Congress might lift the ban on domestic oil exports, which comes at a time of heightened concern over letting Muslim oil into the country. A petition has forced the British Parliament to schedule a debate on whether to prohibit Donald Trump from the country, which is a shame because Trump would be so fun to watch at Prime Minister’s Questions. And a pair of conservative Republicans is trying to revoke John Boehner's post-speakership perks, though Boehner will be damned if anyone takes away his John Deere D110 19-HP Hydrostatic Riding Lawn Mower emblazoned with the congressional seal. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, December 9th, 2015:
Staffers planning on hosting ironic sweater parties can breathe easy: @jakesherman: HOUSE IS OUT THIS WEEKEND. Breathe a sigh of relief, Capitol Hill. Short-term CR Friday. Spending/tax fight resumes Mon. Same place.
@BrendanBuck: We really just wanted to free everyone up to go to the Bonjeans’.
BILL BABY BILL - Coke-a-Cola might soon be eclipsed as America's most widely exported liquid. Laura Barron Lopez: "As it stands, Congress is closing in on a massive year-end deal with the crude oil export ban at its center. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Wednesday morning there are three packages being discussed now. 'You have omnibus, extenders and this whole question of whether or not you would lift the oil export ban,' he said...Republicans are eager to lift the embargo. In hasty negotiations over a large omnibus spending bill and robust tax extenders package -- meant to permanently renew tax breaks wedding GOP business priorities with Democrats' priorities for working families -- crude oil exports may hitch a ride if Democrats can be convinced...It would flood the world market with American oil -- a big win for the industry -- and likely cause the country to lose some ground in its quest to become energy independent. Oil prices are expected to rise, probably along with those fickle gas prices, but the recent squeeze on production felt all the way down to the worker in the oil field would scale back" [HuffPost]
WHY WON'T THESE CONGRESSIONAL BROS LEAVE JOHN BOEHNER ALONE? - Matt Fuller: "Like the smoke stains in his old office, former Speaker John Boehner isn't really going anywhere -- at least not as far as the taxpayer is concerned. Under congressional rules, the former speaker is allowed to keep a Capitol Hill office at taxpayer expense for five years, complete with franking privileges, a budget for office furnishings and three staffers making six-figure salaries. 'I guess they're going to pay for his toilet tissue too,' said Rep. Walter Jones Jr. (R-N.C.), who is introducing a bill with Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to deauthorize the so-called post-speaker office. Jones and Massie held a sparsely attended press conference Wednesday morning -- The Huffington Post was the only outlet present -- to call for an end to the post-speakership perk. And while the apparently ongoing conservative crusade against Boehner wasn't enough to motivate the rest of the congressional press corps to brave a 9 a.m. outdoor news conference in December, Jones and Massie had fun at an event where members of Congress outnumbered the press. 'This is already better attended than most of my Capitol Hill fundraisers,' Massie quipped." [HuffPost]
@MEPFuller: A first: A press conference that is an exclusive. (I'm the only one here.)
