Thursday: 8/1/13

Fiscal Fights

The Overview

Get ready.  "Here is the looming problem: The House has nine ... legislative days in September to complete action on the appropriations bills that make up most of the government ... and to try to reconcile their bills with the Senate, which has to act on the same 12 bills. The chances of that happening before Oct. 1? Zero. But even if the House and Senate passed all the appropriations bills, chances are close to zero that they could compromise on them ... More than likely, we will see a short-term extension on Oct. 1, for two weeks or a month. But by Nov. 1, we will have a full-scale confrontation—and one that may coincide with the debt ceiling being reached."  Norm Ornstein at the National Journal.

Budgets and appropriations.  "Budget politics have an odd rhythm. The budget proposal comes early in the year, and its cuts are vague. It mostly just sets broad targets for different categories of spending. The appropriations bills come later in the year, and that’s where cuts need to get specific. Republicans endorsed the vague outlines of Ryan’s budget early in the year. But now they’re realizing they can’t pass the documents that make those cuts specific — they’re simply too deep. But they can’t back out of the Ryan budget, either. The result is a mess."  Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas at Wonkblog.

Boehner and sequestration.  "Speaker John A. Boehner ... made one thing clear: The sequester is here to stay until the White House gets serious about spending cuts ... It's frightening how little Boehner understands about this policy ... First, the president didn't 'insist on the sequester.' ... Second, if 'none of us' want this stupid policy, it's within Boehner's power to stop the cuts that are hurting the country on purpose ... Third ... Obama has already approved $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, and offered Republicans even more. So far, GOP officials have offered no comparable concessions. And finally, there's the problem Boehner doesn't like to talk about: he has no alternative."  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

Libertarianism and economic populism don't mix.  "Economic populism can (and probably should) become more libertarian, but libertarianism can never be populist. For the sake of this discussion, a 'populist' economic policy idea is one that transfers economic resources from a privileged minority to the masses ... That said tax the rich and use the money to finance transfers to the poor and broad social insurance schemes for the middle class will always be a populist idea and will never be a libertarian one."  Matthew Yglesias at Slate.

Obamacare

The GOP is divided over Obamacare.  "A brewing Republican versus Republican fight over whether to use a government funding measure to choke off Obamacare is splitting the party ahead of this fall’s budget battles. A growing number of Republicans are rejecting calls from leading conservatives ... to defund the president’s health care law in the resolution to keep the government running ... The rift exposes an emerging divide over how the GOP can best achieve its No. 1 goal — to repeal Obamacare — while highlighting the spreading fears that Republicans would lose a public relations war if the dispute leads to a government shutdown in the fall."  Manu Raju and Jake Sherman at Politico.

State Department

A bad funding bill coming from the House.  "The bill ... cuts $10 billion off the Senate’s version, and represents an almost 20 percent cut to the overall State Department budget ... Contributions to international organizations were slashed ... with peacekeeping contributions reduced ... Development assistance programs come in for cuts ... What the House bill does fund effectively is security measures to reinforce embassies, consulates, and missions abroad, a clear response to the tragedy of the attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, Libya ... Clearly, the budget, as currently envisioned, protects diplomats—but does a disservice to diplomacy."  Neil Bhatiya at the Century Foundation.

Tax Reform

Tax reform is coming to a Congress near you.  "House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp plans to move forward on a tax reform bill before a November showdown over raising the debt limit, according to several committee aides. Camp plans to draft legislation in the coming weeks and hopes to have a committee markup in October, the aides said. Assuming Congress agrees to keep the government funded after Sept. 30, Camp’s timeline places a tax reform markup directly between two of the most heated political battles of the year."  Kelsey Snell at Politico.

Transportation

Why the transportation bill crashed and burned in the House. "On Wednesday, House Republicans caused a ruckus by abruptly yanking their $44.1 billion transportation and housing budget off the floor. The leadership couldn’t find enough votes for the bill, in part because the proposed spending cuts were too deep for virtually all Democrats and even some Republicans. Combine that with the fact that a certain number of conservatives will oppose most spending bills, period, and that spelled doom for the so-called THUD bill." Brad Plumer at Wonkblog.

