Economics

Cotton harvesting in East Carroll Parish, Louisiana on Oct. 10, 2013. The farm bill governs farm subsidies, which encourages planting of soybeans, cotton and other crops.  Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg

bloomberg.com - by Alan Bjerga - January 29, 2014

The U.S. House passed and sent the Senate a much-delayed bill to set agricultural policy for five years, as rural Republicans and urban Democrats overcame objections about farm subsidies and food-stamp cuts.

. . . The bill would cut food-stamp spending by $8.6 billion over 10 years, though additions to other programs bring nutrition-aid cuts down to $8 billion -- one-fifth of the $40 billion sought by Republicans and fought by Democrats and food retailers. The reduction would equal about 1 percent of the program’s record $79.6 billion in spending for the budget year that ended Sept. 30.

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nytimes.com - January 15th, 2014 - Coral Davenport

The Obama administration is retreating from previous demands of strong international environmental protections in order to reach agreement on a sweeping Pacific trade deal that is a pillar of President Obama’s strategic shift to Asia, according to documents obtained by WikiLeaks, environmentalists and people close to the contentious trade talks.

The negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would be one of the world’s biggest trade agreements, have exposed deep rifts over environmental policy between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations. As it stands now, the documents, viewed by The New York Times, show that the disputes could undo key global environmental protections.

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whitehouse.gov - August 2013

The following is an accounting of Federal funding for climate change programs and activities, both domestic and international, included in the fiscal year (FY) 2014 President’s Budget.

Federal Climate Change Expenditures - Report to Congress (48 page .PDF report)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/fcce-report-to-congress.pdf

insurancejournal.com - by Andrew G. Simpson - January 7, 2014

The U.S. Senate is expected to take a key vote soon on a bill that would delay some of the flood insurance rate hikes triggered by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. . .

. . . The procedural vote on S.1846 was originally planned for Wednesday, but the Senate is still dealing with an extension of federal unemployment benefits, delaying consideration of the flood bill. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a major advocate for the bill, told USA Today that  “next week is more realistic” for any vote on the flood bill.

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