MORNING MESSAGE
One
of the more telling combinations of news stories from the past week found
education policy insiders in Washington, D.C. rejoicing over the passage of a
new law rewriting federal education policy while at the same time a new report
revealed how political leadership is continuing to fail America’ public schools
... the issue that remains mostly unaddressed in education policy is the massive
under-funding that most states continue to inflict on public
schools...
America Moves Left
America
is moving left, argues The Atlantic’s Peter Beinart: “That doesn’t mean the
Republicans won’t retain strength in the nation’s statehouses and in Congress.
It doesn’t mean a Republican won’t sooner or later claim the White House. It
means that on domestic policy … the terms of the national debate will continue
tilting to the left. The next Democratic president will be more liberal than
Barack Obama. The next Republican president will be more liberal than George W.
Bush.”
NYC
Mayor Bill de Blasio defends record to date, pledges to “do better”: “…he
wants to spread the message about what he believes are great strides by his
administration: thousands of new affordable housing units, universal access to
free prekindergarten classes, and social services to protect the city’s more
vulnerable residents.”
Dem Divide On Approach To Corporate Interests
Sanders
knocks Clinton on corporations. W. Post: “In his first campaign appearance
since Saturday’s Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders drew attention to Hillary
Clinton’s line that she she wants to be loved by ‘everybody,’ including
corporate America … the Vermont senator said[,] ‘I accept their not liking me. …
I don’t need to be loved by everybody.'”
“Hillary
Clinton Embraces Bill Clinton’s Economic Legacy” says NYT: “While Mr.
Clinton presided over one of the healthiest economies in recent memory, his
pro-business pragmatism and emphasis on open markets are somewhat out of sync
with a restless Democratic primary electorate … More recently, Mrs. Clinton has
proudly and frequently declared that she comes from ‘the Clinton school of
economics.'”
Tax Deal Details Surface
This
month’s tax deal paves way for broader corporate tax reform in 2017. The
Hill: “The new deal … locks in a number of expensive tax breaks that could
be traded as part of future legislation that lowers the corporate rate. Allowing
the breaks to no longer expire makes it easier to lower the rate but not add to
the budget deficit … ‘The things that people focused on before, ‘Just pass my
little piece, pass my little piece,’ have pretty much been done or rejected and
now we can move forward on the big picture,’ said Sen. Charles Schumer … But
clinching a deal in 2017 will largely depend on who wins the Oval Office.”
Low-income
housing provision tucked into tax bill. W. Post: “The legislation, which
President Obama signed into law on Friday, made the Low-Income Housing Tax
Credit more generous in hopes of making it easier to finance the construction of
affordable rental housing. The tax credit allows investors, typically banks, to
essentially receive cash, in the form of tax credits over a period of 10 years,
in exchange for their investment in building a new property…”
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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