MORNING MESSAGE
Will Trump Bring the Robot Apocalypse?
Trump
is considering Andrew Puzder, CEO of the parent company to fast-food chains
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, for Secretary of Labor ... According to the 1913 law
that created it, 'The purpose of the Department of Labor shall be to foster,
promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to
improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for
profitable employment.' Now we learn that Trump may entrust the well-being of
working Americans to someone who wants to eliminate them altogether
...
OBAMACARE DIVIDES GOP
GOP
divided on Obamacare strategy. Politico: “Lawmakers have proposed putting
off the effective date of repeal from as little as six months to as long as
three years … Several senators suggested at the meeting with Pence that
additional measures from Congress or the administration may be needed to address
rising insurance premiums and avoid roiling the insurance markets … Incoming
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said the Senate’s approach
will meet ‘major resistance,’ … While the party struggles over when exactly to
disassemble Obamacare, others are trying to focus on developing a replacement as
early as possible to give maximum assurance to insurers and voters that they
won’t be left in limbo. Republicans will need to immediately begin negotiating
with Senate Democrats, who must be involved with any replacement plan to
overcome a filibuster.”
30
million could lose insurance under repeal. The Hill: “The [Urban Institute]
research is based on the GOP’s repeal bill from 2015, which would strike down
the law’s mandates, subsidies and Medicaid expansion but leave in place some
non-budget related provisions. It does not predict how Republicans would replace
the law [but] it underscores the potentially damaging effects of the GOP’s
repeal plan without a replace.”
Health
insurers draw up demands. NYT: “The insurers … say they need a clear
commitment from the Trump administration and congressional leaders that the
government will continue offsetting some costs for low-income people. They also
want to keep in place rules that encourage young and healthy people to sign up,
which the insurers say are crucial to a stable market for individual buyers …
the industry would support a delay so it could prepare for the changes. ‘We
would love to see a three-year time frame, as long as possible,’ [Marilyn
Tavenner, the chief executive of America’s Health Insurance Plans,] said … She
also argued that the insurers had no desire to return to the time before the law
was passed, when people with pre-existing conditions were routinely denied
coverage in the individual market.”
Hospitals
oppose repeal. The Hill: “The American Hospital Association and the
Federation of American Hospitals on Tuesday fired off a damning new report
warning that its industry stood to take a massive financial hit under the repeal
of ObamaCare … the hospital industry would lose $165.8 billion through cuts to
Medicaid alone [and] another $289.5 billion if Republicans scrap the ObamaCare
payments to hospitals with higher Medicare patients … [Federation of American
Hospitals President Chip Kahn] said: ‘Members of Congress are going to hear that
from every hospital in their district.'”
TRUMP APPEARS TO SOFTEN ON IMMIGRATION
Trump
tells Time he’ll “work something out” with DREAMers: “As for the people who
were brought to the U.S. illegally as youths and now have work visas under
Obama, Trump did not back off his pledge to end Obama’s executive orders. But he
made clear he would like to find some future accommodation for them. ‘We’re
going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud … They
got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to
school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they’re in
never-never land because they don’t know what’s going to happen.'”
Transition
members scale back plans for a border wall. Bloomberg: “…the
president-elect’s closest allies in Congress are working to redefine Trump’s top
campaign promise, which many view as too costly and impractical for securing the
1,933-mile border with Mexico. Most illegal immigration can be halted with
fencing, more Border Patrol agents and drones, they contend.”
GOVERNMENT OPEN THROUGH APRIL
Congress
to keep government open through April. The Hill: “GOP leaders announced a
deal Tuesday to keep the government funded for nearly six months, with a slight
boost to defense spending and bipartisan health programs. The 70-page stopgap
spending bill runs through April 28, allowing the incoming Donald Trump
administration to take an active role in negotiations this spring … Democrats
have raised major objections with … a provision that eases the restrictions for
retired military members to be confirmed. This would almost immediately benefit
incoming President Trump’s Defense secretary pick, retired Gen. James
Mattis…”
Dems
plot to salvage domestic spending. Politico: “Several Democrats said they
could see the two parties agreeing on a larger tax-and-spending deal that would
boost both defense and infrastructure, but such a plan would likely face stiff
resistance from GOP fiscal hardliners … More than a half-dozen congressional
Democrats said in interviews it will be imperative to go into any negotiations
demanding equal increases between defense and non-defense … The only way to
enforce this ‘parity’ demand, though, is to threaten to deny Republicans the 60
votes needed to overcome a Senate filibuster … Another potential variable is
whether Republicans can hold their own caucus together…”
UNIONS, CORPORATIONS UNNERVED
Republicans
in states plan anti-union attack. The Hill: “Republican leaders in New
Hampshire, Missouri and Kentucky are planning in the coming months to take up
and pass so-called right-to-work measures … they plan to reform collective
bargaining laws as well, similar to a push made by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
(R) five years ago.”
“New
York City Council to Consider Laws on Employee Hours, Scheduling” reports
WSJ: “New York City lawmakers are introducing legislation to require
employers to offer their workers more predictable schedules and opportunities
for more hours … Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, and the overwhelmingly
Democratic City Council are making a pre-emptive strike against the incoming
Trump administration…”
Corporations
worry about Trump’s corporate-shaming. Politico: “The concern among
executives and free-market conservatives is that Trump will tweet first and ask
questions later if he hears about plans he doesn’t like, potentially hitting
stock prices, turning public opinion against companies before they have a chance
to explain themselves and chilling investment.”
“Democrats
Move to Divide Donald Trump From GOP on Coal and Steel” reports Time:
“…Democrats called for long-term funding for retired coal miners’ health
benefits and making permanent ‘Buy America’ provisions in a water infrastructure
bill that would require the government to only fund projects that use
American-made steel … on both, Republicans in Congress are at odds with the
ethos, if not the letter of Trump’s campaign promises to protect American mining
and manufacturing.”
Forthcoming
data may turn public against corporate welfare, argues American Prospect’s Greg
Leroy: “Over the next 18 months, a torrent of newly-mandated data about the
costs of corporate welfare will flow from cities, counties, school districts,
and state capitals everywhere. Thanks to an obscure new government-accounting
rule that is just now kicking in, tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue
will be revealed to taxpayers for the first time.”
“Americans
Are Paying Apple Millions to Shelter Overseas Profits” reports Bloomberg:
“Taking advantage of an exemption tucked into America’s Byzantine tax code,
Apple stashed much of its foreign earnings—tax-free—right here in the U.S., in
part by purchasing government bonds … In return, the Treasury Department paid
Apple at least $600 million and possibly much more over the past five years in
the form of interest…”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Activist
charge Park Service with blocking inauguration protests. AP: “Protest
organizers and their attorneys say the National Park Service is quashing dissent
by blocking access to public space … activists say the denial of protest permits
has gone too far this time and is unconstitutional.”
No
evidence Trump sold off stock. AP: “President-elect Donald Trump sold all of
his stocks in June as he plunged into the costly general election campaign, his
transition team abruptly announced Tuesday. His advisers provided no proof of
the transactions and would not explain the apparent sell-off.”
Progressive
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