Politics

Abortion

At least have enough courage to do this as a standalone bill.  "It just got a little bit safer to be a motorcyclist in North Carolina, and much, much more dangerous to be a woman in need of abortion care. Members of the state Senate waited until late Thursday, the final full day of the session, to pass the sweeping abortion restrictions lawmakers quietly inserted into a measure on motorcycle safety earlier this month ... Only one of the state’s 16 abortion clinics currently meets such standards. The measure now heads to Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who is expected to sign it." Katie McDonough at Salon.

ATF

New director.  We've been waiting a long time.  "The Senate on Wednesday confirmed a director to head the agency that regulates firearms and investigates gun and explosives crimes, ending an extraordinary seven-year run in which the agency has been without a permanent, full-time leader. By confirming B. Todd Jones, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota and the acting part-time director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by a vote of 53 to 42, Congress provided the Obama administration with a rare victory in its efforts to advance sweeping gun proposals."  Sari Horwitz at the Washington Post.

California

This is so beyond ridiculous. "So to recap, Filner is accused of, among other things, making unwanted sexual advances, encouraging an employee to come to work without underwear, and putting women in headlocks. This may very well be San Diego's fault, his lawyer said, because the city never instructed Filner not to do any of these things. If this were some kind of dark comedy, I'd consider it unrealistic. And yet, here we are."  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

The Economy

The status quo.  "The American economy managed to stay on track last quarter, defying fears of another spring swoon, but doubts remain as to whether it will finally gain the kind of sustained momentum that has proved so elusive since the recovery began ... The mixed picture facing the country was evident ... Optimists point to improved levels of job creation ... a more robust housing sector and a surging stock market that has lifted the value of investment and retirement accounts for millions of consumers. Pessimists focus on the fact that the estimated economic growth rate ... in 2013 is well below last year’s levels ... even as automatic cuts in federal spending and higher taxes continue to bite."  Nelson Schwartz and Catherine Rampell at the New York Times.

The graph that calls the entire recovery into question.  "The core issue here is that the unemployment rate only counts people actively looking for work. That means there are two ways to leave the ranks of the unemployed. One way ... is to get a job. The other way is to stop looking for work ... The yellow line on the left shows the official unemployment rate since 2008. It’s fallen from over 10 percent to under 8 percent. But the red line on the right shows the actual employment rate — that is, the percentage of working-age adults with jobs. What should scare you is that the red line has barely budged."  Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.

7 facts about fast food restaurants and wages.  Lydia DePillis at Wonkblog.

Education

Higher education is still racially divided.  "The nation’s system of higher education is growing more racially polarized even as it attracts more minorities: White students increasingly are clustering at selective institutions, while blacks and Hispanics mostly are attending open-access and community colleges, according to a new report. The paths offer widely disparate opportunities and are leading to widely disparate outcomes, said the report released Wednesday by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce."  Michael Fletcher at the Washington Post.

Congress finally gets that student loan fix together.  "The millions of college students and parents who will borrow money from the federal government for the coming school year can plan on much lower interest rates than originally offered, as the U.S. House overwhelmingly voted 392 to 31 on Wednesday to approve a Senate plan that would allow interest rates to move with the financial markets. The plan now goes to President Obama, who has already voiced support."  Jenna Johnson at the Washington Post.

Elections

Why Republican attacks on voting rights might be what pushes Democrats to victory.  "Without President Obama's name on the ballot, Democrats and civil rights leaders increasingly view voting rights as a rallying cry that could boost minority participation in key midterm Senate races in 2014 ... Black turnout will be pivotal to the re-election of vulnerable Senate Democrats in the South, including Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Mary Landrieu in Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas, as well as to Democratic hopes of picking up an open Senate seat in Georgia. Those states could be decisive in determining whether the Democratic Party maintains control of Senate in 2014."  Beth Reinhard at the National Journal.

Marco Rubio is still in a decent position for 2016.  "So Marco Rubio’s positioning isn’t so bad. Immigration might weaken his appeal with a few Republicans, but it doesn’t look like it was a death blow. Rubio’s unfavorables aren’t very high, and John McCain came back from worse. And doing the bidding of the business-wing of the GOP is ... a pretty good idea—it’s probably the most important wing of the 'invisible primary,' worth plenty of fundraising dollars ... And, for the moment, there isn’t another prominent, active Republican candidate with broad appeal throughout the party."  Nate Cohn at the New Republic.

