TMD: What to Expect in DecemberIs USMCA happening? How about prescription drug legislation?
Happy Friday! Whether you were watching Mitch Trubisky and the Bears squeak past the hapless Lions, Thor the bulldog bring home the National Dog Show gold, or Astronaut Snoopy floating low over Manhattan, we hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family, friends, and food.
Quick Hits: What You Need To Know
On the Agenda: The House and USMCA
In Wednesday’s TMD, we gave you a brief overview of what to expect next in the House’s impeachment inquiry. This morning, we wanted to take advantage of the holiday lull in those proceedings to talk about another important matter currently before the House: approval of the Trump administration’s trilateral trade deal, USMCA.
For the past 25 years, the United States has enjoyed essentially free trade with both Mexico and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. President Trump spent much of his 2016 campaign railing against NAFTA, and the first half of his term threatening to pull the U.S. out of it and slap heavy tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports. Fortunately, that never came to pass: Instead, last September, the White House managed to strike a new trade deal with our neighbors, dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. USMCA is essentially a face-lifted, modernized NAFTA: Among other tweaks, it gives the U.S. access to Canada’s dairy market and includes new provisions governing intellectual property and digital trade, sectors of the economy that the 20th-century agreement didn’t cover. By and large, however, the new agreement serves the same purposes as did the old.
Which works just fine: The three nations get to keep their mutually beneficial trading relationship, and Trump gets to claim he won a fantastic new victory for American workers. Everybody wins!
The pact’s path to law was complicated, however, when Democrats reclaimed the House a year ago. Instead of enjoying a cakewalk through a GOP-controlled Congress, Trump needed to secure Nancy Pelosi’s go-ahead for the deal. Since June, a working group of Democrats has been negotiating with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for a number of tweaks related to issues including agreement enforcement and protections for labor. Pelosi originally hoped to hammer negotiations out by Thanksgiving; now, with talks seemingly dragging along just at the final stage, it’s an open question whether they’ll strike a deal by Christmas—and vanishingly unlikely it will come before the House for a vote before the new year.
The USMCA is an odd bill—a new trade agreement whose primary purpose is to maintain the status quo—and it’s currently at an odd stage. Everybody involved wants to pass the thing; free trade between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada is an incredible economic boon to all three countries. (The pressure to hustle is not too strong, given that NAFTA remains in force pending USMCA’s ratification.)
But Democrats are determined that USMCA’s eventual passage not be seen as a victory for the White House alone: Pelosi wants swing-district members of her caucus to have the opportunity to run on the bill in 2020 as well. By using her control of the House as a lever to twist the White House’s arm, she’s given some of those members the opportunity to put their fingerprints on it.
The result has been a slightly comical public standoff between Pelosi and Trump. Although the bill they’re hashing out is, for all intents and purposes, NAFTA 2.0, both leaders have a political incentive to denounce the old agreement as broken and unworkable. And although they’re on the verge of an amicable resolution that they both want to see, they are still publicly accusing each other of dragging their heels—Pelosi, characteristically dry, pointing out that Democrats are waiting for Lighthizer to make the last move; Trump, characteristically bombastic, telling reporters Pelosi is “incapable of moving it” and tweeting that USMCA is “dead in the water.”
Even besides USMCA and impeachment, there’s plenty else that the House has to attend to as well before Christmas. Pelosi’s own marquee piece of drug pricing legislation (which is unlikely to go anywhere in the Senate) is out of committee and needs a vote on the House floor. And there’s a little matter of keeping the lights on: Congress and the White House have until December 20 to negotiate a new spending bill, or failing that, pass another continuing resolution to fund the government temporarily. When the House reconvenes Monday, they’ll have two weeks to work with before everyone heads back to their districts Dec. 11. Better get cracking.
On the Agenda: Everywhere Else
Outside the House, things are less frenetic—for the moment.
