Here’s a sampling of articles the Federal Relations team have been enjoying this week.
Senate Meltdown – It’s hot in DC but it’s hotter in the Senate Republican caucus. The Senate was in session last weekend to get the highway trust fund reauthorized, but that session broke down as Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) attempted to attach an Obamacare repeal to the bill. Behind the scenes, it was much, much worse with the Senators breaking internal protocol and attempting to engage outside groups in an attempt to make fellow Republicans look bad. Senators are M-A-D. Read more at Politico.
Green Meltdown – The bipartisan Energy Innovation Act bill sponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is drawing the ire of environmental groups, most notably the Serra Club and the League of Conservation Voters. Read more at National Journal.
Cutting Student Debt – Indiana University has come up with a creative way to keep students from over borrowing student loan funds; each year, they tell them how much they already owe in debt. Students are taking out 11 percent less, which is admittedly not a huge dent, but a dent nonetheless. Read more at Vox.
Taking Advantage – It’s long been a question/accusation that for-profits schools taking advantage of veterans for GI benefits. The PBS NewsHour goes in depth on the engagement between the University of Phoenix and the US Army. Watch the segment at PBS.
China’s Slowing Economy? – The world’s second largest economy has hit some fairly large bumps this week as the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen plunged 8.6 percent, to 3,818.73, while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC lost 8.5 percent, to 3,725.56 points. It is the biggest one day crash in the Chinese market since 2007. Earlier this month, the Chinese government took unprecedented intervention and support measures at the speculation of a full-blown market crash crash. There seems to be no reason for the investor souring on the market and overall has raised questions over the viability of government efforts to prop up prices as an economy slows. China’s industrial profits fell 0.3 percent in June from a year earlier. The International Monetary Fund has urged China to eventually unwind its support measures. Ultimately, this slow down will impact American imports. Read more from Reuters, NPR, and Bloomberg.
The 1% – With the first Fox News debate to air August 6th, Republican presidential nominees are scrambling to up their poll numbers. Fox has long stated that it will invite only the top 10 candidates per the polling data. Fox will use five, yet to be named polls, and their data as of 5 pm August 4th. There is two weeks to go and a lot of people on the bubble (polling anywhere from 2.8 to 1.8 percent). Read more at The Hill. However, Fox News has recently changed the criteria, opening access to the debates to more candidates, by requiring participants reach at least 1 percent in polls. However, Fox will bifurcate the process by holding a debate at 9 pm of the top 10 candidates and a “forum” at 5 pm of those not in the top 10, but with at least one percent in the polls. Read more at Politico.
You Can’t Sit With Us – The powerful, Republican Koch brothers are decidedly not on team Donald. Despite a long-standing cordial relationship, the Kochs are denying Trump access to their state-of-the art data and refusing to let him speak to their gatherings of grassroots activists or major donors. The Koch brothers have one of the most broad-reaching, well-funded, and powerful conservative operations currently operating. While Trump is currently triumphing in the polls, access to the Koch network would give him a huge boost. Read more at Politico.
My Better Half – Meet the spouses of all those people running for president. See them at National Journal.
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