“The hope of the future lies not in curbing the influence of human occupancy – it is already too late for that – but in creating a better understanding of the extent of that influence and a new ethic for its governance.” ― Aldo Leopold


CLIMATE CHANGE












Congress actually passed HHS funding
Congress yesterday sent a funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services to President Trump's desk — the first time in years it hasn’t had to roll that bill into a much larger package in order to get it across the finish line.
Why it matters: For all the chaos consuming Washington, this is a notable achievement for leadership, especially Speaker Paul Ryan. This bill has historically been bogged down by the politics surrounding abortion and the Affordable Care Act.
How it happened: Leadership in both chambers committed early on to passing appropriations bills through regular order this year. My colleague Caitlin Owens reports that a few strategic decisions helped clear a path for the HHS bill — usually the most difficult one.
  • Leadership paired HHS funding with defense funding because conservatives weren't likely to vote against defense spending.
  • If the two hadn't been combined, "I think that the overwhelming majority of Republicans would be voting no," said Republican Rep. Mark Walker, adding that it was "frustrating, because they take an issue that needs to be taken care of — defense, that’s been depleted for a decade — and attach it to something that maybe 40 Republicans would vote yes for.”
  • Because the Trump administration can pursue anti-abortion policies through the executive branch, congressional Republicans felt less of an imperative to vote to defund Planned Parenthood.
  • The bill doesn't provide any new funding for the ACA, but also didn't cut any — a status quo Democrats could live with.
Democrats also say Republicans wanted to avoid a government shutdown right before the midterm elections. [Axios Vitals, September 27, 2018]

THEY'LL BE BACK: When Congress returns in November, regardless of election results major committees with jurisdiction over transportation in both chambers will have different leadership. Due to a combination of retirements, promotions, higher office ambitions and primary losses, there's going to be plenty of movement in the transportation committees in the House and Senate. We'll be following closely and keeping you updated through the midterms and into next year, but here's a look at where things stand for now:
In the Senate: Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) is widely expected to become majority whip in the likely event that Republicans hold their majority. That would leave Sen. Roger Wicker(R-Miss.) as the presumptive successor to take the committee gavel. On the Democratic side, in the unlikely scenario that Commerce ranking member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) loses but the party still takes back the chamber, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) would be next in line. It's worth noting she's also the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, so the gavel might jump to third-in-line Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
In the House: If the House flips, ranking member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) is expected to take the Transportation Committee gavel. In that scenario, there would be at least one subcommittee up for grabs: Massachusetts Democrat Mike Capuano, ranking member of the Railroads and Pipelines Subcommittee, was dealt a stunning loss by primary challenger Ayanna Pressley earlier this year.
With a Republican majority, there would be a gavel battle between Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) to replace retiring Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.). That would mean at least three subcommittees would be open: one vacated by whoever wins the full committee, another by retiring Aviation Subcommittee head Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), and a third by Economic Development and Emergency Management Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Lou Barletta(R-Pa.), who's running for a Senate seat. [POLITICO's Morning Transportation, October 15, 2018]






















FROM THE PORCH





MELANIA TRUMP















MICHELLE OBAMA






FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION    





— Pro-dairy comments roll into FDA docket: The agency just wrapped up taking comment on its sweeping Nutrition Innovation Strategy, which includes an update to dairy labeling policy. Dairy boosters are flooding the zone, urging it to keep "milk" a term that's limited to products derived from animals. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 12, 2018]

