that are 20 hours or longer…Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board said it ‘strongly opposed’ the oil field exemptions because they raise the risk of crashes. This threat will grow substantially in coming years, safety advocates warn. According to federal officials, more than 200,000 new oil and gas wells will be drilled nationwide over the next decade.” Ian Urbina in The New York Times.

Wonkbook is compiled and produced with help from Karl Singer and Michelle Williams.

Of the big banks, JPMorgan Chase arguably came through the crisis best. And its CEO, Jamie Dimon, has been using the credibility built up during that period to fight the Volcker rule. aPaul Volcker by his own admission has said he doesnat understand capital markets,a Dimon told Fox Business earlier this year. aHe has proven that to me.a

And then, last night, JPMorgan Chase announced it had lost $2 billion on some very big, very dumb hedges. For proponents of stricter financial regulation, Dimon’s giant loss is a huge gift. The final version of the Volcker rule is scheduled to be released in the coming months. Dimon swears that these trades would have been compliant with the previous drafts of the Volcker rule. That will give regulators a strong incentive to make sure future trades like these aren’t.

Dimon, for his part, doesn’t see the relevance. aJust because weare stupid doesnat mean everybody else was,a he said on a Thursday conference call. aThere were huge moves in the marketplace but we made these positions more complex and they were badly monitored.a

But the point of the Volcker rule — and of financial regulation more generally — isn’t to punish banks for being evil. It’s to protect the rest of us from banks being stupid. And if the most prudent of the big banks can’t keep itself from being this stupid this soon after the financial crisis, then it’s pretty clear we’re going to need very strong rules to keep them from being stupid in the years to come, when the lessons of the financial crisis have faded more completely.

As Reuters’ Felix Salmon writes, “JP Morgan more or less invented risk management. If they canat do it, no bank can. And no sensible regulator can ever trust the banks to self-regulate.”

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RCP Obama vs. Romney: Obama +1.5%; 7-day change: Obama -2.1%.

RCP Obama approval: 47.4%; 7-day change: -.7%.

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Top stories

1) A massive bet gone wrong cost JP Morgan Chase at least $2 billion. “A massive trading bet boomeranged on J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., leaving the bank with at least $2 billion in trading losses and its chief executive, James Dimon, with a rare black eye following a long run as what some called the ‘King of Wall Street.’ The losses stemmed from wagers gone wrong in the bank’s Chief Investment Office, which manages risk for the New York company. The Wall Street Journal reported early last month that large positions taken in that office by a trader nicknamed ‘the London whale’ had roiled a sector of the debt markets. The bank, betting on a continued economic recovery with a complex web of trades tied to the values of corporate bonds, was hit hard when prices moved against it starting last month, causing losses in many of its derivatives positions. The losses occurred while J.P. Morgan tried to scale back that trade.” Dan Fitzpatrick, Gregory Zuckerman, and Liz Rappaport in The Wall Street Journal.

The loss is putting the spotlight on the Volcker Rule. “JPMorgan Chaseas $2 billion trading loss, which was disclosed on Thursday, could give supporters of tighter industry regulation a huge new piece of ammunition as they fight a last-ditch battle with the banks over new federal rules that may redefine how banks do business…The centerpiece of the new regulations, the so-called Volcker Rule, forbids banks from making bets with their own money, and a final version is expected to be issued by federal officials in the coming months. With the financial crisis fading from view, banks have successfully pushed for some exceptions that critics say will allow them to simply make proprietary trades under a different name, in this case for the purposes of hedging and market-making. The missteps by JPMorgan could highlight that murky line between proprietary trading and hedging. The bank unit responsible for losses takes positions to hedge activities in other parts of the bank.” Nelson Schwartz in The New York Times.

@lizzieohreally: Dimonfreude.

@BCAppelbaum: If losing $2 billion in your trading operations doesn’t violate the Volcker Rule, is it possible that we might need a broader rule?

@ezraklein: At this point in time, I feel comfortable predicting Jamie Dimon will not replace Tim Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury

2) The U.S. ran a monthly surplus for the first time since 2008. “The federal government posted a budget surplus in April as tax receipts rose, the first month that revenue has outpaced spending in more than three and a half years. The Treasury Department, in its latest monthly budget figures out Thursday, said the government ran a surplus of $59.12 billion during April, compared with a deficit of $40.39 billion a year earlier. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had projected a $30.00 billion surplus. The federal government has historically run a budget surplus in April, when many Americans file their tax returns. Over the past 58 years, there have been 44 April surpluses, a Treasury official said. But from late 2008 up until two months ago, the government ran steady deficits amid weaker tax receipts and heavy spending following the financial crisis. The government last ran a monthly surplus in September 2008, the same month that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy.” Jeffrey Sparshott in The Wall Street Journal.

