I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing
In 1671, Governor William Berkeley of Virginia wrote: "I thank God, there are no free schools nor printing and I hope we shall not have, these hundred years, for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best government. God keep us from both."
[Colonial Williamsburg, Early American Newspapering by James Breig]
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| EDUCATION |
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| WHITE HOUSE |
FROM 30,000 FEET -- BURGESS
EVERETT and ELANA SCHOR: "The 'attention-deficit-disorder'
Congress": "Even in peak form, Congress struggles to focus on any one
issue for more than a few days. But its short attention span has taken on new
meaning in the era of Donald Trump. 'We kind of have attention deficit
disorder,' as Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) put it.
"Every time it seems the president
has zeroed in on an issue, and appears determined to
see it through - guns and immigration are just the two latest examples - he
moves on to something else. And Congress, which isn't designed to respond
swiftly to national events and the wishes of the White House even in the least
distracted of circumstances, simply can't keep up. The constant whiplash of
priorities is getting on lawmakers' nerves. [POLITICO
Playbook, March 12, 2018]
A GUY HANDED OUT APPLES as you walked in the
door. The bartender served apple old-fashioneds. And CNN chief Jeff Zucker held
court on a couch with apple pillows. The network's fruit-themed space in
downtown Austin served to highlight its recent "Facts First" ad campaign that states how an apple is, well, an
apple.
- Media companies are known to tout new
innovations and roll out products at South by Southwest, and this year was no
exception. But they also used this year's festival as a way to reinforce their
own brands in an increasingly crowded marketplace. The New York Times was all about
its "Truth" campaign when setting up shop at Irene's bar.
Attendees who came for drinks and journalist talks on technology, music and
politics could leave with buttons reading "Truth. It's more important now
than ever." [Morning Media, March 12, 2018]
Going down, down, down, down: Speaking
of multinationals, it's closing in on a decade since the financial crisis - and
it's been a pretty good 10 years for their tax bills, The Financial Times
reports. The paper found "that a decade of government efforts to cut
deficits and reform taxes has left the corporate world largely unscathed."
In all, those corporations' effective tax rates have fallen 9
percent in the last 10 years. Reduced statutory corporate rates around the
world account for only about half of the drop, the FT found, which suggests
that companies are also finding plenty of ways to evade global efforts to crack
down on tax avoidance. [POLITICO's Morning Tax,
March 12, 2018]
SUPPOSED TO BE DONE WITH THOSE? One of the GOP's major selling points for its new tax bill
was that it would stem the
tide of corporate
inversions - that recent rush of U.S. companies seeking to set up their
official address offshore for tax purposes. And yet Dana, an auto parts company
in Ohio, could soon by headquartered in the United Kingdom if it's successful
in taking over a British competitor, GKN PLC, The Wall Street Journal reported
on Friday. The company's chief financial officer told the WSJ that the deal,
which is far from a sure thing, would still have tax benefits for the company,
even though the U.S. corporate rate of 21 percent is now well within shouting
distance of the U.K.'s 19 percent. But Robert Willens, a corporate tax expert,
said those benefits were hard for him to see - especially given the current
limits on earnings stripping, which gave companies tax benefits for loaning
money between a foreign parent and a U.S. subsidiary. "The U.K. tax rates
are very close to U.S. tax rates," Willens told the WSJ. "Now, with
the corporate benefits of an inversion being difficult to identify, you're
creating a tax for your shareholders which seems unnecessary." [POLITICO's
Morning Tax, March 12, 2018]
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| PUTIN |
What did Putin say in his interview with Kiselyov? He said Ukraine is never getting Crimea back, he blamed the
August 2000 Kursk submarine disaster (one of the first scandals of his
presidency) on the neglected state of Russia’s post-Soviet military, and he
recalled how his helicopter came under fire in Chechnya in 2000. Kiselyov also
spoke to Andrey Kondrashov, Putin’s campaign manager; Nikolai Patrushev, the
secretary of Russia’s Security Council; Defense Ministry Sergey Shoigu; and
Sergey Roldugin, the cellist named in the “Panama Papers” as the man who
supposedly links Putin to billions of dollars in illicit wealth. [The Real Russia. Today. March 12, 2019]
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JEFFERSON BEAUREGARD SESSIONS III
Attorney General
|
One reason Trump will never forgive Attorney General
Jeff Sessions for recusing himself is because he will never respect that the AG
says his ultimate loyalty lies with institutions and norms, not Trump. The
president wants everyone who works "for him" — including members of
what he calls the "Trump Justice Department" — to be loyal to him
personally, above all else. [Axios Sneak Peek, March 11, 2018]
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| READ |
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| WOMEN’S RIGHTS = HUMAN RIGHTS |
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| WOMEN |
North
Carolina: North Carolina Republicans just can’t quit
trying to remove Democratic majorities from state and county elections boards
so that Democrats can't
reverse past voter suppression measures Republicans passed when they
held majorities. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's lawyers have now indicated
he plans
to once again sue over the
GOP's latest attempt, which is their third since he won the 2016 election.
