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| Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblog's morning policy news primer byMax Ehrenfreund (@MaxEhrenfreud). Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, click here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. |
| Wonkbook: Blacks and whites agree on body cameras for cops, if little else |
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New polling by The Washington Post-ABC Newsfinds that public opinion about the police is split by race and party. Only about two in 10 blacks say that police treat whites and blacks equally, compared to about six in 10 whites. Among white Republicans, the fraction is more than eight in 10. The poll revealed similar disparities in opinion on the use of force by police, relations between law enforcement and communities, and whether the deaths of Eric Garner on Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. were isolated cases.
These results are about what you'd expect. After all, Americans' bitter differences of opinion on police violence and criminal justice have been impossible to escape in the past several weeks. Cops' silent protest during New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's speech at Officer Rafael Ramos's funeral on Saturday was only the most recent manifestation.
The rancor disappeared, though, when pollsters asked about body cameras. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed, including 85 percent of whites, 91 percent of blacks and 87 percent of Hispanics, said they supported requiring officers to wear cameras. Similarly large majorities agreed that any police killing of an unarmed civilian "should be investigated by an outside prosecutor who does not work with the police on a regular basis."
To be sure, it isn't clear that video evidence from body cameras or special prosecutors would limit police officers' broad discretion to use deadly force when they feel it is necessary, a power protected by law and precedent. But these reforms could at least give the public more confidence into investigations of police killings. In any case, it's encouraging that though Americans are open to new ideas about improving law enforcement, even if they don't agree about whether the police have a serious problem.
What's in Wonkbook: 1) De Blasio 2) Opinions, including Robert Rubin on incarceration and Noah Smith on taxes 3) Issa releases IRS report 4) House to change scoring rules 5) Christie and Cuomo veto a transportation reform bill, Dave Camp's last stand, and more
Number of the day: $298,500. That's former Florida governor Jeb Bush's compensation as a member of the board of Tenet Healthcare, a hospital company, last year. Tenet has benefited enormously from the Affordable Care Act, and Bush is cutting his ties with the group. Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
Chart of the day:
Although the labor market has been improving, people who are out of work are becoming more likely to give up, and people who are out of the labor force are less likely to join it. Josh Zumbrun in The Wall Street Journal.
1. Police protest at NYPD officer's funeralAs De Blasio delivered his eulogy, police turned their backs in protest. The funeral in Queens was attended by some 20,000 officers from around the country. Watching the mayor speaks on screens outside the church, many of them simply turned around. N. R. Kleinfield in The New York Times.
The deaths of Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu put advocates of reform in a difficult position. Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, shot and killed both policemen last week before taking his own life. He had described his plans to kill officers earlier on social media, citing Garner and Brown's deaths. Some protesters refused a request from the mayor to suspend demonstrations until after the funeral. Nikita Stewart in The New York Times.
De Blasio is not the first New York mayor to quarrel with police. His predecessors also sparred with cops over civilian control of law enforcement. Ross Barkan in the New York Observer.
LEBER: Lax gun laws allowed Brinsley to acquire his weapon from a pawn shop in Georgia. The shop was the fifth-largest source of guns used in crimes nationwide as of 2010. Brinsley's gun was sold there in 1996 and eventually found its way into his hands. A patchwork of regulations on firearm sales allows a small fraction of unscrupulous dealers to keep the national black market supplied. The New Republic.
2. Top opinionsNOAH SMITH: High taxes don't discourage work. People have less reason to work more when the government claims more of their income. On the other hand, they have less money, and so they need to work more to maintain their standard of living. In any case, the historical evidence shows taxes have little effect on the labor supply.Bloomberg.
IGNATIUS: The populist campaign against Wall Street and Antonio Weiss is misguided. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) opposes Weiss's nomination to a Treasury Department position because of his connections to the financial sector. Without people in government who know finance, it would have been impossible for the Obama administration to rescue the economy in 2008. The Washington Post.