@MelMcIntire: Sen. McCaskill now referring to Martin Shkreli as "Mr. Wu Tang" in Senate Aging Comm. hearing on drug prices
DELANEY DOWNER - Nearly half of America's 43 million renters spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent, according to the latest report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. "While the supply of rental housing has increased, primarily through conversion of formerly owner-occupied units and, to a lesser extent, new construction, rental demand has increased even faster," the report says. "Rising demand has put upward pressure on rents and reduced vacancies; meanwhile, new additions to the rental market have primarily added units with above-median rents." The rent is too damn high -- and yet today Jimmy McMillan announced his retirement. [JCHS]
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GOP: THAT TRUMP PROPOSAL THAT HAS SOME MERIT IS TERRIBLE - The GOP is now comprised almost entirely of that person in your Facebook feed. Eliza Collins: "From established party figures such as Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum to more hard-core right-wing personalities such as Ann Coulter, numerous Republicans are either stopping short of condemning Trump's audacious proposal or are outright applauding the billionaire businessman as finally offering a common-sense solution to terrorism threats...Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House who ran for president in 2012, criticized Trump’s tone in his proposal — but that was about it.'I think Trump’s idea may be too strong, but I think something jarring is very helpful in leading to a national debate in how big this problem is, and how dangerous it is,' Gingrich said…" [Politico]
ANTONIN SCALIA, THE DRUNK UNCLE MEME OF JURISPRUDENCE - Tal Kopan: "Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia raised eyebrows on Wednesday with a comment he made during the court's hearing of an affirmative action case, in which he seemed to suggest some African-Americans belong in lesser colleges. Scalia was questioning the attorney for the University of Texas, which is defending its use of race as a factor in admissions in the case before the court. 'There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a less -- a slower-track school where they do well,' Scalia said, according to the transcript. 'One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas.'" [CNN]
SLATE PITCH: DONALD TRUMP IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Andrew Kirell: "Thanks to Donald Trump, we may now have the first agreement between Israel and Hamas since their short-lived August 2014 ceasefire. Late Wednesday evening, after it was announced that Trump will visit Israel before the end of 2015, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement distancing himself from the firebrand Republican’s plan for 'complete and total shutdown' of Muslims entering the United States...That same evening, right-wing news site Breitbart.com spoke to Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan, who similarly condemned Trump: 'We do not estimate that the current U.S. administration, any administration, will implement these racist suggestions. This is a pathetic attempt to attribute terror exclusively to Muslims.'" [Daily Beast]
Times throwing some shade at Cruz: "As his crowd sizes swell in Iowa and he battles with Donald J. Trump to lock down the party’s more conservative voters, Mr. Cruz -- appraised as grating and pompous as a matter of bipartisan consensus -- is working diligently at the simple task of establishing human connections. It is a bigger lift than it might seem. Mr. Cruz appears keenly aware of his charm deficit, acknowledging in private that his retail campaigning skills can lag behind his grasp of policy. At a debate in October, he became perhaps the first candidate in modern history to declare himself unappealing bar company." [NYT's Matt Flegenheimer]
GET YER OBAMACARE - Two grand is nothing when compared against your life. And we don't just mean because you won't get sick. Obama's health squads will come and kill you if you don't sign up, but not before they nab your children and send them to Sharia indoctrination camps. Jeff Young: "It's the least popular aspect of Obamacare, and it might become even more disliked when the penalties increase. In 2016, those who don't have health coverage and don't qualify for one of the many exemptions from the mandate will owe the IRS anywhere from $695 to more than $2,000 -- a big jump up from the minimum penalty of $95 in 2014 and $325 this year. For higher-income families, the number could be even bigger. The purpose of the individual mandate is to provide a disincentive for people to avoid cover if they can afford it. The requirement often is referred to as the law's 'stick,' the counterpart to the 'carrot' of the subsidies available on the health insurance exchanges to make policies more affordable for low- and middle-income households. The Congressional Budget Office and other analysts predicted that the penalty rise would drive more people to sign up for health insurance." [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a puppy learning to scratch.
AMERICANS INCREASINGLY WANT MUSLIMS OFF THEIR LAWNS - Unclear how much the poll was affected by people accidentally shooting themselves with their own guns. Ariel Edwards-Levy: "Anti-Islamic sentiments are widespread in the U.S., but haven't strengthened substantially this year, a new HuffPost/YouGov survey shows...Just 17 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of Islam, according to the poll, which was also conducted after the San Bernardino shooting but prior to Trump's comments. Fifty-eight percent have an unfavorable view of the religion, while 25 percent are unsure. The results are similar those of a March HuffPost/YouGov poll, in which 21 percent viewed Islam favorably, 55 percent viewed it unfavorably and one-quarter weren't sure." [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- Playing Bach's "Air on the G String" with actual G strings.
- Find out which of your acquaintances likes Donald Trump.
- How to build an igloo for those of you wondering.
TWITTERAMA
@berniethoughts: MY ADVISOR OFFERED ME SOME CARROT JUICE—SO I HAD HIM EXPLAIN VERY CAREFULLY WHAT HE MEANT—IS THERE A SECRET PART OF THE CARROT IT COMES FROM
@igorbobic: Hell is answering Des Moines Register questionnaires for eternity.
@VincentHarris: Some candidates / campaigns are like the Blob. The more the media/establishment throws the larger & stronger they become.
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