MORNING MESSAGE
You’ve
probably heard about the fierce battle over school bathrooms raging across the
country. It’s an important story for sure because transgender students should
not be blocked from entering facilities of their gender identity. But the
current fight over gender equity shouldn’t take away from another bathroom
battle taking place in our nation’s public schools: whether students have access
to a functioning bathroom at all.
BERNIE FIGHTS ON
Sanders
campaign will run hard in last leg. NYT: “Advisers to Mr. Sanders said on
Wednesday that he was newly resolved to remain in the race, seeing an aggressive
campaign as his only chance to pressure Democrats into making fundamental
changes to how presidential primaries and debates are held in the future. They
said he also held out hope of capitalizing on any late stumbles by Mrs. Clinton
or any damage to her candidacy, whether by scandal or by the presumptive
Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump.”
Democratic
Senators try to squeeze Bernie. Politico: “…the Vermont senator risks
frittering away [his] newfound clout, Democratic senators said Wednesday, if he
doesn’t move soon to unite the party and train his fire on Donald Trump … There
is evidence Sanders is working behind the scenes to quell the concerns of Senate
Democrats.”
TRUMP ATTRACTS MORE RACISTS
Several
white nationalist party members are Trump delegates. Mother Jones: “‘[H]ere
is what they don’t know: we have more delegates!’ the American Freedom Party
wrote on its Facebook page last week … movement leaders appear torn about how
much to shout from atop the Trump bandwagon versus staying in the shadows …”
Trump
allies snag party posts. Politico: “Trump’s primary run spurred a string of
like-minded allies to ride his coattails into positions of power within the
Republican party, including seats on the Republican National Committee … they …
already marshal enough power within the party to change its course, whether the
GOP establishment likes it or not.”
Trump
SCOTUS list deeply conservative. Mother Jones: “…Trump seems to have cut and
pasted the names of most of his candidates … from dream-team lists publicly
drawn up previously by the the Heritage Foundation…”
Former
GOP Gov. Bill Weld will be VP on Libertarian Party ticket with former Gov. Gary
Johnson. WSJ: “Both men will still need to win the nominations at the
Libertarian convention in Orlando next week. Together, they would form a
third-party ticket composed of two popular two-term Republican governors,
putting the Libertarian ticket in a stronger position in November.”
OVERTIME RULE ANNOUNCED
VP
touts new overtime rule. USA Today: “The policy change, to go into effect
Dec. 1, will make more than 4 million additional workers eligible to receive
time-and-a-half wages … ‘It’s all basically about just being fair,’ Biden told
an audience of supporters … ‘when you’re asked to work more than 40 hours a
week, you get compensated for more than 40 hours a week.'”
Speaker
Ryan slams rule. The Hill quotes: “By mandating overtime pay at a much
higher salary threshold, many small businesses and nonprofits will be unable to
afford skilled workers and be forced to eliminate salaried positions, complete
with benefits, altogether.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Government
agency releases pro-TPP report. WSJ: “If ratified, the 12-nation trade
agreement would likely lift U.S. gross domestic product by a small amount—0.15%,
or $42.7 billion, by 2032—and increase employment by a net of 128,000 full-time
jobs, according to the report from the U.S. International Trade Commission … the
The ITC report and other reviews by economists show the deal’s impact of the TPP
is likely to be extremely small on the overall U.S. economy and most industries.
Still, the ITC study could help claw back some congressional support for Mr.
Obama’s trade policy.”
Bipartisan
push for sentencing reform bill. NYT: “…its backers might have found a new
argument to break it loose: It would save a significant amount of money. The
Congressional Budget Office, in a new report, estimated that the legislation
reducing mandatory minimum sentences would save the federal government $722
million over 10 years, primarily through reduced costs for housing federal
prisoners. Spending on social programs to aid those released would rise $251
million over the same period.”
High-speed
rail delay in CA. Politico: “The first segment of California’s
first-in-the-nation bullet-train project, currently scheduled for completion in
2018, will not be done until the end of 2022, according to a contract revision
the Obama administration quietly approved…”
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
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