Workforce
Leahy optimistic on immigration. The Senate’s immigration reform bill prospects are good, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Sunday. Leahy is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to hold a markup on the immigration reform bill this week. Leahy has said he will offer a provision for same-sex couples, according to activists — a plan that has cast some doubt on prospects for the broader immigration deal. (Politico)
Immigration Plan Assailed in New Attack on Cost by DeMint. The most significant revision of U.S. immigration laws in a generation will come under a new line of attack for its potential costs to public programs including Social Security and Medicare. (Bloomberg)
Gang of Eight plots path to Senate supermajority. Immigration negotiators are targeting as many as two dozen Republicans for a show-of-force majority. (Politico)
Immigration reform faces Senate gauntlet, uncertain House outlook. Senate legislation faces hundreds of amendments in committee, while House negotiators try to complete their bill. (The Hill)
Tech firms sweat immigration plan. Worried about visa restrictions, Silicon Valley seeks revisions to the Gang of Eight proposal. (Politico)
Latest Product from Tech Firms: An Immigration Bill. Silicon Valley companies and their executives, who want to hire foreign-born engineers, are waging a sophisticated lobbying campaign in support of an immigration overhaul. (NYT)
Grads preferred to grandmas in proposed immigration bill. Immigration authorities would give preference to better-educated and trained visa-seekers who can contribute to the American economy under a less-noticed provision of the immigration bill in the Congress. (Reuters)
President Obama to visit Manor school. White House officials say President Barack Obama will visit Manor New Tech High School, local technology businesses and entrepreneurs and middle class workers during his trip to Austin on Thursday. (American Statesman)
Made in the Bay Area: Harsh realities in new manufacturing. While Bay Area manufacturing jobs can still propel workers into the middle class, the sector is nothing like the driver it once was. (San Jose Mercury News)
Tax
Lots of Talk, Little Consensus on Taxes. Talk about overhauling the tax code is picking up across Capitol Hill this spring, with lawmakers of both parties agreeing on the need to simplify the system but remaining far apart on the details of how to do it. (WSJ)
House GOP ties debt ceiling, tax reform. Momentum is building to tie a rewrite of the Tax Code to hiking the debt cap, which will need to be raised by the fall because the limit will technically be hit this month. Top lawmakers and aides on the House Ways and Means Committee have quietly begun mulling over and crafting mechanisms that would attempt to “commit Washington” to tax reform over the next five months, several sources involved with the planning say. (Politico)
eBay CEO: Web Sales Tax Would Create 'Administrative Burden.’ David Greene talks to eBay CEO John Donahoe about the political battle over online sales tax. On Monday, the Senate is expected to vote on a bill that would end the free ride that consumers have enjoyed when shopping online. The Marketplace Fairness Act would require online retailers to collect sales tax from customers, and pay them to states where customers live — just like brick and mortar stores. (NPR)
Senate bill lets states tax Internet purchases. The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on a bill that would empower states to collect sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The measure is expected to pass because it has already survived three procedural votes. But it faces opposition in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase. A broad coalition of retailers is lobbying in favor of it. (AP)
Brussels increases tax clampdown efforts. Brussels is increasing efforts to clamp down on tax avoidance by wealthy investors, including private equity partners and hedge funds, by forcing all 27 EU members to share confidential information on individuals’ investment income and capital gains for the first time. (FT)
Global Trade
Trade pact right for U.S. and EU. Our relationship with the European Union is strong, but we can make it better. (Politico op-ed/Reps. Paulsen and Neal)
TPP may spur China's laggardly reforms. The recent news about Japan eagerly joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks touched a raw nerve in China. Combined with similar plans from Vietnam and some other Southeast Asian neighbors, China's worries about the TPP are growing. (Global Times)
Cybersecurity & Privacy
Symantec a key player against cybercrime. The red warning lights flashing on the world map on monitors at Symantec’s Dublin office are visible signs of a cybercrime pandemic that is costing companies hundreds of billions of euros every year. “We are seeing 1.6m new threats around the globe every day,” says Orla Cox, senior manager of Symantec’s security response team. (FT)
New Motto for Silicon Valley: First Security, Then Innovation. As Congress debates an Internet security bill, the disruptive philosophies of Silicon Valley technology companies could wind up damaging them if they do not create better tools to ward off hackers. (NYT)
Companies Look to Safety Act to Limit Legal Liability in Cyber Attacks. Companies seeking legal liability limits from cyber attacks might want to look at the Safety Act, which provides certain companies protections against lawsuits arising from terrorist attacks. (WSJ)
Who do you trust more with your free speech: The government or tech companies? A secret meeting, a handful of tech CEO's, and the future of your freedom of speech online. (Marketplace)
Innovation
Don't Let American Science Suffer From Federal Spending Cutbacks. In the coming weeks, as Democrats and Republicans begin their annual quest to achieve consensus on federal spending, they should reflect on the president and the majority leader’s calls to scientific arms. (CQ column/Lubell)
Google's Ray Kurzweil on the computers that will live in our brains. Futurist Ray Kurzweil pushes for far-out technological advances to become reality. Now at Google, he says search has much further to go. In 20 years, our brains will be indexed and online. (Marketplace)
Environment & Sustainability
Where Do Old Cellphones Go to Die? E-waste is a growing toxic nightmare. And it’s not just a problem in developing countries. (NYT column/Leyla Acaroglu)
Low-key plan for climate goals wins ground. A U.S.-led plan to let all countries set their own goals for fighting climate change is gaining grudging support among U.N. members, even though the current level of pledges is far too low to limit rising temperatures substantially. (Reuters)
Europe’s faltering cap-and-trade system plagues climate change efforts. The once-thriving pollution trade has turned into a carbon bust, darkening the outlook for a greener future. (Washington Post)
Regulation
EU regulator takes aim at Google over Apple mobile patent lawsuit. The European Commission said it believed Motorola Mobility, a unit of Google, was abusing its market position by seeking and enforcing an injunction against Apple in Germany over patents essential to mobile phone standards. (Reuters)
Industry ties run deep for Obama's FCC pick. Tom Wheeler's long history has some observers wondering if he was the best choice for the job. (The Hill)
Cameron Said to Speed Up Patent Process to Boost Economy. David Cameron will speed up the patents applications process and simplify intellectual-property rights for design companies as part of his next legislative program, a person familiar with the U.K.’s premier’s plans said. (Bloomberg)
Tech Business
Accessories No Longer Tethered to Apple. Rory Dooley, senior vice president for music at Logitech, with three of the company’s Apple-compatible devices. Manufacturers are gravitating toward wireless connections for Apple’s products, which is helping the market for competitors’ mobile devices. (NYT)
Zuckerberg political action group runs into controversy. TV commercials go beyond the group's call for bipartisan immigration reform by supporting individual politicians on decidedly partisan ground. (San Jose Mercury News)