MORNING MESSAGE
In
a July 1 publication, [Emanuel] Saez found that the wealth gap between the top 1
percent and the remaining 99 percent became even worse in 2015. Earnings for the
top 1 percent reached a “new high” that year. The 1 percent’s income increase of
7.7 percent was nearly twice everyone else’s ... A society with such extreme and
growing inequality can’t sustain itself forever ... What can we do to reduce
inequality and heal some of its deep, long-lasting wounds? Here’s a partial
list...
SANDERS PRESSES ON PLATFORM
Sanders
steps up anti-TPP push before platform meeting. Bloomberg: “‘The Democrats
must go on record in opposition to holding a vote on the TPP,’ Sanders said in
one of several Twitter messages Tuesday aimed at derailing the Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade pact championed by the Obama administration.”
Politico
adds: “In a fundraising email sent days before the Democratic National
Committee’s full platform committee votes on the 2016 draft in Orlando, Sanders
campaign manager Jeff Weaver shared the specific language of the amendment he
would like to see inserted … ‘It is the policy of the Democratic Party that the
Trans-Pacific Partnership must not get a vote in this Congress or in future
sessions of Congress.'”
CLINTON PROPOSES STUDENT DEBT REFORMS
“Clinton
to propose 3-month hiatus for repayment of student loans” reports W. Post:
“Student borrowers could defer loan payments for three months under a reprieve
she is promising to impose through the unilateral power of the presidency if she
wins the election and becomes president next year. The proposal is expected to
cost the federal government more than $1 billion, not because of the short
hiatus but because of the lost interest when borrowers refinance to cheaper
loans…”
Obama
advances new student debt repayment rules. The Hill: “…the new rules would
clarify and strengthen the process under which students could have their debt
erased if a college had misled or defrauded them … Public interest advocates say
the proposal still lacks needed elements, such as making it easier for students
to have their debt discharged in full … Comments from interested parties are due
by Aug. 1, and the Education Department is scheduled to release the final rules
on Nov. 1, a week before Election Day.
PROTEST TO GREET TRUMP & HOUSE GOP
Come
Together Against Hate plans Thursday 8 AM protest of Trump meeting with House
Republicans: “On Thursday, July 7th, residents of Washington DC and victims
of Donald Trump’s predatory practices will hold a protest outside his meeting
with House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club to condemn his fraudulent
economic record.”
Democrats
plan to tie Trump to House GOP. Politico: “…the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee is also preparing to go up on television in districts earlier
than in any previous cycle with an ad campaign designed to buttress the
Trump-centric messaging guidance that’s already emanating from Washington … The
hope is that a combination of Democrats riled up by Trump, moderate Republicans
and independents turned off to the party brand, and disaffected Republicans
staying home will accelerate blue shifts in marginal districts …”
VEEPSTAKES HEATS UP
Politico
sizes up Sen. Sherrod Brown for VP: “He loves talking about his suits sewn
in Cleveland and his sneakers made in Maine, a helpful counter to the criticism
that Trump’s clothing line is made in China. So there’s no doubt Brown will play
a key role in Clinton’s quest to win Ohio and nearby states. The question is,
which role?”
While
W. Post looks at Labor Sec. Tom Perez: ” In city after city, Perez lobbies
for a higher minimum wage … He says not enacting laws to give paid leave to
parents of newborns, especially poor single mothers, is ‘unconscionable.’ A big
recent win for Perez is a new federal rule that lifts the amount of money
middle-class workers can earn and still be eligible for overtime pay.”
IMMIGRATION COULD TIP SENATE
Immigration
flashpoint in PA senate race. Politico: “…the Senate is set to vote on
legislation authored by the first-term senator [Pat Toomey] that would strip
some federal funds from cities and counties that don’t cooperate with federal
immigration officials … Toomey’s aggressive push against sanctuary cities has
forced [Democrat Katie] McGinty to walk a tightrope. She isn’t defending
Philadelphia’s policy … But she says Toomey’s call to pull federal funding from
cities that decline to cooperate with the feds is just election-year
posturing.”
Obama
can pardon the undocumented, argues law professor Peter Markowitz in NYT
oped: “It’s a common assumption that pardons can be used only for criminal
offenses, and it’s true that they have not been used before for civil
immigration violations. However, the Constitution extends the power to all
‘offenses against the United States,’ which can be interpreted more broadly than
just criminal offenses … it could not deliver work permits. However, it has a
certain operational elegance to it that would avoid many of the political
battles surrounding the deferral program.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Corporate
lobbies fight Obama’s tax avoidance crackdown. WSJ: “Corporations and
business groups, increasingly worried about the scope of the proposed Treasury
rules, say U.S. officials underestimate the difficulty of creating systems to
track and document internal loans and fail to understand how the rules disrupt
common business structures that aren’t about dodging taxes … But the Treasury
Department is sticking to its plans to hold a July 14 hearing and finish the
rules swiftly.”
Speaker
Ryan won’t let Democratic gun measures get a vote. Roll Call: “…Ryan met
privately Tuesday night with two Democrats … But … did not provide any
assurances that the Democrats would get the votes on the measures they can
support. At the same time, some conservative House members said they are
concerned about aspects of a counterterrorism bill that the Republican
leadership introduced … one saying it would be ‘among the most egregious gun
control measures ever to pass either house of Congress.'”
GOP
Congress failing to pass bills to fund the government. Politico: “As
Congress prepares to hightail it out of here until September … most of the 12
spending measures will not have reached the floor of either chamber … Lawmakers
are now looking toward the same result that has existed for decades: a
continuing resolution to keep the government afloat past the end of the fiscal
year on Sept. 30 and another hated omnibus to fund the government in a single,
$1 trillion bill.”
“Glaciers
Melt in Alaska, Landslides Follow” reports NYT: “Scientists say the slides
will most likely continue as warming temperatures cause more glacial melt.
Glaciers buttress the mountainsides that surround them; when the ice disappears,
the slopes lose some of their support, and erosion or earthquakes can cause them
to collapse.”
Progressive
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