Crickets chirping...
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| DAILY SPECIALS |
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| EDUCATION |
ANTI-VOUCHER GROUPS URGE TRUMP TO CLOSE TAX CREDIT
'LOOPHOLE': A coalition of anti-voucher groups on Monday urged the Trump
administration to close what advocates call a "loophole" allowing
donors to state tax credit scholarship programs to reap both state and federal
tax benefits. Eighteen states have tax credit scholarship programs, which award
individuals or businesses a full or partial tax credit when they donate to
organizations that grant private school scholarships.
— The groups, under the umbrella of the National
Coalition for Public Education, argue in a new letter that states like
Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana issue full tax credits to donors and combined
with the federal deduction, "the tax benefits will often exceed the size
of the donation."
— "In other words, some taxpayers — mostly wealthy
individuals guided by financial advisers — in these states are turning
a profit by making so-called 'donations' to voucher organizations," the
groups write in a letter to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, which was shared first
with POLITICO. More from Caitlin Emma. [POLITICO's Morning Education, August 7, 2018]
LITTLE PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAMS TO ARM TEACHERS IN S.D.,
WYOMING: Officials in rural states like South Dakota and Wyoming told
Trump's school safety commission on Tuesday that few school districts have
taken advantage of state laws there to train and arm teachers — despite a
ringing endorsement from the president after the shooting in Parkland, Fla.
— "We always thought — and the argument in the Legislature
was — that it would be for those most rural schools, where
law enforcement was an hour, half-hour away," said Mike Milstead, sheriff
of Minnehaha County in South Dakota. The state passed a law allowing the
practice in 2013. As it turns out, one of the only sentinels in the state is
stationed at a school in his county that already has a school resource officer,
Milstead said.
— In Wyoming, officials said that
just two of the state's 48 school districts have adopted the policy that allows
for armed teachers. One of those, the Park County School District 6 in Cody,
Wyo., is the same school district where Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
famously suggested in her confirmation hearing that schools may need guns to
protect against potential grizzly bears.
— Despite low participation, state
and local officials in South Dakota and Wyoming said it's important that school
districts can make up their own minds about whether to arm teachers. Milstead
said there's been "renewed interest" in South Dakota's program
following the Florida school shooting.
— The comments came during the third public listening session held
by the Federal Commission on School Safety, which was launched by the White
House after the Parkland shooting. The commission is chaired by DeVos, who was
absent from Tuesday's session. She was represented by her deputy, Mick Zais.
More from Caitlin Emma. [POLITICO's
Morning Education, August 7, 2018]
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| DEMOCRATIC PARTY |
DEMOCRATS KEEPING QUIET ON CLIMATE: With
wildfires raging in California and rising temperatures shattering records
across the globe, Democratic lawmakers have remained markedly silent on the
link between extreme weather and climate change — and it hasn't gone unnoticed.
"The mainstream Democratic party and those candidates aren't talking about
this as much as they should be, and they aren't talking about it in a
compelling way," Jamie Henn, strategy and communications director at the climate
advocacy group 350.org, told POLITICO.
But Democrats on the Hill say they don't need
to connect the dots for the public — allowing them to sidestep any partisan
bickering on the topic that could push voters into entrenched positions, Pro's
Anthony Adragna and Emily Holden report this morning. "It's more effective
if we allow people to draw their own conclusions," said Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz. "What we've found is independents
and Republicans are moving in our direction. The moment we turn it into a
partisan question, people put their uniforms back on and take their
positions," Schatz added.
And, as her state battles 17 wildfires and a devastating heat
wave, California Sen. Kamala Harris says she'd rather focus
on disaster response ahead of messaging around climate change. "The first
thing I want to see is that we extinguish those fires and get all those
firefighters and those families out in a way that they're all going to be safe,"
she said. "... [But] we always can do more to highlight the importance of
paying attention to climate change." Still, Harris, who's seen as a
potential 2020 presidential candidate, tweeted about wildfires and climate change
on Tuesday, after POLITICO reached out. "Since 2012, there hasn't been a
month in California without a wildfire burning. It didn't use to be this
way," she wrote. "Now is the time to act on climate change."
Read more. [POLITICO's Morning Energy,
August 2, 2018]
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| GAMES, SPORTS & HOBBIES |
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| MEDICINE |
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| TECHNOLOGY |
EXCLUSIVE ON THE HILL — PERDUE TARGETS CHINA'S 'DEBT-TRAP
DIPLOMACY': Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) is asking the Treasury and State
Departments how they plan to respond to China's "debt-trap diplomacy"
with developing countries, including those of strategic significance to the
U.S.
For example, Perdue cites more than $1.4 billion in
infrastructure funding China has provided to Djibouti, where the U.S. maintains
its only permanent military base in Africa.
"As financially strapped countries negotiate with China to
free themselves of mounting debt, Beijing has extracted onerous concessions,
including equity in strategically important assets," Perdue writes in a
letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
[POLITICO's Morning Defense, August 3, 2018]
🍑 Clench your buttocks, Yevtushenkov
The U.S. State Department says
it will explore the possibility of imposing sanctions on Vladimir Yevtushenkov,
the billionaire majority owner and chairman of the Sistema Russian
conglomerate, in retaliation for the company’s projects in Crimea and Uzbekistan.
After U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen shared the news on Twitter, shares in Sistema dipped on the Moscow stock
exchange, before rebounding slightly. In May, Sistema deniedhaving any projects in Crimea or Sevastopol.
In April, the U.S. Treasury
Department imposed sanctions on several prominent Russian businessmen,
including Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg, who later turned to the Kremlin
for state assistance. [The Real Russia. Today. August 8, 2018]
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| ENVIRONMENT |
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| NATURE & OUTDOORS |
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| READ |
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| PAKISTAN |
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| GERMANY |
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| ICELAND |
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| AUSTRIA |
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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