KRUGMAN: The economy has begun to recover under Obama. One of the most important reasons might just be that Congress has stopped reducing the federal budget. The New York Times.
Common Core has become hopelessly and unnecessarily politicized. The standards are a good idea. If they'd been implemented in less of a hurry, with less insistence on standardized testing, they might have retained the support of parents and educators. David L. Kirp in The New York Times.
ROBERT RUBIN & NICHOLAS TURNER: Incarceration is an economic problem. "Crime itself has a terrible human cost and a serious economic cost. But appropriate punishment for those who are a risk to public safety shouldn't obscure the vast deficiencies in the criminal-justice system that impose a significant drag on the economy." The Wall Street Journal.
WU: Airlines have an financial reason to create suffering. By making everything about flying somewhat gratuitously uncomfortable, airlines encourage passengers to pay fees for larger seats, faster boarding, and convenience all around. The New Yorker.
3. Report on IRS scandal releasedA congressional inquiry did not find any connection between the agency and the White House's political staff. There is no evidence that officials at the Internal Revenue Service coordinated with Obama's operatives when deciding on the tax status of political groups in the report released by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The report does claim that tax officers improperly made decisions based on their personal political inclinations. David S. Joachim in The New York Times.
HILTZIK: The report shows the IRS had nothing against the tea party. Instead, the agency was trying to apply vague and complex standards on political activity across the spectrum. The only group that lost its tax exemption was a Democratic one, a fact the report dodges. Los Angeles Times.
WEIGEL: The administration was worried about weak campaign-finance rules. The White House tried to talk to revenue officials about problems with regulating campaign finance and outside money in politics. In their report, Issa's staff labeled those interactions as improper. Bloomberg.
4. Congress to change scoring rulesThe House is likely to adopt a change in rules to allow for dynamic scoring. The Joint Committee on Taxation and Congressional Budget Office would be required to consider macroeconomic consequences of legislation with budgetary effects greater than 0.25 percent of gross domestic product. The Wall Street Journal.
The new rules could backfire for Republicans. It's hard to predict how various policies will fare with the new methodology, and it's possible that some of Republicans' favorite ideas for stimulating the economy will look bad. Brian Faler at Politico.
Is Doug Elmendorf out? An anonymous source briefed on G.O.P. discussions says the director of the budget office will be replaced, although many conservative economists support him. David Weigel for Bloomberg.
5. In case you missed itThe debate over free trade begins again. Obama has been talking to lawmakers and leaders in business, seeking their support for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. An agreement would create the world's largest free-trade zone. Observers expect that Congress will vote on the deal as they did on the spending bill, with Republicans and the president in support and liberal Democrats opposed. David Nakamura in The Washington Post.
Obamacare is set to exceed its enrollment targets in its second year. Some 6.4 million people signed up for insurance plans through the federal exchange in the first month, including those who automatically renewed plans they bought last year. But this year's targets have always been seen as a low bar. Sam Baker in National Journal.
Dave Camp proposes another tax reform bill. The retiring Republican representative from Michigan has never been discouraged by his colleagues, who told him tax reform was too controversial and unlikely to succeed. Lori Montgomery inThe Washington Post.
Title loans are a growth sector in subprime auto lending. These loans, which are made using a borrower's car as collateral, have become more popular as regulations have prevented payday lenders from reaching their customers. Many state legislators are looking for a way to control the expansion. Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Michael Corkery inThe New York Times.
These loans escaped regulation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Lobbying from used-car dealers persuaded Congress to exempt auto loans from the bureau's authority. This the kind of obscure regulatory dispute that riles up supporters of Warren as a potential presidential candidate. Dave Weigel for Bloomberg.
The Secret Service was ill-equipped for an expanded mission after Sept. 11, 2001. The agency's transfer into the new Department of Homeland Security, along with a set of new responsibilities, put Secret Service officers in a position where they lacked the expertise and resources to competently execute their orders. Carol D. Leonnig in The Washington Post.
