MORNING MESSAGE
No
doubt school choice will benefit some parents – just as any market-based system
has some winners and some losers. But who really stands to gain most from choice
and why? ... A recent policy brief from the National Education Policy Center
examines the research studies of school choice programs and finds, “The overall
body of the research literature documents an unsettling degree of segregation –
particularly in charter schools – by race and ethnicity, as well as by poverty,
special needs, and English-learner status.”
FIGHT TO BLOCK DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE INTENSIFIES
Bill
McKibben presses Hillary Clinton to speak out against the Dakota Access
Pipeline, in LAT oped: “The fight at Standing Rock is a big damned thing.
It’s a Flint-in-the-making, and it’s also a chance to for once do right by the
continent’s oldest inhabitants. Surely Hillary Clinton can rise to the occasion.
Can’t she?”
“The
judge is expected to rule Friday on whether to grant the tribe’s request for an
injunction” reports NPR.
WARREN TAKES ON APPLE
Sen.
Elizabeth Warren rips Apple’s tax avoidance strategy in NYT oped: “…instead
of bailing out the tax dodgers under the guise of tax reform, Congress should
seize this moment to take three crucial steps to repair our broken corporate tax
code … Congress should increase the share of government revenue generated from
taxes on big corporations … encourage investment in jobs here in the United
States [and] level the playing field for small businesses.”
Ballot
initiative in Oregon seeks to raise corporate taxes. NYT: “… Measure 97
would create the biggest tide of new tax revenue in any state in the nation this
year as a percentage of the budget … through a 2.5 percent tax on corporate
gross receipts … Labor unions, led by teachers, are leading the fight for
passage … Opponents have raised about $8 million — four times as much as
supporters — through contributions from large companies like Amazon, General
Motors and the grocery chain Kroger/Fred Meyer…”
RYAN UNDER FIRE FROM RIGHT
Speaker
Ryan struggles to contain conservatives. The Hill: “…some of [the
right-wing] Freedom Caucus … who publicly voted for Ryan are now threatening to
oppose him in a January floor vote depending on how he navigates this tricky set
of issues before the election … said one caucus member who supported Ryan last
year and asked to remain anonymous[,] ‘The question many of us have is whether
his leadership is any different than Boehner’s.'”
Freedom
Caucus seeks key post. Politico: “Members of the group of far-right
agitators are considering a plan to run one of their own as a candidate for the
Republican Study Committee chairmanship this fall in a bid to push the
conservative group further to the right … Freedom Caucus insiders say the group
hasn’t committed to backing a specific candidate, and they could still decide to
abandon the RSC in a mass exodus.”
Pelosi
optimistic about House elections. Politico quotes: “I thought in December I
would’ve told you we’d win 20 seats, left to our own devices … Since then, I
think anything is possible. I think [control of the House] comes down to
probably a single digit, one way or another.”
WH
renews push for Merrick Garland. Politico: “…Garland is returning to the
Senate on Thursday to meet privately with Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy [and] Vice
President Joe Biden will head to the Capitol to hold a press event on the
Capitol steps with Democratic lawmakers to pressure Republicans…”
Progressive
Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to
activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's
Future. more
»
