MORNING MESSAGE
Now We Know Why Huge TPP Trade Deal Is Kept Secret From The Public
A
key section of the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement has
been leaked to the public ... Now we know why the corporations want TPP, a huge
“trade” agreement being negotiated in secret between the United States and 11
other countries, kept secret from the public until it’s too late to stop it ...
if corporations feel they have been denied “expected” profits by a government
regulation, [the agreement] lets them circumvent a country’s courts and go to an
international corporate tribunal with their grievance. But if labor organizers
are murdered, workers and their families have nowhere to go.
Senate Approves Radical Right-Wing Budget
Senate
passes budget overnight. NYT: “The 52-46 vote came at 3:28 a.m. … Now,
Senate and House negotiators hope to take similar tax-and-spending plans and
negotiate the first common congressional budget in a decade. Then would come the
difficult work, turning a hard-fought, aspirational document into the actual
legislation the budget promises…”
Senate
budget tracks House’s radical vision. AP: “Both budgets embody a
conservative vision of shrinking projected federal deficits by more than $5
trillion over the coming decade, mostly by cutting health care and other benefit
programs and without raising taxes … The legislation is a non-binding blueprint
that does not require Obama’s signature but lays the groundwork for future bills
that seem destined for veto fights with the president.”
Though
amendment supporting paid leave wins bipartisan support. Bloomberg: “…
unlike most of the Democrat’s amendments this one was agreed to, picking up
every member of Murray’s party and 16 Republicans … All are up for re-election
in 2016 … singing in the Republican ‘no’ chorus: All of the senators considering
2016 presidential bids.”
Rep.
Paul Ryan “open to another bipartisan deal to alleviate sequestration before it
returns in October.” HuffPost: “Ryan cautioned that his ability to bring
along other House Republicans was more limited now that he no longer chairs the
House Budget Committee.”
Reid To End Senate Career in 2016
Sen.
Minority Leader Reid will not run for re-election. NYT: “His departure at
the end of 2016 will create an opening both at the top of the Senate Democratic
hierarchy and in a Senate contest that would have been a megaspending slugfest …
He also said he was worried his race would consume campaign money that would be
needed in other competitive states as Democrats try to regain control of the
Senate.”
Eyes
on Durbin and Schumer. Chicago Sun-Times: “Durbin and Schumer will now be
pitted in a leader fight – and be looking over their shoulders at other up and
coming younger Democratic senators who may try to leapfrog over them. Durbin is
a consumer crusader – last year taking on Walgreen’s for even contemplating
relocating its headquarters overseas. Schumer is friend of Wall Street.
Walker Struggles With Immigration
Gov.
Scott Walker struggles to define immigration stance. NYT: “… Walker … told a
private gathering of New Hampshire Republicans this month that he supported a
pathway to legal status — but not citizenship … according to the chairwoman of
the state’s Republican Party … The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post
reported that Mr. Walker had endorsed eventual citizenship … Walker did once
support a pathway to citizenship, but said he changed his mind …”
Republican
talk on inequality just talk, says New Yorker’s John Cassidy: “Rubio’s
wage-subsidy proposal would be far more interesting if the senator would explain
how he would pay for it without hurting the current beneficiaries of the
earned-income tax credit. More broadly, it is difficult to take seriously the
idea that the Republican Party is changing its ways when its elected officials
are simultaneously seeking to bestow more tax cuts on the richest of the rich
and slash programs aimed at the poor and the middle class.”
Breakfast Sides
Senate
passes bipartisan energy-efficiency bill, 2 to 0. The Hill: “The Energy
Efficiency Improvement Act was passed by voice vote, with the two senators
[cosponsoring the bill] the only two on the floor after 4 a.m. Friday. The
legislation focuses on improving energy efficiency in buildings, while also
exempting thermal storage water heaters from upcoming energy standards.”
CFPB
details payday lending regs. NYT: “The regulations would not ban
high-interest, short-term loans, which are often used to cover basic expenses,
but would require lenders to make sure that borrowers have the means to repay
them … Obama lent his weight to the consumer bureau’s proposal, saying that it
would sharply reduce the number of unaffordable loans that lenders can make each
year to Americans desperate for cash.”
Yale
Law prof David Singh Grewal makes case against fast-track in LAT oped: “What
trade agreements now seek is to harmonize regulatory standards across countries.
Fast track now serves a new purpose: not governance of trade but governance
through trade … Congress, for all its flaws, should not be allowed to exclude
itself — and with it, the American people — from the process.”
Congressional
Dems help undocumented while deportation relief remains in legal limbo. The
Hill: “Behind Rep. Luis GutiĆ©rrez (D-Ill.), the Democrats are issuing
‘emergency cards’ to potential participants and asking them to present those
cards in the event they’re detained by an immigration official before the court
issues are resolved … The emergency cards are part of a new ‘toolkit’ GutiĆ©rrez
and many other Democrats are distributing at outreach forums they’re hosting in
their districts…”
Progressive
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