In
the next few days, we’ll hear a lot from the pundits about the polls and
numbers, about swing states and safe states, about different demographic
categories and who can tip the scales. What inevitably gets lost in the
horserace is the story about the real people, especially people at the bottom of
our economy and living on the margins, and the issues they care about. That’s
why we’ll be talking with immigrants in Aurora, Colorado, students and Native
Americans in Washoe County, Nevada, domestic workers in Dade County, Florida,
formerly incarcerated people in Arizona, and working-class white people in New
Hampshire ... Follow our journey here on OurFuture.org, and on social media
using the hashtag #BestofUS2016.
PROGRESSIVES CALL ON CLINTON TO BE BOLD
OurFuture.org’s
Robert Borosage defends progressive moves to influence a Clinton cabinet:
“Roger Lowenstein, reporter turned investment banker, spewed out an incoherent
rant against Warren in a New York Times op-ed. The heads of the Third Way, a
Wall Street funded message shop, fretted that Clinton might fill her
administration with “progressive conformists.” The Washington Post editors
raised the specter of a progressive “blacklist.” How dare progressive organize
around appointments for a president they have helped to elect? … Who the hell do
they think they are? Wall Street bankers?”
“Left
emboldened for post-Obama era” says The Hill: “Figures on the left were
frequently exasperated with President Obama, particularly during his early years
in office, for what they saw as a misguided, ‘post-partisan’ approach to seeking
deals with Republicans. They’re warning that Hillary Clinton, should she ascend
to the White House, would struggle to win reelection if she took the same
tack.”
Clinton
will have to “juggle” three intra-party factions, says NYT’s Thomas Edsall:
“Hillary Clinton must juggle three competing interest groups: her party’supscale
pro-trade, globalist wing; its underdog minority wing; and organized labor. She
is paying a price for her triple allegiance [with] new levels of Republican
loyalty among white working class voters …”
“Trump
Pushed Millennials Out of the Republican Party” says The Atlantic’s Ron
Brownstein: “…all evidence suggests Trump is further alienating a Millennial
generation that is already cool to the GOP—and is poised to become the
electorate’s largest cohort in 2020 … The Millennial generation is defined by
its diversity; over two-fifths of Millennials are young people of color.”
OBAMA SHAKES UP DAKOTA DEBATE
“Tribe
cheers Obama talk of rerouting ND pipeline” reports The Hill: “Obama told
NowThis News on Tuesday that the Army Corps of Engineers ‘is examining whether
there are ways to reroute the pipeline,’ … ‘We applaud President Obama’s
commitment to protect our sacred lands, our water and the water of 17 million
others,’ Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux, said on
Wednesday … said Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the group Midwest Alliance for
Infrastructure Now[,] ‘Even if possible, rerouting the line would require years
to complete, new easements, new environmental and cultural studies, and cost
hundreds of millions of dollars,’ … ‘There’s no reroute that doesn’t involve the
same risks to water and climate,’ Sara Shor, 350.org’s Keep It in the Ground
campaign manager said.”
Earthjustice’s
Jan Hasselman make case against Dakota Access Pipeline in W. Post oped: “No
such thoughtful consideration has occurred to date. Initial federal permits, and
partnership with affected tribes, were treated as a ‘check the box’ exercise.
Nowhere was there a careful analysis of how much the Missouri River crossing
threatened water quality and tribal treaty rights. Nowhere was there a
thoughtful public discussion of whether a new major oil pipeline should be
placed in a river providing drinking water to 17 million people.”
“Cars
hit fuel economy record in 2015” reports The Hill: “Model-year 2015 cars
averaged a carbon dioxide emissions standard that was 7 grams per mile higher
than what the EPA required for that year … A separate EPA report released
Wednesday concluded that average fuel economy was 24.8 miles per gallon, 0.5 mpg
higher than the previous year.”
Global
community tries to cut airplane emissions. NYT: “…much still needs to be
resolved before the 15-year aviation accord comes into force beginning in 2021.
The first six years of the deal will be voluntary … most of the industry’s focus
will fall on a complicated offsetting system, in which airlines buy credits from
climate change projects, like renewable energy programs often in the developing
world, to counterbalance their own carbon emissions.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Trump’s
tax avoidance may spur reforms. NYT: “‘Trump’s scheming on his taxes has put
a spotlight on [how] for the most fortunate … you hire a battery of experts, and
you pay what you want when you want to, or even nothing at all.’ [said Sen. Ron
Wyden.] Kevin Brady, Republican of Texas and chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee [said] much the same thing.”
UK
needs parliamentary approve for Brexit. NYT: “The court’s decision seemed
likely to slow — but not halt — the process for a British withdrawal from the
28-nation union … [The] Conservative Party holds only a slim majority, with 329
seats in the 650-seat Parliament. Although most lawmakers opposed the decision
to leave the European Union, it would be politically toxic for them to overturn
the referendum outcome.”
Militia
groups may spark post-election violence. Reuters: “The Southern Poverty Law
Center, which tracks extremist groups, estimates there were 276 active militias
last year, up from 42 in 2008 … Amid the war games, [militia member Chris] Hill
weighed plans for a possible armed march on Washington if Clinton wins
…”
Progressive
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