MORNING MESSAGE
Betsy DeVos May Complete The Big Money Takeover Of Our Nation's Schools
...what
DeVos represents in a very great sense is how rich people's grip on the nation's
public education system has reached a choking point. No doubt, education policy
led by Trump and DeVos will differ from the previous administration, but what's
staying the same is how wealthy private interests will strongly influence
policies. Grasping this essential truth matters a lot in the "nasty" politics of
education today, where the real debate is not so much about charters and choice
as it is about who is in control.
TRUMP TO INDIANA TODAY
Trump
to tout Carrier deal in Indiana today. NYT: “…Trump is scheduled to visit a
Carrier plant in Indianapolis after the company announced it would keep 1,000
jobs there, shelving plans to move them to Mexico. The details of what exactly
Mr. Trump agreed to in the negotiations with the manufacturer remained unclear.
“
Sen.
Sanders slams deal in W. Post oped: “Instead of a damn tax, the company will
be rewarded with a damn tax cut. Wow! How’s that for standing up to corporate
greed? How’s that for punishing corporations that shut down in the United States
and move abroad? In essence, United Technologies took Trump hostage and won. And
that should send a shock wave of fear through all workers across the
country.”
Carrier’s
ties to Mexico haven’t changed. AP: “At a news conference, the mayor of
Santa Catarina, the Monterrey suburb where the Carrier plant is, said he had not
heard from the company. ‘We haven’t received any formal notification from the
company. In fact, we are working normally with them,’ Mayor Hector Castillo
said, adding that Carrier has already constructed the shell of the new factory
building.”
Conservatives
may criticize Carrier deal. The Hill: “…if it turns out that Trump and Pence
have offered any special concessions to Carrier — either at the federal level or
the state level, given that the vice president-elect is still the governor of
Indiana — then those free-market groups are likely to cry foul. ‘The particulars
of this agreement haven’t been released, but our position on corporate welfare
is well-known and that has not changed,’ said Brent Gardner, chief government
affairs officer at Americans for Prosperity. The group is the major grassroots
organization within the network of conservative mega-donors Charles and David
Koch.”
Trump
to target NAFTA. The Hill: “‘We’re working out the fine-point details, but
NAFTA is logical starting point,’ [Commerce nominee] Wilbur Ross told host Erin
Burnett on CNN’s ‘OutFront’ Wednesday.”
GOLDMAN SACHS WINS
Goldman
Sachs dominates Trump cabinet. Politico: “…Wall Street’s most powerful firm,
Goldman Sachs, is dominating the early days of the incoming Trump
administration. The newly picked Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, spent 17
years at Goldman. Trump’s top incoming White House adviser, Steve Bannon, spent
his early career at the bank. So did Anthony Scaramucci, one of Trump’s top
transition advisers. Goldman’s president, Gary Cohn, spent an hour schmoozing
with President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday and could be up for an
administration job, possibly as director of the Office of Management and
Budget…”
Bloomberg
adds: “Hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson was feeling happy Wednesday morning
… ‘I can take glee in that — I think Donald Trump conned them,’ said Tilson, who
runs Kase Capital Management … Shares of all the big Wall Street firms climbed
Wednesday, with Goldman Sachs rising 3.6 percent, the best performance in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average.”
“Trump
Treasury pick made millions after his bank foreclosed on homeowners” reports
Politico: “[Steve Mnuchin’s] company foreclosed on a 90-year-old woman after
a 27-cent payment error. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo singled out the lender for
squeezing superstorm Sandy victims. This month, the company’s successor, CIT
Bank, was accused of discriminating against minority borrowers.”
