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The Messianic Delusion & the Use of Force

“We are, in fact, a nation of evangelists; every third American devotes himself to improving and lifting up his fellow-citizens, usually by force; the messianic delusion is our national disease.”
― H.L. Mencken













BUDGET

HERITAGE: YOU NEED TO CUT IT: The Heritage Foundation is again urging lawmakers to cut the Essential Air Service Program and eliminate federal grants to Amtrak in an effort to create a more balanced budget. Congress should also consider stripping funding from the Airport Improvement Program and TIGER grants along with phasing out FTA entirely, the group suggested among a laundry list of other changes included in its annual budget wish list. The blueprint could be influential this budget season, given Heritage's close ties to Republican policy advisers, Pro Budget's Sarah Ferris reports. "For many GOP lawmakers, the group's guidance will be the key contrasting document to measure up whatever spending plan comes out of the House Budget Committee this year," she writes.[ POLITICO's Morning Transportation, June 15, 2018]





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MITCH MConnell









LAWMAKERS URGE COMMERCE, ITC TO LOOK AT TRADE ACTIONS' IMPACT ON MARINE INDUSTRY: A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Tuesday to consider the negative impact the Trump administration's tariffs on aluminum could have on the U.S. marine industry, adding that they would like more clarification on how Commerce's aluminum tariff exclusion process will potentially benefit U.S. marine manufacturers.
In a letter sent Monday, the lawmakers - Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.) - called on Commerce and the International Trade Commission to consider how both the Section 232 aluminum tariffs and antidumping and countervailing duty laws on end users hurts the U.S. marine industry.

"The targeting of foreign-produced aluminum will have negative and deeply harmful impacts on the domestic marine manufacturing industry, which relies on this critical raw material," the lawmakers wrote in the letter, which was also addressed to ITC Chairwoman Rhonda Schmidtlein. "Additionally, the downstream effect on the long-standing aluminum sheet supply problems have not been adequately analyzed." [POLITICO's Morning Trade, June 13, 2018]



CYBERSECURITY

VENDORS DIVIDED OVER PAPER BALLOT BILL — Voting technology vendors were split in their reactions to a new Senate bill that would require federally certified voting machines to use paper ballots and would require states to conduct robust post-election audits in federal races. The Protecting American Votes and Elections Act amends the landmark 2002 Help America Vote Act to add a provision requiring voting machines to "require the use of an individual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballot of the voter's vote that shall be marked and made available for inspection and verification by the voter before the voter's vote is cast and counted, and which shall be counted by hand or read by an optical character recognition device or other counting device." The measure is a response to cybersecurity experts' concerns about paperless electronic voting machines and poorly audited elections, and it comes as voting vendors are facing intense scrutiny over their security practices.
Vendors prefer to sell expensive electronic machines that require licensed software because it helps them earn bigger profits in a tough, low-margin business. But with lawmakers proposing measures that would reshape the election technology landscape, some of these companies appear to have seen the writing on the wall. "We support increased auditing as well as voting equipment that provides a paper record," Election Systems & Software, one of the largest U.S. voting machine vendors, told MC in a statement. Vendors that sell support technology also chimed in. Clear Ballot, which makes optical scan machines and ballot design software, said it supports "all legislative efforts that will assist jurisdictions in the migration to paper ballot technology, which we have long believed is the basis of any system that enhances the transparency and integrity of elections." And James Simmons, vice president of election operations for voting software firm Everyone Counts, said his company "fully supports" the bill's two core changes.
Not everyone was so enthusiastic. Pete Lichtenheld, vice president of operations for voting machine giant Hart InterCivic, said in an email that Hart "supports all voting methods," declining to support a paper requirement. Hart's goal, he said, is "providing the solutions our customers want and need." Bernie Hirsch, an executive at the firm MicroVote, which sells paperless touchscreen machines, told MC, "There are better ways to increase election security other than going back to expensive and bulky paper based systems that have well-known flaws and rely very heavily on a secure chain of custody rather than more modern encryption techniques." (Most security experts agree that paper-based systems are far more secure than electronic ones.) And even Simmons of Everyone Counts said he was concerned about "how this works in the context of states' rights in determining their voting protocols and processes," as well as funding for states that would need to replace non-compliant machines.

The national groups that represent state election officials declined to comment on the bill. The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors said they don't weigh in on proposed legislation. But a source in the election administration community offered a window into what those groups might say if the bill becomes law, criticizing its requirement that states perform advanced checks known as risk-limiting audits after each federal contest. "There are a variety of challenges to implementing risk-limiting audits including significant technical and process challenges that need to be addressed statewide before a risk-limiting audit is feasible," said the source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. [POLITICO's Morning Cybersecurity, June 13, 2018]



UNIONS

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION'S STAFF UNION SET TO STRIKE: The National Education Association's own staff union is expected to hit the picket lines this morning after breaking with NEA management over salary increases. The National Education Association Staff Organization said in a statement Monday that contract negotiations with NEA management have fallen apart in recent days.
--The staff union's contract expired on May 31, and both parties have been negotiating since April. The NEA, the nation's largest teachers union, has nearly 3 million members. About 450 people work at NEA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the National Education Association Staff Organization represents about 280 of those employees, according to an NEA spokeswoman.
— The call for a salary boost comes amid belt-tightening at NEA, which is bracing for a decision in Janus v. AFSCME , a Supreme Court case that challenges the money public unions collect from non-members to cover their share of collective bargaining costs. The staff union in a statement Monday said, "Just like NEA's members, NEA staff has experienced a lost decade of real wage growth. Since the Great Recession, housing prices in the D.C. metro region have increased 47 percent, and the cost of living — in the most expensive city in the country — continues to rise while salaries have remained stagnant. As we have in the past, NEASO stands ready to negotiate a fair contract that is fiscally responsible but also allows our members to keep up with the rising cost of living and retire with dignity."
— Chaka Donaldson, NEA's interim director of human resources, said in an interview, "We're actually at the bargaining table right now. We're absolutely committed to the bargaining process and the rights of our staff." Donaldson said the union must consider long-term sustainability.

