May 2, 2013 3:31 am
The Note’s Must-Reads are a round-up of today’s political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top US newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com
Compiled by ABC News’ Jayce Henderson, Amanda VanAllen, Carrie Halperin and Jordan Mazza
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN
ABC News ‘Arlette Saenz: “Joe Biden: Women Don’t Report Rapes to Avoid Being’ Raped Again by the System ‘” Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the reason many women do not report rapes or domestic abuse is because they are afraid they will be” raped again by the system. Why do you think women who get raped, so many don’t report it? They don’t want to get raped again by the system. They don’t want to be put through what they had to be put through, “he said at an event for the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC LINK
IMMIGRATION REFORM
The Washington Post’s David Nakamura: “Obama prods liberals to give-and-take on Senate immigration bill” President Obama is warning liberal supporters that their push to make changes in a comprehensive immigration bill could jeopardize the strategy of Senate leaders, who are aiming to win up to 70 votes for the measure. While much of Washington has focused on objections from Republicans, Obama and other Democrats have mounted a behind-the-scenes campaign in recent days aimed at mollifying advocates, who argue that an 844-page Senate bill excludes too many illegal immigrants and makes it too hard for the rest to become citizens. LINK
Politico’s Donovan Slack: “ Poll: Obama gets negative ratings on immigration, guns ” More people disapprove than approve of the way President Obama is handling immigration and guns, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University. Fifty percent don’t like the way he is handling immigration policy, compared with 40 percent who do, the poll found. That negative rating is due in large part to independents, 55 percent of whom disapprove of his handling of the issue. Only 34 percent approve. LINK
Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hunter and Jennifer Oldham: “ Immigration Deal Maker Bennet Juggles 2014 Campaign Role ” The Democrat in charge of trying to run Republicans out of the US Senate in 2014 is courting those same lawmakers for an agreement on immigration. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet is working closely with Republicans on a rewrite of immigration policy he co-authored. LINK
PLAN B
The Hill’s Sam Baker: “ Justice Dept. to appeal Plan B court ruling “The Obama administration will appeal a court decision that required the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make the controversial contraceptive known as Plan B available to women of all ages. The Justice Department (DOJ) filed its appeal with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday – just 24 hours after the FDA relaxed its restrictions on Plan B LINK
TAX CUTS
The Wall Street Journal’s Mark Peters and Neil King Jr.: “Governors, GOP Allies Clash Over Tax Cuts” Republican lawmakers in several states are blunting plans by GOP governors to reduce or eliminate income taxes, putting the legislators at odds with figures many in the party see as leading voices on reshaping government. Friction over tax policy within the GOP has flared in states such as Louisiana, Nebraska, Kansas and Ohio, as Republican lawmakers raise concerns over projected revenue losses from income-tax cuts. LINK
Bloomberg’s Julianna Goldman: “ White House Feels Sequestration Pain in Staff Furloughs ” President Barack Obama began experiencing first-hand the effects of across-the-board federal spending cuts as the first wave of White House furloughs kicked in yesterday. The $ 85 billion in cuts known as sequestration hit White House staffers with day-long furloughs scattered throughout the next two weeks. All staff classified as non-commissioned will miss one work day without salary during May’s first pay period while commissioned officers who, as assistants to the president don’t qualify as leave-earners, will have to take a pay cut commensurate with the planned furlough , spokesman Jay Carney said. LINK
DEMOCRATS
USA Today’s Catalina Camia: “Democrats confident about holding Watt’s seat” If Rep. Mel Watt is confirmed by the Senate to a post in the Obama administration, chances are good his seat in Congress will stay in Democratic hands. President Obama on Wednesday tapped Watt, an 11-term House member from North Carolina, as his choice to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in providing government-backed mortgages. LINK
The Boston Globe’s Jim O’Sullivan: “ Democrats fear reliving 2010 race that elected Brown ” Republican Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez’s runaway victory in Tuesday’s primary delivers an unwelcome jolt to Massachusetts Democrats, with the dynamics of the upcoming general election race offering an unnerving comparison to the 2010 Senate election that still haunts many of them. Indeed, on paper, the 47-year-old Gomez can lay claim to many of the traits that helped propel Scott Brown into the US Senate: youthful-looking, camera-friendly, a military background, and barely a blip on the Democrats’ radar just months before winning the primary. Unlike Brown, he has no political experience, but his resume is arguably more muscular, with a stint in private equity and service as a US Navy SEAL. LINK
REPUBLICANS
The Washington Times’ Guy Taylor: “ Republicans cite attacks in Benghazi, Boston as Obama security failures ” The Obama administration found itself in the cross hairs of mounting Republican frustration Tuesday over national security policy, with particular focus on unanswered questions surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings last month and the terrorist attack last year on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. With 134 Republican members of the GOP-controlled House now signed on to a bill that would create a select committee to investigate the Benghazi attacks, Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, seethed that US national security has “deteriorated” under President Obama’s watch. LINK
OTHER
The New York Times ‘Ashley Parker: “ Americans’ Unity on Big Issues Doesn’t Bridge Partisan Gap “ While the public overwhelmingly supports background checks for gun buyers and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, Americans largely retreat into their partisan camps when asked whether President Obama or Congressional Republicans will make the right decisions on those and other domestic issues facing the nation, according to the latest New York Times / CBS News Poll. LINK
ABC NEWS VIDEO
“White House Closer to Arming Syrian Rebels?” LINK
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