MORNING MESSAGE
Don’t Watch Donald Trump’s Inauguration
That
inauguration next week? Don’t watch. State of the Union? You’re better off with
an early night’s sleep. Oval Office addresses? Speeches? Rallies? Press
conferences? “Exclusive” TV interviews? Pick up that book you’ve been meaning to
get to instead. What will that do? A mass refusal to watch Trump on TV will
deprive him of big ratings, which he routinely uses to create a false impression
of widespread popularity.
Don’t
Take Away Our Health Care
This week, Congress will vote on a budget resolution to
repeal the Affordable Care Act and take health care away from millions. This is
the right wing’s first step toward gutting the health care we all count on. On
top of eliminating the ACA, Republican leadership wants to slash Medicaid and
privatize Medicare. We can stop this outrageous plan.
Be
a health care champion. Call your Senators and Representatives by dialing the
Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Tell
them to vote no on taking away our health care, and no on the budget resolution.
Give everyone in our country the health care we need at a price we can
afford.
CONFIRMATIONS HIT SNAG
Four
confirmation hearings delayed. NYT: “Hearings for Betsy DeVos, Mr. Trump’s
choice to lead the Department of Education; Andrew Puzder, his labor secretary
nominee; and Representative Mike Pompeo, Republican of Kansas, Mr. Trump’s pick
to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, have all been pushed back as Democrats
clamor for more time to collect and review the standard background checks that
nominees traditionally undergo before their hearings commence. Wilbur Ross, Mr.
Trump’s pick for secretary of commerce, will also be delayed several days
because his ethics agreement is not complete … The delays represent a stumble
for the incoming Trump administration, which has vowed to run government with a
businesslike efficiency…”
More
hearings on tap today. The Hill: “The Foreign Relations Committee’s meeting
with [State Dept. nominee Rex] Tillerson is likely to be dominated by Russia …
Democrats are also prepping questions about Tillerson’s views on climate change
… Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will testify against Sessions on Wednesday …
Wednesday’s hearing [for Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao] will give
senators the chance to probe one of Trump’s biggest campaign promises: an effort
to rebuild the country’s infrastructure worth up to $1 trillion …”
Labor
Secretary nominee Andrew Puzder faces domestic abuse allegations. Politico:
“The ex-wife of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be labor secretary,
Andrew Puzder, appeared in disguise on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ as a victim of
domestic violence, after having accused him multiple times of physically
assaulting her in the 1980s … Additionally, a 1988 petition obtained by POLITICO
from the Circuit Court of St. Louis County provides previously unreported
details of the alleged abuse … Puzder’s confirmation hearing, originally
scheduled to take place next week, has been delayed as the Senate confronts a
crowded nominations calendar, and may not take place until February…”
Jeff
Sessions hints at his voter rights agenda on first day of Attorney General
confirmation hearings. ThinkProgress: “In 1985, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL),
then a U.S. Attorney in Alabama, led the prosecution of three African American
civil rights activists, accusing them of committing voter fraud by forging
absentee ballots they collected through a registration drive … during the first
day of his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Sessions described the litigation as a
‘voting rights case.’ … The comments provide a preview of how Attorney General
Sessions and his Justice Department would handle voting rights … Under Sessions,
it’s likely that the department will shift its focus to prosecuting ‘voter
fraud,’ an exceedingly rare occurrence.”
Sessions
likely has the votes. NYT: “The support of moderate Republican senators like
Susan Collins of Maine and Democrats like Joe Manchin III of West Virginia seems
to all but assure his confirmation.”
TRUMP MUDDIES OBAMACARE WATERS
Trump
confuses Republicans on Obamacare. Politico: “Republicans on Capitol Hill
are in disarray about how to repeal Obamacare and President-elect Donald Trump’s
call on Tuesday to enact a replacement ‘very quickly’ did nothing to clear up
the turmoil … The statement took lawmakers on Capitol Hill by surprise. Many had
hoped Trump would weigh in. But while he made his intentions clearer, his
comments didn’t exactly offer a roadmap. Some even scoffed at the notion that
repeal and replace could technically happen that soon, given the procedural and
policy hurdles.”
More
from Politico: “…the budget and accompanying reconciliation language is a
sure thing to clear the Senate [tonight or tomorrow morning], and the House is
expected to quickly follow suit, passing it as early as Friday. The budget
doesn’t become law, but it’s the only way to set reconciliation — in other
words, Obamacare repeal — in motion … The budget currently instructs several
committees to draft legislation to gut the health law by Jan. 27. But a handful
of Senate Republicans are pushing to delay the deadline until March 3 …
Completely replacing Obamacare would mean action on legislation that doesn’t
touch on budgetary matters and must be done outside of the reconciliation
process [and] would require Democratic votes to get over the Senate’s 60-vote
filibuster threshold.”
GOP SHARPENS KNIVES FOR MEDICARE
Republicans
press Trump to overhaul Medicare. The Hill: “‘Math and demographics dictate
that we deal with Medicare…,’ [said] GOP Rep. Mark Sanford … Sen. Rand Paul
(R-Ky.), a onetime presidential rival to Trump, called it ‘inexcusable’ that his
own party would push through a budget that didn’t rein in entitlement spending …
‘We intend to try to save Medicare from insolvency, and we’ll be working to that
end,’ said Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.), who previously served on Ryan’s GOP
leadership team…”
Proposed
budget amendment to protect Medicare and Social Security fails in Senate. W.
Post: “An amendment drafted by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), using language
that Donald Trump used to assure voters he would not cut Medicaid, Medicare or
Social Security, won 49 votes Tuesday, with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joining
every Democrat and independent to vote yes.”
TRUMP NEEDS IMMIGRANTS
Trump
may need immigrants to boost GDP. Bloomberg: “…demographic pressures
reaching levels not seen since the Great Depression … Without an improvement in
productivity or an influx of people into the workforce, GDP can’t accelerate …
the expansion in U.S. residents shows sustained damage from the financial crisis
of 2008-2009 … Immigration could help propel population growth, but that’s
hardly been a pillar of Trump’s agenda…”
Economists
shut out of the Trump administration. NYT’s Justin Wolfers: ” Few of his key
economic advisers have any economics training, and the only official who
identifies as an economist — Peter Navarro, who earned a Harvard Ph.D. in
economics and will head up the newly formed National Trade Council — stands so
far outside the mainstream that he endorses few of the key tenets of the
profession … The pervasive pessimism among professional economists stands in
stark contrast with the judgment of financial markets…”
Progressive
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