— The Supreme Court could issue a verdict any day in the Janus case. As a result, NEA is preparing for a $50 million cut in expenditures over two years and estimates that its roster could be reduced by more than 300,000 if the Supreme Court's ruling is unfavorable to unions. "This is about preparing for Janus," she said. "This is also about preparing for the future. ... It's all about long-term strength and sustainability." Caitlin Emma has the story. [POLITICO's Morning Education, June 12, 2018]









SERVICES CAUCUS OUTLINES CHINA PRIORITIES: The co-chairmen of the Congressional Services Caucus want to make sure that the Trump administration does not forget about addressing China's services trade barriers in ongoing discussions with Beijing about reducing the bilateral goods trade deficit.
"While the United States generated a services surplus with China of $38.5 billion in 2017, this surplus likely would be far greater if China removed its onerous services market access barriers," caucus co-chairs Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to Lighthizer. "As the Chinese economy becomes increasingly more services-based, it is vitally important for China to address barriers to U.S. services suppliers."
Chinese services trade barriers, such as investment restrictions and "arbitrary, non-transparent" licensing requirements, limit market access in many sectors, including financial services, cloud computing, online video, entertainment media production, internet services and telecommunications, they said.

"China's announcement of its intent to remove equity caps across financial services and to reform its protectionist regulatory system to focus on consumer protection and financial stability are positive steps. However, these reforms will have commercial value only if the administration keeps the pressure on China to implement them in accordance with established deadlines," the lawmakers wrote. [POLITICO's Morning Trade, June 12, 2018]



U.S. AGRICULTURE

— Conservation comes out on top: Several proposals in the manager's amendment focused on expanding access to USDA conservation programs. More than 20 amendments approved by the committee aim to accomplish goals like freeing up funds for young and beginning farmers and targeting payments to high-need practices.
Several of the amendments that made it in would address conservation, including by tweaking the Conservation Reserve Program, which rewards farmers for taking environmentally sensitive land out of production, Pro Ag's Liz Crampton writes.
— A nod to Cuba: Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) was able to secure language that would allow money for international trade promotion programs, to be spent on projects in Cuba -- including the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development, Catherine writes.
— Handouts to small/new farmers: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) offered an amendment to create a "micro EQIP" program to make it easier for small farmers to receive benefits under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, a cost-sharing initiative that helps farmers build capital projects good for the environment. Young and beginning farmers would also get an extra slice of EQIP dollars under a proposal from Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), which would increase from 5 percent to 15 percent the amount that is designated to be set aside for such producers.

— Strengthening easements: An amendment from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) would adjust language in the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program to ensure that easement projects are kept under farmer ownership.  [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 14, 2018]



When 2 become 1: The Senate bill, S. 3042 (115), which spans more than 1,000 pages, diverges in many ways from the House version, setting up a potentially difficult conference if both bills can make it through their chambers.
The biggest point of contention between the two bills is sure to be over the SNAP, which makes up the vast majority of the farm bill's costs.
SNAP to it: The Senate bill was built on such a firm consensus on the nutrition title that not a single member of the Senate Agriculture Committee offered an amendment related to SNAP, report Pro Ag's Helena Bottemiller Evich and Catherine Boudreau.

In contrast, the House farm bill's nutrition title was widely blamed for causing a complete breakdown in bipartisan negotiations. "I think that's very unfortunate that's where the House wants to go," Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Robertssaid during a news conference after markup. "We'll just have to see and hope that at least some version of the farm bill will pass." [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, June 14, 2018]


For those who serve our country in the armed forces, making the transition back to civilian life can be a difficult one. For veterans who wish to dedicate their lives to farming, it has been a difficult toil. Traditionally, veteran farmers were offered few programs to help them both succeed at growing healthy food for us and make a viable business of it for themselves and their families. 

In 2014, the USDA added veterans to the list of underserved communities assisted by their Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers program. Since 1990, this program has sought to remedy inequitable access to USDA programs by providing grants to organizations that work with socially disadvantaged farmers.

It has served over 100,000 rural farmers across the country succeed by helping them acquire business management skills, by supporting models of traditional community irrigation farming practices, to help them get training on food safety and organic farming, and improve their ability to market the food they work so hard to produce.1

Help veterans farmers get and stay on their feet producing healthy, delicious food for us. Send a message to your representatives in Congress demanding that the next Farm Bill make programs like this accessible to everyone.

Sincerely,

Hank Graddy
Welcome Hall Farm
Volunteer, Sierra Club Food & Agriculture Team
Versailles, KY   June 17, 2018



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 commercial or business interest information shared is purely informational, not an endorsement.  I have no connection with any such commercial or business interest.

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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