MORNING MESSAGE
Regulators
recently rejected plans from five too-big-to-fail banks, saying they haven’t
found a way to go bankrupt without relying on taxpayers to bail them out. If
they can’t fix it, they’re supposed to be broken up. So why are we suddenly
debating the very concept of “too big to fail” instead? If that debate sometimes
seem complicated – well, maybe some people want it that way. But the problems
these regulators identified are plain enough.
BURNINg ISSUES: REEXAMINING OUR AFRICA POLICY
Emira
Woods, associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, says in this
Burning Issues video that the next U.S. president needs to think of Africa
differently and ally with the forces of change seeking to improve the lives of
people on the continent.
SANDERS HOPES fOR UPSET
Sanders
calls for big turnouts. W. Post: “‘If you come out to vote tomorrow and drag
your friends and your aunts and your uncles and your co-workers, we’re going to
win here in Pennsylvania,’ Sanders declared at a rally at Drexel University …
Sanders has been running strongest in Rhode Island, which has only 24 delegates
at stake on Tuesday … The large crowds that turned out for Sanders on Sunday
seem to have boosted the campaign’s spirits about its prospects in Connecticut,
which has 55 delegates in play.”
Clinton
aims for 5-state sweep. Politico: “…Sanders is … up against a wall of
institutional support for Clinton. And there are other powerful forces working
against him, among them, demographics and closed primaries.”
Each
candidates presses the other to unify party. WSJ: “Mr. Sanders said it will
be up to Mrs. Clinton, not him, to rally his backers by convincing them that she
supports his agenda … ‘She is going to have to come on board and say, yes, I
know it’s hard, but I am going to take on the fossil fuel industry and pass a
carbon tax,’ he said, in a list of demands … She said that in June 2008 … ‘I
spent an enormous amount of time convincing my supporters to support him. And
I’m happy to say the vast majority did … That is what I think one does.'”
Sanders
floats VP Warren. The Hill quotes: “It’s a little bit early to be
speculating [but] Elizabeth Warren I think has been a real champion of standing
up for working families, taking on Wall Street.”
“Congressional
Primaries in Pa., Md. to Test Anti-Establishment Wave Among Democrats” reports
WSJ: “The two highest-profile congressional races are the Senate Democratic
primaries in Maryland and Pennsylvania, but House contests will also feature
outsiders running to shake up Capitol Hill.”
Voters
in towns hard hit by trade more likely to back Sanders or Trump. NYT:
“Cross-referencing congressional voting records and district-by-district
patterns of job losses and other economic trends between 2002 and 2010, the
researchers found that areas hardest hit by trade shocks were much more likely
to move to the far right or the far left politically.”
TRUMP PRIMEd fOR SWEEP
Trump
expected to sweep tonight. The Hill: “He needs to win about 58 percent of
the remaining 674 still up for grabs in contests between now and the last day of
elections on June 7 to secure the nomination. Tuesday’s contests should give him
some breathing room … it will be a disappointment for Trump if he takes fewer
than 90 of the 118 bound delegates awarded on Tuesday…”
Cruz-Kasich
alliance quickly crumbles. W. Post: “In their unconventional last-ditch
scheme, Kasich said he would clear the way for Cruz to face Trump in Indiana …
But less than 12 hours after the pact was announced, Kasich undercut the idea by
declaring Monday that his supporters in Indiana should still vote for him. The
Ohio governor also plans to keep raising money in the state and to meet Tuesday
with Republican Gov. Mike Pence.”
BREAkfAst SIdEs
One
of three mayors worry they will cause a Flint-like crisis. Politico: “Nearly
1 in 3 American mayors think they may already have hurt their own citizens by
making cost-saving decisions on critical infrastructure … nearly half of
America’s mayors believe their roads, bridges and water pipes have deteriorated
critically over the past 10 years. Mayors of all political stripes say they’ve
been placed in an untenable financial bind because of severely limited
infrastructure dollars that once flowed freely from state and federal
coffers.”
Fed
won’t hike rates this week. But could in June. Bloomberg: “Policymakers’
fundamental challenge is that the FOMC doesn’t want to rule out a June hike, but
the markets already have. They need to decide if they want to make a play for a
June hike and how to communicate such a message.”
Progressive
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