MORNING MESSAGE
The
Democratic presidential campaign – unlike the Republican circus – has actually
produced a debate in which each candidate’s economic agenda has gotten better
and more populist. But as you can see at CandidateScorecard.net, there are also
big differences ... Clinton’s reluctance to raise taxes on corporations limits
her ambitions on public investment ... Clinton is attacking Sanders’ Medicare
For All proposal because she says it will raise taxes on the middle class. What
she doesn’t say is that the Sanders plan would allow Americans to stop paying
health insurance premiums ... Under the Sanders plan, full-time minimum wage
workers would receive an additional $6,240 more per year than under Clinton’s
proposal...
Sanders Brings Bank Fight to NYC Today
Sanders
to give tough Wall Street reform speech in NYC today. W. Post: “Sanders will
announce plans to direct the secretary of the Treasury within the first 100 days
of his administration to establish a ‘Too-Big-To-Fail’ list of ‘commercial
banks, shadow banks, and insurance companies whose failure would pose a
catastrophic risk to the United States economy without a taxpayer bailout.’
Within a year, Sanders will promise, his administration will break up those
institutions ‘so that they no longer pose a grave threat to the economy,’ using
authority granted by the Dodd-Frank Act.”
Sanders
slams Trump on climate change. W. Post quotes: “The entire scientific
community has concluded that climate change is real and causing major problems
and Trump believes that it’s a hoax created by the Chinese. Surprised it wasn’t
the Mexicans.”
Big Biz Backs TPP
Corporate
lobbies rally behind TPP. The Hill: “The National Association of
Manufacturers (NAM) gave President Obama’s trade agenda a boost on Monday when
it endorsed the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), likely setting the
stage for endorsements from other major groups, including the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce and the Business Roundtable (BRT) … Without the groups’ support, the
TPP would have little chance of passing.”
Manufacturing
sector shrinks. Reuters: “Manufacturing in the United States contracted
further in December, and construction spending fell in November for the first
time in nearly a year and a half … [The data] prompted economists to sharply
lower their growth estimates for the fourth quarter … The Institute for Supply
Management in the United States said its index of national factory activity fell
to 48.2 from 48.6 in November and is now at its lowest level since June 2009.
While a reading below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing, the index
remains above 43.1, which is associated with a recession.”
Cuomo Steps Up Wage Push
Gov.
Andrew Cuomo raises minimum wage for university workers. NYT: “He
[previously] used a state wage board to increase hourly pay to $15 for fast-food
workers last summer and unveiled a similar plan for an estimated 10,000 state
workers in November. The university plan will affect a larger number of state
employees — about 28,000, according to estimates from the governor’s office —
and is designed to include students who use work-study jobs to pay tuition and
bills while attending classes.”
Gov.
Cuomo’s wage push scrambles alliances. Politico: “…Cuomo is forging ahead
with a plan to combat income inequality that lets him preserve his credentials
as a business-friendly centrist: push to raise the minimum wage, and hope it
drowns out any talk of raising taxes on the rich … several sources in the
business community acknowledge privately that they’re fighting a losing effort
[on the minimum wage] … left-wing groups who have been so leery of Cuomo will
now be speaking up in his favor as part of a $3 million campaign to win support
for a $15-an-hour minimum wage.”
Liberal
city councilors join forces. W. Post: “Local Progress has in recent years
created a policy feedback loop that’s accelerated the spread of new laws in
municipalities across the country. In the absence of federal action on many
issues, it’s trying to make local government into something that doesn’t just
pick up the trash — but solves some of society’s biggest problems as well.”
Breakfast Sides
Obama
launches gun control push today. The Hill: “Obama on Tuesday will issue
executive actions intended to curb gun violence by expanding background checks
on people buying firearms online or at gun shows … Gun control has divided
Democrats in the past, and Obama barely touched the issue in his first term …
[Now] the party believes Obama’s actions will help it send the political message
that Republicans are blocking common-sense reforms…”
Ben
Ho makes “The Conservative Case for Solar Subsidies” in NYT oped: “Solar,
long viewed through the lens of crony capitalism, has shown the ability to
inject real market competition in energy distribution, one of the last
monopolies in the energy sector, while improving the efficiency of the grid and
putting more dollars in the pockets of middle-class Americans.”
Progressive
Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to
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