@DaveedGR: Obviously, the April surplus is due to taxes coming in. Remarkable that there hasn’t been a surplus in any April since 2008…

3) Republicans may not offer a comprehensive replacement for Obamacare. “Republicans might not offer a comprehensive plan to replace President Obamaas healthcare law if the Supreme Court strikes it down this summer. House Republicans had said they would have a healthcare bill ready to go by the time of the ruling to present a clear alternative to the Democratsa Affordable Care Act. But now, with the high courtas ruling just weeks away, some conservatives are urging the party to abandon that strategy, fearing voters will recoil from another sweeping revamp of the healthcare system…Ditching a comprehensive proposal could also make it easier for Republicans to steer the publicas focus away from popular elements of the Affordable Care Act that are unlikely to make the cut in a GOP plan…But a piecemeal strategy on healthcare could present its own risks. Republicans campaigned in 2010 on ‘repealing and replacing’ Obamaas law, but have struggled to clearly articulate a healthcare platform of their own.” Sam Baker in The Hill.

4) Europe delayed a loan payment to Greece. “Euro-zone governments held back part of a big scheduled loan payment in a warning shot to Greece Wednesday, as outside pressure mounted on the country’s politicians to pull together a pro-euro coalition to take charge of the government. Greece’s euro-zone partners agreed to release only a!4.2 billion ($5.5 billion) in previously agreed financing, to be paid out Thursday, holding back a!1 billion at least until June. That would be paid only if Greece keeps to pledges it made to secure a bailout. With Athens in political turmoil after a fractured result in weekend elections, and a new vote likely by June, German politicians cautioned that further aid could be withdrawn if Greece abandons austerity targets–even if that pushes the country from the bloc…Thursday’s payment is needed for Greece to pay a!3.3 billion it owes the European Central Bank next week. The aid was agreed in March by euro-zone governments as part of Greece’s a!130 billion second bailout program.” Alkman Granitsas, Laurence Norman, and Matthew Dalton in The Wall Street Journal.

5) Almost 250,000 Americans will lose their unemployment insurance this weekend. “More than 230,000 jobless Americans will lose their unemployment insurance by this weekend as reductions in the federal program that provides extended benefits to the long-term unemployed take broader effect. The new round of reductions is hitting eight states this month, meaning that about 400,000 long-term unemployed Americans in 27 states will have been cut off of the federal governmentas extended unemployment benefits program this year, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project, which advocates for the unemployed. The cuts stem from a congressional agreement this year that will reduce the maximum duration of unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 79 weeks as the nationas jobless rate declines. Most states provide 26 weeks of benefits, and the federal government provides the rest, partially through a complicated formula that requires jobless rates to be both high and increasing to reach the benefit limit.” Michael Fletcher in The Washington Post.

6) The House passed the GOP’s sequester replacement bill. “The House approved sweeping legislation on Thursday to cut $310 billion from the deficit over the next decade — much of it from programs for the poor — and shift some of that savings to the Pentagon to stave off automatic military spending cuts scheduled for next year. The legislation has no chance of passing the Senate or of becoming law. The White House issued a stern veto threat, saying the bill would ‘fail the test of fairness and shared responsibility.’ But the legislationas prescriptions and priorities could define the 2012 Congressional elections — and are likely to affect the race for the White House…The billas political sensitivity came through in the 218-to-199 vote. Democrats were united in their opposition. Sixteen Republicans sided with the Democrats, and one Republican voted present. ‘I voted my conscience, and I voted my district,’ said Representative Mike G. Fitzpatrick, a Republican from suburban Philadelphia, who voted no.” Jonathan Weisman in The New York Times.

Top op-eds

1) REICH: J.P. Morgan Chase makes the case for Glass-Steagall. “Ever since the start of the banking crisis in 2008, Dimon has been arguing that more government regulation of Wall Street is unnecessary. Last year he vehemently and loudly opposed the so-called Volcker rule, itself a watered-down version of the old Glass-Steagall Act that used to separate commercial from investment banking before it was repealed in 1999, saying it would unnecessarily impinge on derivative trading (the lucrative practice of making bets on bets) and hedging (using some bets to offset the risks of other bets)…What just happened at J.P. Morgan – along with its leaderas cavalier dismissal followed by lame reassurance – reveals how fragile and opaque the banking system continues to be, why Glass-Steagall must be resurrected, and why the Dallas Fedas recent recommendation that Wall Streetas giant banks be broken up should be heeded.” Robert Reich.