In the Senate, business proceeds pretty much as it has since the midterms: Mitch McConnell ignores the bills the House sends his way and spends his session days busily confirming one Trump-appointed judge after another. Meanwhile, his caucus fidgets and keeps an eye on impeachment proceedings, bracing for a trial in the new year.
The Supreme Court is working through its case docket, preparing for, in particular, a pair of potential landmark cases to be argued early next year: One involving the constitutionality of the Obama-established Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, the other considering Louisiana’s recent very restrictive abortion law. In the shorter term, however, they may find themselves forced to weigh in on impeachment-related matters: The Trump administration seems determined to fight some congressional subpoenas all the way to their door, and Chief Justice John Roberts will preside in the event of a Senate trial.
Worth Your Time
Too much hard news isn’t a good beginning to a morning spent working off a half-pound of stuffing, so we’ll leave it there for now. Instead, we recommend you use that time to sit back, loosen your belt, and enjoy a few of these great longreads:
Presented Without CommentSomething Patriotic
Amazing what a little moral leadership can do. This clip may bring a tear to your eye:
Toeing The Company Line
Let Us Know
Whether you (correctly) believe that the Christmas season begins November 1 or you’re the type to stay Scroogey until after the Thanksgiving wishbone’s been cracked, there’s no denying it now: It is now officially the most wonderful time of the year. Alas, peace on earth and goodwill among men hasn’t yet entirely swept through the office at The Dispatch, as evidenced by some in-house holiday beverage bickering.
Dear reader, help us settle the question: Is eggnog indispensable festivity fuel, or a lardy emblem of the dreaded holiday hangover?
Reporting by Declan Garvey, Andrew Egger, and Steve Hayes.
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1 Thomas Circle, Suite 950, Washington, D.C., 20005  |
Saturday, November 30, 2019
PLATT - send TMD
Thursday, November 14, 2019
PLATT - CURATED News
GENERAL INTERESTHorrific home inspections: The strangest, scariest things inspectors have seen during their visits
https://www.foxnews.com/real-estate/horrific-home-inspections-the-strangest-scariest-things-inspectors-have-seen-during-their-visits
HEALTH
Facing ???Certain Death,??? Teenager With Vaping Injury Gets Double Lung Transplant [???What I saw in his lungs is like nothing I???ve seen before, and I???ve been doing lung transplants for 20 years,??? Dr. Nemeh said.]
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/health/vaping-double-lung-transplant.html?auth=login-email&emc=edit_NN_p_20191113&instance_id=13816&login=email&nl=morning-briefing®i_id=58935408ion%3DwhatElse§ion=whatElse%3Fcampaign_id%3D9&segment_id=18741&te=1&user_id=534895be791870e2f49b8be32ff6f7ab
New York Identifies Hospitals and Nursing Homes With Deadly Fungus
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/health/candida-auris-resistant-hospitals.html?te=1&nl=evening-briefing&emc=edit_ne_20191113?campaign_id=57&instance_id=13831&segment_id=18758&user_id=534895be791870e2f49b8be32ff6f7ab®i_id=58935408
Pneumonic Plague Is Diagnosed in China
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/world/asia/plague-china-pneumonic.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_NN_p_20191113§ion=whatElse?campaign_id=9&instance_id=13816&segment_id=18741&user_id=534895be791870e2f49b8be32ff6f7ab®i_id=58935408ion=whatElse
Polio in Nigeria: 'I opposed vaccinations until my son caught polio'
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50266547
Excessive brain activity linked to a shorter life
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/shorter_life_brain.php3
PARENTING
When my son Googled me, we both learned a painful lesson about the Internet
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/mom_son_web_lesson.php3
HUMOR
I need a digital mood ring
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/barreca111319.php3
Rogue Report
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/hamilton111319.php3
EDUCATION
Where Civility Is a Motto, a School Integration Fight Turns Bitter
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/us/howard-county-school-redistricting.html
????????
