Progressive Breakfast: Bernie or Hillary: Who Has The Right Theory Of Presidential Change?

MORNING MESSAGE

The first two years of a Sanders or Clinton administration won’t receive any honeymoon phase from the all-but-certain Republican House. It’s either Clintonian scratch-and-claw or Sandernista revolutionary war from the get-go. With no hope for any “100 Days” of FDR-style reform, what is there to lose in going for broke? If you believe there is something to lose ... then you will want to hold on to your chips. If you believe we face a wall of such complete obstruction that there is no way forward but demolition by mass mobilization, then you will bet it all.

Dems Debate Debates...

Clinton, Sanders haggle up on more debates. Politico: “Hours after Hillary Clinton ratcheted up her pressure on him to accept an invitation to an unsanctioned debate on Feb. 4, Bernie Sanders escalated the debate by calling for three new debates … The move puts the burden of response back on the Clinton camp, which had publicly urged Sanders to join the proposed New Hampshire event … The next official debate is set for Feb. 11 in Milwaukee.”
Sanders knocks Clinton for fundraising outside of Iowa. Politico: “Bernie Sanders threw one of his most direct rhetorical punches yet at Hillary Clinton over her financial-industry ties on Wednesday night, telling a packed crowd, ‘My opponent is not in Iowa tonight. She is raising money from a Philadelphia investment firm.’ After the crowd … was done booing loudly, Sanders said, ‘Frankly, I’d rather be here with you.'”
Clinton cautious in final days. NYT: “She has organizing events in Newton and Keokuk, and she will meet with Every Child Matters, an education advocacy group in Newton. But don’t expect her to veer off script. (She has not taken questions from the reporters covering her campaign since Dec. 3.)”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi dings Sanders on taxes. The Hill: “Democrats are not on board with the tax hikes Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has proposed to pay for his single-payer healthcare proposal, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. ‘We’re not running on any platform of raising taxes,’ Pelosi said…”

...As Do Republicans

Trump tries to upstage tonight’s debate. The Hill:Donald Trump hinted early Thursday that two other candidates may join a counter event he’s scheduled during Fox News’s GOP presidential debate Thursday evening. ‘Wow, two candidates called last night and said they want to go to my event tonight at Drake University,’ he tweeted without naming the candidates.”
With no Trump, Cruz on hot seat. Politico: “If Trump sees through his promise to hold a rival event Thursday, the Cruz camp will use it as fresh ammunition for an assault on the New Yorker’s character … For Cruz, Trump’s threatened absence means that the other candidates who trail him in Iowa, such as Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, have only one leader to fire upon: him.”

Understanding Flint

Rachel Maddow conducts televised town hall on Flint water crisis. MSNBC.com: “Lead is an ‘irreversible neurotoxin,’ Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha told the audience on Wednesday … ‘but there are things that we can do’ to mitigate the impact … she outlined the basics of a healthy childhood, including wholesome food and top notch education … In the long term, the only fix is ripping [the pipes] out — every mile of them. No American city has ever done it.”
OurFuture.org’s Terrance Heath explores the “depraved indifference” from conservatives: “Conservatives have avoided addressing the Flint crisis, or resorted to deflecting blame, out of a desire to avoid addressing conservative failure. Commenting on Flint means criticizing Michigan’s Republican governor and his mishandling of the crisis from the beginning. Snyder’s depraved indifference … has its roots in a corporate-style governance that conservatives have long advocated.”
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