2) KRUGMAN: Talk of structural unemployment is an excuse for inaction. “So now weare in another depression, not as bad as the last one, but bad enough. And, once again, authoritative-sounding figures insist that our problems are ‘structural,’ that they canat be fixed quickly. We must focus on the long run, such people say, believing that they are being responsible. But the reality is that theyare being deeply irresponsible…So whatas with the obsessive push to declare our problems ‘structural’? And, yes, I mean obsessive. Economists have been debating this issue for several years, and the structuralistas wonat take no for an answer, no matter how much contrary evidence is presented. The answer, Iad suggest, lies in the way claims that our problems are deep and structural offer an excuse for not acting, for doing nothing to alleviate the plight of the unemployed…All this talk about structural unemployment isnat about facing up to our real problems; itas about avoiding them, and taking the easy, useless way out. And itas time for it to stop.” Paul Krugman in The New York Times.

3) ALTER: Obama and Romney offer differing views of capitalism. “A more useful distinction may be between venture capitalists and human capitalists. Romney came up as a private-equity investor. Like his party, he believes in his heart that the way forward for the U.S. is to slash taxes for the wealthy even further so that they have more venture capital to invest in businesses. Obama came up as a community organizer. Like his party, he believes in his heart that a great nation must invest in human capital through education, health care and infrastructure…Last week brought a classic example of the differing approaches. The tussle over doubling interest rates for student loans (scheduled for July 1) was a controversy ginned up for the Obama campaign, but it was also an acid test. Democrats wanted to pay for the lower rate with a modest business tax; Republicans responded with plans to scuttle the preventive health-care part of Obamacare, despite much evidence of its efficacy for both people and budgets. ” Jonathan Alter in Bloomberg.

4) CARPENTER AND KNEPPER: Occupational license reform would spur economic opportunity. “Since the 1950s, the number of U.S. workers needing an occupational license–effectively a government permission slip to work–has grown from one in 20 to nearly one in three, according to a 2010 study by Morris Kleiner (University of Minnesota) and Alan Krueger (Princeton). The burdens these licenses impose on would-be workers and entrepreneurs are substantial…The risk of a few bad haircuts seems worth a roll of the dice if the upside is more economic opportunities. But the truth is that consumers are capable of judging the quality of many services for themselves. If lawmakers in Michigan and elsewhere want to help more Americans find jobs, they should start by reducing or removing burdens that do little more than protect some people from competition by keeping others out of work.” Dick Carpenter and Lisa Knepper in The Wall Street Journal.

5) BAKOPOULOS: Greek voters didn’t have a chance to reject austerity without rejecting Europe. “Itas clear that Greeks — derided throughout the Continent as lazy and corrupt, hobbled by the bailout dealas austerity measures and humiliated by the troika (the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund) — have put their trust outside the mainstream…But an election usually asks: who, or what, are you for? Not this one. If voters were given any choice, it was this: either accept the austerity measures or be forced to leave the euro zone. A double bind, this either-or option is unable to give expression to the complexity of both yes to Europe and no to austerity. Just before the vote, the German finance minister issued a warning: If Greek voters did not elect a government that would abide by the terms of the deal, ‘then Greece will have to bear the consequences.’ But the consequences are unclear. Vote correctly, or else. Or else what?” Natalie Bakopoulos in The New York Times.

Top long reads

Binyamin Appelbaum profiles financial blogger Joe Weisenthal: “Weisenthal is often — perhaps more often than anyone else — the first person to describe new data on Twitter. And almost as quickly, he repeats the thought, with a new headline, on Business Insider. When the government reported that only 120,000 jobs were created in March, well below expectations, he quickly rewrote the draft of his tweet: ‘DISASTER: MARCH JOBS REPORT MISSES EXPECTATIONS AT 120K. (Analysts expected +205K)’ A search on Twitter suggests that this, at 8:30 on the dot, was the first line published on the subject. Weisenthal managed to post a complete sentence before one of his main rivals, a blogger whose handle is ZeroHedge, tweeted just this: ’120k.’…And then Weisenthal and his audience moved on to the next thing. Around 10 a.m., he posted a new article. The headline read, ‘FORGET THE JOBS REPORT: The Most Important Number of the Day Hasnat Even Come Out Yet.’”