But there's a large general election problem for his party to overcome.  "Given today’s numbers and Mitt Romney’s difficulty securing the nomination, it’s highly unclear whether Republicans could nominate a candidate who wants to moderate the party. And if the primary process is unlikely to yield a candidate who can moderate the party, then the Republican House would be wise to preemptively bail out the next Republican candidate, and relieve them of the obligation to oppose a pathway to citizenship, background checks on gun purchases, or whatever else. That doesn't look like it will happen. Instead, it looks like Republicans will need to count on the appeal of their 2016 presidential candidate and economic fundamentals to overcome the party's limited appeal."  Nate Cohn at the New Republic.

The Tea Party is losing influence.  "All this is a far cry from the deeply antiestablishment, anti-incumbent sentiment that swept Washington for much of the last decade ... The intensity that drove Republican primary challengers seems to be abating. Over the last two elections, three sitting Republican senators were defeated in the primaries. Four House members apiece lost primaries in each of the last three House elections ... As significant is the fact that in the last two elections, at least 20 representatives ... won less than 60 percent of the vote in primaries ... Those numbers don't look like they'll be matched next year."  Josh Kraushaar at the National Journal.

Beware of election counterfactuals.  Some are just so bad.  "Larry Sabato, Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley started off with a good idea: illustrate the regularities of Congressional and down-ballot elections with a counterfactual. But, oh, it just goes so horribly wrong. 'Imagine, for a moment, if Sen. John McCain (R) had somehow won the presidency in 2008. How might the country be different?' See, there's the thing. John McCain was clobbered in 2008. We're not talking Bush/Gore, where we can easily imagine the outcome of the presidential race changing on its own; McCain lost by seven percentage points, and a 365-173 electoral college margin."  Jonathan Bernstein at A Plain Blog About Politics.

Farm Bill

The House's new plan for food stamps won't help to find a farm bill compromise with the Senate. "House Republicans are drafting legislation that would cut $40 billion from the federal food stamp program over 10 years. That’s nearly double the $20.5 billion in cuts that were included in the farm bill legislation that failed on the House floor in June ... The House narrowly passed a farm bill without a food stamp title this month, but has not appointed conferees to resolve differences with the Senate bill, which cuts just $4 billion from food stamps. The top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee on Thursday said the new House GOP plan would make a compromise on the farm bill impossible."  Erik Wasson at the Hill.

FBI

The FBI concludes that it could not have prevented the Boston bombings.  "The F.B.I. has concluded that there was little its agents could have done to prevent the Boston Marathon bombings, according to law enforcement officials, rejecting criticism that it could have better monitored one of the suspects before the attack."  Michael Schmidt at the New York Times.

The Federal Reserve

The real story behind the Fed nomination fight.  "The division of opinion between Summers and Yellen appears to rest ... within the Democratic party ... In many ways, the debate between Yellen and Summers captures an historic Democratic divide between its Wall Street and more liberal, Main Street wings. Summers’ defenders emphasize his personal relationship with Obama ... and his economic brilliance, but also his experience in the world of finance ... The Yellen camp points to her distinguished career as a central banker and her leadership within the Fed. Senate liberals also clearly prefer Yellen for her dovish macroeconomic stance."  Sarah Binder at the Monkey Cage.

The Fed chief and gender.  "When a woman is up for the job ... the lurking worry is that the pick will be 'driven by gender.' ... That’s how privilege works in practice: Gender is invisible when it comes to male appointees but a constant presence when it comes to female appointees ... There’s never been a female Federal Reserve chief ...  This isn’t an accident ... It’s because gender really has played a driving role in appointment processes ... on behalf of men ... It’s ... a process that’s heavily influenced by gender, that ends with men in a hugely disproportionate number of top positions, and that manages to turn the gender card around on any women who manages to make it through to the end."  Ezra Klein at Wonkblog.

Bond purchases to continue, for now.  "The Federal Reserve issued a 700-word statement on Wednesday, but four words would have sufficed: see you in September. As expected, the Fed’s policy-making committee voted to press ahead for now with its campaign to increase job creation. And its statement said nothing about how much longer it would continue to add $85 billion a month to its holdings of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury securities. But the Fed left its economic outlook basically unchanged, suggesting that the central bank still intended to reduce the volume of its purchases later this year."  Binyamin Appelbaum at the New York Times.

