MORNING MESSAGE
CPAC and the DNC: A Party Is Not a Movement
Perez
isn’t the problem; power is. The Democratic party won’t change until it’s
confronted with a strong movement determined to change it. That’s why it’s
encouraging to see activists move to take control at the state and local level.
That, along with a concerted program of independent activism, could
revolutionize politics. The Democratic Party can’t be saved by one leader. But
there’s a chance it can be saved by millions of them.
Trump Sharpens Budget Ax
Trump
to gut government in budget. NYT: “President Trump will instruct federal
agencies on Monday to assemble a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes
sharp increases in Defense Department … Trump will demand a budget with tens of
billions of dollars in reductions to the Environmental Protection Agency and
State Department … Social safety net programs, aside from the big entitlement
programs for retirees, would also be hit hard …”
But
lay off Social Security and Medicare. IBT: “In an interview on Fox News,
[Treasury Secretary] Mnuchin said the administration is ‘not touching those now’
despite hopes in the Republican Congress to make radical changes …”
Trump
to set agenda in Tuesday congressional address. The Hill: “During his
speech, lawmakers will also be listening for cues on the wall Trump has promised
to build on the Mexican border, and an infrastructure plan reportedly as large
as $1 trillion. Those two proposals make conservatives worried about budget
deficits nervous.”
Republicans
want understaffed Trump to give guidance on taxes. Politico: “The most
immediate, and difficult, question facing Trump is whether to throw his weight
behind Ryan’s border adjustment plan, which would essentially tax imports but
not exports. It would be hugely embarrassing if his proposal were discarded at
virtually the outset of lawmakers’ tax-reform debate … Trump’s own advisers have
been deeply divided over the proposal … Business leaders are likewise pulling
Trump in both directions … Neither Mnuchin nor economic adviser Gary Cohn are
considered tax experts, and many key tax positions at Treasury — including
assistant secretary for tax policy and deputy assistant secretary for
international tax affairs – remain unfilled.”
Republicans
may charge sick more in ACA replacement. Politico: “…the Republican
proposals would be different than Obamacare in a key respect: They would allow
insurers to charge more to sick people who had been uninsured right before
trying to enroll in a new plan … A bill by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Susan
Collins (R-Maine), as well as a plan from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), would deny
protections to people who have gone uninsured longer than 63 days … Gary
Claxton, an insurance expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation, says the GOP
policy could end up placing some consumers in an insurance ‘purgatory’ if they
face sudden hardship and can’t afford to keep paying premiums.”
NYT
edit board asks, where’s the infrastructure plan?: “…Mr. Trump’s indolence
and Congress’s palpable lack of initiative sit in sharp contrast to the speed
with which President Obama and congressional Democrats were able to engineer a
nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus bill in 2009, a task completed in less than
six weeks. At the current pace, Mr. Trump’s American greatness project may never
get off the ground, remaining no more than a slogan on red hats, a testament to
the emptiness of his populist promises to help the forgotten workers.”
Progressives Push DNC After Chair Election
Progressive
activists want changes in congressional leadership after Rep. Keith Ellison
settles for Deputy DNC Chair. Politico: “Quietly — and pointedly refusing to
attach their names to the musings — they talk about starting to look past the
all over-70-years-old leadership team of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Jim
Clyburn in the House of Representatives. Some hope, wistfully, the three will
step aside before the 2018 midterms to help send a message and generate new
ideas.”
New
DNC Chair Tom Perez has work to do, says The Nation’s John Nichols: “In the
Trump era, the DNC must be more than a traditional opposition party. It must, as
Ellison proposed, align itself with the burgeoning grassroots resistance to the
new administration and its allies in Congress. Perez has to come out fighting.
But to fight right, Perez must ally with Sanders, Ellison and grassroots
activists who are more concerned with principles than partisanship.”
Progressive
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