It has been one month since the 2018 midterm elections were decided. Much in our politics has changed: the Republicans built on their majority in the US Senate, while Democrats won back the House of Representatives and flipped several governorships and state legislatures.

San Diego, Calif.- Apple has announced plans to build new office space in San Diego in the next three years.

The company is making the move after new tax laws were enacted late last year. That move prevented Apple from avoiding taxes on international profits.

The company announced last January that it would invest $30 billion in US facilities and create 20,000 American jobs by 2023.

Update 12/14/18: US Rep. Bruce Poliquin calls for an end to the recount, but says he may still appeal the court's decision. Says there continue to be unanswered questions that have, in fact, been answered. 

https://twitter.com/BrucePoliquin/status/1073603657244004352

Dear Reader,

The poet Hart Crane (1899-1932), a favorite of mine, famous for intricate works like “The Bridge” and “For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen” wrote a four-line poem that was never published in his short lifetime, titled “To Earth.” I reprint it here.

Shortly after the U.S. midterm elections last month, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of U.S. adults from November 7th - 13th to find out what voters would say about why they voted for one party's candidate over another. The interesting thing about this survey is that the question was completely open-ended.

The must-pass Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (colloquially known as the "Farm Bill") is now subject to great controversy. Late Tuesday night, the House Rules Committee added a provision to the bill that would suspend the War Powers Act for the remainder of the 115th Congress with respect to Yemen.

San Diego, Calif.- In a story on The Hill, Rep. Scott Peters is considering running for San Diego mayor in 2020.

In an email exchange with Peters' office last week, a spokesperson wrote to IVN San Diego re: a mayoral run, "We are not currently working on a statement nor do we have any announcements yet, but I’ll be in touch when he makes a decision."

Among the many moments of President Bush’s life celebrated last week, I have a particular reason to focus on November 3, 1992, when President Bush delivered what to me were the most important words of his presidency: “The people have spoken, and we respect the majesty of the democratic system.”

The 2018 midterms ended up being the biggest year in political and election reform in half a century, yet these efforts to unrig the elections and political process got mostly overlooked by traditional and mainstream media outlets.

Reason's Matt Welch says it well: