MuniLand

The special-interest group Building America’s Future is pushing for transportation funding to remain unchanged as Congress gears up to debate a new surface transportation bill. BAF is running this ad in primary states, presumably under the assumption that advertising in primary states is the most cost-effective way to influence legislation. Source: The Hill

Good Links

Bloomberg:  MUB, the municipal bond ETF, has become the liquidity tool of choice for fund managers

Reuters: $287 billion in municipal bond issuance for 2011

Bloomberg: CFTC to rein in swaps dealers over sales of derivatives to muniland

WSJ: “The days of being happy sitting on autopilot are over”

O’Reilly Radar: Citizen-sourcing better ideas

Remapping Debate: Squandered decades have left Detroit balkanized and insolvent

Bloomberg: California’s governor wants to use revenue from new cap-and-trade fees for the general budget

Chicago Tribune: Governor of Illinois asks leaders for pension panel appointments

WPRO.com: Bankruptcy judge approves Central Falls, RI, pension payment reductions of 55%

@Twitter Talk

@GreeneBarrett Barrett and Greene  ”There’s an old saying in politics — if u tell the same lie long enough, the public will eventually believe it.” Girard Miller @Governing

@PensionDialog Pension Dialog  Hyperbole by @OrrinHatch citing public pension “crisis” 1.usa.gov/zmOXU5 – should’ve read @cate_long reut.rs/wSgg9u+ 10th amend

@cate_long Cate Long   #Muniland on fire: Thomson Reuters Municipal Market Data reporting lowest municipal AAA benchmark yields since 1981… 10 year AAA = 1.82%

@DeanBaker13 Dean Baker Combating the nonsense about fracking being a great job creator cepr.net/index.php/blog…

@MarcellusGas Marcellus Gas  .@GovernorCorbett wants PA to be the “Texas of the natural-gas boom” – via @BloombergNews:  buswk.co/zGDZOE

@johngramlich John Gramlich  State of the state: Gregoire wants $3.6B for transportation | Seattle Times Newspaper: bit.ly/zExm2i

@GreeneBarrett Barrett and Greene   California has 12.1% of U.S. population, but used 6.9 percent of the nation’s electricity in 2011 via @ASEorg nctimes.com/blogsnew/busin…

@sserve Stacie Servetah  Alex DeCroce, New Jersey Assembly’s Republican Leader, Dies at Statehouse  bloom.bg/AuCFy0

@coopnytimes Michael Cooper  Setting the stage for a battle, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia calls for ending teacher tenure:  washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia…