Subject: POLITICO's Morning Money: More on Trump's debt comments — No slack in the labor market — SIFMA on the DOL rule — GOP unfriends Facebook
From: Morning Money <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 06:03:59 -0600

By Ben White | 05/11/2016 08:00 AM EDT

MORE ON TRUMP'S DEBT COMMENTS - From a top financial services executive: "It doesn't make sense to buy back debt at lower prices because you would have to borrow money to do it and you would be paying higher rates on that money. There would be no economic gain in making such a move. 

"The whole thing is so absurd. If you are running annual deficits like we are you wouldn't be adding any economic value. ... And we borrow every single day. The moment we give anyone the idea that we would not pay it back one hundred percent, they would stop lending to us or they would charge us a lot more." 

Per a former senior Treasury official: "I think Trump may have finally figured out how to pay for The Wall - Mexico will build it to keep out Americans fleeing the effects of the Trump default!" 

Mohamed A. El-Erian on Bloomberg View: "Given the other ailments of the post-recession economy, it isn't easy to argue that a sharp reduction in the national debt should be an immediate standalone and overwhelming priority, and it does not belong among the top three upfront economic goals of the next administration. 

"Although the longer-term trajectory of debt should be kept under close scrutiny and contained, there is no evidence that the U.S.'s existing stock of federal debt is a major problem. Borrowing costs are extremely low. The U.S. has access to abundant financing. And unlike many developing countries, the U.S. has historically issued almost no debt that is denominated in a foreign currency" 

JOIN ME NEXT WEEK! - POLITICO's Ben White takes Morning Money live for a lunch briefing with President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Dennis Lockhart and President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, John C. Williams. Tuesday, May 17 - Doors at 12:00 p.m.; The W Hotel - 515 15th St NW. RSVP: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ac38eccef3a02efa5872ea53b9ffaf143538ecc8a3d4bb641e08da902451f91f

NO SLACK IN THE LABOR MARKET - MUFG Union Bank's Chris Rupkey: "Job openings soared to just short of the record in March. 5.757 million jobs available out there in March dispels the myth that there is any slack remaining in the labor markets. The recession ended years ago and this expansion of economic activity will turn 8 years old in July. How could there possibly be any material slack left out there in the economy?" 

SIFMA ON THE DOL RULE - SIFMA is hosting a full-day DOL Fiduciary Seminar in NYC. A preview from SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen's speech: "The record of the industry's support for a best interest standard is quite clear and well documented, and pre-dates the Department's initial rule proposal. 

"We recognized that it was in our clients' best interest to streamline an otherwise confusing regulatory framework, and instead of streamlining the regulatory construct, we may now find it to be more convoluted and most certainly more costly to clients and firms alike." 

IMAGINING TRUMP POST-BREXIT - Reuters BreakingViews' Rob Cox imagines Donald Trump's speech on June 24, the day after Britain votes to leave the EU, calling for a similar referendum on NAFTA and TPP" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ac38eccef3a02efa6c4adcd1bed872245076649f69949a53a38a2fcbdd12ffbc

GOP UNFRIENDS FACEBOOK - POLITICO's Tony Romm: "Washington's leading Republicans mounted an aggressive campaign on Tuesday targeting Facebook for the way it handles news stories, the latest front in the party's fight to highlight perceived liberal bias. ... In a presidential election year marked by the growing importance of social media - especially in helping fuel the rise of Donald Trump - Republicans found themselves seething in response to allegations that Facebook's employees had excluded news stories by conservative outlets from appearing in the Trending section of its users' daily news feeds.

"Facebook, which has an estimated 1.5 billion users worldwide, stressed it never condoned any such practice. But Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Commerce Committee, escalated the confrontation on Tuesday by demanding that CEO Mark Zuckerberg explain how the company curates news, while Republican National Committee leader Reince Priebus railed on Twitter: 'Facebook must answer for conservative censorship.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ac38eccef3a02efa65a74e811c704337f5a8fb653be3c8712e4e4671812f442a

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING - Whelp. The Caps did it to me again, coming all the back from 3-0 down to tie Game 6 with the Penguins only to lose it in overtime. Congrats all you Pittsburgh fans, heckuva series. See ya next year! Email me on [email-masked] and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben

THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES - Colin Wilhelm on what's in the new Puerto Rico rescue bill -- and to get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m.-- please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 [email-masked]

DRIVING THE DAY - JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon will be on CNBC's "Squawk Box" at 8:40 a.m. ... President Obama meets with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew this afternoon ... House Republicans expected to roll out another Puerto Rico assistance bill. Unclear if the White House will support it ... Treasury budget at 2:00 p.m. expected to show a tax season surplus of $113 billion, down from $157 billion last year ... 