James Bandler and Doris Burke investigate the struggles of HP: “Dr. Phil could fill a month’s worth of shows just examining HP’s board, whose dynamics have resembled those of rival junior high school cliques more than what is supposed to be a sage guiding force. At times, as we’ll see, HP directors have refused to be in the same room with one another and have accused each other of lying, leaking, and betrayal. Time and again they’ve failed in their choice of CEO — their most important task — selecting a new leader whose most salient trait is that he or she is the opposite of the last one. All of this has impeded the company from tackling the fundamental problem it faces: Simply put, Hewlett-Packard has lost its way. The company is in the midst of an existential crisis. It remains a behemoth, No. 10 on the Fortune 500, with $127 billion in sales last year and $7 billion in earnings. But the trajectory is ominous. Those profits, for example, were 19% lower in 2011 than in the previous year.”

’60s nostalgia interlude: Jimi Hendrix plays “Rock Me Baby” live at Monterey 67.

Got tips, additions, or comments? E-mail me.

Still to come: CEOs push for deficit reduction; an abortion rights leader is stepping down; low scores on a science exam; oil independence may not be a realistic goal; and bear cubs hop aboard the love train.

Economy

A rise in imports widened the trade deficit. “The U.S. trade deficit widened in March but other data Thursday reflected two conditions that could spur the economic recovery: strong American exports and falling oil prices. The March trade gap expanded 14.1% from February to $51.8 billion, the government said. Growing demand from consumers and businesses for goods and services from abroad, along with high oil prices that have since retreated, sent imports surging 5.2% to a record $238.6 billion. But exports also showed strength, rising at the fastest pace since last summer to set their own record. Despite Europe’s fiscal woes and Asia’s slower growth, the U.S. sent abroad $186.8 billion in goods and services in March, up 2.9% from February. Exports have climbed for the past four months, defying forecasts of slower growth due to the recession in the euro zone. U.S. manufacturers appear to have been helped by a historically weak dollar as well as subdued wage growth at home.” Josh Mitchell in The Wall Street Journal.

The House passed the first appropriations bill of the year. “The House on Thursday approved the first appropriations bill of the year, a measure that spends $51 billion on the Departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA and other related agencies. The spending bill, H.R. 5326, was approved in a 247-163 vote in which eight Republicans voted against it, reflecting opposition to the amount spent in the bill. But it also picked up the support of 23 Democrats…The bill is among the least controversial of the 12 annual appropriations bills but has little chance of becoming law on its own. The White House has said President Obama will veto any and all of the 12 bills until the House renounces the top-line spending level in the overall budget written by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The legislation cuts spending by about 3 percent compared to current levels, which Republicans said shows their ongoing commitment to trim spending. The GOP said spending by agencies covered by the bill has been cut by 20 percent over the last three budget cycles.” Pete Kasperowicz in The Hill.

CEOs are making a new push for a deficit deal. “Top business executives, many of whom sat on their hands during last year’s frantic debate about raising the federal debt ceiling, have begun mobilizing and plan to be more vocal in urging Congress to reach a bipartisan deficit-reduction deal by the end of the year. Executives have been meeting privately with lawmakers, urging them to start laying the groundwork now so they can reach an agreement after the November elections to avoid the large tax increases and heavy spending cuts scheduled to take effect in January. They worry those measures could tip the economy back into recession and create turmoil in financial markets, according to people who have attended some of the meetings. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. chief executive James Dimon hosted a lunch for several dozen chief executives and two U.S. senators late last month, one of the latest in a series of private meetings aimed at drumming up support for a political agreement.” Damian Paletta in The Wall Street Journal.

Subsides are fueling gains in manufacturing. “As chairman and principal owner of Revere Copper Products, Mr. OaShaughnessy runs one of Americaas oldest manufacturing companies, started by Paul Revere himself, a fact that exerts considerable pressure. As he put it: ‘What kind of a message are you sending to the people of the country if you abandon America?’ But spend a day with him, and a more complex picture emerges. He wonders sometimes about the less patriotic alternative of relocating production to Asia or closing the factory entirely on the ground that Revereas profit margin here is too thin — less than $1 million on $450 million in annual revenue…What staves off those alternatives are labor concessions and a substantial government subsidy, something he and others in the United States say is increasingly important to fuel a nascent recovery in manufacturing…With such support, the key measure of manufacturingas presence in America is ticking upward.” Louis Uchitelle in The New York Times.

