Weekly Trek: August 21, 2015

Weekly Trek

August 21, 2015

Top Political News

• Senate Democrats have united to say Republican leaders should not wait until after Labor Day to get going on budget talks. Roll Call
• Teflon Don: Nothing can seem to dislodge Donald Trump from the top of the heap, which has left the press and the political establishment to wonder: How does this end? Politico
• Bush family donors gave half of Jeb Bush’s presidential cash. AP
• Hillary Clinton’s email: 10 questions: Some of the issues revolve around what is, was or should be classified. Politico
• Hotline’s Senate rankings: The Senate seats most likely to flip in 2016. National Journal
• In light of the August doldrums: a bad lip reading of the Republican debate. YouTube

Transportation

• When streetcar systems serve as transit-oriented development tools. Progressive Railroading
• Unions press Congress to take off on FAA bill. The Hill
• AAR’s mobile app aims to bolster first-response efforts after derailments. Progressive Railroading
• Can our transit system get any worse? NY Times
• How Americans get to work in cities with the lowest car commute rates. CityLab
• Dark clouds loom for airlines even as their profits take off. WSJ
• A look at transportation funding measures passed by states. NY Times
• States raising taxes, fees and debt to pay for road repairs. AP

 

Energy & Natural Resources

• Climate wonks focus on economics. They need to pay more attention to politics. Vox
• When a Washington fire chief called for help, no one was left. LA Times
• Woman’s five-day fast outside Cascade Locks City Hall targets Nestle deal. Oregonian
• Growing Washington wildfires are ‘an unprecedented cataclysm,’ governor says. LA Times
• Murray says Feds need to figure out how to pay for Washington’s firefight. KUOW
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first-ever federal regulations to cut methane emissions from the nation’s oil and natural-gas industry. WSJ

Labor

• Obamacare’s tax on luxe health plans unpopular among voters. Morning Consult
• Hillary Clinton’s Nevada union foes eye repeal of Obamacare ‘Cadillac tax’. Bloomberg

 

Taxation, Trade, & Defense

• John Oliver set up his own “church” to make a point about the tax code. TaxFoundation
• “Debt Is Good” says Paul Krugman. NY Times
• Small nukes: a long-term prospect for Tri-Cities? Crosscut
• Congress must reauthorize Ex-Im Bank to retain Wash. state’s businesses. Seattle Times