Governors veto a reform bill for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The bill, passed unanimously in both state legislatures, would have limited the governors' political influence over the port authority. Govs. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) argued instead for a list of reforms proposed by a specially appointed panel including political allies. Jesse McKinley and Vivian Yee in The New York Times.
These results are about what you'd expect. After all, Americans' bitter differences of opinion on police violence and criminal justice have been impossible to escape in the past several weeks. Cops' silent protest during New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's speech at Officer Rafael Ramos's funeral on Saturday was only the most recent manifestation.
The rancor disappeared, though, when pollsters asked about body cameras. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed, including 85 percent of whites, 91 percent of blacks and 87 percent of Hispanics, said they supported requiring officers to wear cameras. Similarly large majorities agreed that any police killing of an unarmed civilian "should be investigated by an outside prosecutor who does not work with the police on a regular basis."
To be sure, it isn't clear that video evidence from body cameras or special prosecutors would limit police officers' broad discretion to use deadly force when they feel it is necessary, a power protected by law and precedent. But these reforms could at least give the public more confidence into investigations of police killings. In any case, it's encouraging that though Americans are open to new ideas about improving law enforcement, even if they don't agree about whether the police have a serious problem.
What's in Wonkbook: 1) De Blasio 2) Opinions, including Robert Rubin on incarceration and Noah Smith on taxes 3) Issa releases IRS report 4) House to change scoring rules 5) Christie and Cuomo veto a transportation reform bill, Dave Camp's last stand, and more
Number of the day: $298,500. That's former Florida governor Jeb Bush's compensation as a member of the board of Tenet Healthcare, a hospital company, last year. Tenet has benefited enormously from the Affordable Care Act, and Bush is cutting his ties with the group. Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
Chart of the day:
Although the labor market has been improving, people who are out of work are becoming more likely to give up, and people who are out of the labor force are less likely to join it. Josh Zumbrun in The Wall Street Journal.
1. Police protest at NYPD officer's funeralAs De Blasio delivered his eulogy, police turned their backs in protest. The funeral in Queens was attended by some 20,000 officers from around the country. Watching the mayor speaks on screens outside the church, many of them simply turned around. N. R. Kleinfield in The New York Times.
The deaths of Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu put advocates of reform in a difficult position. Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, shot and killed both policemen last week before taking his own life. He had described his plans to kill officers earlier on social media, citing Garner and Brown's deaths. Some protesters refused a request from the mayor to suspend demonstrations until after the funeral. Nikita Stewart in The New York Times.
De Blasio is not the first New York mayor to quarrel with police. His predecessors also sparred with cops over civilian control of law enforcement. Ross Barkan in the New York Observer.
LEBER: Lax gun laws allowed Brinsley to acquire his weapon from a pawn shop in Georgia. The shop was the fifth-largest source of guns used in crimes nationwide as of 2010. Brinsley's gun was sold there in 1996 and eventually found its way into his hands. A patchwork of regulations on firearm sales allows a small fraction of unscrupulous dealers to keep the national black market supplied. The New Republic.
2. Top opinionsNOAH SMITH: High taxes don't discourage work. People have less reason to work more when the government claims more of their income. On the other hand, they have less money, and so they need to work more to maintain their standard of living. In any case, the historical evidence shows taxes have little effect on the labor supply.Bloomberg.
IGNATIUS: The populist campaign against Wall Street and Antonio Weiss is misguided. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) opposes Weiss's nomination to a Treasury Department position because of his connections to the financial sector. Without people in government who know finance, it would have been impossible for the Obama administration to rescue the economy in 2008. The Washington Post.
KRUGMAN: The economy has begun to recover under Obama. One of the most important reasons might just be that Congress has stopped reducing the federal budget. The New York Times.
Common Core has become hopelessly and unnecessarily politicized. The standards are a good idea. If they'd been implemented in less of a hurry, with less insistence on standardized testing, they might have retained the support of parents and educators. David L. Kirp in The New York Times.