The GOP's new measure is supposed to take effect on March 16, but litigation
over their second attempt is still
unresolved.
The
Republican legislature's latest law creates
a nine-member state board with four Republicans and four Democrats,
who then choose a ninth member who isn't affiliated with either major party.
But the law says nothing about what happens if those eight members can't agree
on a tiebreaker, effectively giving the GOP veto power over board
decisions. And Republicans had previously changed the law so that if the
local board fails to set a plan for early voting, counties revert
to just one early voting site each; this could result
in long early voting lines that dampen turnout in heavily
populated Democratic-leaning counties.
Meanwhile,
Cooper's lawsuit against the second incarnation of the GOP's elections board
power grab is still in
progress. Back in January, the state Supreme Court delivered what seemed to
be a major victory for Cooper when it ruled
the law violated the separation of powers in the state constitution by
requiring the governor to pick an equal number of members from both parties and
no tiebreaking member.
However,
the high court had directed the lower-level court that heard the case to
reconsider their initial ruling upholding the law, and on Monday the lower
court only threw
out part of the law. They struck down the portion that would have blocked
Cooper from nominating Democrats for a majority of the seats on the board, but
they left in place a provision that merged the state's ethics and elections
board into one body and another provision that makes Republicans
chairs of these boards in even-numbered years, when federal and state
elections happen. Most worrisome is that the lower court upheld the
aforementioned provision that forces counties to revert
to one just early voting site if local boards deadlock, which is
exactly what Republicans intend to happen.
Consequently,
Cooper appealed
to the state Supreme Court to throw out the entirety of the second
iteration of this law. Given that Democrats hold a majority on that court and
the justices already acted to curb the GOP's power grab, Cooper may stand a
good chance of success on appeal.
But even
if Cooper succeeds, Republicans' third and latest law will still soon go into
effect and force him to file yet another lawsuit. But this latest law has a
"poison pill" attached intended to trap Democrats into
choosing between public education and fair election administration: Republicans
included completely unrelated education provisions that Democrats had favored
and declined to include a severability clause, intending to force the
whole law to get thrown out if any part of it gets struck down. [Daily Kos. Voting Rights Roundup, March 9, 2018]
New Hampshire: On a near party-line vote, Republican state House
members have
passed a bill that would tighten voter residency requirements by
altering the legal definition of residency for the purposes of voting. This
narrower restriction is
designed to suppress the votes of out-of-state college students
because they lean Democratic, and it would all but amount to a poll tax by
requiring them to take actions like registering their car in-state—which costs
money—simply to register to vote. Of course, Republicans have offered no
evidence that ineligible out-of-state residents are voting illegally in the
Granite State.
This bill
now goes to the state Senate, where Republicans approved
a similar bill back in 2017. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu had
previously claimed
he opposed that measure, but he pointedly did not promise he would have vetoed it if
that bill had reached his desk. Sununu signed
a similar measure that imposes additional burdens on student voters,
so his supposed opposition to this latest bill must be viewed with skepticism.
But even if the Senate and governor both agree to this new restriction,
opponents should have an strong case before the state Supreme Court, which
unanimously struck down a similar GOP-backed law in 2015. [Daily Kos. Voting Rights
Roundup, March 9, 2018]
 |
| SCREEN |
 |
| U.S. AGRICULTURE |
THUNE: A DEAL TO FIX TAX INCENTIVES FOR CO-OPS: Many
weeks after the problem was discovered, lawmakers have reached a final
agreement to fix a section of the new tax law that created huge financial incentives
for farmers to sell their products to agriculture co-ops. The deal was
circulating among lawmakers and industry stakeholders on Wednesday, according
to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). The senator, who holds the third-highest ranking
Republican leadership post, told reporters that the legislative language is
done and just needs sign off from key negotiators before being shared publicly...
"I think everybody is in pretty good shape," Thune
said. "I'm sure there is not 100 percent unanimous consent, but the
organizations we are working with, both on the private grain elevator side and
co-op side, have been involved in all of this. So I think we are about
there."
A ride in the next spending bill: The
tentative agreement is expected to be included in the fiscal 2018 omnibus
appropriations package that Congress must pass before March 23 to keep the
government open. "If this drags out any longer, it will create a lot of
problems," Thune said.
The predicament: The section in need of fixing is known
as Section 199A, a special deduction for agricultural co-ops that Thune and
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) hastily added to the tax overhaul in the final rounds
of negotiations in order to preserve certain benefits in place under the
previous tax code.
The language allows
farmers to deduct up to 20 percent of their gross sales to cooperatives - a
more lucrative tax break than if they were to sell to a privately held grain
elevator or other type of company, which would allow a smaller deduction of 20
percent of a farmer's income.