NYT
explores Trump’s challenge on the economy: “The middle class will see a big
tax cut, but the wealthy will not. American businesses will pay much lower
taxes, and as a consequence bring back billions of dollars from overseas. All
this will create sustained growth of 3 to 4 percent a year and prevent the
budget deficit from exploding … [Trump’s team has] promised economic growth
targets that will be difficult to achieve given modern demographics, and
committed to plans that even sympathetic analysts project will vastly widen the
budget deficit … Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Ross suggested that the plans would not
widen the budget deficit thanks to ‘dynamic scoring,’…”
GOP HAS NO IDEA WHAT TO DO ON HEALTH CARE
“GOP
may stall Obamacare replacement for years” reports Politico: “…GOP leaders
on both sides of the Capitol are coalescing around a plan to vote to repeal the
law in early 2017 — but delay the effective date for that repeal for as long as
three years. They’re crossing their fingers that the delay will help them get
their own house in order, as well as pressure a handful of Senate Democrats —
who would likely be needed to pass replacement legislation — to come onboard
before the clock runs out and 20 million Americans lose their health
insurance.”
Few
want Obamacare repeal, in Kaiser poll: “… one-fourth of Americans (26
percent) wanting to see President-elect Donald Trump and the next Congress
repeal the entire law … many of the law’s major provisions continue to be quite
popular, even across party lines…”
Trump
pledge on Medicare in doubt. The Hill: “His campaign promoted the article’s
headline — ‘Why Donald Trump Won’t Touch Your Entitlements’ — on its website.
But [his HHS pick Tom] Price does want to touch entitlements … Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.), meanwhile, tweeted an image of Trump’s promise last year not to
touch entitlements, including Medicare. Sanders asked if Trump ‘has any
intention of keeping the promise that he made, or has he played the American
people for suckers?'”
Dems
poised to fight on Medicare. NYT: “Senate Democrats intend to press Mr.
Price on this subject during his confirmation hearings. They see a wide opening
for political gain, given the 57 million older Americans who rely on Medicare —
including many white Midwesterners with financial worries who voted for Mr.
Trump … A Medicare fight is also a potential political lifeline for Democrats in
red states who could be in very tough contests in 2018.”
IVANKA TRUMP, CLIMATE ACTIVIST?
Ivanka
Trump may tackle climate. Politico: “[A] source said Ivanka is in the early
stages of exploring how to use her spotlight to speak out on the issue.”
States
and cities should embrace “revenue-positive” carbon taxes, argues Heather McGee
and Robert Reich in The Nation: “[We] need a Plan B that the Republicans
cannot obstruct … a ‘revenue-positive’ approach, whereby polluters pay for
carbon reduction either through a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system, and the
revenue generated is directly invested in disadvantaged communities.”
Fuel
efficiency requirements will stay in place. AP: “Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said that based on the agency’s technical
analysis, automakers can meet emissions standards and fuel economy requirements
for model years 2022 to 2025. The standards will nearly double new-car gas
mileage, dramatically cut carbon pollution, maintain regulatory certainty for
the auto industry and save U.S. drivers billions in gasoline costs … the agency
plans to finalize the decision before President-elect Donald Trump is
inaugurated in January.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Incoming
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao was an awful Labor Secretary. The
Nation: ” Chao’s DOL … took an excessively deferential approach to
businesses that were found to be mistreating employees, issued low fines for
safety lapses, and ignored complaints from low-wage workers … criticisms of
Chao’s management were confirmed and extended upon in a series of scathing
reports by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office …”
House
clears “Cures” bill while Warren fights in Senate. The Atlantic: “….the
Republican-controlled Congress is likely to approve legislation that will invest
more than $6 billion in public health and medical research over the next decade
… But to Senator Elizabeth Warren, the bill is an enormous giveaway to
pharmaceutical companies … the lower chamber overwhelmingly passed a new version
late Wednesday afternoon, 392-26 … Biden won money for his cancer moonshot, and
a coalition of lawmakers secured funding to send as grants to states fighting
opioid addiction … The White House gave the final compromise its strong support
… Public Citizen … said the bill still went too far in relaxing approval
standards for drugs and devices…”
Pelosi
wins leadership election. Politico: “Even after 63 House Democrats — almost
a third of the Democratic Caucus — voted Wednesday against keeping her on as
minority leader, Pelosi declared her political position is better than ever …
[But] a sizable faction of her members have lost faith that Pelosi has the
strategic vision needed to lead them back into power.
Progressive
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