MORNING MESSAGE
The
case, Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, was about whether public
employee unions could collect a “fair share fee” from employees who benefit from
what unions spend on collective bargaining and union representation but choose
not to become members of the union ... It was expected that the Court would rule
5-4 against the unions. However, [the] announcement of a 4-4 tie in the absence
of Scalia means a lower court ruling in the unions’ favor will stand.
SANDERS, CLINTON CRISS-CROSS WISCONSIN
Bernie
Sanders looks to turn out Madison to win WIsconsin. Politico: “When Bernie
Sanders takes the stage at a town hall in Madison on Wednesday, it’ll seem like
a homecoming of sorts … there are few places more familiar with Sanders – or
more enamored of him … It’s not only the second-most populous city in the state
after Milwaukee, it’s the heart of a congressional district that will provide
more delegates than any other in the state … [But w]hile Sanders appears
tailor-made for Madison, Clinton is well-positioned in the state’s largest city,
Milwaukee, which is more than twice as big.”
Sanders
dings Clinton on Wall St. speeches in Appleton. Appleton Post-Crescent
quotes: “I’d rather be here with you in Appleton than begging billionaires
for their money … I don’t know why, don’t know why, but Wall Street has not
invited me to give a speech. I don’t need $225,000, I don’t need $2,000 or $2,
but I would like to say a few things.”
Clinton
touts union backing in Green Bay. Green Bay Press Gazette quotes: “I really
believe the American labor movement helped to create the American middle class,
and I believe strongly we have to counterbalance the power of the economic
interests in this country. That’s why I’m so proud to have the endorsement of
about 23 national unions, because I’ve always fought for them.”
Clinton
stumps in Harlem today. NYT: “…after two days of campaigning in Wisconsin,
she will come home [to] rally voters at the Apollo Theater … Mrs. Clinton needs
to win — and win significantly — in New York to put to rest any suspicion of
weakness in her candidacy …”
Economist
Robert Pollin says “Bernie Sanders Will Make the Economy Great Again” in The
Nation: “All of his major proposals are grounded in solid economic reasoning
and evidence … The Sanders program is capable of raising living standards and
reducing insecurity for working people and the poor, expanding higher
educational opportunities, and reversing the decades-long trend toward rising
inequality … None of Sanders’s liberal critics have shown how, overall, these
developments would be harmful to economic growth.”
REPUBLICANS BREAK THEIR PLEDGES
All
Republicans abandon their pledges to support eventual nominee. WSJ: “…none
of the three remaining candidates on Tuesday [at a CNN town halll] promised to
stick to their pledge to support the nominee if their own campaign falls short
…
Trump
attacks Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin. WSJ: “… Mr. Trump accused Mr. Walker
of overstating the strength of the state’s economy, a criticism that fell on
receptive ears of an audience that booed at the mention of their governor’s
name. The audience also surprised Mr. Trump by booing the mention of a local
luminary, House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose hometown is Janesville … when the crowd
booed, he said, ‘Wow. I was told to be nice to Paul Ryan.'”
W.
Post explores whether Trump or Cruz would let Democrats take the House. W.
Post: “[In 2012,] a historically low 10 percent of voters cast ballots for
their member of Congress different from the party affiliation of their
presidential candidate. If the decline of ticket splitting holds, a landslide
loss by a party’s presidential nominee would mean a disaster in the House. ‘Now
that it’s extremely likely that the Republican Party will nominate Donald Trump
or Ted Cruz, congressional Republicans are entering uncharted and potentially
dangerous territory,’ Dave Wasserman, an independent House expert, recently
wrote for the Cook Political Report.”
More
GOP support for Trump than Rep. Paul Ryan in PPP poll. Roll Call: “Nearly 60
percent of Republican primary voters would be comfortable with Donald Trump as
their presidential nominee … 42 percent responded favorably [to a Ryan
nomination] while 45 percent did not. The numbers were even worse for [Mitt[
Romney: 28 percent to 62 percent …”
Trump
and Cruz oppose a carbon tax. Bloomberg: “The top two Republican
presidential candidates’ positions on that and other environmental issues were
detailed in their responses to a survey by the American Energy Alliance, a
free-market, fossil-fuel advocacy group … Cruz has made no secret of his
skepticism of climate change and previously signaled that he opposes taxing the
carbon dioxide emissions blamed by scientists for rising global temperatures.
The biggest surprise … was Trump’s flat rejection of a carbon tax, a position
that runs contrary to the views of BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Statoil ASA
and other companies, which favor the policy as a predictable way of tackling
greenhouse gas emissions.”
GARLAND CHARM OFFENSIVE IN EFFECT
GOP
Sen. Mark Kirk urges colleagues to meet with Garland. NYT: “With Judge
Garland by his side, Mr. Kirk praised Mr. Obama’s pick as ‘one of the most
eminent judges in the country.’ ‘I think when you just say, “I’m not going to
meet with him,” that’s too close-minded,’ Mr. Kirk said.”
WH
sees progress in Garland fight. Politico: “With small cracks emerging in the
Republican Supreme Court blockade — and private indications from some GOP
senators that they’d likely back Merrick Garland if he ever did come up for a
vote — the White House is preparing to press its perceived political advantage
when senators return from their recess next week … the White House is looking to
load his schedule full with the 52 additional senators (including 16
Republicans) who’ve said publicly they’ll see the judge…”
Tie
vote in union case could bolster Garland’s case. NYT: “Not only did
[Democrats] get to celebrate the union win made possible by the outcome, it also
provided a high-profile opportunity to remind Americans that the stalemate over
the vacancy will limit the court’s ability to act — even though the failure to
do so in this case played to the Democrats’ advantage.”
Court
seeks to avert tie in contraception coverage case. NYT: ” The Supreme Court
on Tuesday issued an unusual order indicating that the justices are trying to
avoid a 4-to-4 deadlock in a case pitting religious freedom against access to
contraception. The order, which was unsigned, directed the parties to file
supplemental briefs…”
FIGHT FOR $15 LOOKS AHEAD
After
California deal, Fight for $15 turns to New York. The Atlantic: “Unlike
California, New York could create different minimum-wage time lines for New York
City as compared with the rest of the state. But the Golden State proposal
includes key ‘off ramps’ that have not—thus far—been under consideration in New
York … ‘We would oppose the kind of off ramps proposed in California, and
they’re not under consideration in New York,’ said Bill Lipton, the state
director of the New York Working Families Party.”
Wage
gap for men worsened in 2015. W. Post: “The wage gap among men saw its
largest single-year increase on record. Top earners — men who made more than 95
percent of their peers — saw wages last year rise by 9.9 percent, according to
an [Economic Policy Institute] analysis of federal data. Men in the middle —
with earnings higher than half their peers — saw a much-smaller 2.6 percent
increase.”
Progressive
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