Category: What We’re Reading

Here’s a selection of articles Federal Relations is enjoying this week.

Falling Apart – Congress and the White House were so close to a grand bargain, and then, shortly, the $4 trillion ‘grand bargain’ collapsed. Read more in Roll Call.

Mandatory vs. Discretionary – In December, Congress and the White House came to a two-year spending plan that was supposed to lead to a temporary truce in the annual federal budget wars. Obama broke that truce, at least in the eyes of most Republicans, with a 2017 budget request that aims to use revenue not covered by that agreement to boost the budgets of several research agencies. The fiscal legerdemain is likely to trigger even more of a partisan standoff with Congress and darken an already cloudy picture for U.S. researchers who rely on federal funding. Reach more in Science. 

Rich Housing – Building more luxury housing actually helps poor housing, because more demand means more supply, and more supply means prices fall…according to economists. Read more in The Washington Post. 

Smoke ‘Em – Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to fight opioid abuse with pot. Read more in Vox. 

Getting Over You – Psychologists reveal that, no, you’re never really over your first love. Read more in the Washington Post. 

Super Delegate – What are they? And why is Bernie’s 20 point win over Hillary not really affecting the superdelegate race? Read more in Vox. 

Gravity Waves – In a massive scientific breakthrough, researchers have discovered gravity waves – something that Einstein predicted in 1916. Read more in Science. 

Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.

Border Wars –  Though, state institutions were founded to serve the people of their states, but in a bid to maximize tuition revenue as state support for higher education drops, they are enrolling record numbers of students from elsewhere. Read more in The Washington Post. 

Computer Literate – The President has announced that he is seeking $4 billion to help states expand in an area he views as critical to young people’s success in a changing job market. Read more in The New York Times. 

Hit It With Your Best Shot – In the State of the Union, Vice President Biden was charged with a moon shot-like goal of curing cancer. The Vice President explains what that will mean in Medium. 

Placebo Effect – Is this cancer taskforce set up for success or is it one more presidential taskforce from an Administration that already has many of them (as have many other administrations). Read more in The Hill. 

Boot Straps – Rep. Kyrsten Sinema’s journey from sleeping in a vacant service station to holding a Ph.D., law license and office on Capitol Hill has become a staple of the fast-rising Arizona Democrat’s biography. And she’s telling it to anyone who will listen as she works to fortify her hold on a key swing House district that could pave her way to the Senate. Read more in The Arizona Republic. 

1,000,000 Mile Club – Congress is doing less work than in previous decades, and now we can break it down with statistics. Moreover, Their absence from the capital reinforces the effects of a deepening partisan divide in recent years that has led to high-profile deadlocks over legislation previously seen as routine, according to some former lawmakers and political analysts. Under pressure to spend more time in their home constituencies, often fund-raising for campaigns, members have less time to attend debates and mingle with other lawmakers….In 2015, the first year of a two-year Congress, the House of Representatives put in 130 working days, the Reuters review found. Compared with the first years of recent Congresses, that number has declined steadily since 2007, when the House worked 153 days — the high since 1998. Read more in Reuters.

As DC digs out under several feet of snow, here’s a selection of articles the federal relations team has been enjoying.

Importing Bias – Researchers at Baylor University set out to determine whether stereotypes of these minority groups are commonly believed by white freshmen and found their suspicions confirmed. Read more in The Atlantic. 

Waiving to Title IX – The government t would create a searchable database that reveals the names of colleges and universities that have received exemptions on religious grounds from federal civil rights protections. Read more in The New York Times. 

Big Bully? – An op-ed questions whether the Department of Ed is using Title IX to exceed its legal authority and to bully universities. Read the Op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. 

Moody’s Mood on Higher Ed – Several new ratings reports from Moody’s Investor Service were released this week as a glance into the state of higher education, including law schools are suffering and colleges need to diversify. Read more in The Washington Post. 

Challenger – Thirty years ago, on January 28, 1986, the US space shuttle Challenger exploded mid-flight. The launch was seen across the country in schools as NASA promoted the flight included New Hampshire teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who applied and was selected to be the first teacher in space. That same day President Reagan was scheduled to give the annual State of the Union Address. That was postponed, and instead, he gave a speech a short speech, written by then unknown Peggy Noonan, to help the nation, and particularly school children, begin to mourn the tragedy. Read more in The  Washington Post. 

Not Exactly Jessie Owens – Scientist recently discovered a rare set of tyrannosaur footprints, which is giving researchers insight into the walking speed of the prehistoric beasts. According to the new estimate, Tyrannosaurus rex may have ambled as quickly as 8 kilometers per hour (5 miles per hour), slower than a plodding amateur marathon runner or even a middle-aged power walker.  Read more in Science. 

You Scream, I Scream, Bernie Gets An Ice Cream – Ben and Jerry’s, the gourmet ice cream maker based in Vermont, created a new flavor for New Hampshire Senator Bernie Sander called, “Bernie’s Yearning”. It’s tag line is “Nothing is so unstoppable as a flavor who’s time has come.” Read more in The Hill.

Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is reading this week.

Anti Trump – As the campaign trail gets evermore hostile in rhetoric, House Speaker Paul Ryan is trying to convey a different type of Republican party during the election season. Read more in The Washington Post. 

Blame Canada – Presidential candidate and Senator, Ted Cruz (R-TX), was thrown for a loop as leading presidential candidate Donald Trump asserted that Cruz can not be eligible for the presidency because he is not a natural citizen (he was born in Canada to an American mom and Cuban dad). It has derailed the Cruz campaign this week, which was neck and neck with Trump. What’s more it’s possibly true — he can’t be president because what “natural born citizen” means is murky. Read more in The Hill. 

Ch-ch-changes – From Obama’s first State of the Union to his last, Congress has drastically changed and here are the five biggest differences. Read more in The Washington Post. 

Last Lift – A different take on the last State of the Union address from an Obama alumnus. Read it at The New Yorker. 

No Relief – The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by an unemployed Wisconsin man who owes more than $260,000 in student-loan debt from business and law school. The appeal would have opened up a decades-old law that prohibits Americans with taxpayer-backed student loans from canceling that debt in bankruptcy unless they can prove they face an “undue hardship,” a vague phrase that has led to uneven interpretations in the courts. A 2005 law extended the prohibition to nonfederal student loans. Read more in The Wall Street Journal.

Point, Counter Point – In an increasing politically fractioned world, you should take time to understand those who have differing opinions. Read about it at Medium.

Bowie Bonds – David Bowie, the legendary musician and performer, died this week. While his legacy is hugely impacting, what’s little known is his impact on the market. In 1997, he became the first artist to package and securitize the rights to his future royalties dubbed as Bowie Bonds. Read more in Forbes. 

Ultimate Gentrification – As Sesame Street moves from PBS to HBO, the series will have some changes. Big Bird will live in a tree. Oscar the Grouch now has a recycling and compost bins. The series will focus more clearly on Elmo, Abby, Cookie Monster, Rosita with fewer appearances by the rest of the cast and celebrities as well as fewer parodies. Read more in The New York Times.