NEWS AND OPINION:
A serious beer bout will take place in the nation’s capital on Wednesday.
That would be the sixth annual Brew Across America Congressional Brewing Competition, set to take place at a spacious spot not that far from the Capitol itself.
Six bipartisan “brewing teams” made up of 12 members of Congress will go head-to-head for the coveted Brew Democracy Cup.
Yes, that is “brewing teams” — you read that right. Here are the details:
“Anheuser-Busch’s Brew Across America Congressional Brewing Competition is part of its broader Brew Democracy initiative to promote democracy by providing opportunities for those from differing political backgrounds to come together over a beer,” the organizers tell Inside the Beltway in advance information about the event.
“In its lead up, members of Congress and their bipartisan buddies collaborated on a signature beer with Anheuser-Busch brewers to create a bipartisan brew using local ingredients from their districts and states,” they note.
Yes, they made beer.
The brews will be judged by a panel of media and beer industry experts, who will rank each beer and choose the winning brew. The Anheuser-Busch Foundation will also donate $75,000 split between six nonprofit partners.
Here are the actual names of the signature beers in question, plus the congressional team members, their brewery allies that actually brewed the final product, and the partner charities:
• “ErieLee Good Beer,” brewed by Reps. Susie Lee, Nevada Democrat, and Dave Joyce, Ohio Republican, and the Anheuser-Busch Los Angeles Brewery; partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council.
• “OK, ILL Drink to That,” brewed by Reps. Stephanie Bice, Oklahoma Republican, and Sean Casten, Illinois Democrat, and the Oklahoma City Lid Plant; partnered with Folds of Honor.
• “To Be Rather Than to Seem,” brewed by Reps. Patrick McHenry, North Carolina Republican, and Deborah Ross, North Carolina Democrat, and Wicked Weed Brewing; partnered with the National Medal of Honor Museum.
• “Bipartisan Brew,” brewed by Reps. Mike Carey, Ohio Republican, and Jimmy Panetta, California Democrat, and the Anheuser-Busch Columbus Brewery; partnered with Honor Flight.
• “Gip & Tip Pilsner,” brewed by Reps. Brad Schneider, Illinois Democrat, and Kevin Hern, Oklahoma Republican, and the Goose Island Brewery; partnered with Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
• “Little Rockies Lager,” brewed by Reps. Brittany Pettersen, Colorado Democrat, and French Hill, Arkansas Republican, and the Anheuser-Busch Fort Collins Brewery; partnered with the American Red Cross.
DRAMA IN SPEAKER LAND
The search keeps producing chatter, speculation, dramatic developments and inevitable headlines — with many more to come as lawmakers find themselves in another jam after Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota won the Republican Party’s nomination Tuesday but dropped out a few hours later.
At least four major news organizations — Axios, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Forbes — have asked in headlines “Who is Tom Emmer?” in the past 24 hours.
Here are some other headlines from both before and after the Emmer withdrawal: “The House speaker crisis is part of the GOP’s identity crisis” (CNN); “Emmer Speaker bid in trouble after Trump statement” (The Hill); “Here’s the silver lining to the GOP’s House speaker mayhem” (MSNBC); “Government shutdown deadline nears as GOP struggles to elect new speaker” (The Washington Post); and “Emmer withdraws as Republican nominee for House speaker, GOP 0 for 3” (Federal Times).
IVY COVERED HALLS
“At Harvard, there are 2,600 more administrators than undergrads,” reports the College Fix, a student-written news site.
“Harvard University employs about 1,352 full-time administrators for every 1,000 undergraduate students enrolled at the university,” said a wide-ranging analysis conducted by the site.
“This is more than a 9% increase from the 2013-14 school year, when there were 1,240 administrators per 1,000 students,” the analysis said.
It is based on data provided by Harvard University to the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
“During the 2021-22 school year, the most recent year for which data are available, Harvard had 10,120 full-time administrators and support staff on its payroll; in contrast, it had 3,899 full-time teaching and instructional staffers. The total number of undergrads that year was 7,483,” it said.
“The growth in personnel at Harvard is almost entirely for non-teaching positions, including many jobs focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion at the Ivy League institution,” the research said.
“American higher education burdens under a massive administrative bloat. There are now more administrators than professors,” civil liberties attorney and Harvard alumnus Harvey Silverglate told the College Fix.
The site’s research has tracked down “dozens” of the diversity specialists at the famed school; find the details at TheCollegeFix.org.
NEW ALMANAC IS READY
For those seeking homespun wisdom, traditional Americana and helpful advice, the latest Old Farmer’s Almanac — founded in 1792 — is now available as a classic printed edition, in digital form or as a “collector’s” edition. The publication spans 288 pages.
“We also released The Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids, vol. 10,” the publisher told Inside the Beltway.
Consult Almanac.com for the details.
POLL DU JOUR
• 38% of U.S. adults “strongly disapprove” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 23% “somewhat disapprove” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 15% “neither approve or disapprove” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 12% “somewhat approve” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 4% “strongly approve” of the way Congress is handling its job.
• 8% are “not sure” how they feel.
SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 14-17.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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