MORNING MESSAGE
As Trump Meets Tech CEOs, "Silicon Valley Rising" Calls For Resistance
Tech
CEOs met with President-Elect Donald Trump Wednesday as tech industry workers
called on them to "to take a stand and resist threats to the rights of workers,
consumers and the communities they live in." Only heads of the largest companies
were invited. Heads of startups and smaller tech companies were also not
present. The tech oligarchs want deals to let them off the hook for taxes they
owe on profits they have stashed in offshore tax havens.
ELLISON MAKES CASE FOR DNC CHAIR
Rep.
Keith Ellison calls for “3,007 County Strategy” by the DNC. Chicago Tribune:
“‘We need a 3,007-county strategy. We need a town strategy. We need a precinct
strategy,” said Ellison, as [Sen. Bernie] Sanders and AFT President Randi
Weingarten looked on proudly … ‘We don’t need to decide between social justice
and economic justice,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to have all of that. If we don’t
stand up for both, we won’t have either one, because they’ll use tribalism and
manipulation to divide us.'”
DNC
race flummoxes labor. Politico: “…organized labor loves [Tom Perez] from his
work as Labor Secretary, but some of the most influential union players have
already committed to his main rival, Keith Ellison … Perez’s relatively late
entry to the race has given Ellison time to consolidate serious labor support
from all over the political spectrum.”
Dems
grapple with how to win back white working-class and maintain multicultural
base. NYT: “…those in Mr. Biden’s camp believe … they will not be a majority
party again in Washington or across much of the country without winning back
white voters of modest means … some Democrats now worry they missed the bigger
picture of the electorate: failing to deliver a message that would cut across
all constituencies … [But] in the eyes of a vocal contingent of Democratic
strategists, [that’s] a dated approach that ignores inexorable political and
demographic trendlines … [Instead,] the party must tailor a platform and
strategy that explicitly appealed to younger and nonwhite voters on issues like
policing, climate change and immigration.”
The
Nation dedicates issue to analyzing Obama’s legacy with Chris Hayes, Robert
Borosage, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert and Mike Konczal
TRUMP's WHITE CABINET
Trump
cabinet is 82% white, 76% male and 41% with government experience tabulates
Bloomberg.
Sierra
Club tries to block Scott Pruitt from EPA. The Hill: “[Digital] ads will run
for a week in the home states of 10 senators the group is targeting … The
targets include some senators who are facing potentially tough reelection
battles in the 2018 campaign cycle, like Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Jeff Flake
(R-Ariz.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp
(D-N.D.). Other targeted senators have shown moderate positions on environmental
policies in the past: Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Susan Collins(R-Maine), Lamar
Alexander (R-Tenn.) Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).”
Trump
picks Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke for Interior. AP: ” Zinke has advocated for
increased energy drilling and mining on those lands and expressed skepticism
about the urgency of climate change. The Republican lawmaker, who describes
himself as a ‘Teddy Roosevelt Republican,’ also has been a vocal supporter of
keeping public lands in the government’s hands.”
“Trump’s
Newest Senior Adviser Seen as a White Nationalist Ally” reports Mother
Jones: “Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump’s presidential campaign, will
serve as a senior White House adviser for policy … The announcement of Miller’s
new role drew praise from white nationalist leader Richard Spencer … Miller
helped [Spencer] with fundraising and promotion for an on-campus debate [at Duke
U.] on immigration policy that Spencer organized in 2007, featuring influential
white nationalist Peter Brimelow … Miller wrote about two dozen columns for the
Duke Chronicle, and his articles assailed multiculturalism (which he called
‘segregation’) and paid family leave (which he said results in men getting laid
off).”
DEMS PRESS TRUMP ON CONFLICTS, CONSTITUTION
Dems
explore where Trump could violate insider trading law. Politico: “The STOCK
Act, adopted in 2012, was designed to restrict insider trading by members of
Congress and their staff. But ethics lawyers say it also applies to the
president and might extend to private holdings like Trump’s real estate ventures
… Of particular interest is how Trump might violate the law if he told his
children information that they acted on or invited them to participate in a
government meeting where they learned something and used the information to make
money.”
Trump
children still involved in both transition and business. ABC: “Trump’s adult
sons — along with daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner — attended a tech
summit at Trump Tower with Silicon Valley leaders. Trump Jr. was involved in the
selection of Trump’s pick for interior secretary.”
Democratic
attorneys general prepare to fight Trump. NYT: “If the Trump administration
withdraws from environmental, antitrust or financial regulations, the attorneys
general say they will plug regulatory holes that may gape wide open … They have
pledged to defend undocumented immigrants, and to combat hate crimes … And if
Mr. Trump’s policies veer toward the unconstitutional, several of the 10 current
and incoming Democratic attorneys general interviewed recently said they would
apply a remedy favored by Mr. Trump himself: a lawsuit.”
WIll DEMS HELP REPLACE OBAMACARE?
Some
Democrats say they will cooperate with Republicans on Obamacare. Politico:
“‘If it makes sense, I think there’ll be a lot of Democrats who would be for
it,’ said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) … ‘If they want to change things around
the edges, fix some of the things we agree ought to be fixed and call it
Trumpcare, that’s OK,’ said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the
Democrats and is up for reelection in 2018. ‘Let’s get people covered.’ … [But]
any legislation moderate enough to conceivably entice Democrats will likely be
unacceptable to GOP hard-liners, [other Democrats] predict.”
GOP
plan is “repeal and collapse” says HHS Sec Sylvia Mathews Burwell. The Hill:
“Republican leaders say the repeal likely wouldn’t go into effect for at least a
year. But Burwell said ‘delayed implementation’ would wreck the marketplaces …
‘Insurance companies, because of the uncertainty, will make decisions not to go
into the marketplace. They will make decisions to raise their prices,’ Burwell
told PBS Newshour.”
Sen.
Elizabeth Warren to join Armed Services Committee. WSJ: “[That is] a sign
that the Massachusetts Democrat is looking to broaden her policy portfolio
beyond the economic and consumer issues that propelled her political
rise.”
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