Thune, Hoeven and House
GOP leadership have been working with the National Council of Farmer
Cooperatives and National Grain and Feed Association on a solution to avoid
unbalance in the marketplace. The parties were looking at reverting back to the
old deduction for co-ops, known as Section 199, which allowed a roughly 9
percent tax break. Co-ops often passed that on to their farmer members.
. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture ,
March 8, 2018]
CRUNCH TIME: The big 2018 federal spending
package might hit the congressional floor this week - and if it does, there
will be a lot of people in the farming community interested in its contents.
That's because GOP lawmakers have been working furiously to try
to roll back the so-called "grain glitch," the provision in last
year's tax package that gives a sizable tax cut to farmers who sell grain to
cooperatives. Top Republicans have been saying that they were closing in on a
fix, after hearing an earful from agriculture interests in recent weeks. But
how willing will Democrats be to allow that sort of correction in the omnibus
spending bill, given that they were largely shut out of the writing of the tax
bill? That's another question entirely.
The lobbying continues: To be clear, there are
definitely some Democrats who want to see this glitch fixed as fast as possible
- including Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana. Edwards wrote to congressional
leaders last week, urging their "immediate attention." Without a fix,
"many local and family-owned businesses will be at a distinct competitive
disadvantage in the marketplace and will result in lost business and lower
wages, the exact opposite of what the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was intended to
produce," Edwards wrote, along with Mike Strain, the state's Republican
agriculture commissioner.
The New York Times, in a broader piece about the fixes the tax
bill might eventually need, noted that independent grain companies from Minnesota, Oklahoma and
South Dakota headed to Washington late last month, "warning that
businesses like theirs could collapse or be sold." [POLITICO's Morning Tax, March 12, 2018]
SNAP PROPOSAL ENDANGERS BIPARTISAN FARM BILL: The
farm bill was teed up and ready to go, but there is just one hitch: what to do
about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
A meeting last week between House Agriculture Chairman Mike
Conaway and a group of Democrats on the panel over proposed SNAP changes ended
in an "impasse," according to ranking member Collin Peterson.
Peterson told the American Ag Network that if the farm bill is
introduced in its current form, Democrats are likely to oppose it during a
markup tentatively scheduled for March 20, threatening a pledge for a
bipartisan process…
Requiring work: Conaway and Peterson
are continuing to negotiate over the SNAP proposal, which would expand the
number of adults - including able-bodied adults without dependents, known in
jargon as ABAWDs - who are subject to work requirements. In part, this would be
done by raising the work requirement to age 65, according to committee
spokeswoman Rachel Millard. ABAWDs aged 18-49 can now receive food stamps for
three months as long as they work or are in an employment and training program.
Under Conaway's proposal, they would have to meet work requirements until age
65.
Money saved as a result of those changes would be invested in
SNAP education and training programs to provide recipients with work
opportunities. States would maintain their authority to decide who can be
exempted from existing work requirements - those may include retirees, people
with temporary injuries or those who live in areas where fewer employment
options are available.
Still a path for bipartisanship? In
a statement, Conaway told POLITICO that he and Peterson have continually worked
together to develop the farm bill, and is proud of their effort. "I have
always intended and continue to hope that this farm bill will be a bipartisan
bill. There is no reason that it should not be and every reason it should. Our
farmers and ranchers are hurting," he said.
Conaway added: "In regard to SNAP, I successfully led
efforts to prevent cuts to the farm bill, including to SNAP, last year and my
position has not changed. That is a matter of public record. I have made it
clear that policy, not budget cuts, will govern the writing of this farm bill,
including SNAP.
"In fact, not one person would be forced off SNAP due to
the work or training requirements we have been discussing. Not one,"
Conaway said. "Our approach is not even remotely like the approach taken
in 2013 that caused the farm bill to fail."
Conaway was referring to the fallout from an amendment offered
by then-Rep. Steve Southerland (R-Fla.), which would have allowed states to
impose stricter work requirements on SNAP recipients without also including
funding for education or training opportunities. It would have also allowed
states to keep 50 percent of the savings from lower SNAP participation.
Political football: Conaway also said some
members of the Democratic leadership may not want Congress to pass a farm bill
to "score points" ahead of the midterm elections in November. Rep.
Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), ranking member of the nutrition subcommittee, recently
told anti-hunger advocates that Democrats could pass a better farm bill after
November. He encouraged those groups to try to defeat the measure if its
passage would worsen hunger in America. McGovern told POLITICO on Friday that
he still hadn't seen the nutrition title of the farm bill. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, March 12, 2018]
NOTE: The news sources here vary. Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here. This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased. Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value. Thank you
NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as a "community service" announcement. These again are shared for their varying perspectives.
Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post. Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse. They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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