Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof 

Obama Budget To Include "Chained CPI" for Social Security - President Barack Obama is proposing cuts to Social Security as an attempt to compromise with Republicans on the budget.
 
A senior administration official says the budget Obama will offer to Congress next Wednesday would reduce the deficit by $1.8 trillion over 10 years. It includes a revised inflation adjustment called “chained CPI” that would curb cost-of-living increases in Social Security and other benefit programs.

The senior administration official stressed it is not the president’s preferred approach but a compromise proposal to try to reach a long-term budget deal. Obama first made the offer to House Speaker John Boehner last year.  TPM.com has more here.

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Cabinet Members Join Obama in Donating Pay - Secretary of State John Kerry will follow President Obama's lead and give back some of his pay as some department employees face furloughs, his spokeswoman said Thursday, as other members of the Cabinet also moved to show support for employees facing pay cuts because of sequestration.

Kerry plans to give five percent of his salary to a charity for State Department employees, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
 
That comes after Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier Thursday that he will give back some of his pay if his department needs to furlough its employees.

"What the president did, I think, is right given the fact that some federal employees may have to be furloughed, which means a pay cut," he said in an interview with "The Tom Joyner Show."

Since Kerry and Holder committed to give away some of their pay, spokespeople for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told POLITICO their bosses would be making contributions to charity.  Politico.com has more here.

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N. Korea Moves Missiles - North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or U.S. Pacific bases, South Korean media reported on Friday.

The report could not be confirmed. But any such movement may be intended to demonstrate that the North, angry about joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises and the imposition of U.N. sanctions, is prepared to demonstrate its ability to mount an attack.

The North has said nuclear conflict could break out at any time on the Korean peninsula in a month-long war of words that has prompted the United States to move military assets into the region.

The tension with North Korea has roiled South Korean financial markets and top finance officials in Seoul warned they could have a long-term impact on markets.  Reuters.com has more here.

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Hillary Clinton Joins U.S. Global Leaderhip Coalition - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday joined the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's National Advisory Council.

Throughout her entire political life as First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has been a tireless supporter of the International Affairs Budget and the importance of global development and diplomacy,” Liz Schrayer, executive director of the coalition, said in a statement. “We look forward to having her leadership and expertise as we promote the importance of U.S. global engagement to our national security and economic prosperity.”

The National Advisory Council is chaired by former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition describes itself as " broad-based influential network of 400 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic and community leaders in all 50 states who support a smart power approach of elevating diplomacy and development alongside defense in order to build a better, safer, more prosperous world."

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