News of the Day

Here are the news stories The Reid Report team is discussing right now:

Unions Want Federal Money to Plug Detroit Pension Hole– “Union leaders want federal money originally slated for struggling Michigan homeowners to help plug a pension hole in Detroit as officials work to resolve the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the talks.” [The Wall Street Journal]

Sebelius Said to Weigh Run for Kansas Senate Seat – “Ms. Sebelius is considering entreaties from Democrats who want her to run against that old friend, Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas.” [The New York Times]

Ukraine crisis: live – “Russian president admits for first time he deployed army in Crimea and warns he doesn’t want to be ‘obliged to use right’ to do so in eastern Ukraine[.]” [The Telegraph]

President Obama, Eric Cantor talk immigration — sort of – “President Barack Obama spoke with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor about immigration reform on Wednesday, hours after the president sharply criticized House Republicans for stalling an overhaul this year.” [POLITICO]

Gov. McCrory proposes closing, converting 33 coal ash ponds – “Gov. Pat McCrory announced a comprehensive plan Wednesday aimed at closing all of Duke Energy’s existing coal ash ponds in North Carolina or converting them to solid-waste landfills.” [Greensboro News & Record]

Nearly 200 U of M professors object to Condoleezza Rice’s inclusion in civil-rights lecture series – “Nearly 200 University of Minnesota professors have joined the controversy over a scheduled speech on Thursday by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying in a public letter that they don’t think the Humphrey School lecture series is an appropriate forum for her talk.” [MinnPost]

Time to raise – or scrap – the Social Security payroll tax cap – “The payroll tax that funds Social Security is levied only on a certain amount of income. This year it’s capped at $117,000. That means most wage earners will pay 6.2 percent of every dime they earn in 2014, but high earners will stop paying after passing the cap.” [Reuters]

South Korea ferry disaster: captain and crew accused of abandoning passengers – “The parents of hundreds of children missing after Wednesday’s ferry accident off the coast of South Korea have accused the captain of the vessel of abandoning passengers after it emerged that he and six other crew members were among the first to leave the ship after it started to sink.” [The Guardian]

Study: People of color breathe air that is 38 percent more polluted than white people’s – A study released by the University of Minnesota this week indicated that people of color are exposed to air that is 38 percent more polluted than the air breathed by white people.” [Raw Story]

Threat of armed conflict subdues in Nevada– “Rachel Maddow discusses the media hype over the land dispute between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management despite the recent standstill in the conflict.” [msnbc.com]

Number of missing in Washington mudslide drops – “The Snohomish County sheriff’s office said Wednesday it has removed one name from the missing list. Earlier Wednesday, officials announced that the death toll had risen to 39.” [Associated Press via Boston Herald]

Koch Brothers Net Worth Tops $100 Billion as TV Warfare Escalates – “Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who run Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries Inc., added $1.3 billion to their collective fortune yesterday on reports that U.S. industrial production gained more than forecast. The surge elevated their net worth to more than $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.” [Bloomberg]

Malaysia Airlines Missing Plane: Robot Submarine Completes 1st Scan Of Seabed – “Investigators were analyzing data collected by a robotic submarine that completed its first successful scan of the seabed Thursday in the hunt for the missing Malaysian plane, but say tests have ruled out that a nearby oil slick came from the aircraft.” [Associated Press via The Huffington Post]