MORNING
MESSAGE
...Tuesday
night’s Iowa town hall discussion on CNN ... brought into sharper relief the
fundamental question that Democratic primary voters face: Do the fundamental
problems of our economy and democracy require a technician to repair things or a
remodeler who can re-imagine and rebuild? ... [Sanders] used the phrase
"political revolution" six times during his time on the town hall stage,
referring to a transformation "where millions of people stand up and say you
know what, that great government of ours belongs to all of us, not just the
few." Clinton clearly does not see herself as the leader of a revolution, but
instead as a great fixer, who believes that the status quo can be improved upon
and does not need to be overturned.
Final Pitches At Town Hall
Sanders
and Clinton joust over judgment at CNN town fall forum. W. Post:
“‘Experience is important, but judgment is also important,’ Sanders said. He
noted that he had voted against the Iraq invasion [and] could be counted upon to
buck the established order … Clinton portrayed herself as better prepared for
the presidency than Sanders, saying ‘you’ve got to do all aspects of the job,’
including foreign policy.”
Bernie
candid about tax increases. Yahoo! News: “‘We will raise taxes. Yes we
will,’ Sanders said. The soundbite made headlines and immediately had politicos
predicting it could be fodder for negative ads. However, what Sanders actually
said was more complex and, in fact, he promised his plans would save Americans
money.”
Clinton
touts pragmatism. Time: “She noted that the bruising loss [on health care]
was followed by a successful push for a smaller children’s health insurance
program that has helped millions. ‘So you’ve got to keep going. You can’t give
up. You can never get knocked off course,’ she said.”
Trump v. Cruz v. Establishment
Trump
and Cruz in Iowa dead heat. The Hill: “A Quinnipiac University survey
released on Tuesday shows Trump taking 31 percent support over Cruz at 29
percent. That’s unchanged from the previous survey released in early
January.”
GOP
Establishment flummoxed how to stop Trump and Cruz. NYT: “The party elders
had hoped that one of their preferred candidates, such as Senator Marco Rubio of
Florida, would be rising above the others by now and becoming a contender to
rally around. Instead, they have a muddled field of battered mainstream
candidates … the heavy bloodletting in the Republican race might prevent any
candidate from clinching the nomination. In that case, [one] said, Republicans
should turn to Speaker Paul D. Ryan.”
Breakfast Sides
“Dems
blame trade deal as Ford exits Japan” reports The Hill: “Two congressional
Democrats on Monday blamed Ford Motor Co.’s exit from Japan on the lack of
currency manipulation provisions in a sweeping Asia-Pacific trade deal … Ford,
which opposes the TPP over the currency issue, said Monday that it will close
operations in Japan and Indonesia this year, underscoring the need for improving
exchange rate policies long argued to be hampering U.S. automakers in the
Asia-Pacific region.”
San
Diego charter school leader indicted. LAT: “By the time Steve Van Zant left
the Mountain Empire Unified School District in 2013, he had overseen the
authorization of more than a dozen charter schools to operate in other districts
throughout San Diego County — with several going on to hire his education
consulting firm … The San Diego district attorney’s office arraigned Van Zant on
Jan. 15 on a felony conflict-of-interest charge from an undisclosed incident in
May 2010 while he was superintendent of Mountain Empire.”
WH
announces retirement savings plan. The Hill: “The biggest new idea among
Obama’s proposals would make it easier for small companies to join forces and
offer retirement savings plans to their employees … The administration also
plans to repropose requiring employers that do not offer their own retirement
plans to automatically enroll workers in individual retirement accounts, or
IRAs.”
Republicans
eye budget cuts. W. Post: “Federal health care costs are expected to jump to
$936 billion in 2016 … Those rising costs, paired with a huge dip in revenue
from tax cuts enacted last month are expected to add up to a $544 billion budget
deficit this year … Republicans will likely use the latest data from CBO to
justify proposing deep spending cuts to mandatory spending programs, but GOP
leaders could face some tough questions when it comes to how much to provide for
the 12 annual spending bills…”
Blame
Gov. Rick Snyder for Flint water crisis, says W. Post’s Dana Milbank: “No
doubt, the federal Environmental Protection Agency deserves blame for failing to
sound warnings more loudly and publicly, and for being too deferential to state
authorities … But EPA had no role in the decisions that caused the problem, nor
was it supposed to. That was entirely the responsibility of Snyder’s
administration and his appointees.”
Progressive
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