Disney+ slaps content warning for 'outdated cultural depictions' on classic animated movies
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/disney-plus-content-warning-outdated-cultural-depictions-classic-animated-movies
Missouri high school football coach, team under fire for ???illegal??? prayer after complaint from atheist group
https://www.foxnews.com/us/missouri-high-school-football-illegal-prayer
BUSINESS
???Right to Repair??? Does Not Mean the Right to Intellectual Property
https://townhall.com/columnists/bethanypatterson/2019/11/12/right-to-repair-does-not-mean-the-right-to-intellectual-property-n2556133?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=11/13/2019&bcid=3cb4e56ddeac8885c78e874bb1d8f1a4&recip=27077809
Mandatory Shortages
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2019/11/13/mandatory-shortages-n2556364?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=11/13/2019&bcid=3cb4e56ddeac8885c78e874bb1d8f1a4&recip=27077809
Boys and girls have an equal aptitude for math ??? so why are there are so few women in higher paying STEM jobs?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/boys-and-girls-have-an-equal-aptitude-for-math-so-why-are-there-are-so-few-women-in-higher-paying-stem-jobs-2019-11-12
WEATHER
England floods: What is making them worse?
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50393617
ENTOMOLOGY
The wonderful world of insects -- 11/13/19
https://mailchi.mp/delanceyplace.com/the-wonderful-world-of-insects-111319?e=a218d00c99
TECHNOLOGY
Electric car future may depend on deep sea mining
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49759626
CYBER SECURITY
Malware developers are betting you'll be fooled by 'Donald Trump Screen of Death'
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/political_malware.php3
iSpy? Facebook Is Using Your iPhone???s Camera Behind Your Back
https://www.idropnews.com/news/facebook-is-using-your-iphone-camera-behind-your-back/122723/
LAW AND ORDER
No, There Is NO Major 'Hate Crime' Problem
https://patriotpost.us/articles/66762?mailing_id=4653&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4653&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body
BIG BROTHER
Next in Google???s Quest for Consumer Dominance: Banking
https://www.wsj.com/articles/next-in-googles-quest-for-consumer-dominancebanking-11573644601?emailToken=5fcc9e2227a71ed8819de3b94f7397ffFdVyq8ONb4e63E0nGNOgcZFSGsDvnkPWhCsXXMz/g6PrKxuqiooFPDW5owrUhW8JS+9L0d26ZkujmLsxQ2z/3XXaz+rzw0C5MrvejlrRXYs%3D&reflink=article_email_share
Google defends amassing health data on millions of people
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/google-health-data-defense
Court finds fault with warrantless searches of global travelers' laptops, phones
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/court-finds-fault-with-warrantless-searches-of-global-travelers-laptops-phones
CHINA
China wants to build its own Yellowstone
https://www.foxnews.com/science/china-wants-to-build-its-own-yellowstone
IMPEACHMENT
New impeachment czar will glue together unwieldy White House strategy
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/new-impeachment-czar-will-glue-together-unwieldy-white-house-strategy?utm_source=breaking_push&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=push_notifications&utm_source=WEX_News%20Brief_11/13/2019&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WEX_News%20Brief&rid=5044
Dems trot out new charge as initial focus of impeachment hearings falls flat
https://nypost.com/2019/11/13/dems-trot-out-new-charge-as-initial-focus-of-impeachment-hearings-falls-flat/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
GOP senator: Republicans don't have votes to dismiss impeachment articles
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/470301-gop-senator-republicans-dont-have-votes-to-dismiss-impeachment-articles
Trump denies knowledge of call mentioned in impeachment hearing [The aid was eventually released and Ukraine did not make a public statement about the investigations.]
