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NEW DATA: Oxford Economics finds Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Mandates would hurt local economies, costing $227 billion and 156,000 jobs across the country.
PRESENTED BY![]() BY JOHN BRESNAHAN, ANNA PALMER AND JAKE SHERMAN THE TOPGood Thursday morning. Here’s a new Ukraine resolution from Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). This resolution is co-sponsored by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez (D-N.J.); Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the panel’s top Republican; Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin; and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). Although this resolution doesn’t actually mandate any action by the Biden administration, it “reaffirms unwavering United States support for a secure, democratic, and independent Ukraine, free to choose its own leaders and future” while encouraging “the President that, should any further invasion or other malign activity to undermine the sovereignty of Ukraine occur by Russia, the United States Government should exhaust all tools at its disposal to impose significant costs on the Russian Federation to restore peace in Europe….” Remember: The Senate leadership issued a strongly worded statement a few days ago instead of a resolution. So this would be a bit more than that. Portman and Shaheen plan to ask for unanimous consent to pass it today. We expect that it will pass. Punchbowl News turns one! Last night we celebrated Punchbowl News’ one-year anniversary with a party at Hotel Monaco. When Punchbowl News launched on Jan. 3, 2021, we did so with a laser focus on covering the power, people and politics of our nation’s capital. And to build a community to engage with readers in a new way. In Year Two, we have even more ambitious plans, and we wanted to share them with you this morning. → Punchbowl News is launching a next-generation ESG platform “The Punch Up” with Target as our inaugural partner. This accountability-centric approach will focus on some of the biggest issues facing the world today. During the initial year, we’ll bring together leading voices on racial equity and sustainability to convene a much-needed dialogue between the private and public sectors. We’re going to have a lot more to say on this in the coming days and weeks! → Our “Road to Recovery” event series is hitting the road ahead of the midterm elections. In partnership with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, our first stop will be in April in Detroit with Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), DSCC chair, joining us. More details soon. → And, of course, we are expanding the Canvass to K Street. We’ve already had a huge response from some of Washington’s most senior lobbyists and influencers. Sign up today if you think you meet the criteria. Thanks again to our community members who were able to celebrate in person. And a big thank you to CLEAR and Salesforce for partnering on the event with us. And to Sazerac for creating our special Punchbowl News punch fountain. Sneak peek of the event here. ![]() ![]() PRESENTED BY GLOBAL X ETFs Finding Opportunity in the Green Economy While tech companies were celebrated as drivers of the pandemic stock market rally, the next economic cycle could be led by green infrastructure. Particularly, the potential around renewable energy, where supportive government policies and private sector innovation are helping bend installation costs lower. Explore our outlook on the case for renewables, the areas poised to benefit, and how investors might participate in the growth of this theme. FUNDING FIGHT Senate leaders struggle on spending deal ![]() Federal agencies run out of money tomorrow night and the Senate is readying for a procedural vote today to keep it open until March 11. Broken record alert: We don’t expect a shutdown. No one wants or benefits from it. Yet today will have some complications. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are trying to work out an agreement that would allow votes on several amendments Republicans are demanding. But the issue here is whether these amendments will be considered under 51- or 60-vote thresholds, a tricky topic for Democrats this week. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and several other Democrats are out, so some of these amendments could pass – and Schumer doesn’t want that to happen. That means he wants to hold these votes at the 60-vote threshold. We’ll have to see if Republicans go for that. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has the CRACK Act, which would prohibit the federal government from buying any crack pipes or drug paraphernalia. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) wants a vote on a balanced budget amendment. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and a half-dozen other GOP senators want a vote on an amendment to prevent the Biden administration from enforcing vaccine mandates on the military and federal workers. We believe some “Senate magic” will come into play this afternoon as senators start pining for home. The CR will be passed, allowing senators to head home for the Presidents’ Day recess. Some senators are also heading to Munich for the annual security conference. But it could prove a very frustrating day for the leadership until a deal is announced. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain will be attending the Senate Democratic lunch to discuss the upcoming State of the Union and Supreme Court nomination, so final votes won’t occur until after that session. THE MONEY GAME A Florida fundraiser, and the Ways and Means race One of Punchbowl News’ focuses this year is going to be on the fight for control of Congress, especially in the House. With 30 House Democrats retiring and Republicans confident of a takeover, we’re going to focus heavily on who could be the next power players are in D.C. One of the most interesting races is on the Republican side for the top spot on the Ways and Means Committee. The three candidates in the race are Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan, Missouri Rep. Jason Smith and Nebraska Rep. Adrian Smith. All three lawmakers are close to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Smith of Nebraska was his former roommate. Jason Smith decided against a Senate bid in Missouri. Buchanan, though, is the most senior member on the panel. Here’s another element working in his favor: Buchanan is loaded. He’s worth more than $100 million and owns his own airplane. Buchanan also happens to be from Sarasota, Fla., which has its fair share of wealthy Republican residents and vacationers willing to open their checkbook for the GOP. Check this out – Buchanan is hosting an NRCC fundraiser March 25 featuring McCarthy and NRCC Chair Tom Emmer (Minn.). This is following the House GOP retreat across the state in Ponte Vedra Beach. ![]() Why does this matter? Because legislating isn’t everything. Fundraising is a massive part of modern-day House politics. FRONTS ![]() ![]() MOMENTS 7:30 a.m.: Vice President Kamala Harris will leave for Munich to attend the annual security conference. 8:30 a.m.: President Joe Biden will get his daily intelligence briefing. 9:10 a.m.: Biden will leave the White House for Andrews, where he will fly to Cleveland. 10:40 a.m.: Biden will arrive in Cleveland. 12:15 p.m.: Biden will speak about the infrastructure law at the Shipyards in Lorain, Ohio. 1:45 p.m.: Biden will fly back to Andrews. 3:15 p.m.: Biden will arrive back at the White House. CLIP FILE → “Ukraine Tensions Spike as West Accuses Russia of Lying About Troop Withdrawal,” by Andrew E. Kramer in Kyiv, Anton Troianovski in Moscow and Michael D. Shear in Washington → “U.S. Warns Americans Abroad Not to Count on a Rescue,” by Michael Crowley → “F.A.A. Administrator Steve Dickson Will Resign Next Month,” by Madeleine Ngo and Chris Cameron WaPo → “D.C. police lieutenant suspended over alleged ties to right-wing group,” by Peter Hermann and Devlin Barrett WSJ → “Loretta Lynch to Represent NFL in Brian Flores Case,” by Andrew Beaton Politico → “Biden’s new global vaccine push is running out of funds,” by Erin Banco → “Oath Keepers leader told Jan. 6 committee he still sees 2020 election as ‘illegitimate,’ lawyer says,” by Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein Houston Chronicle → “We asked all 143 Texas GOP congressional candidates about Biden’s win. Only 13 call it legitimate,” by Jasper Scherer and Benjamin Wermund PRESENTED BY GLOBAL X ETFs Finding Opportunity in the Green Economy Supportive government policies and private sector innovation are helping renewables become more affordable, paving the way for wider adoption. Investors looking to align with this emerging theme might consider the Global X Renewable Energy Producers ETF (RNRG), which invests in companies involved in wind, solar, biofuels and more – all in a single trade. ![]() Enjoying Punchbowl News AM? ![]() Subscribe 10 friends with your unique link (below) and get a Punchbowl News hat! Your referral link is: Or share via You currently have: 0 referrals
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NEW DATA: Oxford Economics finds Durbin-Marshall Credit Card Mandates would hurt local economies, costing $227 billion and 156,000 jobs across the country.