@jbarro: Just got woken up. I swear I was in the middle of a dream where I was arguing w/ a reporter about transfer taxes.

Engineering interlude: A real life Mario Kart.

Health Care

The leader of an influential abortion rights advocacy group will step down. “At the end of this year, Nancy Keenan will step down from her post as president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, the countryas oldest abortion-rights advocacy group. The 60-year-old Keenan said she is leaving out of concern for the future of the pro-choice movement — and thinks she could be holding it back.Nancy Keenan will retire as president of NARAL Pro-Choice America at the end of the year. In recent years, Keenan has worried about an ‘intensity gap’ on abortion rights among millennials, which the group considers to be the generation of Americans born between 1980 and 1991. While most young, antiabortion voters see abortion as a crucial political issue, NARALas own internal research does not find similar passion among abortion-rights supporters. If the pro-choice movement is to successfully defend abortion rights, Keenan contends, it needs more young people in leadership roles, including hers.” Sarah Kliff in The Washington Post.

An F.D.A. panel backed the preventive use of a H.I.V. drug. “A drug already used to treat H.I.V. infection should also be approved to prevent it, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday. The recommendation is the first time that government advisers have advocated giving antiviral medicine to healthy people who might be exposed through sexual activity to the virus that causes AIDS. One panelist called approving the drug ‘an amazing opportunity to turn the tide on this epidemic.’ Studies have shown that people who take the medicine, Truvada, every day have a greatly reduced risk of infection. The F.D.A. usually accepts the advice of its advisory panels, which are made up of outside medical experts…Experts say better methods of prevention are needed because there are 50,000 new H.I.V. infections a year in the United States. Several speakers emphasized Thursday that that number had not budged in 15 to 20 years.” Denise Grady in The New York Times.

Domestic Policy

Scores remained low on a national science test. “U.S. eighth graders made modest gains on the latest national science exam, but more than two-thirds still lacked a solid grasp of science facts, according to figures released Thursday that renewed concerns American schools are inadequately preparing children for college and the workforce. The 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, an exam administered by the U.S. Department of Education, showed that 32% of students were proficient in science, compared with 30% the first time the new version of the science exam was administered, in 2009…Teachers and education-advocacy groups cite various possible causes for weak scores, including a lack of qualified science teachers, budget cutbacks and a narrowing of the curriculum prompted by the No Child Left Behind law. That 2002 U.S. statute caused schools to be evaluated solely on math and reading tests, which persuaded some to reduce science education.” Stephanie Banchero in The Wall Street Journal.

Congress is considering subsidizing the deductibles on crop insurance. “It’s a deal that most businesses would relish: Buy an insurance policy to cover losses or falling prices, and the government will foot most of the bill. Such an arrangement has been enjoyed for more than a decade by the farmers who grow crops such as corn and soybeans, and the companies that insure them. And it’s about to get even better. The farm bill now before Congress includes a provision — estimated to cost about $3 billion a year — that would help cover the losses farmers suffer before their crop insurance policies kick in. Those losses, termed deductibles, can run in the tens of thousands of dollars for a typical mid-size farm. Supporters say it’s a money saver because it would replace an existing subsidy costing $5 billion a year. That subsidy, known as direct payments, pays farmland owners a set amount regardless of whether they’ve planted crops on the land.” Kim Geiger in The Los Angles Times.

Adorable animals being adorable together interlude: All aboard the (bear cub) love train!

Energy

Oil independence may not be possible. “Over the past few years, the United States has experienced a boom in oil and gas production. And thatas led a few commentators to declare that the country is on the verge of ending its dependence on foreign energy and supply disruptions. Alas, thatas never fully possible…Even if the United States goes further and somehow manages to produce every last drop of the oil and gas it needs to run its economy, the country would still be vulnerable to events in the Middle East, tensions in Iran, strikes in Venezuela and other disruptions in the oil markets…. As the CBO explains, oil prices are set by the global oil market. ‘Disruptions in oil production in one country will cause the world oil market to readjust so that all countries and firms continue to receive oil at the new prevailing price.’ Even if the United States produced 100 percent of its own oil, the price would still go up if rising demand from China outstripped the ability of supplies to keep up.” Brad Plumer in The Washington Post.

@AndrewRestuccia: A lively version of “Chain of Fools” is playing before confernce call with Grover Norquist, Rep. Pompeo, Sen DeMint on energy tax credits

Wonkbook is compiled and produced with help from Karl Singer and Michelle Williams.

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