MORNING MESSAGE
The
obstacles faced by the progressive movement, especially in a post-Citizens
United world, aren’t news to anybody who’s been paying attention. But recent
developments may also stir an unfamiliar sensation in the liberally minded
observer: optimism ... One of the Populist Platform’s twelve goals is to
“Eliminate Institutionalized Racism to Open Opportunity to All,” ... the debate
has moved much further than might have been expected a few short years ago ...
Another key plank in the populist platform seeks to guarantee economic equality
for women ... There have been a string of local-level victories ... The Social
Security debate has shifted dramatically in the past few years ... the landscape
is changing for these “just society” issues.
Sanders Spooks Clinton
Team
Clinton worried about Sanders. Politico: “Insiders familiar with the Clinton
campaign’s thinking described it as ‘frightened’ of Sanders — not that he would
win the nomination, but that he could damage her with the activist base by
challenging her on core progressive positions in debates and make her look like
a centrist or corporatist. The source described the campaign as ‘pleased,’ at
least, that O’Malley and Sanders will split the anti-Clinton vote.”
Bernie
presses Hillary on trade. W. Post: “At an event in downtown Concord
Wednesday … Sanders was critical of Clinton: ‘I just don’t know how you don’t
have an opinion on this important issue.'”
Clinton
knocks GOP on equal pay. The Hill: “Clinton mocked critiques of equal pay
legislation by GOP presidential hopefuls like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), but did not address them by
name. ‘To that I say: What century are you living in?’ she said, arguing equal
pay extends much further than a ‘women’s issue.'”
Likely
GOP ’16er John Kasich opposes Ex-Im Bank. The Hill: “The likely Republican
presidential candidate joins a growing list of GOP White House aspirants in
opposing the 80-year-old bank. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have all come out in opposition to
renewing the bank’s charter before it expires next month.”
Blue States Better For Workers
Red
and blue states diverging on helping workers, says W. Post’s Harold
Meyerson: ” While states under Republican rule are weakening workers’
ability to bargain with employers and reducing the pay of construction workers,
states and cities where Democrats dominate are hiking the minimum wage,
requiring employers to grant paid sick days and even considering penalizing
large employers who don’t pay their workers enough.”
Momentum
for bonds over cuts to shore up state pensions. NYT: “Interest in so-called
pension obligation bonds is expected to intensify in the wake of a recent
Illinois Supreme Court decision that rejected the state’s attempt to overhaul
its severely depleted pension system … The government will issue the bonds; the
pension system will invest the proceeds; and the investments will earn more, on
average, than the interest rate on the bonds … [But] it does not take risk into
account.”
Breakfast Sides
Immigration
court battle won’t be resolved until next year. NYT: “Officials from the
Justice Department said in a statement that they would not ask the Supreme Court
for permission to carry out the president’s immigration programs … while a fight
over presidential authority plays out in the lower courts … Even if the justices
had given the green light to begin implementing the program, the continuing
legal fight would probably have scared away most of the undocumented immigrants
who could apply for it.”
NYT’s
Nick Kristof urges Obama to uncover dark money: “President Obama could take
one step that would help: an executive order requiring federal contractors to
disclose all political contributions … [Said] Michael Waldman of the Brennan
Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law[,] ‘It’s the single
most tangible thing anyone could do to expose the dark money that is now
polluting politics.'”
Progressive
Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to
activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's
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