MORNING MESSAGE
Bolstered
by an extraordinary order from the Obama administration to halt construction of
the Dakota Access Pipeline at a site considered sacred and environmentally
vulnerable by Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota, thousands upon thousands of
pipeline opponents will participate Tuesday in “#NoDAPL Day of Action” events
around the country, including an event at the White House featuring Sen. Bernie
Sanders (D-Vt.). At the same time, a broad coalition of organizations has
launched a petition drive calling on President Obama to cancel oil and gas sale
leases on public lands, such as the Bakken fields that are the source of the
crude oil the Dakota Access Pipeline is being built to transport.
PENCE WON'T CALL DUKE DEPLORABLE
GOP
VP nominee Mike Pence flinches at dubbing David Duke “deplorable.” USA
Today: “Pence said Trump has denounced Duke repeatedly. ‘We don’t want his
support and we don’t want the support of people who think like him,’ he said.
‘So, you’d call him a deplorable?’ [CNN’s Wolf] Blitzer asked. ‘I’m not in the
name-calling business, Wolf. You know me better than that,’ Pence said … ‘It’s
good to see an individual like Pence and others start to reject this absolute
controlled media,’ David Duke told BuzzFeed.”
Progressives
warn Clinton against appointments of specific people. Politico:
“…progressive operatives say they’ve targeted two potential Clinton
appointments—Tom Nides as chief of staff and Lael Brainard as Treasury secretary
or trade representative—to lay down early markers against Clinton … [Nides] was
one of Clinton’s deputies at the State Department and is now back at Morgan
Stanley … [Brainard] is seen by progressives as precisely the kind of
establishment figure who wouldn’t represent the turn on trade policy that they
demand …”
MOVE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN
WH,
Congress inch toward deal to keep government open. Roll Call: “Senior
lawmakers and White House aides are signaling that a stopgap funding bill
lasting until Dec. 9 could hit the Senate floor later this week … Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he expects … a continuing
resolution through Dec. 9 at last year’s enacted levels that includes funds for
a Zika virus response and veterans programs.”
Planned
Parenthood funding remains a hangup for Republicans. NYT: “When Democrats
balked once more last week at approving legislation to combat the Zika virus
because the measure included limits on Planned Parenthood, some Republicans
indicated a willingness to re-evaluate their position … The bill largely focused
on funding for Profamilias, Planned Parenthood’s partner in cash-strapped Puerto
Rico. Because Puerto Rico has been the hardest hit by the virus, it would
receive most of the money and thus be the most affected by the bill’s
restrictions.”
WELLS FARGO EXECUTIVES ESCAPE PUNISHMENT
Wells
Fargo executives get off light, says The New Yorker’s Adam Davidson:
“…customers were charged late fees on accounts they hadn’t requested and that
they didn’t know they had … the company has been fined a hundred and ninety
million dollars—a record, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau says. More than
five thousand employees were fired for the offenses … Still, only low-level
managers were fired … no senior manager or, God forbid, C.E.O. was punished in
any way … The fines against the bank are just a tiny fraction of the profits
they earned. The message seems quite clear: encourage aggressive cross-selling
at all costs, even if it leads to some fraud.”
Blue
Dog Dems join House Republicans and corporate lobbyists to fight Obama overtime
pay rule. American Prospect: “…Democratic Congressman Kurt Schrader of
Oregon introduced legislation that would delay the full implementation of the
higher salary threshold for three years [and] eliminate indexing the threshold,
which the executive order stipulated would increase every three years in line
with rising wages and inflation … more than 10 million fewer salaried workers
could be covered over the next 20 years … the White House has pledged to veto
it…”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Pollster
Stan Greenberg finds deep opposition to TPP, in US News oped: “Our polling
shows that across party lines, voters end up not just opposed, but ready to act
to hold their member of Congress accountable when informed that 500 official
U.S. trade advisers representing corporate interests were involved in years of
closed-door negotiations…”
Odds
of Federal Reserve rate hike go down. Bloomberg: “Traders reduced bets on a
September hike after Fed Governor Lael Brainard … said prudence is warranted as
boosting borrowing costs poses risks. The remarks surprised investors who’d been
bracing for a sign that the central bank was set to raise rates. The
market-implied chance of a September hike fell to 22 percent…”
Progressive
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