These excerpts are from the National Journal Toolbox,which is produced every Thursday by the National Journal’s Daily Briefings Team.
- House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) predicted Monday that the House would pass a five-year farm bill by this summer, The Hill reports. Read more
- Lucas’s comments come after a memo from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) asserted that the House would take up a farm bill this year.
- The Senate-passed online-sales-tax bill seeks to encourage more consumers to shop at brick-and-mortar stores. Read more
- The Internet sales-tax bill’s path ahead in the House is unclear. This week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he wouldn’t support the measure in its current form. Read more
- It is not at all clear that, even if it did pass both chambers, the legislation would achieve its goals, as National Journal’s Niraj Chokshi reports. Read more
- An analysis by the Social Security Administration has found that the immigration-reform measure introduced by the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” last month would have a positive long-term impact on the entitlement program, The Wall Street Journalreports. Read more
- The mortgage giant Freddie Mac posted the second-highest quarterly profits in its history in the first quarter of 2013, taking in $4.6 billion, Reuters reports. Read more
- While the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a milestone Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal notes that the reaction has been more muted than expected. Perhaps that’s because ever since the financial crash, many have been disabused of the notion that what’s best for the markets is what’s best for the economy. Read more
The National Journal Toolbox is produced every Thursday by Glen Justice, Jonathan Miller, Cory Bennett, Jordain Carney and Courtney McBride with National Journal’s Daily Briefings Team. Read the complete May 9, 2013, edition here.