MORNING MESSAGE
The
nation is now seeing that there is a broader story to be told about the roots of
the violence that broke out in Baltimore this week. In addition to the
mistreatment of African Americans by police, there is also the story of extreme
economic deprivation – the consignment of entire communities to virtual jails of
joblessness, poverty and neglect. The fact that such large expanses of poverty
could exist in Baltimore and in other major cities across the country is a
consequence of economic policies that are constrained by conservative austerity
ideology and that fail to address institutional racism and structural
poverty.
Bernie Is In
Sen.
Bernie Sanders to announce Democratic primary challenge tomorrow. Vermont Public
Radio: “Sanders will release a short statement on that day and then hold a
major campaign kickoff in Vermont in several weeks … Sanders’ basic message will
be that the middle class in America has been decimated in the past two decades
while wealthy people and corporations have flourished.”
Bernie
tweets: “Every candidate for president has got to answer one simple
question.” “Are you prepared to take on the billionaire class whose greed is
destroying the middle class and, through Citizens United, our American
democratic system?”
More
from HuffPost: “[He] has criticized Clinton for being too soft on Wall
Street and has doubted whether Clinton can address income inequality. Sanders
has been an outspoken critic of the Trans-Pacific Partnership [and] will provide
a platform for Democrats to criticize Clinton from the left.”
Clinton
to deliver speech on criminal justice reform today. HuffPost: “Clinton will
lay out her vision for criminal justice reform, centering around an “end to the
era of mass incarceration,” according to an aide who provided a preview of her
remarks. Those changes include addressing probation and drug diversion programs,
increasing support for mental health and drug treatment and pursuing alternative
punishments for low-level offenders. She also will call for body cameras for
every police department …”
Obama Courts Dem Moderates
Obama
to meet with “New Democrats” over trade. Politico: “The four dozen members
of the New Democrat Coalition were invited to a Thursday afternoon meeting at
the White House … the 46 lawmakers [are] highly valuable to the White House’s
effort to secure a broader trade deal with Pacific nations … Obama is also
scheduled to have lunch with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in his private dining
room Wednesday…”
“Dems
who supported trade deal get Obama state dinner invites” reports The
Hill.
China
OK with TPP. NYT: “Some of China’s leading trade policy intellectuals now
say that they have few concerns about the agreement. They also say that the pact
could even help China, by making it easier for Beijing to pursue its own
regional agreements … Still, the trade deal presents some potential tensions for
China … The free trade agreement could give Japanese companies better access to
the American market in large, high-tech industries that China wants to dominate,
like automobile manufacturing and telecommunications.”
No
deal yet with Japan. NYT: “…Mr. Obama and Mr. Abe emerged from an Oval
Office meeting … with unsettled differences between the United States and Japan
over automobiles and agriculture that have hindered negotiations over the
broader Trans-Pacific Partnership … [But] they reported substantial progress in
their negotiations, and … made a unified call for a quick resolution to the
trade pact.”
Dems Try To Set Living Wage Example
“Dem
leaders want Senate food workers to make $15 an hour” reports The Hill:
“Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is next in line to become Senate Democratic
leader, said he and his colleagues have spoken to Senate Rules Committee
Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) about raising wages for Senate food workers.”
“Income
Inequality Is Costing the U.S. on Social Issues” argues NYT’s Eduardo
Porter: “Pick almost any measure of social health and cohesion over the last
four decades or so, and you will find that the United States took a wrong turn
along the way … when globalization struck at the jobs on which 20th-century
America had built its middle class, the United States discovered that it did
not, in fact, have much of a welfare state to speak of. The threadbare safety
net tore under the strain.”
Corker Corks Budget
Sen.
Bob Corker blocks budget deal over “gimmick” Politico: “The Tennessee
Republican on Tuesday said he would not sign the final budget deal because the
agreement would let appropriators take unspent money from mandatory programs —
like a crime victims fund or children’s insurance account — and use it to pay
for other congressional priorities … GOP leaders can’t move forward until he
signs it.”
“Spending
pressure” in Congress could override GOP budget. NYT: “The House and the
Senate Armed Services Committees are drafting legislation … breaking military
spending caps … A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing measures to speed the
Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for drugs and medical devices,
which would probably require additional spending. Senators Rob Portman,
Republican of Ohio, and Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, introduced
legislation on Tuesday to expand Pell Grants that the new budget deal is
supposed to freeze.”
Veto
threats for first GOP spending bills. The Hill: “The White House said the
bill ‘fails’ to fund building upgrades on military bases and and expansions to
medical facilities used by veterans. While it provides $4.6 billion above the
2015 funding level, it’s $1.2 billion less than Obama’s request. The
administration said it also ‘strongly objects’ to the use of the Pentagon’s war
fund to pay for infrastructure investments.”
Progressive
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