MORNING MESSAGE
7 Hard Rounds of Questions for John Stumpf, Wells Fargo CEO
Stumpf
is about to testify before the Senate Banking Committee ... Here are seven
concerns, and seven sets of questions, that should be posed to him, either at
Tuesday’s hearing or as part of a more rigorous investigation ... why didn’t you
or any of your executives make the connection between your employee incentive
package and this behavior? ... why didn’t you compare cross-selling rates for
dishonest employees with those of honest employees ... why shouldn’t your bank
be broken up right now?
HILLARY CRITICIZES WELLS FARGO
Hillary
Clinton writes open letter to Wells Fargo customers: “Today, Wells Fargo’s
CEO will appear before Congress. He owes all of you a clear explanation as to
how this happened under his watch … we need to defend the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau [which] with local authorities and enforced the law … we need
real consequences when firms on Wall Street break the law … Executives should be
held individually accountable when rampant illegal activity happens on their
watch.”
CEO
John Stumpf plans apology in Senate testimony today. NYT: “‘I am deeply
sorry that we failed to fulfill our responsibility to our customers, to our team
members and to the American public.’ … there is a particular feeling of
schadenfreude on Wall Street and in certain circles of Washington, where Mr.
Stumpf was seen as portraying Wells as being different than the risky global
investment banks behind the mortgage crisis … ‘I think we have gone too far’ in
terms of regulation, he told an interviewer in 2013, the same year he was named
Banker of the Year by The American Banker, a trade publication.”
BERNIE SPEAKS TO THE NATION
Sen.
Bernie Sanders urges support for Clinton in interview with The Nation: “…do
I have strong differences of opinion with Hillary Clinton? I think the whole
world knows that … [But] Hillary Clinton is now on record for doing that for
people making $125,000 a year or less. You know what? That is pretty
revolutionary … Clinton is on record supporting a doubling of community health
centers in this country, which will mean that tens of millions of people—poor
people—will have access to health care that do not have it today. Is that
significant? It is very significant.”
Clinton
reaches out to millennials. Politico: “[Aides] described the Temple speech
as an effort to earn the votes of young people who might not know where she
stands on issues like equal pay for women, gay rights, the minimum wage, and
college affordability. She also appealed to their sense of tolerance and
multiculturalism … [Young Clinton supporters] said most of their Bernie-or-Bust
friends are coming around as the election nears, but not all of them.”
VP
nominee Tim Kaine shares that one his children supported Bernie. W. Post
quotes: “Hey, we’re a big family on the Democratic side.”
TRUMPS ATTACK REFUGEES
Donald
Trump Jr. compares refugees to poisoned Skittles. NPR: “… Donald Trump Jr.
tweeted an image [saying] ‘If I had a bowl of Skittles and I told you three
would kill you, would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.’ …
‘Skittles are candy. Refugees are people,’ a spokeswoman for the candy’s parent
company, Wrigley, said …”
Mayors
of New York, Paris and London pen joint NYT oped celebrating immigrants:
“Refugees and other foreign-born residents bring needed skills and enhance the
vitality and growth of local economies, and their presence has long benefited
our three cities.”
The
American Prospect’s Justin Miller explores Trump’s tax avoidance strategies:
“In his financial disclosure report filed with the Federal Election Commission
this year, Trump valued [his Westchester County, NY] golf course and palatial
clubhouse at more than $50 million … However, when it came time to pay property
taxes, he claimed that the property and clubhouse was worth just $1.36 million—a
97 percent cut from his FEC disclosure figure … The real scandal is in the
federal tax code, which is so far tilted in favor of real-estate development
that it essentially amounts to an elaborate racket for the country’s wealthiest
real-estate barons.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Senate
may vote to keep government open today. Politico: “…negotiators have settled
on language that would provide money to battle the Zika virus while allowing
Planned Parenthood’s partner clinic in Puerto Rico to access the federal grants
… funding for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, continues to be in the mix …
Republicans have similar demands: additional funding for flood-stricken
Louisiana in the short-term spending measure. Both issues remained unresolved as
of Monday evening…”
Labor
activists make gains on fair scheduling. American Prospect: “New York City
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his support for legislation currently pending in
the city council that would give Gotham’s fast-food workers the right to more
predictable work hours. On Monday, the Seattle City Council passed a
comprehensive fair workweek law that advocates hope can serve as a model for
other cities.”
Progressive
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