Filibuster Fights

Another round?  "The first of President Obama’s three current nominees for the D.C. Circuit Court won a victory in the Judiciary Committee today, but unified Republican opposition hints that they may be planning a blockade strategy after all. If so, we’re in for another nuclear showdown ... If Republicans attempt to blockade the three vacancies on the key D.C. Circuit Court — filibustering Obama nominees with the preposterous claim that nominating judges for current vacancies is somehow an illegitimate case of 'court-packing' — then Democrats will have little choice but to escalate."  Jonathan Bernstein at the Washington Post.

Foreign Policy

Keep financial regulation out of the US-EU FTA.  "The United States and the European Union have embarked on a new round of trade talks, which holds out the promise of deepening the two sides’ already robust economic relationship. But the talks should not be used to weaken US financial reforms that are just taking root ... Now is not the time to place America’s hard-fought financial reforms at risk. Shadow banking is coming into the light; new derivatives regulation is entering into force; capital requirements are going to be higher; structural reforms and resolution authority are reducing subsidies; and investors and consumers are better protected."  Michael Barr at Project Syndicate.

Bipartisan support for continuing Egypt aid.  "Republicans overwhelmingly united with Democrats on Wednesday to continue funding aid to Egypt, despite U.S. law requiring a suspension of aid to countries that undergo a military coup. In a 86-13 vote, the Senate moved to table an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul that would've redirected $1.5 billion in aid to bridge construction and repair in the United States and suspend further aid to Egypt until the country holds elections."  John Hudson at the Cable.

Miscommunication of State?  "Secretary of State John Kerry declared in an interview with Pakistan TV Thursday that U.S. drone strikes in the country will soon come to an end. But that message apparently wasn't relayed back to Foggy Bottom. Three hours after Kerry's comments first broke, a spokesperson took them right back. 'In no way would we ever deprive ourselves of a tool to fight a threat if it arises,' a State Department spokesperson said."  Elias Groll at the Cable.

The House implements more Iran sanctions.  "The House voted Wednesday night to tighten sanctions against Iran in an effort to limit Iran's nuclear program, despite calls from some Democrats to delay the vote until more is known about Iran's new president-elect Hassan Rouhani. The Obama administration has been hopeful that Rouhani's election might allow for a diplomatic approach with Iran on the issue of that country's nuclear ambitions. But members dealt a possible blow to those talks by passing the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, H.R. 850, in a 400-20 vote."  Pete Kasperowicz and Julian Pecquet at the Hill.

GOP

GOP "conservatives" are flying blind.  "Paul vs. Christie. A Senate fight about defunding Obamacare. A House divide over National Security Agency surveillance. In the span of a week, a trio of substantial rifts in the Republican Party have been laid bare. What does it all mean? In short, if Republicans are looking for a conservative purity test when it comes to evaluating its candidates, they aren’t going to find one."  Sean Sullivan and Aaron Blake at the Fix.

The solution to the GOP's problems, according to GOP voters - move the party further to the right.  "If the first step toward rehabilitation is recognizing that you have a problem, then the GOP rank and file seem to be doing exactly that. What’s surprising is how these Republicans and Republican-leaners propose fixing the problem. A 54% majority think the party should move 'in a more conservative direction,' as against 40% who favor moving 'in a more moderate direction' and 5% who are either satisfied with the current direction or don’t have an opinion."  Timothy Noah at MSNBC.

The intra-party fights are getting ugly.  "A Republican congressman entangled in an intra-GOP dispute on foreign policy upped the ante on Wednesday when he linked a Senate GOP colleague to Nazi appeasers and anti-Israel sentiment. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been engaged in a back and forth in recent days with Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), all of whom are reportedly considering running for president in 2016, over NSA surveillance and other national security issues."  Ben Armbruster at Think Progress.

10 House GOP bills that would curb government power - if they ever actually became law.  Spoiler alert: They probably won't.  Ed O'Keefe at the Fix.

Guns

Harry Reid expects another vote on background checks next year.  "After the Senate was unable to muster enough votes in April and pass a comprehensive gun control package, reformers immediately set to work pushing for another bill, particularly one that deals with universal background checks ... Senate majority leader Harry Reid provided a huge clue. During a private meeting late Thursday morning with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense In America, which The Nation was allowed to observe, Reid predicted a vote on background checks would happen again in the Senate before the midterm elections, though no sooner than 2014."  George Zornick at the Nation.

Health

5 remaining strategies in the anti-Obamacare arsenal.  Sarah Kliff at Wonkblog.

