Progressive Breakfast: Scott Wallace on The Key To Building A Climate Movement

MORNING MESSAGE

While most of the political establishment was fixated on the gridlock conservatives have successfully orchestrated in Washington ... a little-noticed announcement in New York last month showed how determined climate activists are working their way around it ... an organization working to encourage disinvestment in fossil fuel companies and investment in clean energy alternatives had won in the past year pledges worth $2.6 trillion to do just that ... The announcement was a triumph for the Wallace Global Fund, a key funder of grassroots organizations driving the switch to green energy, and its co-chairman Scott Wallace. It is a prime example of the work that the Campaign for America’s Future is honoring October 27 at its Awards Gala, where Wallace will receive a Progressive Champion award along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen GarcĂ­a and grassroots network National People’s Action.

Liberals Seize Majority In Canada

Liberals shatter expectations by claiming clear majority in Parliament. CBC:Justin Trudeau will be Canada’s next prime minister after leading the Liberal Party to a stunning majority government win … The Liberal wave that washed across the country offered a stinging rebuke to Harper and the Conservatives, who will form the Official Opposition and had based their campaign largely on questioning Trudeau’s readiness to lead.”
Time assesses “What a Justin Trudeau Win Means for Canada”: “The Liberals have said that they would accept a series of budget deficits to fund major infrastructure spending that would in turn boost the economy … The Liberals also promised a tax hike for Canada’s top 1% to pay for a tax cut for the country’s middle class.”
Trudeau prepares to pick cabinet. Bloomberg: “Liberal cabinets have often been a mix of ‘big spend’ progressives and more right-leaning candidates … The new cabinet will need to decide whether to ratify [TPP] … Trudeau says half of his cabinet ministers will be women.”

Webb May Break With Dems

Jim Webb may run third-party. Reuters: “Webb’s campaign announced [a Tuesday] news conference at the National Press Club in Washington with a short statement headlined ‘Jim Webb To Consider Independent Run.'”
Martin O’Malley steps up criticism of Clinton. W. Post: ““I believe I have the independence to actually get [Wall Street reform] done, and I do not believe that Hillary Clinton does,’ Maryland’s former governor told the [Daily Show’s] Trevor Noah … ‘She couldn’t bring herself to say that we need to separate commercial banking from the speculative banking, namely reinstating Glass-Steagall, because she can’t.'”
Marco Rubio twisted in knots over immigration. Politico: “…Rubio’s attempts to explain his trajectory on immigration — from chief GOP advocate of sweeping reform to largely disavowing that effort and now advocating an enforcement-first approach — is drawing criticism from all sides.”

Eyes On Ryan

Rep. Paul Ryan returns to DC. NYT: “Republicans will meet on Tuesday night, and Mr. Ryan may announce his decision then. Or not.”
House Freedom Caucus won’t roll over for Ryan. The Hill: “…his allies have said he’s reluctantly open to a bid, as long as there are no strings attached … Conservatives, however, say the chances of that happening are almost zero … More than a dozen Republicans could make a play for Speaker if Ryan doesn’t run.”

Time Crunch For Debt Limit

House may vote on debt limit this week. W. Post: “In order to get a bill through Congress before that [Nov. 3] deadline, congressional aides and lobbyists said Monday that they expect the House will pass an increase in the debt limit by the end of the week, with the help of Democratic votes, so it can then be cleared by the Senate next week before the deadline.”
Boehner will still need some Republican votes. The Hill: “The lame-duck Speaker needs to win 30 Republican votes to lift the government’s borrowing limit, even if the entire House Democratic Caucus votes with him … conservatives are warning that an effort to immediately depose Boehner as Speaker could be launched if a clean debt-ceiling increase is brought to the floor.”
Conservatives still want to put conditions on debt limit hike. The Hill: “Conservative leaders in the Senate and House on Monday said they would not support raising the nation’s debt limit without significant spending reforms … [Sen. Rand] Paul and [Rep. Nick] Mulvaney say the debt-limit increase should be paired with a plan to cut the deficit, cap future spending and pass a balanced budget amendment to the debt-limit increase.”
Senate moves on Ex-Im Bank. The Hill: “The process, known as Rule 14, will allow the legislation from Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) to skip over the committee process and go directly to the Senate floor where it could be scheduled for a vote. The fast-track process will likely be completed on Tuesday … The procedural maneuvers in the Senate come after a group of House Republicans joined with Democrats to file a discharge petition to force a vote on reauthorizing the bank, which could happen this month.”

Breakfast Sides

WH touts business leadership in carbon cuts. NYT: ” The Obama administration announced Monday that 81 major companies have committed to large reductions in carbon emissions, part of a broad push by the White House to show progress ahead of international climate talks in Paris this year. The companies that have made the pledgeinclude such iconic American brands as Levi Strauss & Company, McDonald’s, I.B.M. and Procter & Gamble.”
Big Pharma turns against TPP. The Hill: “The exact details of the pharmaceutical provision, which involves a class of drugs called biologics, won’t be made public until later this month … pharmaceutical companies could get up to eight years of exclusive rights to their clinical trial data, compared to 12 years currently in place … The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is now in a standoff with the Obama administration, searching for a playbook in its effort to keep Congress from ratifying the deal next year.”

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's Future. more »