MORNING MESSAGE
Meet the Leaders of the New Grassroots Resistance
They
came from communities across the country to Washington, D.C. to share stories,
find inspirations, and plan for the future – together. These are the more than
twelve hundred who gathered for “Rise Up!” – the founding convention of People’s
Action and the People’s Action Institute, held this week in Washington, D.C.
They are a truly inspiring group...
Tax Plan May Not Help Middle Class
No
guarantees for middle-class help in Trump tax plan. ABC News: “Treasury
Secretary Steve Mnuchin [said] he couldn’t say how Donald Trump’s sweeping tax
overhaul plan would affect the president personally, while also declining to
guarantee that middle-class families wouldn’t pay more under the proposal. ‘I
can’t make any guarantees until this thing is done and it’s on the president’s
desk. But I can tell you, that’s our number one objective in this,’ Mnuchin
said…”
EPI’s
Josh Bivens and Hunter Blair shred tax proposal: “… these tax cuts will not
trickle down. There is simply no payoff to low- and middle-income families from
cutting the corporate tax rate … since they will not pay themselves, they will
not even boost national savings … a 15 percent rate on pass-through businesses
is nothing but a loophole…”
No
infrastructure in Trump tax plan. The Hill: “Proponents of using
repatriation as a funding tool for infrastructure are worried about the message
that the White House is sending with the tax plan. ‘This isn’t a good sign… It’s
a punch in the gut,’ Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) said in a telephone interview. ‘I
think [Trump] has basically told people today he doesn’t want to do
infrastructure.'”
Wall
St. unimpressed. Politico: “… the widely held view on Wall Street now is
that Congress will only be able to manage a modest cut in the corporate rate
funded at least in part with revenue from a repatriation of foreign earnings
currently held abroad … , there is also concern among market analysts that giant
unfunded tax cuts may not produce the kind of growth Republicans are counting
on…”
Deficit
hawks unnerved. Bloomberg: “Economist Kyle Pomerleau of the conservative Tax
Foundation said in a Twitter message Wednesday that there wasn’t enough detail
to provide a cost estimate for Trump’s tax plan, while the nonpartisan Center
for a Responsible Federal Budget released a rough estimate that it could cost $3
trillion to $7 trillion over the next decade — potentially ‘harming economic
growth instead of boosting it.’ … Republican congressional leaders greeted the
White House tax announcement coolly, with an emailed statement that said the
bullet-points would serve as ‘critical guideposts’…”
Shutdown Threat Subsides
Stopgap
bill planned. The Hill: “…Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), the chairman
of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced the one-week bill to fund the
government through May 5, predicting leadership would announce a long-term deal
shortly.”
Trump
flinches on ACA subsidies. ABC: “Democrats say the White House has signaled
that the cost-sharing reduction subsidy payments from Obamacare will continue
even if language guaranteeing them is not included in the government funding
bill. The latest move by the White House removes a major obstacle in budget
talks … White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus relayed the news to House
minority leader Nancy Pelosi over the telephone…”
Trump Won’t Quit NAFTA
Trump
stands down on NAFTA pullout. Bloomberg: “President Donald Trump won’t
immediately terminate U.S. participation in the North American Free Trade
Agreement, the White House said, after he spoke with the leaders of Mexico and
Canada about ways to renegotiate the accord … Trump’s top advisers had been
embroiled in a debate over how aggressively to proceed on reshaping U.S.
participation in Nafta, with hard-liners favoring a threatened withdrawal as
soon as this week and others advocating for a more measured approach to
reopening negotiations with Canada and Mexico.”
Ivanka
fashion line produced by workers earning $1 a day. W. Post: “Workers at a
factory in China used by the company that makes clothing for Ivanka Trump’s
fashion line and other brands worked nearly 60 hours a week to earn wages of
little more than $62 a week, according to a factory audit released Monday …
Inspectors with the Fair Labor Association … found two dozen violations of
international labor standards during a two-day tour of the factory in October,
saying in a report that workers faced daunting hours, high turnover, and pay
near or below China’s minimum wage.”
Breakfast Sides
House
may vote on health care again. Bloomberg: “House Republican leaders are
considering holding a quick vote on their embattled health care bill after a
group of conservative holdouts endorsed a revised version … But Representative
Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, a leading Republican centrist, says that he
believes most moderates remain opposed. He called the new version an effort at
‘blame-shifting’ for the failure of the repeal effort … The amendment would
allow insurers to charge higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions
in states that get a waiver.”
Shady
figure to lead education policy review. NYT: “President Trump issued a
sweeping review of federal education policies on Wednesday in an executive order
to pinpoint areas where the government may be overstepping in shaping operations
of local school systems … It will be overseen by a regulatory task force headed
by Robert Eitel, who was hired from the for-profit sector … Mr. Eitel is a vocal
critic of regulations in higher-education and K-12 policy … A New York Times
investigation found that before he took his post in the Education Department,
Mr. Eitel spent 18 months as a top lawyer for a company facing multiple
government investigations, including one that ended with a settlement of more
than $30 million over deceptive student lending.”
Progressive
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