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/470356-trump-denies-knowledge-of-call-mentioned-in-impeachment-hearing
TRUMPGATE
Appeals court clears way for Congress to seek Trump financial records
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/470395-appeals-court-clears-way-for-congress-to-seek-trump-financial
POLITICS
Mayor Pete Buttigieg catapults ahead of Dem field in new Iowa poll
https://nypost.com/2019/11/12/mayor-pete-buttigieg-catapults-ahead-of-dem-field-in-new-iowa-poll/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Warren Will Win The Dem Primary Race
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/morris111319.php3
"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end ???
which you can never afford to lose ??? with the discipline to confront
the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."
- VAdm James Stockdale, USN (1923-2005)
PLATT - CURATED News
Krauthammer:?? The authoritarian temptationhttp://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/krauthammer111219.php3
GENERAL INTEREST
A game you can't win
http://jewishworldreview.com/1119/mullen111219.php3
Who Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize?
https://www.prageru.com/video/who-should-win-the-nobel-peace-prize/
University of Virginia Cancels 21-Gun Salute to Appease Snowflake Students
https://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2019/11/11/university-of-virginia-cancels-21gun-salute-to-appease-snowflake-students-n2556271?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=11/12/2019&bcid=3cb4e56ddeac8885c78e874bb1d8f1a4&recip=27077809
MIND BOGGLING
??? Food and Wine magazine says PepsiCo is test marketing a Doritos-flavored Mountain Dew in college campuses. You can't make it up, the finest chemists that money can buy are busy testing the refreshment value of cheese-flavored taco chips mixed with Mountain Dew. It sends a clear message to the world from America, and that message is this: we will get to the cure for Ebola when we get to it.
HUMOR
The News in Zingers
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/hamilton111219.php3
SPORTS
N.F.L. Invites Teams to Watch Colin Kaepernick Work Out on Saturday
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/sports/football/colin-kaepernick-nfl-workout.html?te=1&nl=evening-briefing&emc=edit_ne_20191112?campaign_id=57&instance_id=13808&segment_id=18733&user_id=534895be791870e2f49b8be32ff6f7ab®i_id=5893540820191112
HISTORY
Spain and Mexico's silver curse -- 11/12/19
https://mailchi.mp/delanceyplace.com/spain-and-mexicos-silver-curse-111219-7rsy0byj6g?e=a218d00c99
FINANCIAL
Warren???s ???2 Cents??? Come at Your Expense
https://www.wsj.com/articles/warrens-2-cents-come-at-your-expense-11573515899?emailToken=c0339ff11a39f87cc825d35b414c63d7USdXLF4TpNTnloZIS/M0doJFyXeeTukQGnZibW8xncZPMKkmM2ixRmpO678v+klcRb1Y54zHwOux33WbsQyfI45fA9zTrBF6zQ1L/Yx9VT0%3D&reflink=article_email_share
WEATHER
Most Destructive Hurricanes Now 3x More Frequent Than They Were a Century Ago ( .. or, maybe not ...)
https://www.ecowatch.com/most-destructive-hurricanes-climate-crisis-2641313585.html
SCIENCE
NYT Science Times: Ultra-Black Is the New Black
https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?uri=nyt://newsletter/3cde1a49-d336-41d0-aacf-c35bbd80f36a&te=1&nl=science-times&emc=edit_sc_20191112?campaign_id=34&instance_id=13791&segment_id=18720&user_id=534895be791870e2f49b8be32ff6f7ab®i_id=58935408
TECHNOLOGY
Is China gaining an edge in artificial intelligence?
