Progressive Breakfast: My Friend Pramila Jayapal Goes to Congress and Makes History & The Carolina Coup and the Fight for Public Education
The
Carolina Coup and the Fight for Public Education
The
naked power grab by North Carolina Republicans has shocked the nation. But few
people really understand that a struggle over public education is at the center
of the fight against an authoritarian government in the era of Donald Trump ...
The attack on the incoming governor’s power over education appointments is
especially radical, as it transfers power from the state board to the new state
superintendent of public instruction, Republican Mark Johnson, who defeated the
Democratic incumbent, June Atkinson, in November. Why go after education
offices? In North Carolina, public education has always been an issue
inextricably intertwined with voting rights and democracy...
ScHUMER LAYS OUT DEMOCRATIC STRATEGY
Senate
Minority Leader articulates oppositional vision. Yahoo! News: “Schumer
mentioned infrastructure investments and tax and trade reform as areas of
possible cooperation, while vowing to fight ‘tooth and nail’ on other issues,
including a repeal of health care reform … By signaling a limited willingness to
work with Trump, Schumer may be setting a trap for the Republicans. If Congress
makes tax cuts for the wealthy a priority but fails to pass a job-creating
infrastructure bill, Democrats can argue that Trump and his party betrayed his
base of working class voters.”
“Schumer
Prepared to Hold Supreme Court Seat Open” reports Roll Call: “‘It’s hard for
me to imagine a nominee that Donald Trump would choose that would get Republican
support that we could support,’ the New York Democrat told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow
Tuesday night. Asked if he would do his best to hold the seat open, Schumer
responded, ‘Absolutely.’ … Schumer said Republicans may be faced with a choice
to change Senate rules to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees.
But he said it would be ‘very hard’ for Republicans to do so given that some GOP
senators do not want to alter the chamber’s rules.”
“Three
steps for progressive resistance” from Katrina vanden Heuvel in The Nation:
“…progressives must recognize that the most significant resistance to Trump
won’t take place in Washington. It’s going to happen in the streets led by
grass-roots activists … there will be 87 state legislative chambers and 36
gubernatorial seats up for grabs in 2018. Progressives would be wise to adopt a
laserlike focus on winning these races … [And] it will be critical for
progressive leaders in Washington to amplify local progress to drive a national
message.”
OBAMACARE FIGHT IS ON
Republicans
begin Obamacare repeal process. NYT: “Budget language released on Tuesday
gives House and Senate committees only until Jan. 27 to produce legislation that
would eliminate major parts of the health care law. Under arcane budget
procedures, that legislation would be protected from a Democratic filibuster and
could pass the Senate with a simple majority. And debate will begin on
Wednesday, before senators have even moved into their new offices.”
Democrats
begin grassroots mobilization to save Obamacare. Politico: “They’re holding
rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, featuring the stories of some
of the red-state Americans who have benefited from the law. They’re urging
followers to bombard lawmakers’ district offices and phone lines with calls
against repeal. And they’re targeting moderate Republicans in Alaska, Arizona,
Maine, Nevada and Tennessee who are up for reelection in 2018 — or who could be
influential in the repeal vote — with a seven-figure television and print ad
campaign.”
TRUMP TO LINE HIS POCKETS
Trump
stands to make billions from his tax reform. Politico: “The Republican tax
code overhaul is expected to include across-the-board tax cuts, including one to
the top business tax rate that would allow Trump’s companies to keep a greater
share of their profits. Beyond the rate reduction, Trump could also benefit from
several other provisions likely to be part of the GOP tax reform package, such
as a proposed exemption on foreign income generated from overseas sales, from
certain business interest deductions on debt-financed projects that are widely
favored by real estate developers and from provisions allowing small business
owners to tap into a lower 15 percent rate while filing through their individual
returns. And Trump’s family stands to significantly benefit — an estimated
savings of $4 billion or more … from a repeal of the estate tax…”
Trump
may restrict immigration of nonwhites, argues The Nation’s Julianne Hing: “…
this past August [he said he would ‘keep immigration levels measured by
population share within historical norms.’ … What Trump’s hint meant was a
return to an explicitly racist immigration system put in place in the 1920s
[when] Congress created a system designed to curb immigration from Southern and
Eastern Europe …”
TRUMP MAY BREAK NAFTA RULES
Trump
may violate NAFTA. Bloomberg: “…Donald Trump won’t be able to punish General
Motors Co. for building cars in Mexico without violating NAFTA. That may not
stop him … Targeting a single company with a tariff as Trump threatened to do
with GM in a tweet Tuesday is unheard of and barred under the North American
Free Trade Agreement…”
Trump
may not be able to stop car companies from moving to Mexico. Bloomberg:
“Cheaper labor is only one reason Mexico has seen a surge in new-car production.
While the country’s low wages have been the big attraction, one of its key
advantages is that it has trade agreements with 44 countries, giving automakers
access to half the global car market tariff-free. The U.S. has similar trade
deals with just 20 countries, which make up 9 percent of global car sales…”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Senate
Republicans may renew push for sentencing reform. Politico: “Senate
Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) plans to take up a bill to revamp
U.S. sentencing laws and reform prisons soon after his panel clears the
high-profile nominations from Donald Trump. A similar measure passed his
committee overwhelmingly last year before stalling out in the face of opposition
from law-and-order conservatives.”
“Treasury
Nominee Steve Mnuchin’s Bank Accused of ‘Widespread Misconduct’ in Leaked Memo”
scoops The Intercept’s David Dayen: “Donald Trump’s nominee for treasury
secretary, Steven Mnuchin, ran from 2009 to 2015, repeatedly broke California’s
foreclosure laws during that period, according to a previously undisclosed 2013
memo from top prosecutors in the state attorney general’s office.”
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