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. You can also follow The Wonk Room on Twitter.
Economy
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York under Tim Geithner “told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer’s payments to banks.” AIG said in a draft regulatory filing that it paid banks 100 cents on the dollar but the New York Fed “crossed out the reference.”
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. could vote next week to propose “tying the fees lenders pay the agency for deposit insurance to the risk profile of compensation packages for executives.”
The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reported today that “U.S. state tax collections fell the most in 46 years in the first three quarters of 2009.”
Climate Change
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) said yesterday that “there’s no consensus on what form a cap-and-trade system would take, but strong desire exists in both the Senate and House to pass other energy-related bills that would curb pollution blamed for global warming.”
Bloomberg reports that “India will go ahead with its plans to combat climate change without waiting for global finance as nations prepare for fresh talks after failing to agree on a binding global treaty at Copenhagen last month.”
The right-wing media baselessly claims that the the CIA is diverting resources to climate research.
National Security
“Spokesman Robert Gibbs says officials will release a declassified account of a probe into a Nigerian man’s alleged attempt to detonate explosives on a flight as it approached Detroit. President Barack Obama is expected to address the nation on the matter later in the day.”
“Back-to-back missile strikes on a training camp in Pakistan’s lawless tribal region killed at least 13 militants Wednesday, the latest in a string of apparent U.S. attacks on Taliban targets in the wake of last week’s suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan.”
“China has blocked western efforts to impose a fresh round of UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, saying diplomatic efforts to stop Tehran building atomic weapons are ongoing.”
Health Care
“President Obama told House Democratic leaders at a meeting on Wednesday that they should include a tax on high-priced insurance policies favored by the Senate in the final version of far-reaching health care legislation, aides said.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is holding firm against the excise tax. “It’s not a very popular initiative in the House or in the public. It’s something the president is committed to, and we’ll see how it works out,” Pelosi said after a White House meeting this afternoon with Obama.
Health-care reform bill’s proposed tax on high-cost plans raises questions. Here are some answers.
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