MORNING MESSAGE
Health Care Victory Paves Way for Redoubled Resistance
We’ll
be sharing more in the coming days, but here are the preliminary thoughts on how
we were able to put our victory over the top ... Before the holidays, we
launched our first round of protests – and kept ratcheting up the pressure from
there, with People’s Action affiliates holding or supporting 292 protests,
events, or other actions that helped score “no’s” in Nevada, New Jersey, New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington ... We made sure to talk not just
about ACA repeal but the repeal of our health care generally ...
Trump To Pivot With Pollution
Trump
to pivot from health care debacle with executive orders, outreach to Dems.
Politico: “Expect executive orders this week on trade, energy and
environmental regulations, [Steve Bannon] said in a text message … [WH aides]
plan to reach out to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and other rank-and-file
Democrats who they think will be amenable to infrastructure spending and tax
reform.”
Climate
order expected tomorrow. Bloomberg: “The order will compel federal agencies
to quickly identify any actions that could burden the production or use of
domestic energy resources, including nuclear power, and then work to suspend,
revise or rescind the policies unless they are legally mandated, are necessary
for the public interest or promote development. It also will toss out two
Obama-era directives that gave consideration of climate change a prominent role
in federal rule making. One advised government agencies to factor climate change
into environmental reviews … The other [is] called the ‘social cost of carbon,’…
Trump’s action sets in motion at least a year of bureaucratic work at the EPA to
formally dismantle the Clean Power Plan…”
Trump May Shift On Taxes
Tax
reform plans may be revamped. NYT: “The grand plans of lower rates, fewer
loopholes and a tax on imports may have to be scaled back to a big corporate tax
cut and possibly an individual tax cut. A lot of people think Mr. Trump might go
for this to get an easy win … Another idea would be reforming taxes in pieces,
with a focus on reducing business tax rates first and then addressing tax rates
for individuals later. Or … he could try to make a grand bargain with Democrats
that combines a tax overhaul with a plan for more infrastructure spending.”
Freedom
Caucus not sold on border adjustment. W. Post: “…conservative lawmakers such
as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are opposed to any new kind of tax … [Freedom Caucus
leader Rep. Mark] Meadows is not eager for a border adjustment, either …
Republicans are trying to avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. To do so,
they will have to write legislation that does not increase the federal borrowing
over the long term — and they are hoping the border adjustment will help them do
so.”
One Month To Shutdown?
Odds
of shutdown just went up. Axios’ Mike Allen: “A top Republican with close
ties to the White House tells me that after the GOP failure on healthcare, a
government shutdown — looming when a continuing resolution runs out April 28 —
is ‘more likely than not… Wall Street is not expecting a shutdown and the
markets are unprepared.’ … A senior GOP aide disputed the bearish forecasts:
‘The White House and Republicans on the Hill cannot/won’t risk a shutdown. Given
the last week — it’s out of the question.’ Reality check: While the GOP may have
the will, party strategists don’t see the way…”
Pelosi
re-emerges. Politico: “Republicans have turned to Pelosi for years to
deliver Democratic votes on must-pass legislation to keep the government open
and raise the debt ceiling … The next big showdown in Congress comes at the end
of April, when government funding runs out. Pelosi has already made clear her
caucus won’t support any spending bill that provides money for Trump’s proposed
border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.”
Bernie Brings Back Single-Payer
Sen.
Sanders will re-introduce single-payer bill. Politico: “‘I’m going to
introduce a Medicare-for-all single-payer program,’ Sanders told [CNN] …
[Sanders] said he hoped to garner bipartisan support for the plan … [He] said
such a plan could help to deliver on President Donald Trump’s pursuit of
lowering prescription drug prices, adding that he’d look to work with the White
House on the legislation.”
Democrats
increasingly open to single-payer. W. Post: “Progressives, emboldened by
Republicans’ health-care failure, are trying to shift the political debate even
further to the left, toward a long-standing goal that Democrats told them was
unrealistic … Pelosi held a town hall in her San Francisco district where she
happily egged on protesters demanding a plan like Sanders’s … The victory of a
Republican candidate who … once favored universal insurance, made some Democrats
ask if an idea once dismissed as socialism might have some bipartisan openings
in the post-ideological era of Trump.”
Republicans
face health care dilemma. NYT: “They could sabotage the Affordable Care
Act’s insurance markets, betting that Democrats would be blamed for collapsing
coverage choices and spikes in insurance premiums and would then come to the
negotiating table ready to toss the law and start fresh. Or they could work with
Democratic lawmakers and moderate Republicans, who for years have discussed
improvements to the Affordable Care Act…”
Dems Dig In With Eye Toward Midterms
Dems
emboldened. NYT: “Democrats are newly optimistic about picking up seats in
2018, hoping to ride a backlash against Mr. Trump. Seeing an opportunity, they
say they will not throw Mr. Trump a political life preserver at what they sense
could be the first turns of a downward spiral.
Dems,
progressive activists eye suburbs. American Prospect: “The Democrats’ path
to a majority begins with the 23 seats—mostly well-educated and higher-income
suburban districts—that voted for Hillary Clinton but elected Republican House
members … Eighteen of the 23 have an above-average share of college-educated
whites, and eight of those seats have both a higher share of minorities and
white college grads …”
Mother
Jones assesses the GOP strategy to “elevate Elizabeth Warren”: “What’s
strange about Warren is that both parties seem to agree that she should be in
the spotlight. Democrats say they welcome Republicans’ decision to elevate one
of their most populist voices.”
Gorsuch
may not have the votes. Roll Call: “… by the end of last week not a single
member of the minority had publicly committed to voting with the 52 members of
the Republican majority to advance Gorsuch … if getting Gorsuch on the court
requires doing away with the filibuster for his and all future Supreme Court
nominations, then Trump’s first victory for the history books will come with a
big-time asterisk…”
Breakfast Sides
Conservatives
say Treasury Secretary Mnuchin “too liberal.” Politico: “…critics note that
Mnuchin has selected another Democratic donor, Craig Phillips, for a top
position within the department. He told senators at his confirmation hearing
that he supports parts of the controversial Volcker Rule … Allies of [Gary] Cohn
and [Dina] Powell, both former Goldman Sachs executives like Mnuchin, say their
opponents, led by Bannon, are attempting to plant stories about Cohn and those
around him to discredit their standing with conservatives and with Trump
himself.”
NC
“bathroom bill” weakening state economy. AP: “… the law limiting LGBT
protections will cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business over a
dozen years, according to an Associated Press analysis … AP’s tally is likely an
underestimation of the law’s true costs … A business project was counted only if
AP determined through public records or interviews that HB2 was why it pulled
out. Some projects that left, such as a Lionsgate television production that
backed out of plans in Charlotte, weren’t included because of a lack of data on
their economic impact.”
Conservatives
conspire to thwart progressive ballot initiatives in state legislatures. The
Atlantic: “… Republicans dominate state legislatures around the country …
while ballots sometimes function to deal with purely state-level concerns,
policy fights are increasingly nationalized …”
Progressive
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