MORNING MESSAGE
A
new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that income for nonunion
workers fell substantially as union membership declined. And it hasn’t fallen
because of some immutable economic law. It’s a casualty of war – cultural and
political war ... Popular culture in the 1980s glamorized greedy Wall Streeters
and celebrated the Gilded Age excesses of a tiny but highly visible ultrawealthy
class ... tech entrepreneurs hijacked our national mythos with an
internet-fueled ideological fantasy: that anybody with a great idea could become
a billionaire on the Web ... Forget the “sharing economy”; get a union
instead.
LIMP AUGUST JOB REPORT
Job
growth slowed in August. NYT: “[The pace of] hiring eased in August, with
the government reporting on Friday that employers expanded their payrolls by
151,000 workers. The temperate performance is expected to bolster those within
the Federal Reserve who favor a wait-and-see approach toward raising the
benchmark interest rate when the central bank meets later this month … Average
hourly earnings grew only 0.1 percent, bringing the 12-month increase in wages
to 2.4 percent, modest though still ahead of inflation.”
Reduced
factory activity also could delay rate hike. Reuters: “Factory activity
contracted in August for the first time in six months … but a low level of
layoffs continued to point to a pickup in economic growth in the third quarter …
‘Today’s disappointing number further weakens the case for a rate hike later
this month, but we currently see no reason to change our Fed call and continue
to anticipate a rate hike at the December meeting,’ said Harm Bandholz, chief
United States economist at UniCredit…”
TRUMP TO STAGE PHONY INTERVIEW
Trump
campaign scripts planned interview with African-American pastor. NYT: “…
instead of letting Mr. Trump be his freewheeling self, his campaign prepared
lengthy answers for the submitted questions … The document includes the exact
wording of answers the aides are proposing for Mr. Trump to give to questions
about police killings, racial tension and the perception among many black voters
that he and the Republican Party are racist … advising that he use lines such as
‘If we are to make America great again, we must reduce, rather than highlight,
issues of race in this country’….”
Clinton
to release plan to contain prescription drug prices. NYT: “…Clinton would
create a team of federal officials that would seek to protect consumers by
monitoring price increases. The plan also lays out several actions that the
government would be able to make in response to ‘excessive’ rises in price,
including taking steps to expand access to treatments and imposing penalties on
drug companies, such as fines.”
Clinton
has enormous fundraising month. The Atlantic: “The Clinton campaign
announced on Thursday that the Democratic nominee raised a total of $143 million
in August for her campaign and the national and state Democratic parties … all
but ensures that Clinton will maintain her considerable money advantage over
Donald Trump … Money for the state parties typically goes to turnout operations
on the ground, adding to the advantage that Democrats have over Trump, who has
opened relatively few field offices…”
TPP
hit hard on campaign trail. NYT: “So dicey are the politics that Republican
congressional leaders have been unwilling to commit to a vote even in the
postelection lame duck Congress … Especially in several manufacturing states
that are crucial to the Democrats’ quest to recapture the Senate, Republicans
are caught in a vise between Democrats’ attacks and fear of alienating Mr.
Trump’s antitrade, working-class voters…”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Incarceration
rates down in big cities, up in rural communities. NYT: “From 2006 to 2014,
annual prison admissions dropped 36 percent in Indianapolis; 37 percent in
Brooklyn; 69 percent in Los Angeles County; and 93 percent in San Francisco. But
large parts of rural and suburban America — overwhelmed by the heroin epidemic
and concerned about the safety of diverting people from prison — have gone the
opposite direction. Prison admissions in counties with fewer than 100,000 people
have risen even as crime has fallen…”
Enviros
press Clinton on possible Interior pick. Politico: “…Colorado Gov. John
Hickenlooper faces a green blockade that could dash his chances of leading her
Interior Department … Environmentalists are sour on the Democratic governor for
his outspoken defense of the oil and gas industry, in a state where two
anti-fracking measures just failed to make the November ballot…”
California
legislature passes public pension plan for private sector workers. LAT:
“[The bill] requires all California companies with at least five employees to
either offer their own retirement savings plan or enroll workers in the new
California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program. Secure Choice would be
structured as an individual retirement account but operate much like a 401(k),
with a small percentage of every paycheck automatically diverted into the
program unless workers take action to opt out.”
Progressive
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