Welcome to The WonkLine, a daily 9:30 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.
Climate Change
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) has joined the climate peacock caucus, saying that “cimate change is a real issue that has to be addressed” but that “he supports a measure that would ban the Environmental Protection Agency from writing climate change legislation to regulate greenhouse gases linked to climate change.”
“Triple-digit temperatures will be the norm in Texas within a few decades, and 115-degree heat won’t be surprising,” warns Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, which will devastate the state’s livestock and agriculture.
Gov. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is suing over EPA’s new mountaintop-removal rules, “in protection of our working families and way of life.”
Health Care
“Republicans have won points with many voters by promising a conservative overhaul of taxes and spending, but Democrats are working hard in the closing weeks of the campaign to convince voters that a conservative social agenda is waiting in the wings, too, should Republicans be elected in large numbers.”
“Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson have asked the federal government to bar New York City food-stamp recipients from using the benefit to buy sugary drinks, an effort to determine if the move would decrease obesity and diabetes problems.”
“A slate of Republican doctors seeking House seats is benefiting from a group of deep-pocketed medical groups that are funneling thousands of dollars to their campaigns and providing support on the airwaves. ”
Immigration
The Obama administration announced Wednesday that in the past year it has deported more than 392,000 undocumented immigrants — a record number and about half of whom were convicted criminals.
Latino activists in Chicago protested the likely mayoral campaign of Rahm Emanuel, blaming him for the lack of immigration reform and saying his immigration record as congressman and as White House chief of staff will cost him Latino support.
Henry Cejudo, the youngest American wrestler to win gold and U.S. citizen by birthright says nothing holds more value than his U.S. citizenship, not even the Olympic gold medal he won for his country.
Economy
Reuters asks if Republicans could gut parts of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform law.
As they sit on “unprecedented levels of cash,” U.S. companies are buying back their own stock in huge numbers; this year, “firms have announced they will purchase $273 billion of their own shares, more than five times as much compared with this time last year.”
According to the latest Census data, “about one in 18 women working full time earned $100,000 or more in 2009, a jump of 14 percent over two years.” One in seven men make that much.
National Security
“The Obama administration scrambled to halt a sharp deterioration in its troubled relationship with Pakistan on Wednesday, offering Pakistani officials multiple apologies for a helicopter strike on a border post that killed three Pakistani soldiers last week.”
“As hereditary heir Kim Jong Eun assumes a public role in Pyongyang, appearing for photo sessions and watching live fire drills, the Obama administration has clarified at least one thing about its North Korea policy: Everything depends on South Korea.”
“Efforts to stem the smuggling of weapons from the United States to Mexican drug cartels have been frustrated by bureaucratic infighting, a lack of training and the delayed delivery of a computer program to Mexico, according to U.S. and Mexican officials.”
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