ROBERT RUBIN & NICHOLAS TURNER: Incarceration is an economic problem. "Crime itself has a terrible human cost and a serious economic cost. But appropriate punishment for those who are a risk to public safety shouldn't obscure the vast deficiencies in the criminal-justice system that impose a significant drag on the economy." The Wall Street Journal.
WU: Airlines have an financial reason to create suffering. By making everything about flying somewhat gratuitously uncomfortable, airlines encourage passengers to pay fees for larger seats, faster boarding, and convenience all around. The New Yorker.
3. Report on IRS scandal releasedA congressional inquiry did not find any connection between the agency and the White House's political staff. There is no evidence that officials at the Internal Revenue Service coordinated with Obama's operatives when deciding on the tax status of political groups in the report released by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The report does claim that tax officers improperly made decisions based on their personal political inclinations. David S. Joachim in The New York Times.
HILTZIK: The report shows the IRS had nothing against the tea party. Instead, the agency was trying to apply vague and complex standards on political activity across the spectrum. The only group that lost its tax exemption was a Democratic one, a fact the report dodges. Los Angeles Times.
WEIGEL: The administration was worried about weak campaign-finance rules. The White House tried to talk to revenue officials about problems with regulating campaign finance and outside money in politics. In their report, Issa's staff labeled those interactions as improper. Bloomberg.
4. Congress to change scoring rulesThe House is likely to adopt a change in rules to allow for dynamic scoring. The Joint Committee on Taxation and Congressional Budget Office would be required to consider macroeconomic consequences of legislation with budgetary effects greater than 0.25 percent of gross domestic product. The Wall Street Journal.
The new rules could backfire for Republicans. It's hard to predict how various policies will fare with the new methodology, and it's possible that some of Republicans' favorite ideas for stimulating the economy will look bad. Brian Faler at Politico.
Is Doug Elmendorf out? An anonymous source briefed on G.O.P. discussions says the director of the budget office will be replaced, although many conservative economists support him. David Weigel for Bloomberg.
5. In case you missed itThe debate over free trade begins again. Obama has been talking to lawmakers and leaders in business, seeking their support for the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership. An agreement would create the world's largest free-trade zone. Observers expect that Congress will vote on the deal as they did on the spending bill, with Republicans and the president in support and liberal Democrats opposed. David Nakamura in The Washington Post.
Obamacare is set to exceed its enrollment targets in its second year. Some 6.4 million people signed up for insurance plans through the federal exchange in the first month, including those who automatically renewed plans they bought last year. But this year's targets have always been seen as a low bar. Sam Baker in National Journal.
Dave Camp proposes another tax reform bill. The retiring Republican representative from Michigan has never been discouraged by his colleagues, who told him tax reform was too controversial and unlikely to succeed. Lori Montgomery inThe Washington Post.
Title loans are a growth sector in subprime auto lending. These loans, which are made using a borrower's car as collateral, have become more popular as regulations have prevented payday lenders from reaching their customers. Many state legislators are looking for a way to control the expansion. Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Michael Corkery inThe New York Times.
These loans escaped regulation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Lobbying from used-car dealers persuaded Congress to exempt auto loans from the bureau's authority. This the kind of obscure regulatory dispute that riles up supporters of Warren as a potential presidential candidate. Dave Weigel for Bloomberg.
The Secret Service was ill-equipped for an expanded mission after Sept. 11, 2001. The agency's transfer into the new Department of Homeland Security, along with a set of new responsibilities, put Secret Service officers in a position where they lacked the expertise and resources to competently execute their orders. Carol D. Leonnig in The Washington Post.
Governors veto a reform bill for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The bill, passed unanimously in both state legislatures, would have limited the governors' political influence over the port authority. Govs. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) argued instead for a list of reforms proposed by a specially appointed panel including political allies. Jesse McKinley and Vivian Yee in The New York Times.
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