MORNING MESSAGE
What’s
worse than a political debate that fails to give voters the information they
need? One that misinforms them, while at the same time demeaning the democratic
process. The final 2016 presidential debate takes place Wednesday night, and
expectations are low.
Final Debate TOnight
Time
previews Trump’s “last stand”: “Trump faces a important tactical decision on
Wednesday night: use his largest remaining audience before Nov. 8 to amplify
this ‘rigged election’ argument, or seize the moment to make a sober case that
he is prepared to be president. “
NYT’s
David Leonhardt questions whether tonight’s debate topic of “debt and
entitlements” will be based on “reality”: “Much of the public discussion of
the national debt isn’t based on reality. It instead relies on facts that are
badly outdated. The clichéd way to talk about the debt is in alarmist
terms…”
Big
lead prompts Clinton to target House seats. The Hill: “The Democrats’
campaign arm has launched a new coordinated effort with Hillary Clinton’s
presidential campaign that will shift millions of dollars to traditionally red
states, where party leaders are hoping to upset House GOP incumbents.”
SANDERS RALLIES AZ, LOOKS AHEAD
Sanders
aims to turn Arizona blue. Arizona Republic: “The crowd was dominated by
Millennials … but also included professors and older residents from nearby towns
and the Navajo Nation … ‘Arizona is one of the battleground states and we can
win here if voter turnout is high,’ he said … He advocated for increasing the
minimum wage to $15 an hour and plugged Clinton’s plan to make public
universities tuition-free for working families. “
Clinton
up in AZ poll. Arizona Republic: “When including ‘leaners’ in the sample …
Clinton’s support rises to 43.3 percent while Trump’s support increases to 37.8
percent. Johnson gets 6.5 percent while Stein gets 4.3 percent.”
Jeff
Weaver tells Roll Call revolution will continue after Election Day: “Members
of Congress now can rely on an organized grass-roots network that goes from one
end of the country to the other to help them push forward the progressive
initiatives that need to be done … we can obviously have people calling into
members’ offices, and educating people at the grass roots about what’s going on
in Washington in a way that, I think, was not possible before.”
TNR’s
David Dayen highlights Sanders’ stumping for a California health care
initiative: “Bernie’s crusade is known as Prop 61, and it manages to be both
modest and earth-shaking, a minor element in reforming drug-purchasing that
would set a critical precedent to stop price-gouging by Big Pharma … Sanders
recognizes that, when the status quo leaves Americans exposed, change can only
come from the bottom up.”
SCHUMER TALKS IMMIGRATION, REPATRIATION
Sen.
Chuck Schumer previews congressional agenda in CNBC interview: “The two
things that come, that pop to mind — because Schumer, Clinton, and [Speaker
Paul] Ryan have all said they support these — are immigration and some kind of
international tax reform tied to a large infrastructure program. If you can get
overseas money to come back here, even if it’s [permanently] at a lower rate
than the 35 percent it now comes back at, and you can use that money for a major
constructive purpose such as infrastructure — if you did an infrastructure bank,
for instance, you could get $100 billion in equity in the bank and get a
trillion dollars of infrastructure.”
Schumer
rules out retirement security cuts: “In terms of cutting those benefits, I
am not interested a bit.”
Schumer
also assesses TPP prospects: “There’s only one person who will decide that.
Just one: Mitch McConnell. If he puts it on the floor, it could get done. If he
puts it on the floor, it may well get its 51 votes in the Senate even if some
Democrats change their views. But it’s an iffy question for the House to get a
majority.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Teachers
unions eye charter schools. American Prospect: “One window of opportunity
that teacher unions are exploring is charter authorizing—the process of opening,
closing, and monitoring charter schools … teachers unions representing educators
at traditional public schools have started to explore how they might use their
leverage at the bargaining table to make union organizing easier for their
charter brethren.”
Ford
not leaving Michigan. NYT: “In a move that has drawn fire from Donald J.
Trump and other critics of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Ford is
giving up on making small cars in the United States and plans to move production
of its Focus compact cars from the Wayne factory to a new plant under
construction in Mexico … [But t]he Wayne factory will remain fully staffed, with
3,700 workers, to build what Ford really needs now: more trucks and
S.U.V.s.”
Inflation
ticks up. AP: “Consumer prices in the United States recorded their biggest
gain in five months in September as the cost of gasoline and rents surged,
pointing to a steady buildup of inflation that could keep the Federal Reserve on
track to raise interest rates in December … But underlying inflation showed
signs of moderating against the backdrop of a slowdown in the pace of increases
in health care costs after recent robust gains.”
Progressive
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