ALSO TODAY: FISCAL SUMMIT - Per release: "Peterson Foundation's Fiscal Summit Convenes Nation's Leaders To Discuss Fiscal and Economic Priorities for Next President Democratic Leader Pelosi; Senators Enzi, Graham, Whitehouse, and Manchin; Secretary Hagel; Economic Advisors to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump; CBO Director Hall; Former CBO Directors Holtz-Eakin and Reischauer; Admiral Mike Mullen, and More" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ac38eccef3a02efa33a9bdd800b109a6de4629fca66feb4063ea8f48b294733d

SANDERS WINS WEST VIRGINIA - POLITICO's Nick Gass: "Bernie Sanders has defeated Hillary Clinton in West Virginia's Democratic primary. ... May has all the markings of a pleasant month for Sanders, with favorable contests in Oregon and Kentucky next Tuesday coming after his upset victory in Indiana on May 3. At this point in the primary, however, Sanders needs more than wins, he needs superdelegate miracles. 

"Entering Tuesday night, Clinton leads Sanders 1,705 to 1,415 in pledged delegates and 523 to 39 in superdelegates, an overall lead of 2,228 to 1,454. With only 926 pledged delegates remaining, Sanders' hopes rest with superdelegates deciding to abandon Clinton in large numbers. The Clinton campaign is confident enough that that won't happen that, in recent weeks, it has turned its attention largely to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ac38eccef3a02efaec6adc49dff1418ade0e956c189a859306b75587e6de6d21

DEMS GET WORRIED - POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "This wasn't the way the Democratic primary was supposed to end. ... Deep into the primary schedule, Clinton is forced to reckon with almost weekly results highlighting her relative weaknesses with white men and young voters, and she's only gradually been able to increase her swing state travel. All the while, Trump sharpens his day-to-day critiques of her. Some Democrats are now growing uneasy over a rocky finish that has Clinton spending resources and political capital so late in the process.

"Clinton is still on track to pass the threshold to clinch the nomination at some point in June using a combination of pledged delegates and superdelegates, and her lead among pledged delegates remains above 275. That makes it extremely difficult for Sanders to catch up to her unless he can win over a large number of the party elites who vote regardless of their state's decision. Yet the Clinton campaign, cognizant of the need to show respect to Sanders' legion of devoted supporters, is unable to initiate the call to unite behind her candidacy" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0ae27d9009e172f6ade4761ddbc56383fd86c4bf073048ff68

RYAN/TRUMP MEETING SET - POLITICO's Rachel Bade: "Donald Trump will meet face-to-face with Speaker Paul Ryan at 9 a.m. on Thursday at the RNC, according to a GOP leadership source familiar with the schedule. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will sit in the meeting, too. A second meeting including Ryan, Trump and a larger roster of GOP leadership will follow. 

"Attendees will include Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) There will be no press availability after, but Ryan will do an on-camera availability later that morning" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0ac620dfc4e1aa02e246e8e15032c604acfea2c3098b00eb47

THE TRUMP DOCTRINE (SUCH AS IT IS) - Bloomberg View's Paula Dwyer: "When it comes to policy ideas, Donald Trump is hard to pin down. Now, though, the outline of a Trump economic theory has started to emerge. It isn't pretty. He doesn't place much faith in markets. He doesn't want an independent central bank. His views on currencies and sovereign debt rest on the principle that everything is negotiable, even contracts between creditors and borrowers. His main weapon wouldn't be the rule of law but bullying, especially of corporations that move outside the U.S. for competitive reasons." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0a658db7e10c49b57257175c003e623ffb3f24f95ca25b8bc5

MORE ON MNUCHIN - WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus, Rachel Louise Ensign and Ben Fritz: "Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who is facing a general-election tab that could exceed $1 billion, has tapped to raise that money a businessman with ties to two industries traditionally important in campaign finance, Wall Street and Hollywood, but with uncertain loyalties to Mr. Trump.

