“The only way we can change our world is to take responsibility for our part in it.” ― Rachael Bermingham
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| RACE |
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| POLITICS |
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| MARIJUANA |
PRIVACY PERCOLATING — The Internet
Association, which represents top tech firms like Facebook, Google and Amazon,
came out Tuesday in support of a "tailored approach to federal privacy
legislation," Steven and Ashley report , marking "a
notable step for an industry that has long swatted away the hand of Washington
regulators." In a newly unveiled set of principles, the report reads, IA
laid out a privacy framework that includes "transparency; giving
individuals the right to know if their information is being used; controls over
how that information might be used; 'reasonable' access to customer
information; the ability to correct information a company has if it's wrong;
the ability to delete that information unless companies have a 'legitimate
need' for it; and the ability of consumers to take their data with them across
different platforms."
— Picking up steam: Earlier Tuesday, Microsoft
President Brad Smith called for "universal rights and baseline minimum
requirements that should govern law enforcement access to data in our modern
era" to serve as guidelines for international data agreements, John reports. And just last week, the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce became one of the first groups to offer a concrete proposal for national privacy
standards. [POLITICO's Morning Tech, September 12,
2018]
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| EPA |
GREENS READ THE EPA TEA LEAVES: Greens worry the Trump administration's move this week
to loosen an Obama-era rule curbing methane pollution from oil and gas wells
could signal a broader push to exclude the powerful greenhouse gas from federal
regulations, Pro's Alex Guillén and Ben Lefebvre report. EPA's proposal Tuesday would ease requirements on how frequently oil and gas
producers must inspect new drilled wells for leaks, and greens worry EPA will
follow it with a new rulemaking that will avoid regulating methane pollution
from more than 1 million existing oil and gas wells. In announcing the rule,
EPA said it planned to reconsider other issues, "including the regulation
of greenhouse gases in the oil and gas sector," in a later process,
leaving environmentalists wary — especially following the administration's
moves gutting of Obama's carbon rules for power plants and fuel efficiency
rules for vehicles. Read more.
[POLITICO's Morning Energy, September 12, 2018]
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| MITCH MCCONNELL |
Majority Leader of the Senate
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| MIKE PENCE Vice President |
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| WHIMSEY |
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| U.S. SUPREME COURT |
EXXON TAKES APPEAL TO SCOTUS: Exxon Mobil wants the Supreme Court to weigh in on its
appeal against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. The company on
Monday asked the
high court to intervene to block Healey's demand that it hand over company
documents as part of her years-long investigation into Exxon's research into
climate change science, Pro's Alex Guillén reports. Exxon's
petition is an appeal of an April decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which rejected
Exxon's argument that Healey has no jurisdiction over the company. [POLITICO's
Morning Energy, September 11, 2018]
APPROPRIATORS OK PAY FOR HILL INTERNS: A joint House and Senate committee agreed to set aside
funds to pay Capitol Hill interns in H.R. 5895 (115) , the "minibus" appropriations package that
includes funding for the legislative branch. The minibus would set aside up to
$20,000 per House member office to pay interns and a total of $5 million to pay
Senate interns. Lawmakers announced that they filed the appropriations package
today after meeting to resolve differences between the appropriations levels
approved by each chamber. The legislation will go to the House floor for a vote
this week. Read the conference report here.
[POLITICO's Morning Shift, September 11, 2018]
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| NATURE & OUTDOORS |
"IS TRUMP MAKING AMERICA buy books
again?" CNN's Brooke Baldwin asked Tuesday after rattling off the names of
unflattering best-sellers, like Fire and Fury and Unhinged, that
the president publicly attacked. Joshua Green, author of Devil's
Bargain, which delved into Steve Bannon's role in Donald Trump's political
rise, said the president "has been a godsend to the nonfiction publishing
industry."
- "Trump was elected because he was viewed
by enough people as being a strong commander-in-chief, a strong leader,"
Green said. "What all these books have in common, I think, including mine,
is that when you go inside and tell the real inside story, based on the people
around him, what you see is something quite different. And that image of
strength erodes."
- The president's ire of late on Twitter has
been directed at Bob Woodward's Fear, which he called a "piece
of fiction" yesterday after briefing reporters on Hurricane Florence.
Trump also applauded statements critical of Woodward's book from Gary Cohn
and Rob Porter, two former aides presumed to be key sources for it.
