Tag: commerce
High Stakes For Pelosi, Party With Energy And Commerce Fight

High Stakes For Pelosi, Party With Energy And Commerce Fight

By Emma Dumain, CQ Roll Call (TNS)

WASHINGTON — It started as a race to choose the next ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee; it could ultimately end as a referendum on the status quo.

When House Democrats finally settle the score this week, their choice between Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey and Anna G. Eshoo of California could send a strong message about how deeply members still hew to the seniority system.

And in a caucus growing increasingly antsy over the stasis at the leadership table, this ranking member election could be the closest thing to an up-or-down vote on Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that members get for the next two years.

Pelosi, who has repeatedly endorsed her close friend Eshoo, is expected to run unopposed for a sixth full term as the House’s top Democrat.

Lawmakers will not say so publicly, but many of them think that if Eshoo loses, it will be because she became a casualty of greater frustrations within the caucus.

The fight sparked by California Democrat Henry A. Waxman’s retirement announcement in January became so dramatic because there was never a clear frontrunner or an easy choice. Stakeholders agree Pallone and Eshoo’s policy positions are nearly identical, and their legislative records are unblemished.

So members were forced to consider other factors: Who called them first to ask for their vote? Who gave them money in a tough re-election bid? Who has always been their friend?

Eshoo, the No. 5 Democrat on the panel, has cast herself as a champion for colleagues who believe the seniority system should never be, as she said back in February, “sacrosanct.”

“With almost 50 percent of our caucus members being members of the Democratic Caucus with six years or less under their belts, then maybe for the seniority question, attitudes are changing,” said Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., who in 2013 lost to a more senior member in a bid to be ranking member on Natural Resources.

Pallone, the committee’s No. 3 Democrat, has appealed to the caucus’ long-standing deference to seniority. The Congressional Black Caucus is especially protective of what it dubs the “historic tradition” that has allowed its members to steadily climb up committee leadership ranks.

“When I first came here 10 years ago, the conversation among members was, ‘Seniority mattered,'” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., the CBC’s likely chairman in the 114th Congress.

“As the years went on, the conversation became, ‘Seniority is important, but not controlling.’ Then the conversation was, ‘Seniority is a factor.’ And now the discussion among some is that seniority really should not be a determinant,” he said. “That is not the direction I want our caucus to go.”

Pelosi’s decision to insert herself into the race also was a turning point. It’s rare for leaders to take such strong public positions in gavel fights, and members and aides agree — no matter which candidate they support — the party leader is assuming some risk in coming out so strongly for her fellow Californian.

An Eshoo victory would show Pelosi’s influence remains strong as ever while a loss could raise questions about Pelosi’s clout at a time when she is trying to hold a demoralized caucus together after a bruising election cycle.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., one of Eshoo’s lead whips, told CQ Roll Call the leader’s backing wasn’t inappropriate, especially given Eshoo is godmother of the Pelosi children.

“She is the Democratic leader and also Anna Eshoo’s best friend, so if anyone thought she wasn’t going to endorse her, they hit their head on the way to work,” Thompson said. “There is not a single member of the Democratic Caucus who doesn’t want Nancy Pelosi’s support. There’s not one person who hasn’t come to her asking for her help.”

It’s true there are plenty of people supporting Pallone who are and will remain loyal to Pelosi, and for them the vote isn’t anything more than a simple preference.

Thompson was articulating what many members — Eshoo and Pallone supporters alike — have said privately in dozens of interviews with CQ Roll Call since Pelosi sent out that first endorsement letter back in February, though Pelosi insists there is more to it than friendship.

“I’m very proud of Anna Eshoo,” the minority leader volunteered at a news conference Thursday. “I think sometimes in the course of our legislative lives, a person comes along who is a perfect fit to take us into the future. I think that is who she is.”

Both ranking member hopefuls are working overtime to shore up 11th-hour support. Rep.-Elect Brad Ashford of Nebraska told CQ Roll Call that he’s already gotten calls from the candidates themselves, as well as from Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who is quietly but openly operating for Pallone.

And the sniping continues.

Team Pallone outed Eshoo for only giving money to vulnerable lawmakers who supported her ranking member bid; Team Eshoo hit back that Pallone only started giving money to everybody once the slot opened up.

Pallone’s camp pointed out Eshoo formed a leadership PAC in March, a sign she only recently got serious about being a “team player”; Eshoo’s backers have countered Pallone is hardly a paragon of sportsmanship, never making it a secret he’d rather be in the Senate.

Eshoo is likely to win phase one of the selection process and win the recommendation of the regional representatives, leaders, senior members and Pelosi appointments who make up the 50-plus-member Steering and Policy Committee. If a losing candidate receives more than 14 votes among that group, he or she can force a runoff among all the House Democrats. And that full caucus vote will come down to the razor-thin wire.

