MORNING MESSAGE
...back
to school supply lists are likely longer than ever before due to the simple
reason that schools increasingly don’t have the funds to pay for items on the
list. And because of persistently inadequate budgets that continue to dog our
schools, you can be sure the longer your shopping list, the worse the funding
situation is throughout your child’s school system. Not only are school
stockrooms increasingly bare of supplies, but teachers aren’t being adequately
paid, class sizes are ballooning, programs are being cut and school buildings
increasingly forego required maintenance.
CAN CLINTON WIN WITH A MANDATE?
Clinton
risks winning without a mandate. W. Post’s Stu Rothenberg: “Part of
Clinton’s goal over the next two months ought to be to create the impression
that her agenda is her appeal. Only then could she credibly make the argument
that the election was an ideological referendum that would fuel her presidential
agenda.”
Split
over launching new “public option” fight. The Hill: “Long-time ‘public
option’ supporters like Sanders believe Aetna’s decision to flee the ObamaCare
marketplaces this week proves what they’ve been saying all along: that the time
has come for a new government-run healthcare plan in the United States. But on
Capitol Hill, Democrats think a fight over a ‘public option’ is nearly
impossible to win, regardless of how the November election shakes out.”
Canada
is a model for expanding Social Security. American Prospect: “On June 20,
Canada’s federal and provincial governments agreed to expand what’s known as the
Canadian Pension Plan … the government also approved a 10 percent increase in
the Guaranteed Income Supplement [for] single, low-income seniors … The
government will pay for the increase by increasing employer and employee
contributions …”
Sanders
adviser Larry Cohen discuss TPP strategy with Mother Jones: “Only once can
TPP be sent to Congress by any president. If it is sent before the election,
it’s really gonna get attacked. Anyone who is in a vulnerable district, that
issue is gonna go way to the top. The White House could send it after the
election but they are not even guaranteed the vote. So they are caught here.
They can’t send it unless they think they have the best chance they possibly
have to pass it. That’s why you have [House Speaker Paul] Ryan doubting it for
lame duck.”
FIGHT FOR $15 LOOKS AHEAD
SEIU
President Mary Kay Henry explains the next steps for the Fight for $15 movement,
in American Prospect interview: “We are gonna organize and shine a light on
the gross racial disparities. In the case of Alabama, we’re linking arms with
Reverend Barber and will do joint actions in state capitals to shine a light on
the [minimum wage law] preemption and that the Alabama state legislature made a
decision to block money going into the pockets of the residents of Birmingham
from their duly elected city council—and that’s wrong. So we’re going to use
legal action, we’re going to take direct action, and we’re going to keep
organizing.”
Anti-union
campaign adopts grassroots strategy. WSJ: “… the Freedom Foundation has been
at the vanguard of an emerging effort to undercut public-sector unions by
depriving them of dues-paying members one at a time … In Washington and Oregon,
its home territory, as many as 100 activists work to tell thousands of
individuals in the home health-care and child-care businesses … that they can
save as much as $600 a year by voluntarily leaving their labor unions … [It] has
knocked on the doors of about 15,000 home health-care and child-care workers out
of about 50,000 overall in Washington state since July 2014.”
AUSTERITY MAKING A COMEBACK?
Sluggish
economy could weaken state budgets. The Hill: “Budget analysts say states
generally expect a 5 percent annual growth rate in their tax revenues. But the
National Association of State Budget Officers, a nonpartisan group, said early
indications showed total general fund tax collections rose only 2.3 percent in
the last fiscal year…”
New
"scare" campaign from "Fix the Debt" uncovered by OurFuture.org's Richard
Eskow: “The money behind the latest scare campaign – “How Old Will You Be
When Social Security’s Funds Run Out?” – also funds a TV ad that shows jobs,
teachers, and roads and bridges vanishing, supposedly because the national debt
wasn’t brought under control. That’s pretty cynical, since their own ideas have
led to lost jobs, teacher layoffs, and a lack of funds to repair roads and
bridges.”
Progressive
Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to
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