Progressive Breakfast: Democratic Party Platform Committee Undermines Clinton On TPP

MORNING MESSAGE

The Democratic platform writing committee has voted not to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with the pro-TPP majority saying that doing so would undercut President Obama’s efforts to pass the agreement. The problem is, this hands Trump, as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, powerful ammunition as he says Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton is only “pretending” to oppose the agreement.

MCKIBBEN, COHEN POUND PLATFORM

Democratic platform drafting committee member Bill McKibben slams draft platform in Politico Magazine oped:“Amendments against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and backing Medicare for all failed, with all the Clinton delegates voting against … We all agreed that America should be operating on 100 percent clean energy by 2050, but then I proposed … A carbon tax? Voted down 7-6 … A ban on fracking? Voted down 7-6. An effort to keep fossils in the ground, at least on federal land? Voted down 7-6 … the Clinton campaign is at this point rhetorically committed to taking on our worst problems, but not willing to say how … [But] I’m willing to bet the platform will get substantially stronger before all is said and done.”
Sanders advisor and DNC member Larry Cohen presses party to oppose TPP in platform, in The Nation:” The draft platform must now go to the full committee meeting in Orlando on July 8 and 9. The dispute over the TPP and other issues … will be hotly debated … the Clinton campaign’s reversal on the TPP is not just bad policy—it’s terrible politics.”

WARREN RALLIES OHIO FOR CLINTON

Clinton, Warren tag team to attack Trump in Ohio. Politico:“‘When Donald Trump says he’ll make America great, he means make it even greater for rich guys just like Donald Trump.’ … Warren contrasted Clinton and Trump on values, praising Clinton for her stance on debt-free college and stronger Wall Street regulations, for example, while ridiculing Trump for allegedly defrauding students…”
Trump returns fire. W. Post:“‘She made up her heritage, which I think is racist. I think she’s a racist, actually because what she did was very racist,’ Trump told NBC News … he renewed his ‘Pocahontas’ nickname for Warren, which critics have repeatedly blasted as racist.”
Clinton sharpens pitch to millennials. Time:“Clinton on Tuesday plans to unveil a technology agenda in Denver—including student loan deals for young entrepreneurs and their first hires … The marquee program in Clinton’s policy package described by campaign aides is a proposal that would allow younger voters a chance to push pause on their federal student loans for up to three years while they try their hands at tech start-ups. If those start-ups were based in economically distressed neighborhoods or served a social good, the innovators could see up to $17,500 of their loans forgiven after five years.”

TRUMP TO HIGHLIGHT TRADE

Trump to give trade speech today. NYT:“Donald J. Trump will give a speech on trade along the outskirts of Pittsburgh on Tuesday … He will deliver the speech not at a Trump property, but at Alumisource, a steel industry firm …”
Obama rips Trump as a phony populist in NPR interview:“Mr. Trump embodies global elites and has taken full advantage of it his entire life … he’s hardly a spokesperson — a legitimate spokesperson — for a populist surge of working-class people on either side of the Atlantic.”

BREAKFAST SIDES

First quarter GDP revised upward slightly. Bloomberg:“[GDP] rose at a 1.1 percent annualized rate, compared with a previously estimated gain of 0.8 percent … The advance estimate of second-quarter GDP is scheduled for July 29…”
Sen. Richard Shelby has throttled the Ex-Im Bank. NYT:“As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he bottled up President Obama’s nomination of a third member for the bank’s five-person board. Only the board can approve transactions of more than $10 million; without a quorum of three it cannot … some American companies are seeking or accepting support from foreign agencies, which in turn require bidders to create jobs in their countries.”
Oakland bans large coal shipments. NYT:“The city of Oakland, Calif., on Monday banned the transport and storage of large coal shipments, a blow to a developer’s plans to use a former Army base as an export terminal to ship coal to China and other overseas markets. The terminal would have been the largest coal shipment facility on the West Coast, with a planned capacity to increase coal exports in the United States by 19 percent…”

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