Things You Might Have Missed

++The deficit is now the lowest of the Obama years, about the same as 2007 and about the same percent of GDP as 50 years ago.

++The CBO has calculated that Obamacare will cost 20% less in ten years because of lower health inflation and better economic conditions.

++The House Republicans have created the "Freedom Caucus" to oppose the right-wing Republican Study Group. This caucus will be members-invited only membership and be more extreme than the Study Group. If they object to Republican legislation they can block it.

++Speaking of blocking it,the Senate Democrats today blocked Keystone XL from coming to a vote. This was a rebellion against Mitch McConnell because he promised "an open amendment" process. Amendments to have the pipeline built with American steel and American workers got defeated.

++Russian bonds were ranked "junk" today. 

++Oh, about that wonderful Alaskan wilderness idea. The first shot across the bow came from NewsMax saying Obama took away our sovereignty. The next came from the American Petroleum Institute which blasted President Obama for not consulting with the GOP Congress. Next came Senator Murkowski who shouted, "Obama will negotiate with Iran, but not Alaska". The GOP vows a bitter fight--over Polar Bears--really.

++The Trademark and Patent Office has an unusual request. The Concession owner for the Grand Canyon wants to own the names of all the historic sites.

++Over half the states have lined up with Texas to sue the President over his immigration executive orders.

++Oklahoma has figured out how to get around same sex marriage. You can't be married in the state unless it is by a minister ,priest,and, they finally added, rabbi. No state official can marry you. It seems there is a little matter of what happens if you divorce.

++A federal judge ruled same sex marriages were OK in Alabama but put a hold for two weeks to see whether Alabama will appeal. Now probate judges will be prohibited from performing same sex marriages.

++Ted Cruz and Bobby Jindal, fresh off their first presidential forays, propose a Constitutional Amendment against same sex marriage.

The First GOP Challenges

++A little background information. The United States is now the number one producer of oil on the planet,edging out Saudi Arabia. That should hold until 2050 and beyond.

++Mitch McConnell's opening salvo will be the Keystone XL Pipeline, which will produce 35 permanent jobs,present enormous environmental challenges and will transport the dirtiest tar sands oil across America to the international market. The owners are two Canadian firms with large Chinese interests. With oil so low,tar sands production is already threatened because it needs about $85 per barrel to be worth producing. It looks like the bill now has 61 votes so will escape a filibuster.

++The Portman-Sheehan energy efficiency bill has large bipartisan support and will probably pass.

++Exporting natural gas. So far law prohibits the export of natural gas. The crisis in the Ukraine raised this issue to counter-balance Russia's gas strange hold on European markets. There have been LNG projects in mothballs for years to export the stuff. That may pass.

++Exporting oil. Here again,the United States hasn't been in the position to do that until recently. I understand that in the last month, President Obama has allowed for the export of oil. 

++The big fight after the Keystone XL Pipeline is the Senate attempt to stop the EPA's new rules on coal-fueled energy plants. Even though the biggest are in Red States,Gina McCarthy ,the head of the EPA, has claimed that the limits have been produced through negotiation and that President Obama will not back down. This is one of the most historic climate change actions by the President. I expect you will hear a lot of noise and see law cases about his use of the Clean Air Act.

++The most horrendous idea of the GOP is to open public lands to drilling. Where this exists,there is tremendous environmental damage and turns the landscape into an eyesore. 

++The Keystone XL is purely an ideological fight right now. The project itself is obsolete and isn't economically viable. It is a relic from the Cheney Energy Commission when he sought a way to "control" oil supplies to China.

Friday's End

++Brookings, the Amazon Post, and TPM all pointed out that President Obama has issued less executive orders than any President in 110 years.

++ P.S. my numbers were off yesterday but the comparative figures show the same results.

++The number 1 pick for the 2016 GOP Presidential pick--when his name is inserted--is Willard Romney. Ann Romney says you all lost by re-electing President Obama.

++PPP had a strange presidential match-up pitting Sarah Palin versus Rob Ford. Palin beats the Toronto Mayor 38 to 26.

++The Newark Star-Ledger, which backed Chris Christie's re-election, now calls for him to either be impeached or resign. The New York Times had an article that Chris Christie indeed knew all along about the closure of the GWB. Christie's top aide has pled the fifth. David Wildstein released a letter through his lawyer that Christie knew everything and there is plenty of truth.

++Haley Barbour blasted MNBC for portraying the snowstorm in Georgia as worse than it was. 

++The House GOP retreat produced their principles for immigration reform which sort of includes a path to citizenship. Eric Canter says the House will vote this year on another healthcare plan. The Senate GOP withdrew their plan for a little re-working because one of their staff pointed out that it would mean the largest tax increase on the Middle Class in a generation.

++The State Department approved the environmental study of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Environmentalists are outraged.

++President Obama by executive order yesterday created the MY-RA to speed retirement savings.

++Harry Reid opposes bringing the TPP to the floor of the Senate, while the House Republicans are for it.