The WonkLine: January 13, 2011

Extraordinary rains powered by global warming pollution “have triggered widespread floods and mudslides” in Sri Lanka, killing 23 and affecting millions; caused “the worst natural disaster to hit Brazil in four decades,” killing 369, and have “left parts of Australia’s third-biggest city on Thursday looking like a war zone in need of years of reconstruction.”

The presidential oil spill commission rebuked the “compromised ” American Petroleum Insitute for being both standard-setter and political lobbyist.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), “the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee,” is raising concerns that “a decision to temporarily restart a leaking Alaskan pipeline could result in spilled oil that will be difficult to clean up.”

“Republicans who control the New Hampshire House have decided that repealing the state’s gay marriage law won’t be on their agenda this year.”

“As the chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court defended the court’s 2009 same-sex marriage decision in a speech Wednesday, Bob Vander Plaats stood in a tiny conference room at the community center here, speaking to a half-dozen southern Iowans about his 99-county effort to galvanize conservative momentum.”

“Gay couples living in Ireland who have married or had a civil partnership abroad will be recognised as civil partners from today.”

The Supreme Court stayed a Texas man’s execution just moments before it was supposed to take place, so that it can decide whether to consider the man’s claim that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Justices Scalia and Alito would have allowed the execution to move forward.

Wisconsin Republicans don’t just plan to pass a voter disenfranchisement law, they want to enshrine it in the state constitution so that it is harder to repeal.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), last seen leading a censored reading of the U.S. Constitution, will introduce a balanced budget amendment in the 112th Congress

Ford and General Motors “will announce profit-sharing checks this month for their hourly workers” that could top $5,000, the largest in a decade.

Banks repossessed more than one million homes in 2010 and 2011 looks like it will be even worse.

Between 2007 and 2009, “the number of homeless people increased 3 percent, or by about 20,000 people, and the number of homeless families increased 4 percent.”

“As lawmakers promise a new era of comity after the Arizona shooting attack that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in critical condition, Republican leaders grappled with how and when to return to an issue that brought political discourse to a boiling point.”

Thousands of health care investors gathered in San Francisco for this week’s J.P Morgan Health Care Conference are asking “how to capitalize on health reform’s new business opportunities.”

Republican lawmakers presented bills “to block Montana from helping implement a key portion of the law and force the state to join a multi-state lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.”

According to a new poll, “Americans consider international education essential for today’s students, and they connect foreign-language learning and study abroad with improved prospects for success in the global marketplace.”

There’s something missing from Gov. Mitch Daniels’ (R-IN) proposed education overhaul: preschool.

Is momentum building for revamping No Child Left Behind?

“Haitians who took refuge with relatives in the United States after last year’s earthquake may be forced to return home or go underground,” UPI reports.

“This is not Arizona,” said Kentucky state Rep. Rick Rand (D) while affirming that it’s unlikely that the Arizona copycat immigration law will pass the Kentucky House of Representatives.

The Associated Press reports that “Senior U.S. and Cuban diplomats met Wednesday to discuss immigration issues in an encounter described by the Cuban side as fruitful and carried out in a spirit of mutual respect.”

“A year after an earthquake destroyed its capitol city, Haiti is slowly rebuilding.”

“Tunisia’s government on Wednesday announced the dismissal of the interior minister and plans to investigate corruption allegations as the rioting that has racked the country for weeks reached the capital, Tunis.”

“Hezbollah and its political allies withdrew from Lebanon’s cabinet on Wednesday, toppling a national unity government that had brought a measure of calm to the troubled Middle Eastern country since 2009.”

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.