Boehner has more votes planned. "Speaker John Boehner is planning for a number of votes to continue to chip away at Obamacare, an attempt to dissuade Republicans from urging a government shutdown if the law is funded ... The House will vote to require verification for health care subsidies, stop the Independent Payment Advisory Board and eliminate funding streams ... The subtext of the leadership strategy is that they think it’s insane to shut down the government in an effort to defund the health care law ... Boehner is, however, open to using the government funding debate to tweaks parts of the law."  Jake Sherman at Politico.

Immigration

The Hastert rule is still in effect.  "A spokesman for Ryan reiterated that the House GOP would adhere to the Hastert Rule — again putting us back where we were before ... Congressman Ryan reiterated what Speaker Boehner has made clear: The House will consider only those immigration reforms that garner a majority of House Republicans. His comments reflect the fact that it’s often difficult to determine how members will vote on a proposal until it’s considered on the House floor ... Right now — at least publicly — Ryan is not willing to break with the make-believe Hastert Rule. Which obviously doesn’t improve reform’s chances."  Greg Sargent at the Plum Line.

LGBT Rights

America's evolution.  "The main drivers of this transformation are obvious. Most Americans now know that people they care about are gay men or lesbians, and empathy can do wonderful things ... Younger Americans overwhelmingly favor same-sex marriage. They will dominate the electorates of the future. But another factor deserves more notice: steadily increasing numbers of Americans have come to believe that gay people are not social revolutionaries looking to alter the nature of marriage. Rather, they are seen as simply wanting to be part of an institution that is already open to their straight fellow citizens. This shift in perspective has been essential in normalizing the idea of gay unions."  E.J. Dionne Jr. at the Washington Post.

Progress advances.  "Dozens of gay couples began tying the knot early Thursday morning at Minneapolis City Hall as Minnesota – along with Rhode Island – became the latest state to legalize same-sex marriage ... Rhode Island and Minnesota on Thursday became the 12th and 13th U.S. states to allow gay marriage, along with the District of Columbia." Patrick Condon at the Associated Press.

Maine

I don't even...  "After Maine's beleaguered far-right governor, Paul LePage (R), announced last month that he would seek a second term, I more or less assumed the often-buffoonish Republican would at least pretend to shift towards the mainstream. After all, Maine is a pretty moderate state, and if LePage made a point to be less extreme, he'd probably stand a better chance of winning. But that doesn't seem to be happening. This week, for example, LePage's Department of Environmental Protection pushed to weaken Maine's anti-smog regulations."  Steve Benen at Maddowblog.

NSA

Congress was never 'in the dark' about all the leaked NSA programs.  "After classified material leaked to the public last month revealed the scope of how the government collected Americans’ communications records, many members of Congress insisted they were in the dark about the extent of the National Security Agency’s surveillance efforts. However redacted documents released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Wednesday morning show that at least as far as bulk collection of Americans’ phone data is concerned, the extent of NSA surveillance was in plain sight."  Adam Serwer at MSNBC.

On XKEYSCORE and law.  "Technical capability versus legal remit is incredibly important to the discussion. Even Senator Ron Wyden, in noting that the intelligence community 'misled Congress about the usefulness' of mass collection programs, is not actually identifying systemic abuses or failure of oversight audits ... Greenwald ... even specifically said that these programs provide the possibility of abuse, but could not substantiate any claims that abuse actually occurs ... People have the technical capability to do all sorts of dreadful things all the time. The reason we have laws is to protect ourselves from the technical capability of others, including our own government."  Joshua Foust.

Snowden is granted asylum in Russia.  "Brushing aside pleas and warnings from President Obama and other senior Americans, Russia granted Edward J. Snowden temporary asylum and allowed him to walk free out of a Moscow airport transit zone on Thursday despite the risk of a breach in relations with the United States. Russia’s decision, which infuriated American officials, ended five weeks of legal limbo for Mr. Snowden, the former intelligence analyst wanted by the United States for leaking details of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs, and opened a new phase of his legal and political odyssey."  Steven Lee Myers and Andrew Kramer at the New York Times.

Wisconsin

International

Global

The global drone gender gap.  "A new report on global attitudes about the U.S. from the Pew Research Center shows something that isn’t terribly surprising: American drone strikes are unpopular around the world (only Israel approves U.S. drone strikes more than the U.S.). What is surprising, however, is the unusually large gender gap in attitudes about one of the Obama administration’s signature national security tools. When asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the United States conducting missile strikes from pilotless aircraft called drones to target extremists in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia?” women were much less likely to say they approved."  Allen McDuffee at the Danger Room.