Of course, both sides insist they have the whole thing locked up.

AFP Photo/Win Mcnamee

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Auto Export Gains Narrow U.S. Trade Deficit In July

Auto Export Gains Narrow U.S. Trade Deficit In July

Washington (AFP) — The U.S. trade deficit shrank for the third straight month in July helped by gains in exports especially from the automotive sector, Commerce Department data showed Thursday.

The monthly trade balance came in at a negative $40.5 billion, down from a $40.8 billion deficit in June.

Exports rose $1.8 billion to $198.0 billion, while imports gained $1.6 billion to $238.6 billion.

Cars and trucks, parts, and engines were the primary force behind the export gains, up $1.7 billion in the month to $15.3 billion.

Also showing strength were exports of oil products, industrial machinery, and telecommunications equipment, including cellphones.

Meanwhile crude oil imports picked up, while consumer good imports fell.

For the year to July, the trade deficit at $295.3 billion was 4.6 percent larger than a year ago, with exports for the seven month period up 3.1 percent year on year and imports growing 3.4 percent.

Analysts said the improvement in the deficit should give a boost to overall economic growth in the third quarter, if sustained.

AFP Photo/Bill Pugliano

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Economy Rebounds Strongly In 2nd Quarter, Expands At 4 Percent Annual Rate

Economy Rebounds Strongly In 2nd Quarter, Expands At 4 Percent Annual Rate

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy rebounded strongly in the second quarter after a winter contraction, expanding at a 4 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Analysts had projected the nation’s total economic output, or gross domestic product, to expand at a 3.1 percent in the second quarter. But the economy performed better than expected, with growth in the April-May period the best since the third quarter of last year.

“Some of the past quarter’s growth performance reflects a catch-up from the dismal first-quarter performance,” said Gad Levanon, director of macroeconomic and labor market research at the Conference Board.

“But this stellar growth figure also suggests that the economy has gained some momentum and could hold on to this newfound dynamism through the second half of 2014,” he said.

Growth was boosted by a jump in consumer spending, which rose 2.5 percent, compared with 1.2 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said.

Business investment surged 5.5 percent in the second quarter after a 1.6 percent increase the previous quarter. Exports jumped 9.5 percent in the second quarter after decreasing 9.2 percent in the first quarter.

The 4 percent annual growth in the second quarter is the Commerce Department’s first estimate and could change with more data.

Bitter cold and heavy snow in much of the nation caused the economy to contract at a 2.1 percent annual rate in the first quarter. The Commerce Department revised the figure on Thursday after reporting a 2.9 percent contraction last month.

That was just the second quarter since the Great Recession ended five years ago that the economy shrank. The economy had expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter.

Economists had attributed the first-quarter contraction largely to the bad weather and expected a turnaround would begin in the spring.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund projected that the U.S. economy would expand at a 3 percent to 3.5 percent annual rate the rest of the year.

But the first quarter’s poor performance still would drag down overall growth for the year to a disappointing 1.7 percent, the worst since the recession ended in 2009, the IMF said.

Federal Reserve officials will update their economic forecasts Wednesday at the end of their policymaking meeting. In June, they had expected the economy to expand 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent this year.

The second-quarter growth data should give Fed policymakers confidence to continue reducing their monthly bond-buying program, a move they are expected to announce Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, payroll firm Automatic Data Processing said the private sector added 218,000 net new jobs in July. That was down from 281,000 in June and and below analyst estimates, but still represents strong growth.

On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report that the overall U.S. economy added about 233,000 net new jobs in July.

Such growth would be down from 288,000 net new jobs in June, but it would mark the sixth straight month the economy has added more than 200,000 new jobs. The last time that happened was in 1997.

AFP Photo/Spencer Platt

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Housing Starts Tumble In January Amid

Housing Starts Tumble In January Amid

By Andrew Khouri, Los Angeles Times

New home construction fell sharply in January, as severe weather across much of the country helped freeze development.

Housing starts tumbled 16 percent from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000 last month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Last month’s level was 2 percent lower than in January 2013.

The decline was greater than economists expected. The median forecast of economists polled by Bloomberg News was for annual rate of 950,000 units.

While economists said weather played a role in the poor numbers, there may be more behind the drop.

The housing market has shown signs of weakness lately, as buyers have struggled to adjust to higher prices and mortgage rates compared with a year earlier. Home builders have also said that shortages of labor and ready-to-build lots have held them back.

Building permits, a gauge of future construction, were down 5.4 percent in January from December.

Housing starts fell in all regions, except in the Northeast, where they rose 61.9 percent from December. In the Midwest, starts plunged 67.7 percent. Newly started units fell 17.4 percent in the Western region and 12.5 percent in the South.

Photo: 401(K) 2013 via Flickr