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50255191
NATIONAL SECURITY
Space war threats from China, Russia getting new U.S. assessment
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/space_threats.php3
LAW AND ORDER
???The Suspect??? Review: Collateral Damage
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-suspect-review-collateral-damage-11573515975?emailToken=5231ea94c0154f15a6be52b73bc289c60wOHNUnIbj2xHYBY5ZZISuiFb0dpeVsRVHASigsCmYtO5xIoP6fWW18ptS8lnNaA3YielNdoKul/jGFt384a2xm60Kg+OFyqarTHXGcSqYs%3D&reflink=article_email_share
Antivirus guru John McAfee thinks Jeffrey Epstein was murdered
https://nypost.com/2019/11/12/antivirus-guru-john-mcafee-thinks-jeffrey-epstein-was-murdered/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=mail_app
Iowa paid a security firm to break into a courthouse, then arrested employees when they succeeded
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/iowa-paid-a-security-firm-to-break-into-a-courthouse-then-arrested-employees-when-they-succeeded/ar-BBWEQ5M?ocid=spartandhp
BIG BROTHER
Google???s ???Project Nightingale??? Gathers Personal Health Data on Millions of Americans
https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-s-secret-project-nightingale-gathers-personal-health-data-on-millions-of-americans-11573496790?emailToken=b55392e779e3856b92c6a4d5f2e8bb02VNBoKUfIQ5WMKoU2jwPLtnsOcPtMk2pZIYEDi0paaZdcPkzG5jcNF71/DbMNxcxnYVmzU2FoSO+J47bg59fQQfVyQkGl2KKDnO30tzCfi+128yiRVY2txHLkLyMyYTzUd7SdWJ4A6lblZyU8acTJdBN+gZxif2iHnTXagvgjZ/8%3D&reflink=article_email_share
Project Nightingale: Google accesses trove of US patient data
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50388464
Google???s ???Project Nightingale??? Triggers Federal Inquiry
https://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-googles-project-nightingale-a-health-data-gold-mine-of-50-million-patients-11573571867?emailToken=7c33e349eca4d59547de465d42563d64IG10HUppDobBcZBXWkvRDQBTQpGqE1Dr71gTVGnQt8bgzicHcCC0nSnslsNSS1c2M0/XMTviRkQIeUWc/ZIVt1evYdQ9+eGtJm6Sbcr34aANSZVfotKk5+9QkMrUKSP+11tdAEtoIGpyNM16grH1RA%3D%3D&reflink=article_email_share
IRAN
Iran nuclear deal: IAEA finds uranium particles at undeclared site
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50382219
IMMIGRATION
The Court and the Dreamer Pawns
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-court-and-the-dreamer-pawns-11573517389?emailToken=22b923256f1d6c7a9ccf17551a960d24Mb7A7YzofUchiwfrBsxypL1TzwgNZOKG0xSMxitsmOc1bLv8kVU4rCjKUtI1mPi2nrcd1icT/E/BUJapaBX6aw%3D%3D&reflink=article_email_share
Divided Supreme Court leans toward allowing Trump to end DACA
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/470075-supreme-court-sharply-divided-over-trumps-daca-repeal?userid=288549
IMPEACHMENT
After the Great Orange Whale
https://townhall.com/columnists/billmurchison/2019/11/12/after-the-great-orange-whale-n2556320?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=11/12/2019&bcid=3cb4e56ddeac8885c78e874bb1d8f1a4&recip=27077809
Gregg Jarrett: The Trump impeachment inquiry is already in big trouble. Here's who Democrats have to thank
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/gregg-jarrett-trump-impeachment-inquiry-trouble-democrats
There???s a Surprisingly Plausible Path to Removing Trump From Office
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/11/12/path-to-removing-donald-trump-from-office-229911?cid=apn
'Money-making enterprise': Intelligence officer files complaint over whistleblower donations
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/money-making-enterprise-intelligence-officer-files-complaint-over-whistleblower-donations?utm_source=breaking_push&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=push_notifications&utm_source=WEX_News%20Brief_11/12/2019&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WEX_News%20Brief&rid=5044
How the Senate can stop a purely partisan impeachment
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/hewitt111219.php3
POLITICS
Burisma Cited Biden as It Lobbied Government To Reverse Corruption Charges
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1119/morris111219.php3
"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end ???
which you can never afford to lose ??? with the discipline to confront
the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."
- VAdm James Stockdale, USN (1923-2005)
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