 | |||
|
| Welcome to Wonkbook, Wonkblog's morning policy news primer byMax Ehrenfreund (@MaxEhrenfreud). Send comments, criticism or ideas to Wonkbook at Washpost dot com. To read more by the Wonkblog team, click here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. |
| A visit to one of America’s oldest cricket farms |
| |||||||
A worker at Fluker's Cricket Farm in Port Allen, La handles bins containing cricket larvae. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
This is actually a story that should be taken seriously:
Armstrong's Cricket Farm officially opened on January 1, 1947. In less than a decade, the family operation grew into two farms in two states, producing hundreds of millions of crickets a year. Today around 93 percent are sold to the pet food industry (PetSmart is the largest buyer); most of the rest are still sold for fish bait. But in the last two years, the farm has taken on unexpected clientele...Yes, eating bugs is gross, at least to the American consumer, but cricket flour as an ingredient in snacks doesn't sound all that unappetizing. Given all of the stresses on the world's supply of food, looking into new sources of nutrition is probably unavoidable.
Crickets are surprisingly nutritious. Per hundred grams, they contain nearly the same amount of protein as ground beef and the same amount of iron as spinach, and more vitamin B12 than salmon. In light of the glaring resource-intensiveness and environmental impact of raising traditional meats, crickets have piqued people's interest because they are so efficient: Pound for pound, the bugs need far less water and feed than chickens and cows. ...
"The way we raise them now is a jillion times different than in granddaddy's day," Armstrong said, leaning back in his chair. He then backtracked a little, adding that the basics are more or less the same. "You got your sand, like he had; you put sand in the boxes and adults lay eggs in them and they hatch out and you go from there," he said.
What's in Wonkbook: 1) House votes on immigration 2) Opinions, including Will on Keystone XL 3) New methane rules, and more
Number of the day: 64 percent. That the share of people who die of gunshot wounds who took their own lives. Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
1. Top story: House votes against Obama's immigration policies
It's not clear where Republicans go from here. "The legislation faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Democrats are united in opposition and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is seeking to protect the 24 GOP incumbents who are up for reelection in 2016. ... Among the 26 Republicans opposing the amendment were lawmakers from districts with large Hispanic populations, such as Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and perennial Democratic election targets, including Reps. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Robert Dold (R-Ill.) and David Valadao (R-Calif.)." Cristina Marcos in The Hill.
What's the plan for immigration policy in the Senate, anyway? "Frustrated Senate GOP conservatives are champing at the bit to attack President Obama on immigration -- but they say they've barely heard a word on the subject from Mitch McConnell. ... The silence from McConnell has them worried. He has brushed over the issue with them in private; in public, he's mentioned immigration just once since the new Congress began -- and only when he was asked." Daniel Newhauser and Sarah Mimms in National Journal.
2. Top opinions
WILL: The Keystone XL controversy is an embarrassment for Obama. "His carefully cultivated persona was of a uniquely thoughtful, judicious, deliberative, evidence-driven man comfortable with complexity. The protracted consideration of Keystone supposedly displayed these virtues. Now, however, it is clear that his mind has always been as closed as an unshucked oyster. ... There no longer is any reason to think he has ever reasoned about this. He said he would not make up his mind until the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled. It ruled to permit construction, so he promptly vowed to veto authorization of construction." The Washington Post.
Abolish the gas tax. "Drivers now see about a quarter of their gas taxes diverted to subsidize mass transit in merely six metro areas and sundry other programs for street cars, ferries, sidewalks, bike lanes, hiking trails, urban planning and even landscaping nationwide. ... Simply using the taxes that are supposed to pay for highways to, well, pay for highways makes the HTF 98% solvent for the next decade, no tax increase necessary." The Wall Street Journal.
NOAH SMITH: Inflation is a good thing. "Instead of too much inflation, as so many hand-wringers were worrying about a few years ago, we now find ourselves with too little. Maybe it’s about time the Federal Reserve did something about it."Bloomberg View.
Gentrification is a myth. "The socio-economic status of most neighborhoods is strikingly stable over time. When the ethnic compositions of low-income black neighborhoods do change, it’s typically because Latinos and other immigrants move into a neighborhood—and such in-migration is probably more beneficial than harmful. As for displacement—the most objectionable feature of gentrification—there’s actually very little evidence it happens." John Buntin in Slate.