- Woodward isn't going to identify his
background sources, though he suggested Tuesday on "The Daily" that public and private
responses to the book may be vastly different. "After the information
in Fear started breaking last week," Woodward
said, "one key person, who's in office, called me and said, 'Everyone
knows what you've said here is true. It's 1,000% correct.' And then this person
has said some public things that contradict that." [Morning Media, September 12, 2018]
First in Morning Media: BBC News is launching a new weekly Facebook Watch show, "Cut Through the Noise," that will be
geared toward its US audience. The show will be presented from the BBC News's
Washington bureau or in the field, and will focus on a different issue each
week. "Social media is an important source of news and information for
many Americans," Jim Egan, BBC Global News CEO, said in a statement.
"So we are always looking for new ways of bringing our audiences high
quality, non-partisan news coverage they can trust from around the world."
[Morning Media, September 12, 2018]
WHEN YOU CAN'T SAY ANYTHING NOT NICE: The
Washington Post's Paul Farhi looks at how some people commenting in the
news media about Trump may have signed non-disclosure agreements in which
they're "legally obligated to say nice things about him."
- "Shouldn't news organizations disclose
that the Trump officials they quote or put on the air are legally bound not to
criticize the president, given that doing so would enable readers and viewers
to better judge where an interviewee is really coming from?" he asked. [Morning Media, September 12, 2018]
HERE IT IS: House Republicans didn't let
too much of the week get away before rolling out their Tax Reform 2.0 package.
As Pro Tax's Brian Faler reported, Monday's release provided no real surprises. The three-pronged
package would make permanent the individual tax portions of the Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act, H.R. 1 (115) , which was passed last
December, in addition to enacting measures meant to spur business innovation
and retirement and family savings. That likely sets up another House vote on
the tax law's $10,000 cap on state and local deductions, a provision that once
more puts some GOP incumbents from higher tax areas in a tricky spot.
The House Ways and Means Committee is supposed to consider the
new package on Thursday, though Hurricane Florence might end up having
something to say about that. The three bills were largely greeted on Monday
with familiar responses, with Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) calling it an opportunity
to change the culture in D.C. and Democrats and liberals saying the GOP was
essentially doubling down on trickle-down economics.
Some added nuggets: The retirement portion of
2.0, HR 6757, does look like a slimmed-down version
of longstanding bipartisan Senate legislation, as Patrick Temple-West of our
Financial Services team pointed out — underscoring the notion that
there's a chance for some lame-duck action on that topic in a couple months.
(The other two bills are HR 6756 and HR 6760.) The new measure would also extend an
expanded deduction for medical expenses, which allows write offs for costs
above 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income, for another two years, as Bloomberg
reported.
At what cost? The Tax Foundation has found that extending the individual parts
of TCJA would cost $166 billion a year on a static basis, and $113 billion a
year when accounting for economic growth. [POLITICO's
Morning Tax, September 11, 2018]
NEW COALITION AIMS TO COMBAT HAZING: The
families of four men who recently died in fraternity hazing incidents are
joining two major fraternity and sorority groups to launch a coalition that
plans to lobby for state-based anti-hazing legislation. Among other things, the
legislation they're pushing for would call for stronger reporting requirements,
strengthen criminal penalties and encourage prosecution.
— "While we may seem like strange bedfellows, we
all want the same thing — to end hazing, so other parents don't have to
experience what we have," said Jim Piazza, whose son Timothy died in a
hazing incident last year. He was a freshman at Penn State. The Piazzas and
three other families are partnering with the North-American Interfraternity
Conference and National Panhellenic Conference, along with other groups.
— The coalition is also pushing bipartisan federal
legislation that would require colleges and universities to include
information on campus hazing in their annual crime reports. The so-called REACH
Act, H.R. 2926 (115), is sponsored by Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and former Rep. Pat Meehan
(R-Pa.), and has long carried the support of national Greek organizations. It
would also require institutions that accept federal funding to provide students
with hazing prevention education. [POLITICO's
Morning Education, September 11, 2018]
BIG CAMPAIGN FINANCE NEWS — E-filing for Senate campaign finance
reports is close to becoming a reality. The final conference agreement
for the first minibus appropriations package, HR 5895, includes a provision
that would require Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports
electronically, according to Sen. Steve Daines, chairman of the Legislative
Branch appropriations panel, who pushed it over the finish line. "I fought
to include language to increase transparency and access for U.S. Senate
campaign finances, and after today's announcement, we're one step closer,"
Daines (R-Mont.) said in a statement. "I look forward to getting this
through the House, the Senate, and on to the president's desk for
signature."
Also celebrating the news is the other Montana Senator, Democrat
Jon Tester. He has long pushed for e-filing for Senate candidates, and
has sponsored legislation for years to do just
that: "The finish line is in sight and this bill will finally bring Senate
campaigns into the 21st century," Tester said in a statement. [POLITICO's Morning Score, September 11, 2018]
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| READ |
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| GLOBAL |
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| GREENLAND |
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| U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS |
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| BOTSWANA |
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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