EDIBLE COTTONSEED REVIEW SHIFTS TO FDA: Cottonseed could become a high-protein food option, providing a boon to cotton growers, if FDA signs off on a new genetically engineered variety. Traditional cottonseed is toxic for humans and most animals because it contains a poisonous substance called gossypol. But a team of ag scientists at Texas A&M developed a type of cottonseed that contains very low levels of gossypol, making it edible for humans — and creating the possibility that the tree nut could help address global malnutrition.
USDA green-lighted the biotechnology on Tuesday. It determined the GE variety does not pose a plant-pest risk to crops or other plants, Pro Ag's Liz Crampton reports. The next step for Texas A&M researchers, backed by funding from Cotton Incorporated, is to finish consulting with FDA. If the agency determines the GE cottonseed is safe to eat, it could hit the commercial market in the form of products like chips, protein powder and flour.
Developers of the cottonseed — which, BTW, supposedly tastes like hummus — are expecting FDA's decision early next year. They can volunteer to present a safety assessment to the agency that takes into account factors such as comparing nutrient levels in the new GE plant with traditionally bred plants, or whether the altered variety could trigger allergic reactions. FDA would then evaluate the assessment to determine whether the new food complies with the law. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, October 17, 2018]



READ







GREAT BRITAIN







RUSSIA





Davydov on the end of the Kremlin's “safety cushion”

In an op-ed for Republiccolumnist Ivan Davydov argues that Russia’s regions outside Moscow have finally wrestled from the capital the ability to influence the national political agenda. In the past, Davydov says, relatively affluent problems have dominated the national discourse because these “first-world” issues are what mobilize activists in Moscow, while alienating the rest of the country. The Kremlin has exploited this divide (what Davydov calls a “safety cushion”), for example when Uralvagonzavod foreman Igor Kholmanskikh famously offered to bring his “boys” to Moscow to disperse the city’s ungrateful democracy protesters in 2011.
Davydov credits the Bolotnaya protests in 2011 and 2012 with restoring direct gubernatorial elections, which paved the way to the recent upsets in several runoff elections, where voters supported “technical candidates” just to spit in the eye of the establishment, thereby “turning the situation inside-out.” Davydov also says Russia’s regions owe their recent political mobilization to Alexey Navalny’s nationwide “franchise” system, set up during his doomed presidential campaign. Despite the failure to get on the ballot, Navalny’s scheme helped break Moscow’s monopoly on national politics, tapping into the energies of brave young people ready to risk their safety for political mobilization.
With pension reform, Davydov says, the Putin regime announced an end to state paternalism, only to discover that state paternalism — not the Kremlin’s geopolitical feats — is what fuels the regime’s popularity. Raising the retirement age has “torn down the wall” between Muscovites’ first-world squabblingand the rest of the country’s real problems, he argues.

Davydov’s text has a provocative subtitle — “Does the typical Russian citizen realize that pension reform is the direct product of geopolitical success?” — but the question only appears at the end of his op-ed, with no real explanation, though his earlier remarks about paternalism suggest that he blames the Putin administration for abandoning state paternalism for the sake of foreign adventurism. [The Real Russia. Today. September 27, 2018]



ROMANIA






EXCLUSIVE — ROMANIA SEEKING A NEW MOBILE COASTAL DEFENSE SYSTEM: Romania plans to seek bids Monday for a new mobile coastal defense system, its defense minister tells Morning D.
Romania aims "to have this new capability on the Black Sea coast, just as another measure of creating ... deterrence," said Defense Minister Mihai Fifor, following a meeting with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis Wednesday at the Pentagon.
The batteries could also be deployed on corvettes that Romania also seeks to acquire, the ministry says.

Boeing is considered among the leading companies vying for the contract, estimated at more than $150 million. [POLITICO's Morning Defense, September 28, 2018]




ARMENIA







CHAD







SYRIA






YEMEN






Yemen
 

The conflict in Yemen doesn't generate a ton of headlines, but it should. This grinding battle between Arab allies led by Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels backed by Iran has excaberated already dreadful conditions in the Middle East's poorest country. Now comes word that almost 12 million people face starvation as fighting intensifies around the port city of Hodeidah, which is an important aid delivery link, the World Food Programme said. And a UN official said unless the fighting stops, Yemen might endure the worst famine the world has seen in a century. [Good Morning from CNN, October 16, 2018]




WHIMSEY







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