President Obama told House Republicans today that he will make a decision on whether to open the Keystone Pipeline in the next few weeks. The president has previously blocked the decision because of environmental concerns. The Keystone pipeline would carry diluted oil nearly 1,200-miles from Alberta to southeastern Nebraska. A southern segment currently under construction would carry the crude product onto Gulf Coast refineries. The decision has been hotly debated since the president put the kabosh on the project in 2011. Proponents say opening the pipeline will create jobs, help reduce the cost of fuel and limit U.S. dependence on foreign oil; Opponents, including many environmental groups, say the risk is too high for potential water contamination from the hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil that would flow through the pipeline each day. - Read more at Buzzfeed
CONSERVATIVES SAY RYAN’S BUDGET DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH Senate GOP lawmakers say House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget doesn’t do enough to repeal Obamacare and are pushing to repeal the entire law. Ryan’s budget leaves in place new tax revenues generated under Obama’s healthcare law, and also leaves $700 billion in cuts to Medicare providers intact. - Read more at The Hill
BAD NEWS FOR THE GOP A new Post-ABC poll shows Congressional Republicans have a 24 percent the approval rating, meaning 72 percent of people disapprove. And even more bad news for the GOP, more than half-- 53 percent -- of self-identified Republicans disapprove of how their party is doing in Congress. - Read more at the Washington Post
TSA WILL ESCAPE FURLOUGHS The Transportation Security Administration is managing to avoid furloughing its employees in the wake of sequestration a union official said on Wednesday. Instead, TSA will rely on hiring freezes, resulting in 2,600 vacancies, and eliminating overtime hours to meet the new budget constraints. - Read more at GovExec
Follow us on Twitter at @DebtandTaxes and Brianna Ehley at @briannaehley
And see more from Debt and Taxes here
