EMAIL DETAILS

*National News:*

*Putin signs a treaty making Crimea part of Russia*
Russian-backed forces stormed Ukraine's naval headquarters in Crimea on
Wednesday and raised the Russian flag, a day after Russian President
Vladimir Putin signed a treaty annexing the Crimean Peninsula. A Ukrainian
serviceman was killed
<http://theweek.com/article/index/258263/speedreads-a-ukrainian-soldier-is-the-first-casualty-in-the-war-for-crimea>Tuesday
as a base in the main Crimean town of Simferopol was attacked -- the first
death in fighting between Ukraine and pro-Russia forces since Moscow sent
in troops three weeks ago. [*The Washington
Post*<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pro-russian-forces-break-into-ukrainian-naval-base-in-crimea/2014/03/19/2a9c5eaa-af46-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html>
, *Reuters*<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140318>
]
..........................................................................................

*Obama awards top medal to soldiers overlooked due to discrimination*
President Obama on Tuesday awarded the Medal of Honor to 24 Army veterans
who investigators said were passed over due to their race, religion, or
ethnicity. The honorees -- 17 Hispanic, one black, one Jewish, and five
white -- served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Only three are still
alive. "No nation is perfect," Obama said. "But here in America, we
confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past." [*The New
York Times*<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/us/politics/medals-of-honor-go-to-24-army-veterans-who-had-been-denied.html?_r=0>
]
..........................................................................................

*NSA can record every call made in a foreign country*
The National Security Agency surveillance system can record "every single"
telephone call in a foreign country, according to people familiar with the
latest documents leaked by fugitive former NSA contractor Edward
Snowden<http://theweek.com/article/index/257753/speedreads-snowden-on-the-nsa-theyre-setting-fire-to-the-future-of-the-internet>.
The NSA can even replay conversations up to a month old. A classified
summary says the system can collect a country's every call -- billions of
them -- and store them in a 30-day buffer offering a look "into the past." [*The
Washington Post*<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-surveillance-program-reaches-into-the-past-to-retrieve-replay-phone-calls/2014/03/18/226d2646-ade9-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html>
]
..........................................................................................

*Judge rejects KSM testimony in bin Laden relative's trial*
A judge ruled Tuesday that jurors in the terrorism trial of Osama bin
Laden's son-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, would not hear the testimony of
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
From Guantanamo Bay prison, Mohamed told the defense that Abu Ghaith "was
not a military man" in al Qaeda. Judge Lewis Kaplan said a defense request
to admit the testimony was "entirely baseless."
[*Reuters*<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-binladen-soninlaw-idUSBREA2H1OV20140318>
]

..........................................................................................

*California town approves the nation's highest minimum wage*
The Richmond, Calif., City Council voted late Tuesday to raise the local
minimum wage to $12.30 an hour by 2017, which would give the city the highest
minimum wage in the
U.S.<http://theweek.com/article/index/258264/speedreads-richmond-calif-just-approved-americas-highest-minimum-wage>
Richmond
is just north of San Francisco, which currently holds the record at $10.74
an hour. Opponents said such a hike would drive businesses out of town;
supporters said Richmond's current minimum, $8 an hour, is not enough to
live on. [NBC Bay
Area<http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Richmond-Aims-For-Bay-Areas-Highest--250863721.html>
]

..........................................................................................
Obama picks deputy chief of
staff<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/obama-picks-top-aide-to-replace-alyssa-mastromonaco-104776.html?hp=r8>

He chooses his personal assistant Anita Decker Breckenridge to replace
Alyssa Mastromonaco.

*Biden News:*

In Eastern Europe, Biden finds uncertain
allies<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bidens-trip-to-eastern-europe-highlights-anxieties-about-depth-of-us-support/2014/03/19/4c0353e8-af4e-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html>VILNIUS,
Lithuania--Vice President Biden's we're-all-in-this together tour of Eastern
Europe, a two-country stop that concludes here Wednesday, has highlighted
not only the growing regional anxieties over Russia's designs on Ukraine
but also how much work the Obama administration has to do to convince
allies of its support.

At its core, Biden's message here and in Poland was a simple reaffirmation
of what one senior administration official called a "bedrock commitment":
The United States would honor NATO's basic premise that if one member
nation is attacked, all would come to its defense.

"President Obama and I view Article 5 of the NATO Treaty as an absolutely
solemn commitment which we will honor," Biden said in an appearance with
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, referring to the collective
self-defense clause in the agreement. "We will honor."

*Opinion:*

Updating Internet
Governance<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/opinion/updating-internet-governance.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

Any change to managing web addresses and domain names must strengthen a
system used by billions.


*DE News:*


*Delaware budget worries grow*
The June 30 state budget deadline is a relatively long time from now.
However, it is not too soon to think soberly about what comes after it.

The state is required to balance its budget. There was a time when
everything went down to the last minute. Better forecasting tools and more
upfront work by the Legislature's and the administration's budget writers
has squeezed some of the drama out of the process. Yet it looks like some
hard decisions will be have to be made this year. The latest report from
the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council indicates tax revenues
will be off by about $40 million in the next fiscal year. The forecast also
said revenues for the rest of the current fiscal year (between now and July
1) will be low, too. The state goes into a sort of defensive crouch at this
point. Departments are being asked to watch their budgets and to start
cutting back on unnecessary expenditures.

If the next DEFAC forecast is as worrisome, the realists will move in and
start laying out alternatives. Among those realities will likely be the
elimination of Gov. Markell's proposals to fix the land transportation
infrastructure and to start cleaning Delaware's waterways. Both are
expensive projects. Both also deserve some consideration. Until now the
biggest argument against either was that this is an election year and
legislatures do not like to raise taxes in election years.

Now the question shifts to plugging the immediate revenue holes. That is
good, but the need is likely to come back. If Delaware is going to develop
more diverse revenue sources in the future, it will have to look beyond the
immediate and plug in some money for the road and water investments.


--
Sam Losow
*Finance Assistant*
Beau Biden, DE Attorney General
Office: (302) 295-8340
Cell: (202) 821-3399
sam@beaubiden.co