Welcome to The WonkLine, a daily 10 a.m. roundup of the latest news about health care, the economy, national security, immigration and climate policy. This is what we’re reading. Tell us what you found in the comments section below, and subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, you can now follow The Wonk Room on Twitter.
National Security
VOA reports that “Iraqi police say a series of explosions near high-profile targets across Baghdad killed at least 75 people and wounded more than 310 others. Wednesday’s attacks made it the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas on June 30.”
The Washington Note’s Steve Clemons observes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “may be using his skills as a crafty political executive to sidestep some of his more bureaucratic and recalcitrant allies in cooking up a deal with George Mitchell and Barack Obama on settlements.”
North Korea “will send a delegation to South Korea’s former president Kim Dae-jung’s funeral, Kim’s former aide said Wednesday.”
Health Care
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee “are seeking detailed financial records from dozens of large insurance companies, officials disclosed Tuesday, part of an investigation into ”executive compensation and other business practices.”
The New York Times thinks that President Obama should not give up on the public option “without first getting a strong alternative to achieve the same goals — and so far there is nothing very strong on the political horizon.”
“The prescription drug industry’s lobbying arm is defending its deal with President Barack Obama in the wake of criticism from House Minority Leader John Boehner, who charged it with ‘appeasing’ the Obama administration.”
Immigration
Immigration advocates and the government both agree that Monday’s disclosure of 10 previously unreported immigrant detainee deaths highlight the desperate need for reform of the US immigration detention system.
CNN’s Rudy Ruiz and an editorial in this morning’s Wall Street Journal both express serious concern about the economic and social consequences of delaying immigration reform until 2010 or later.
Former CEO of the online auction firm eBay and Californian Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman announced that she supports tough immigration enforcement when it comes to employers who hire undocumented immigrants and the expansion of the guest worker program for farmworkers and high-skilled immigrants.
Economy
24 state attorneys general “are pushing Congress to set up a federal agency to oversee consumer financial products, backing one of the most controversial aspects of President Barack Obama’s proposed financial regulatory overhaul.” They wrote in a in a letter to Congress that the new agency is “vital” and the “best option for meaningful consumer protection.”
According to the latest data “only about a quarter of the 2009 high school graduates taking the ACT admissions test have the skills to succeed in college.” Just 23 percent of this year’s high school graduates “had scores that indicated they were ready for college in all four ACT subject areas.”
Felix Salmon points to research showing that poaching talent is not a good strategy for banks.
Climate Change
Five more forged letters expressing concern about energy price hikes and urging “pro-consumer” changes to the climate bill were discovered yesterday.
The EPA announced that it will be releasing “raw, preliminary data” about “companies’ toxic chemical releases” in an effort to increase transparency.
Energy workers in the Houston area attended the Energy Citizens rally, an event organized by the American Petroleum Institute in opposition to the climate change bill.
Previous in TP Politics
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policies as applicable, which can be found here.