MORNING MESSAGE
Beneath
the noise, here are some things to watch for in the early months of 2016: Will
President Obama Find His Voice? ... Will Movements Continue to Drive our
Politics? ... How Will Clinton Take on Obama? ... Can Sanders Surge Again? ...
Can he surprise in Iowa and New Hampshire, and gain a new stage to reach
millions of voters who only then will be beginning to pay attention?
Four Weeks Until Iowa
Sanders
invests in Iowa grassroots operation. NYT: “The campaign has quietly
assembled an extensive ground game here, with 100 paid staff members and with
trained volunteer leaders for each of the state’s 1,681 caucus precincts.”
Fundraising
hauls reflect different strategies. Politico: “Clinton is seeking to be the
Democratic Party’s standard-bearer. Sanders is attempting to lead a movement …
Bringing in $38 million in 2015’s closing months, [Clinton] raced past her $100
million primary goal for the year — all while bagging an extra $18 million for
other Democrats … [Sanders] raked in $33 million in the fourth quarter, part of
an overall effort that reeled in more off-year individual contributions than any
other candidate ever: 2.5 million. But just how much did Sanders raise for other
Democrats? Nothing … future cooperation is unlikely, given the Vermont senator’s
war with the national committee…”
GOP
candidates get into attack mode. NYT: “Supporters of Senator Marco Rubio,
Senator Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee are poised to
unleash a wave of ferocious attacks this month … plunging the muddled contest
into a multidimensional war in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses
… candidates and their allied groups could spend as much as $100 million
combined, much of it on negative advertising…”
Ryan Seeks To Shape 2016 Policy Debate
Speaker
Ryan calls on GOP caucus to coalesce around policy agenda . WSJ: “The
Wisconsin lawmaker has asked members of his conference to bring proposals to a
policy retreat next week at which they will draw up the chamber’s priorities for
the year … he believes the party should tackle an overhaul of the tax code [and
offer] a health-coverage plan that would replace the Affordable Care Act.”
Left
wary of tax reform push. The Hill: “The White House, Republicans and some
Democrats agree that corporate tax reform be revenue neutral, meaning it would
not lower or increase the amount of money coming into the government. There is
also bipartisan support for allowing companies to repatriate revenues held
overseas at a rate that is lower than the 35% corporate tax rate. But many
liberals disagree on both points.”
GOP
candidates push tax cuts over balanced budgets. Politico: “Many Republican
contenders are pairing tax plans that independent analysts say would cost
trillions of dollars over a decade with vague assurances that they’ll put
long-term clamps on spending…”
Obama To Close Out With Slew of Regulations
Obama
eyes new regulations in final year as president. Politico: “…a full court
press at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to reduce exposure
limits for silica … more small-scale gun sellers to perform background checks …
make food manufacturers disclose on product labels how much sugar they add to
cranberry juice … a rule extending [FDA] jurisdiction to e-cigarettes …
requiring brokers who offer advice about retirement investments to … consider
only the best interests of the investor … dozens of new or updated [energy]
efficiency standards … overhauling how teachers are prepared for the
classroom.”
Obama
begins new year with gun control rules. Mother Jones: “Obama is expected to
announce new executive orders this week on gun policy, aiming foremost to expand
background checks for buyers by broadening the definition of a gun dealer [even
though it] still won’t close the so-called gun show loophole … He also plans to
hold a town hall meeting on guns on Thursday night…”
Economists Sharpen Focus on Inequality
Economists
gather at annual conference to review latest research on inequality. NYT:
“…there’s a growing consensus among economists of all ideological stripes that
inequality is growing … the top quarter of 1 percent of Americans appears to be
pulling away from the rest. For workers at this threshold, who earn at least
$640,000 annually, their salaries rose 96 percent from 1981 to 2013, after
taking account of inflation. The trend was especially pronounced among the most
successful enterprises in the American economy, creating a divergence between
the highest-paid people at companies that employ more than 10,000 people and the
rest of the work force.”
Presidential
candidates show deep disagreement on how to boost middle class. WSJ: “GOP
candidates are advancing a set of bold—some critics would say radical—ideas for
reshaping the tax system as a way to encourage spending and investment …
Democrats are making nearly the opposite case: that the deepening gap between
the highest earners and everyone else has changed the economy so thoroughly that
the government must channel tax dollars specifically to lower earners …”
The
American Prospect explores how “Fight for $15” took flight: “[New York’s]
The car washeros and fast food workers also launched their effort at a
politically opportune moment. Cuomo was eager to win back progressives who had
criticized and distanced themselves from his administration. In less than a
year, he went from calling $13-an-hour wage hike a ‘nonstarter’ to backing a $15
per hour minimum wage. The combination of fed-up workers, motivated organizers,
and political opportunity created a perfect storm.”
NYT’s
Paul Krugman shows how Obama’s re-election changed the tax code: “… the
average income tax rate for 99 percent of Americans barely changed from 2012 to
2013, but the tax rate for the top 1 percent rose by more than four percentage
points. The tax rise was even bigger for very high incomes: 6.5 percentage
points for the top 0.01 percent … for top incomes, Mr. Obama has effectively
rolled back not just the Bush tax cuts but Ronald Reagan’s as well.”
Progressive
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