MEYERSON: House Republicans work quickly to deregulate Wall Street, passing a delay of the Volcker Rule Wednesday."By scurrying to give the banks what they want, Republicans can get it out of the way and hope that any public memory of this unseemly spectacle is eclipsed by the epic, more popular battles to come. By pushing mega-bank welfare to the head of the line, Republicans also sent a clear signal to Wall Street that they'll do whatever it takes to further feather the bankers' nests. In return, they doubtless anticipate that the financial sector's support for the GOP will continue to soar, even as its support for Democrats has slumped." The Washington Post.
Drugs don't have to be so expensive. "What if we didn't require insurance companies to cover all drugs? We can see the answer in Europe. Many European countries say no to a handful of drugs each year, usually those that are both pretty ineffective and highly costly. Because they can say no, yes is not a guarantee. So companies have to offer their drugs at prices that make them attractive to these health care systems."Peter B. Bach in The New York Times.
WEHNER: Conservatism isn't about who can shout the loudest. "What often masquerades as conservatism these days is really populism. There is room for populism within conservatism, but it should not define conservatism. In fact, it is often in conflict with it. Conservatism, for starters, is rooted in human experience. It appreciates the complexity of human society. It believes in a givenness to human nature and in enduring principles, yet it has the capacity to apply those principles to changing circumstances." The New York Times.
BERNSTEIN: Hillary Clinton's nomination looks ever more inevitable. "Senator Elizabeth Warren finally declared herself out more definitively. It wasn't Shermanesque, and plenty of politicians have entered or re-entered past presidential races after more solid exits, but it’s getting late for someone to rule out a run and still have time to mount a serious one. ... The other development this week is that several big-name operatives have signed on to Clinton's campaign, even though she hasn't even made an informal announcement yet that she is running." Bloomberg View.
Chart of the day:
The middle class and the wealth have stopped smoking. The poor haven't. Keith Humphreys in The Washington Post.
3. In case you missed it
The drive for profits is reshaping end-of-life care. "In a report released Wednesday, the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services warns that some hospices appear to have sought higher profits by focusing on patients living in assisted living facilities. ... Currently, Medicare pays a hospice about $155 per patient day of routine care at home. While that sounds straightforward, investigators have found that the payment system gives hospices an incentive to sign up patients who need the least amount of care - and potentially leads them to steer clear of patients with greater needs." Peter Whoriskey in The Washington Post.
The Obama administration is proposing new rules on methane, but some experts worry the rules don't go far enough. "Jessika Trancik, assistant professor at MIT, said one 'critical' missing component from the pending proposal is language targeting methane emissions from existing wells, equipment and the like in oil and gas operations. Wednesday's actions include two main regulations that the EPA and Interior Department will propose, which target methane from new and modified oil and gas wells and equipment responsible for venting and flaring on public lands. Trancik said a concern shared among scientists and researchers is that the 40 percent to 45 percent reduction target might not be high enough."Laura Barron-Lopez in The Hill.
Obama weighs conflicting priorities for the gas sector. "The plan highlights the White House approach to the fracking-enabled domestic-production surge: Take steps to make it cleaner when possible, but keep it going. ... While it targets natural gas, the methane plan can be viewed as part of an effort to prevent the oil and gas boom from colliding with a muscular second-term effort to fight climate change." Ben Geman in National Journal.
And what happened to those "enormous areas of potential agreement" Obama promised? "On Tuesday, Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, met with 19 members of Congress to try and figure out (and possibly create) some of those areas of potential agreement. Obama and Republicans agreed on trade, the need for a cybersecurity bill, and a resolution to authorize the fight against the Islamic State. But those brief glimmers of hope for bipartisanship have been dwarfed by veto threats, the defiant passage of bills despite said threats, and a general unwillingness to compromise on both sides. In fact, the list of disagreements between the Republican-controlled Congress and the president would appear to be much longer than the one that includes the 'enormous areas' of ideological harmony." (Thanks, Obama.)Arit John for Bloomberg.
댓글 없음:
댓글 쓰기