WHY COUNTRY & GOVERNMENT MATTER - COUNTRY OVER PARTY OR INDIVIDUAL
“However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
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| REPUBLICAN PARTY |
As President Donald Trump prepares to give his State of the Union on Tuesday, Republicans might want
to check in on the state of its own party as well.
On paper, the GOP remains in the
strongest position it's been at since before the Obama Administration. The
party controls the White House, both chambers of Congress and has a
conservative majority on the Supreme Court. There are more than two times as many Republican governors as Democrats to
boot.
But there are warning signs that the
party's time may be coming to an end.
The latest sign came Monday, as New
Jersey Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen announced he would retire at the end of the year. That's noteworthy
for a few reasons: 1) He just became the powerful chair of the Appropriations
committee last year. 2) He's the eighth chair of a House committee to forgo a re-election campaign this year. 3) He represents
a swing district that may be tough for Republicans to hold in an open election.
4) He's a member of a political dynasty that stretches back to the Continental Congress.
If a politician like Frelinghuysen
has decided he can't make a go of it under the party banner 10 months out from
the election, that's a bad sign. And he's not alone. Republican Sens. Bob
Corker and Jeff Flake have called it quits, as has long-serving Utah Sen. Orrin
Hatch. On the House side, 23 Republicans have opted to retire or have already
resigned — more than three times the number of Democrats.
While Republicans in Congress are
eyeing the exits, a growing number of Democrats are looking for a way in. Democratic recruitment continues to outpace Republican,
especially among the kind of candidates with a strong personal story that both
parties love to put forward. Candidates like Amy McGrath, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel whose first
online video went viral last year.
https://twitter.com/AmyMcGrathKY/status/892383271421710338
Republicans also face an enthusiasm
gap. Midterm elections are typically difficult for the president's party, but
they're even more so when the president is unpopular. And Trump finished his
first year in office with polling that shows he may be the least popular president in recorded history.
Polls also show Democrats with a narrow five-point advantage on the generic congressional
ballot — how people answer when asked which party they would like to see win,
rather than when they are asked about specific candidates — but that margin
triples among the voters who say they are most enthusiastic about going to the
polls this fall.
Amid these powerful forces, some
Republicans are maintaining a positive outlook. At the Koch Brothers annual
retreat this weekend, conservative donors pinned their hopes on grassroots mobilization and a generally healthy economic outlook. The map of Senate seats up this fall also leans in
Republicans' favor.
But the window of opportunity here
for both parties is rapidly closing. The incumbents who've opted to retire, the
upstarts who've decide to jump in and the donors who've decide to sit the whole
thing out will soon be decided. The results may not yet be known, but when the
dust settles this fall, it may become clear that they were preordained by this
point. [TIME Politics, Ryan Teague Beckwith, January 29, 2018]
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| READ |
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| U.S. MILITARY |
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| WOMEN’S RIGHTS = HUMAN RIGHTS |
It’s been a week of
activism and determination as we mark the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. We stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme
Court and chanted our support for abortion rights. We marched on the White
House as part of Women’s March on Washington 2018. When I spoke at the March, I
said, “If we don’t stand up for our rights, Donald Trump and his right-wing
allies will take them away from us.”
Women from all over the
country are determined to carry on in defense of Roe at every level. I met many
of them this week. We’re taking to the streets, chasing down lawmakers in
their offices, and turning out in unprecedented numbers at the ballot
box. With Donald Trump and the must ultra-conservative Congress in history
determined to repeal Roe,
we have to be ready for anything. No assault on privacy, no subversion of
justice or denial of equal rights is beyond this crowd. My take-away from this
week of front-line Roe defense
is that the women’s movement is stronger than ever. People just get it -- this
is a time of unprecedented danger to our most basic rights.
