Chad’s Morning Brief: The Farm Bill Could Be in Trouble, Liberal Mayor’s Declare War on Chick-Fil-A, and More
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of July 26, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to Lubbock’s First News with Chad Hasty for these and many more topics from 6-9 am.
1. Lawmakers Scramble for the Farm Bill (link)
The Farm Bill isn't a done deal yet and Republicans are trying to find a path forward. According to POLITICO:
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) told POLITICO that he had instructed his staff to begin talks with their GOP leadership counterparts Wednesday morning and a full-year extension of current law is among the options.
“I see it potentially as a way to move the process forward, and I have directed staff to offer some observations and we’ll see how leadership responds,” Lucas said. But he warned of potential resistance in the Senate and said adjustments would be needed for specialty crop and conservation programs that risked being left unfunded.
Lucas spoke after a meeting Tuesday evening with the panel’s ranking Democrat, Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, as well as Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and ForestryCommittee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the ranking Republican on the Senate panel.
“They are not enthusiastic about an extension,” Lucas said of his Senate counterparts.
Minutes later in the hallway outside the House committee, Peterson took it a step further, saying he would oppose any extension and saw it as political ploy to escape dealing with the pending five-year farm bill.
“I think of an extension as the worst idea that I have heard. And I will oppose it,” Peterson said. “I don’t see it gets us any place other than get them out of this corner that they’ve painted themselves into. That’s what this is about.”
What are your thoughts on the Farm Bill?
2. Mayor's Declare War on Chick-fil-a (link)
It appears as though some cities are prepared to ban Chick-fil-a. Why? Because the President of Chick-fil-a doesn't support gay marriage. The Mayors of Chicago and Boston are leading the charge. According to FOX News:
Officials in at least three cities have vowed to block efforts to open Chick-fil-A restaurants after the company’s president told reporters that he supported the traditional definition of marriage – and warned that redefining marriage might bring God’s judgment on the nation.
“Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement to the Chicago Tribune. “They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents.”
Emanuel was vowing his support for Alderman Proco Moreno’s announcement that he would block construction of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in his district.
“If you are discriminating against a segment of the community, I don’t want you in the First Ward,” he told the newspaper.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino was the first to announce that the Atlanta-based company would not be welcomed in his city.
“You can’t have a business in the City of Boston that discriminates against a population,” he told the Boston Globe. “We’re an open city. We’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion.”
And Mountain View, Calif, a bedroom community of San Francisco, has temporarily blocked the chicken chain from opening.
A homosexual couple spearheaded an effort to launch a zoning challenge.
“It could be Mother Teresa that owns it and it would be a bad place,” resident David Speakman told SFGate.com. “But because it was a bunch of bigots, it gave us an extra nudge.”
How is Chick-fil-a full of bigots? Has the company banned gays from employment? No. Are they refusing service to homosexuals? No. The President of the company expressed his opinion. That's it. How is that bigotry?
Not everyone endorses what the Mayor's in Boston and Chicago have done.
The Los Angeles Times condemned the decision, calling it far more troubling than Chick-fil-A’s support of traditional marriage.
“Public officials have a responsibility to carry out their ministerial tasks fairly and evenhandedly – and to uphold the principle of free speech – whether or not they like a business executive’s social or political stances,” the Times opined.
The Boston Globe wondered “which part of the First Amendment does Menino not understand? A business owner’s political or religious beliefs should not be a test for the worthiness of his or her application for a business license.
Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin said “Boston’s Founding Fathers must be steaming in their graves.”
“When an elected public official wields the club of government against a Christian business in the name of “tolerance,” it’s not harmless kid stuff,” Malkin wrote. “It’s chilling.”
Myself? I'll be eating at Chick-fil-a on August 1st.
3. Democrats Aren't Enthusiastic (link)
Good news! Democrats aren't very enthusiastic about voting this year. Could it lead to Obama losing? Not necessarily, but it can't hurt. According to Gallup:
Democrats are significantly less likely now (39%) than they were in the summers of 2004 and 2008 to say they are "more enthusiastic about voting than usual" in the coming presidential election. Republicans are more enthusiastic now than in 2008, and the same as in 2004.
A couple of reasons why Republicans shouldn't celebrate and why Democrats shouldn't be worried. According to Gallup's graph, In 2004, Democrats were more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans. What happened? George W. Bush was reelected. It also shows that Democrats were more enthusiastic in 2004 than in 2008 and I really don't buy that more people were excited about John Kerry than President Obama.
4. Audit the Fed Passes (link)
The House overwhelming voted to audit the Federal Reserve. For years Ron Paul has championed auditing the fed and yesterday the House agreed. The bill now heads to the Senate where it's not clear whether or not Harry Reid will carve out time for it. According to the Washington Times:
The overwhelming 327-98 vote sends the bill to the Senate where Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, has previously expressed support for an audit — though it’s unclear he’ll carve out time for the legislation this year.
But House passage already marks a high-water mark for those who for years have been pushing for an audit, led by Mr. Paul. The Texas Republican rode the issue to prominence in two different presidential campaigns, and said the bill is a chance for Congress to begin to reclaim the money and banking powers it is given in the Constitution, but had delegated to the Fed.
“It is up to us to reassert ourselves,” Mr. Paul said during floor debate Tuesday.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn’t like the prospect of such a broad audit, calling it a “nightmare scenario” last week and saying it will lead to politicians second-guessing his decisions.
Opposition in Congress came chiefly from Democrats who said they doubt the bill ever becomes law — but worried about sending a signal to financial markets that lawmakers want to intervene in financial affairs.
“It seems to me what we’re talking about is taking some fake punches at the Federal Reserve but not doing anything serious,” said Rep. Barney Frank, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.
Thoughts?
KFYO LIVE Events:
Thursday July 26, 11 am to 1 pm: Come by and say hello at Chaparral Ridge Golf Course. I’ll be giving away gift certificates. Details.
Saturday July 28, 2 pm to 4 pm: The Chad Hasty Show LIVE at Heroes and Legacies. Details.
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