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. You can now follow The Wonk Room on Twitter, where we will be live-tweeting the Senate health care debate. Also, the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson will be blogging and tweeting from Copenhagen on the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Economy
Times Magazine named Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke its 2009 Person of the Year, calling him “the most important player guiding the world’s most important economy.”
The Washington Post reports that “the federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis.”
Democrats are predicting that the estate tax “will expire after Dec. 31 because an impasse among lawmakers will prevent an agreement on extending the current levy before Congress takes its holiday break.”
Health Care
The Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its score of the final bill today and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) could file for cloture as early as Friday. Democrats “hope to vote on the bill on Dec. 23, or possibly Christmas Eve.”
“As the Senate struggles to meet a self-imposed, year-end deadline to complete work on legislation to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the public generally fearful that a revamped system would bring higher costs while worsening the quality of their care.”
The Washington Post traces the short but tumultuous life of the Medicare buy-in proposal.
Climate Change
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will head to Copenhagen to “take part in negotiations on Thursday, a day before President Obama is due to arrive.”
“About 40 major corporations — led by Microsoft, Dow, Nike and Duke Energy — have written to President Obama,” calling for him to sign an agreement that includes “significant near- and long-term emissions reductions targets and strong finance provisions, with a substantial commitment of new long-term finance from developed nations.”
Hundreds of protesters were arrested as police “fired tear gas and wielded batons on Wednesday to beat back” demonstrators gathered in Copenhagen. The police offensive followed news that protest organizer and high-profile activist, Tadzio Mueller was arrested on the eve of the scheduled demonstrations.
Immigration
The Hill reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has reassured vulnerable members of her caucus that immigration reform will not move in the House until the Senate takes up the issue and votes on a bill itself.
Despite the fact that they were acquitted of murder and ethnic intimidation earlier this year, two Pennsylvania teenagers were indicted on federal hate crime charges in relation to the fatal beating of immigrant Luís Ramírez and local police charged with obstruction of justice.
Former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) described a decision by the state Supreme Court that condemned a 2008 immigration raid as an ultimate “boon” to his anti-immigration movement because it would help the “Clear the Bench” campaign purge Colorado of liberal justices.
National Security
The LA Times reports that Iran has conducted a missile test. “The two-stage, solid-fuel, medium-range Sejjil is considered more accurate than the liquid-fueled missiles Iran previously used. Iranian analysts say the upgraded version includes mobile launch platforms that make it difficult to target in airstrikes.”
Haaretz reports “the United States and Egypt, along with France, are planning a joint move to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks on the basis of the June 4, 1967, borders, territorial exchanges and a complete freeze of construction beyond the Green Line, including East Jerusalem. The freeze would not be announced publicly.”
The Swiss government says it will take in one detainee from the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The government on Wednesday did not say which detainee it will allow to resettle in the Alpine nation or where he would live.
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