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Press forward,
Toni Van Pelt |
WTO sides with U.S. on chicken: China has largely failed to comply with a 2013 decision
that faulted Beijing for anti-dumping and countervailing duties it imposed on
imports of U.S. chicken products, a WTO panel ruled. China's anti-dumping
duties ranged from 46.6 percent to 73.8 percent for imports from Tyson Foods,
Pilgrim's Pride and Keystone [POLITICOS Morning Agriculture, January 19, 2018]
Negotiators extend Round 6: Officials from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have
extended the coming round of NAFTA negotiations, which will now run Jan. 21-29.
[POLITICOS Morning Agriculture, January 19, 2018]
HOPING FOR PROGRESS IN MONTREAL TALKS: As
the host country, Canada is intent on trying to keep NAFTA from derailing. The
nation has taken a "Team Canada" approach, and its two major parties
- the opposition Conservative Party and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal
Party - are speaking with one voice. Still,
Canada plans stand firm at the negotiating table against U.S. proposals that it
believes will damage the North American economy. It will also work with U.S.
lawmakers, governors and other elected officials to persuade the Trump
administration to rethink some of its ideas. Trump has been sending conflicting
messages in recent interviews about his outlook on the talks, but the biggest
threat may be that the administration has been frustrated with the pace of
progress and dearth of counter-proposals from Canada and Mexico.
Sticking points for ag: Among the concessions
sought by American dairy companies is an end to Canada's recent pricing program that they say is
causing a glut of milk protein concentrates, such as skim milk powder, on the
world market. Canada's supply management system, which supports prices and
farmer incomes by capping milk production and restricting imports, is also an
issue.
Another chat: Morning Trade is
reporting that Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy
Minister Ildefonso Guajardo are holding a surprise meeting today in Toronto.
That will give the two a chance to discuss strategy - without the presence of
the U.S. [POLITICOS Morning Agriculture, January
22, 2018]
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| INFRASTRUCTURE |
No dedicated broadband funding: Broadband may have been mentioned in a draft administration infrastructure proposal obtained by POLITICO Playbook. But it's
only part of rural infrastructure spending and does not have its own dedicated
funding. A bipartisan group of the Senate Broadband Caucus - as well as two
House Democrats - has told the White House that money is needed to tackle the
rural-urban digital divide. [POLITICOS Morning Agriculture, January 23, 2018]
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| INDIGENOUS PEOPLES |
Thune factors Native American ranchers in farm bill: Senate
Agriculture member John Thune introduced
a bill Wednesday that would offer more disaster assistance for horses and other
livestock owned by Native Americans. The bill would make horses owned by tribal
members for personal use eligible for USDA's Farm Service Agency livestock
forage and indemnity programs. It also offers a one-time increased premium
discount assistance for Pasture, Rangeland and Forage grazing insurance to
encourage ranchers to participate. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, January 18, 2018
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| DoD |
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| U.S. AGRICULTURE |
PLENTY COMES TO WASHINGTON: Plenty, the
indoor farming start-up that has raised a boatload of money from the likes of
Jeff Bezos and Japan's SoftBank, isn't shying away from Washington (which is
what most food/ag start-ups and reform-minded companies do). Its CEO, Matt
Barnard, was in town last week for meetings on the Hill, with the
administration and others to talk farm bill, ag research and even data security
(as MA readers will recall, ag data is valuable and can be vulnerable to
hacking). Barnard, who grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, hopes Washington will
recognize the importance of investing in indoor ag as one way to bring healthy,
fresh, local produce to more places. Plenty is banking on a growing share of
consumers, both in the U.S. and abroad, deciding to actually eat their
vegetables. The company announced last week that it was
launching operations in China and Japan. It's also in the process of building a
new, 100,000-square-foot growing facility outside Seattle, adding
to its other locations in South San Francisco and Laramie, Wyo.
Big data meets big veggie: "It's time
to expand the investment in nutrient-rich crops," Barnard said in an
interview. Plenty's system, which now focuses mostly on greens, claims to grow
produce that is not only more nutritious than its field-grown counterparts, but
more delicious, by adjusting for light, nutrients and other growing conditions.
As Barnard puts it: "Lettuce needs to be more than a vehicle for
dressing." [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture,
January 23, 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.
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