"Steven Mnuchin ... is an unorthodox choice. He isn't an experienced political fundraiser, an attribute typically coveted by a presidential campaign; he has donated to more Democrats than Republicans; and his Rolodex includes current and former colleagues who might prove reluctant to donate to Mr. Trump ... Mr. Mnuchin's decision to work for Mr. Trump also appears out of step with his immediate family. His father and stepmother each gave the maximum $2,700 to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's campaign in March" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0afa710dc4882b082da1650edcf9799157b795ee9b822e0dd0

CLINTON SON-IN-LAW DUMPS GREEK HEDGE FUND - NYT's Alexandra Stevenson and Matthew Goldstein: "It was a hedge fund portfolio pitched by Hillary Clinton's son-in-law, Marc Mezvinsky, as an opportunity to bet on a Greek economic revival. Now, two years later, the Greece-focused fund is shutting down, after losing nearly 90 percent of its value, ... Investors were told last month that the fund would close. The fund, Eaglevale Hellenic Opportunity, had raised $25 million from investors to buy Greek bank stocks and government debt.

"Eaglevale Partners, a Manhattan hedge fund firm founded by Mr. Mezvinsky and two former Goldman Sachs colleagues, raised money for the Hellenic fund at a time when some on Wall Street had hopes for a revival in the Greek economy. For a time, Mr. Mezvinsky appeared at hedge fund conferences promoting the Greece investment thesis. ... Betting on Greece has proved to be tricky - some investors have made huge gains while others have had their fingers burned, depending on the timing of their bets." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0ad4ee87fbce3fd5c46698a1ce77d2fc19c94aa438c4f4bf3b

LEW ESCALATES PUERTO RICO PRESSURE - POLITICO's Colin Wilhelm: "Treasury Secretary Jack Lew flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a group of journalists Monday to ramp up pressure on Congress to allow the commonwealth to restructure its debt before a looming $2 billion default in July. ... Lew toured a hospital and school and met with business leaders in a neighborhood filled with closed stores. He cited crumbling infrastructure, insufficient funding for adequate infant care, and hospitals around the island closing entire floors as reasons to act now before the island spirals into what could be to be years of litigation with creditors. 

"'It will at some point be a case of whether you can pay the police or the fire department,' Lew said. But while he stressed that it's urgent for Congress to act, Lew declined to say whether the Obama administration will support a bill House Republicans are planning to introduce on Wednesday that would create a fiscal oversight board for the island and allow some debt restructuring." 

HEDGE FUND BOSSES CASH IN - NYT's Alexandra Stevenson: "JPMorgan Chase paid its chief executive, Jamie Dimon, $27 million in 2015. In another Wall Street universe, the hedge fund manager Kenneth C. Griffin made $1.7 billion over the same year. Even as regulators push to rein in compensation at Wall Street banks, top hedge fund managers earn more than 50 times what the top executives at banks are paid. The 25 best-paid hedge fund managers took home a collective $12.94 billion in income last year, according to an annual ranking published on Tuesday by Institutional Investor's Alpha magazine.

"Those riches came during a year of tremendous market volatility that was so bad for some Wall Street investors that the billionaire manager Daniel S. Loeb called it a 'hedge fund killing field.' A few hedge funds flamed out; others simply closed down. Some of the biggest names in the industry lost their investors billions of dollars. Yet for the biggest hedge fund managers, these men (and the occasional woman) have more money and more influence than ever before." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0a37ff1c67ffe879242fb5e4dcbbfaf320e92dcd07314b9b2d

TREASURY WARNS ON ONLINE LENDERS - FT's Ben McLannahan: "The US Treasury Department has warned of the fragility of the business models of a new crop of online lenders, a day after revelations of alleged mis-selling of loans at Lending Club shook confidence in the sector. A white paper released on Tuesday represented the first attempt by a US regulator to produce a framework for supervising an industry which sprang up in the wake of the financial crisis. 

"Operating under a patchwork of state and federal rules, online lenders such as SoFi and OnDeck Capital have grown rapidly. ... In the paper, more than nine months in the making, the Treasury noted that much of the innovation from the upstarts had been positive. But it added that many of the new platforms - some 400 or so in the US, at the latest estimate - had no experience of operating 'through a complete credit cycle'. It warned of deterioration in the loans they are selling on to individual and institutional investors." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=39f620b6b8a6bc0a50c4bf3de52b62381d039ffa225b3d9c11c1d5f06588599b

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