SENATE
McConnell: No desire for Syrian intervention
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says there is no appetite in Congress for U.S. military or humanitarian intervention in Syria, where the country’s Cabinet resigned Tuesday amid increasingly public discontent over the authoritarian rule of President Bashar Assad.
“I don’t hear anybody calling for that,” the Kentucky Republican told a gathering of reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“We obviously feel badly for the Syrian people that they’ve been subjected to this kind of regime for all of these years, 40 or 50 years. But with so much tumult all throughout the Middle East, we don’t - I don’t think we have a single policy that fits neatly every single country. They’re all different.”
Regarding President Obama’s Monday night speech on the United States’ military presence in Libya, where rebel forces are fighting to topple dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Mr. McConnell said the president’s remarks “were a step in the right direction” but “didn’t answer every question.”
Mr. McConnell said Mr. Obama failed to explain what is the “desired outcome” of the mission in Libya. “If our policy isn’t regime change, what is our policy?”
WHITE HOUSE
Obama to raise cash for party
President Obama will raise cash for Democrats in New York this week and Chicago next month.
A Democratic official says Mr. Obama will raise money for the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday night during a trip to New York for the dedication of a United Nations building.
Mr. Obama will also attend a Democratic fundraiser April 14 in his hometown of Chicago, the same city where his re-election campaign will be based.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the events have not been formally announced.
FLORIDA
Poll: In ’do-over’ vote Gov. Scott would lose
Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who won a close election last fall, would lose badly if the contest were held again, a new poll shows.
Mr. Scott, whose popularity has plummeted since Nov. 2 when he beat Democrat Alex Sink by 1 percentage point, would lose to her by 19 points in a re-do election, according to results of a Public Policy Polling survey released Tuesday.
The poll shows 32 percent of Sunshine State voters approve of Mr. Scott’s job performance, while his disapproval rating is 55 percent. Voters of his own party approve of the way he is handling his job by a 57 percent to 27 percent margin, but his disapproval rating among Democrats stands at 81 percent - up from 60 percent three months ago.
In a do-over election, 16 percent of those polled who said they voted for Mr. Scott would switch sides, as would 21 percent of all Republicans. Mrs. Sink would win the independent vote by a whopping 61 percent to 29 percent margin.
“Rick Scott was elected by the thinnest of margins in one of the best Republican election years ever,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, a liberal-leaning pollster. “Since then he hasnt done much to win over either the folks who didnt vote for him or the folks who supported him because he was a Republican despite having some reservations about him personally.”
ENERGY
Program to cut costs for startups
BOSTON | Energy Secretary Steven Chu is making it easier for startup companies to license groundbreaking technologies developed by the National Laboratories.
Mr. Chu announced Tuesday the department will reduce the total upfront cost of licensing patents in a specific technology to a $1,000 fee for portfolios of up to three patents.
The department is also reducing the paperwork requirements for startup companies to obtain an option agreement to license some of the 15,000 patents and patent applications held by 17 National Laboratories.
Mr. Chu says the goal of the “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” challenge is to double the number of startup companies coming out of the National Laboratories. To be eligible, entrepreneurs must identify the technology of interest and submit a business plan for consideration. The program kicks off May 2.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Santorum: Blame abortion for Social Security woes
CONCORD | In his latest trip to New Hampshire, Republican Rick Santorum says the Social Security system would be in much better shape if there were fewer abortions.
The former Pennsylvania senator and potential presidential candidate was asked about Social Security during an interview on WESZ-AM radio in Laconia on Tuesday morning.
He says the system has design flaws, but the reason it is in big trouble is that there aren’t enough workers to support retirees. He blamed that on what he called the nation’s abortion culture. He says that culture, coupled with policies that do not support families, deny America what it needs more people.
Mr. Santorum has been a frequent visitor to New Hampshire, which holds the earliest presidential primary.
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