MORNING MESSAGE
One
consequence of the deafening media din generated by Donald Trump’s hateful
blather is that his competitors seem moderate in contrast. Thus Marco Rubio, the
callow young, ambitious first-term senator from Florida, is billed as a foreign
policy leader in the Republican Party despite having little experience or
knowledge, while brandishing a hawkish interventionism that gets virtually
everything wrong ... the future that the young senator offers Americans is one
of growing intervention across the world, a new Cold War or worse with Russia
and China, a bigger military and a more impoverished nation.
Spending Deal Today?
“[C]ongressional
negotiators on Sunday reported progress” says NYT: “Top aides said the
measure could finally be made public on Monday … An added complication is a
major tax bill that other members of Congress are negotiating. Democrats have
become increasingly unhappy about the size and shape of the tax bill.”
Question
whether Speaker Paul Ryan can keep his caucus unified. TPM: “This may be the
week when observers will finally see whether Ryan — when pushed up against a
real deadline — can seamlessly do what Boehner always struggled with: secure the
support or at the very least the respect of the House Freedom Caucus types who
ultimately ended Boehner’s speakership.”
Dem Divide On Paris Agreement
Clinton,
Sanders divide on Paris climate agreement. CNN: “Clinton … hailed the
agreement in a statement, saying, ‘I applaud President Obama, Secretary Kerry
and our negotiating team for helping deliver a new, ambitious international
climate agreement in Paris.’ … Sanders, however, said … ‘The planet is in
crisis. We need bold action in the very near future and this does not provide
that,’…”
Secretary
of State Kerry defends. The Hill: “Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday
brushed off suggestions that a sweeping global climate deal announced this
weekend lacks enforceability and won’t curb emissions. [He said] that the
mandatory reporting requirement every five years ‘is a serious form of
enforcement and compliance.’ He said that there aren’t any penalties or
sanctions in the deal for nations that don’t comply because the U.S. Congress,
among other nations, would never accept them.”
Deal
could influence investors and industries. NYT: “It will spur banks and
investment funds to shift their loan and stock portfolios from coal and oilto
the growing industries of renewable energy … Utilities themselves will have to
reduce their reliance on coal … Energy and technology companies will be pushed
to make breakthroughs to make better and cheaper batteries … automakers will
have to develop electric cars that win broader acceptance…”
Obama’s
climate legacy hinges on courts, successor. Politico: “The reliance on
presidential authorities means that while Obama can take much of the credit for
the agreement, its ultimate success is in the hands of the next administration …
egulations are now at the mercy of the courts, which will decide over the coming
years whether the president overstepped his authority …”
Breakfast Sides
Fed
may raise interest rates Wednesday, despite lack of inflation. WSJ: “Jobs
are on track, but inflation isn’t behaving as predicted and they don’t know why.
Unemployment has fallen to 5%, a figure close to estimates of full employment,
while inflation remains stuck at less than 1%, well below the Fed’s 2% target.
Central bank officials predict inflation will approach their target in 2016. The
trouble is they have made the same prediction for the past four years. If the
Fed is again fooled, it may find it raised rates too soon, risking
recession.”
Banks
will have to submit, and follow, plans to avoid need for bailouts.
Bloomberg: “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency … is planning to
propose a requirement that lenders with more than $50 billion in assets to
provide blueprints for how they’ll withstand a crisis … [For] the first time
many of the largest regional firms would have to submit formal survival
strategies … The OCC plans would be backed by the teeth of enforcement, so banks
could face penalties if they consistently fall short of the new
requirements.”
Kochs
woo the poor. Politico: “The outreach includes everything from turkey
giveaways, GED training and English-language instruction for Hispanic immigrants
to community holiday meals and healthy living classes for predominantly African
American groups to vocational training and couponing classes for the
under-employed … The efforts include a healthy dose of proselytizing about free
enterprise and how it can do more than government to lift people out of
poverty.”
Donald
Trump’s favorite CEO, Carl Icahn, backs repatriation in NYT oped: “…the
Schumer-Portman framework for ‘international tax reform’ has a bipartisan
consensus now and would stop inversions by permanently fixing this country’s
antiquated double tax on foreign earnings. Without this reform, this incremental
tax revenue is money this country will never receive…”
Progressive
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