Africa

What you need to know about the Darfur genocide, 10 years later.  Zack Beauchamp at Think Progress.

Asia

This should be interesting.  "A Bangladesh court on Thursday declared as illegal the country's main Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, effectively banning it from a general election due early next year. The ruling that the registration of Jamaat as a political party conflicted with the country's secular constitution immediately triggered violent protests by party supporters."  Ruma Paul at Reuters.

China cracks down on independent news websites.  "More than 100 privately-run news websites have been shut down in China since May in what the government calls a move against extortionists, but what critics say is a campaign against citizen journalists. The State Council's National Internet Information Office has closed 107 informal news websites and portals since May 9, according to a list obtained by the Beijing News."  Patrick Boehler at the South China Morning Post.

Middle East

UN inspectors are finally granted access to chemical weapons sites in Syria.  "U.N. inspectors have been granted permission to probe three sites in Syria where chemical weapons are suspected to have been used in the nearly 2 1/2-year-old civil war, the world body’s chief announced Wednesday."  Carol Williams at the LA Times.

More Israel strikes are (probably) coming.  "American intelligence analysts have concluded that a recent Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in Syria did not succeed in destroying all of the Russian-made antiship cruise missiles that were its target, American officials said on Wednesday, and that further Israeli strikes are likely."  Michael Gordon at the New York Times.

Power players in Afghanistan are trying to convince President Karzai to stay on.  "With a major election just eight months away, power brokers across southern Afghanistan are pressing President Hamid Karzai not to leave office on schedule in 2014 ... In tribal gatherings, protests and private conversations, Afghan leaders from the south have voiced support for an extension of Karzai’s presidency. Some want the April election delayed for several years, arguing that security is so poor that it would limit voter turnout in southern provinces. Others say Karzai is simply the best man for the job and should be allowed to run for a third term — even though the constitution limits him to two."  Kevin Sieff at the Washington Post.

NATO's commander says no to the 'zero option' for Afghanistan.  "There’s been some buzz recently about the notion of a 'zero option' in Afghanistan, meaning North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces would withdraw completely ... But Philip Breedlove, the new commander of NATO forces, made it clear ... he’s pushing ahead with earlier plans for a force of 8,000 to 12,000 to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 to train and support the Afghan military ... The current plan is for NATO forces post-2014 to remain in the Kabul area plus four other hubs. Turkey would take the lead in the Kabul area, Germany in a northern hub, Italy in the west, and the U.S. in the east and south."  Naftali Bendavid at the Wall Street Journal.

South America

Uruguay's lower house approves marijuana legalization.  "Uruguay’s lower house late Wednesday night approved a sweeping bill to legalize marijuana, opening the way for the authorities to create one of Latin America’s most ambitious nationwide endeavors in overhauling drug policy ... Under the bill ... people would be allowed to grow marijuana in their homes, limited to six plants per household. They would also be permitted to form cooperatives allowed to cultivate 99 plants. In addition, private companies could grow marijuana under the bill, though their harvests could be bought only by the government, which would market the drug in licensed pharmacies."  Simon Romero at the New York Times.

Science

Geysers on Enceladus tied to orbit.  "Steady geysers of water ice on one of Saturn's icy moons appear to erupt more strongly when the moon is farthest from its ringed parent planet, scientists say. The warm vents at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus emit vast plumes of water vapor and ice out into space. While these plumes have been studied for some time, scientists have now observed a correlation between the intensity of the plume and the location of the moon in its orbit around Saturn."  Miriam Kramer at Space.com.

The weirdest-looking spiders in the world.  Nadia Drake at Wired.

Miscellaneous

The greatest doomsday speeches never made.  Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy.

12 onomatopoeias from around the world.  Arika Okrent at Mental Floss.

America used to be the country of beer.  But that appears to be changing.  "Fairly stunning data from Gallup on Americans' declining taste for beer compared to wine and hard liquor ... Back in the early nineties 71 percent of the 18-29 cohort preferred beer. Just 41 percent of today's youth cohort says beer is their favorite, as do only 43 percent of 30 to 49 year olds. In other words, a cohort of beer lovers lost their taste for it as they became middle aged and was replaced by a new youth cohort that doesn't like beer that much either."  Matthew Yglesias at Slate.