MORNING MESSAGE
Bernie Sanders Inspires Candidates to Run on Rise Up Platform
“Let
me begin by thanking the People’s Action network for making the political
revolution,” U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders told a raucous afternoon crowd in
Washington, D.C. at “Rise Up: From People to Power,” the founding convention of
People’s Action, on Monday. “This is what the revolution looks like. You are
what the revolution looks like!”
You can join Rise
Up: Protest to Power, the founding convention of People’s
Action!
Hometown Rising: A Town Hall
Tue, April 25, 12:00-1:15pm
Surrender on the Wall
Trump
signals he’ll surrender on border wall funding. CNN: “Hours after Trump
touted the importance of building a wall, a White House official signaled later
Monday that the President won’t insist on that funding in a spending bill to
keep the government running past Friday. The official said that even some
funding for ‘border security’ could satisfy the President at this point, with
the expectation that wall funding would come in future spending bill
negotiations.”
AP
adds: “Trump told a gathering of around 20 conservative media reporters
Monday evening that he would be willing to return to the wall funding issue in
September … The other major stumbling block on the spending bill involves a
demand by Democratic negotiators that the measure fund cost-sharing payments to
insurance companies that help low-income people afford health policies under
Obama’s health law, or that Trump back off a threat to use the payments as a
bargaining chip.”
Politico
quotes Kellyanne Conway: “Building that wall and having it funded remains an
important priority to him. But we also know that that can happen later this year
and into next year.”
Trump To Propose Deep Corporate Tax Cut
Trump
to propose 15 percent tax rate for corporations tomorrow. Politico: “Cutting
the corporate rate to such a low level would allow Trump to follow through on a
campaign promise that has been months in the making – even if policy experts
argue that getting to that rate is impossible to do without imposing a new levy
like a consumption tax, or blowing a hole in the deficit … A senior
administration official acknowledged that the proposal to cut the rate to 15
percent is just a starting point in negotiations and would likely end up being
higher in any final plan approved by lawmakers … The administration’s tax
proposal on Wednesday is not expected to be very detailed, or to include ways
that Trump would pay for deep tax cuts.”
WSJ
lists “Five Roadblocks in the Way of the White House’s Proposed Corporate Tax
Cut”: ” That means the 20-point cut would leave a $2 trillion hole in the
federal budget over a decade … reconciliation comes with some special rules …
the bill couldn’t increase deficits outside the length of the budget, typically
10 years … divides in the corporate world might emerge as Congress works through
the details of what’s in a business tax plan.”
Trump Scrambles Before 100 Day Mark
Trump
slaps lumber tariff on Canada. Bloomberg: “Trump announced the new tariff at
a White House gathering of conservative journalists, shortly before the Commerce
Department said it would impose countervailing duties ranging from 3 percent to
24.1 percent on Canadian lumber producers … U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
amplified Trump’s remarks in a statement afterward that also referenced a fight
over a new Canadian milk policy that U.S. producers say violates Nafta … The
measures will hurt workers on both sides of the border and will raise U.S. home
prices, [Canadian officials] said … The so-called countervailing duties … came
in below some analyst expectations”
Trump
tries to revoke Obama’s designation of national monuments. The Hill: “Obama
created the 1.3 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in late December using
his unilateral power under the Antiquities Act … Trump is expected to sign an
order Wednesday to examine all national monuments going back two decades, a
White House official said. But people familiar with the order say it’s directed
primarily at Bears Ears and at Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument, which former President Clinton created in 1996 … Conservationists and
experts say the Antiquities Act doesn’t give Trump the power to rescind
monuments or greatly reduce their size.”
No
expectation for quick health care vote. Politico: “So far, none of the
moderates who opposed an earlier repeal bill have publicly committed to
supporting the latest version … the House has no plans to take up a repeal
measure this week, despite the White House’s urging last week to do so.
Republicans are expected to remain focused on funding the government past a
Friday deadline for a new spending bill, with Obamacare repeal discussions
likely continuing in the background. Members of the Freedom Caucus are expected
to review the legislation together on Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Breakfast Sides
Corporate
lobbyists aim for paid leave exemptions. Bloomberg: “Now big business is
countering the calls [for mandatory paid leave] with a proposal of its own:
Congress should establish a certain optional amount of paid leave and, if
companies meet that threshold, they should be protected from state or local laws
that might require more … The preemptive strike from the business community is
also a response to the increasing number of states and municipalities that have
taken matters into their own hands…”
CA
Gov. Jerry Brown skeptical of Trump’s infrastructure plan. LAT quotes:
“Let’s invest in America, not sell it off to the highest bidder … watch out for
this infrastructure program, that it isn’t another way to enrich Wall Street,
providing all the financing for the selling of all our public jewels and
assets.”
House
bill gutting Dodd-Frank would constrain SEC. NYT: “[One] provision would
require the S.E.C. to determine if a corporate penalty will harm shareholders.
That could discourage large fines … Defendants named in an administrative
proceeding would have the right to require dismissal of the case; the S.E.C.
could then refile the charges in a federal court, but that would give defendants
much broader power to discover evidence and a right to a jury … A federal court
requires proof only by a preponderance of the evidence, making it even less
likely that the administrative process will be used in a contested matter.”
“Middle
Class Contracted in U.S. Over 2 Decades” reports NYT: “Middle-class
Americans have fared worse in many ways than their counterparts in economically
advanced countries in Western Europe in recent decades, according to a study
released Monday by the Pew Research Center … the authors of the Pew study found
a broader contraction of the American middle class, even as the ranks of the
poor and the rich have grown.”
Dem
AGs criticize Betsy DeVos on student loans. Reuters: “…21 state attorneys
general, all Democrats, wrote to Republican DeVos decrying her decision to end
the Education Department’s work on reforming loan servicing, steps intended to
ensure that borrowers understand their outstanding debt and repayment options
…”
Progressive
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